Adapting is definitely the new normal
Everyone’s at home: Chapter one
In a world that thrives on certainty, we have been thrust into an abyss of unknowns. One thing is certain though and that’s the way we interact, the way we socialise and the way we work will be changed forever.
The notion of business being built on handshakes, face to face meetings, travel and networking has all been curtailed by this global outbreak. C19 has forced many businesses to implement remote working. Companies now find themselves having the responsibility to protect their workforce; to keep them healthy and productive in different ways. This coupled with uncertainty about the future makes employee engagement an even bigger challenge than before the pandemic.
It’s pretty impressive how even large and complex companies with legacy systems have, when forced to, managed to get their entire workforce working remotely. Overnight, literally hundreds of thousands of employees have converted their dining room, living area, box room or even in some cases their bedroom into a space from which they can work.
The sudden increase in working from home is presenting problems as well as opportunities. On the one hand, startups such as Slack and Zoom and established giants including Google and Microsoft are offering their tools for free, in the hope that people who start using them in a crisis may carry on once normality returns.
On the other hand, some systems are already creaking at the seams. Corporate networks, unused to having a majority of their connections coming in over virtual private networks (VPNs), are experiencing unusual quirks, while internet service providers have come under pressure to lift bandwidth caps so that remote workers do not get cut off from their employers halfway through the month.
There’s been a deluge of online content providing tips and tricks on how to keep yourself mentally and physically healthy — from Joe Wicks’ daily workout (he landed himself 1.2 million new YouTube followers in one week) to Jamie Oliver’s Keep Cooking and Carry On series (the first episode aired just 3 days after the UK went into lockdown — that’s fast moves from Jamie and his team, plus C4’s production company).
But there’s not much consideration being given to how businesses can sustain this way of working into the longer term. Given the effort that’s gone into setting employees up — from adapting and improving technology through to providing suitable equipment like screens and chairs, it’s easy to see why taking advantage of having no physical space related overheads could be tempting. Offices will shrink and become places to pop into a couple of times a week for a catch-up — at best, rather than somewhere to spend 40 hours sat in front of a computer.
It’s hard to see how the accelerated trend for “office free” companies won’t impact the most hyped startup in the world, whose business strategy and cash flow was already hanging by a thread. It’s a bitter development in an already acrimonious rescue plan, which involved pouring billions of dollars into WeWork to salvage its broken reputation. Even if the market was prepared to forgive WeWork’s recent blunders, a blistering shut-down caused by coronavirus has left its buildings empty.
Aside from technology (which has now proven to be a myth), one of the things that stopped people working from home before [coronavirus] was the fear that it gave the impression they weren’t committed. Old school management styles rewarded presentism rather than outcomes, so a new modern leader is needed; somebody with acutely good social skills to manage the dynamic of virtual teams and a visionary who is able to paint detailed ambitions for the future but let go of the delivery.
This is chapter 1 of 4. Check out ‘Customer service just got interesting’ to read on. If you’re interested in joining our Fluxx Exchange: C19 Business Recovery Guide Breakfast on the 22nd April 2020, get in touch with hello@fluxx.uk.com.
Jenny Burns is an Executive Partner at Fluxx, a company that uses experiments to understand customers, helping clients to build better products. Find out more about our work with Zopa, Vogue, Nationwide and Croydon Council, or email Jenny Burns at jenny.burns@fluxx.uk.com.
