The future of work
A shift to remote working with more sustainable business models may be one consolation from this time of upheaval.
There is a lot of doom and gloom surrounding Covid-19 and it’s for sure a hard time for everybody. But psychologists say that optimists live longer, so we wanted to put on our visionary cap and look to the future of work and what changes might be driven by the outbreak of this pandemic. One thing we can agree on is that when the next pandemic hits us we will be much better prepared, so we can treat this as a very important dress rehearsal for what comes next.
The move to remote working
It is quite astonishing to see how quickly many industries transitioned entirely to working from home. While Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Skype groan under the weight of the extra strain on capacity, many employees are discovering that it is quite possible to work just as efficiently from the comfort of their home.
Some ground rules for remote working:
- Stand up meetings are important to ensure clear alignment
- Ensure you are fully clothed at least during video calls
- When speaking keep it short and to the point
- It’s a good idea to record calls for later reference
Robots will help us
In the not too distant future robots will stock our warehouses, drive our cars, and do a lot of the heavy lifting; freeing us up to work on less physically demanding tasks. This is not something to be afraid of but can be seen as a great opportunity to allow humans to dedicate themselves to more creative, intellectual work. We could see a dawn of a new enlightenment where the next masters of art and technology will create works that will wow the world.
Global collaboration
As we have seen in response to Covid-19 scientists and governments across the globe have worked closely together to share the latest insights. This is very encouraging. But it shouldn’t take a crisis for professionals from the corporate world, startup world, and academia to solve problems together. If we can set up task forces to tackle the globe’s most pressing issues we could start to see climate change progress and overcome the biggest challenges in healthcare. This is part of the mission over at joinfightback.com. In the future, collaboration will be more fluid and instant and ongoing, and not just in times of crisis.
More sustainable work
Perhaps this crisis could provide further stimulus to move towards more sustainable business models. The pursuit of profit for the sake of profit no longer makes sense. Is it finally time for business leaders to engage in stakeholder business models, where people and the planet are considered as important as profit. When a business plans its strategy for the year, it will consider its carbon emissions and its impact on society at large as much as it considers profitability and growth.
There are many alternative business models that companies can use to move from asset-heavy to asset-light and digital platforms have already provided some glimmer of hope in this regard. When it comes to healthcare we can consider telehealth, which allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions.
At this time of healthcare capacity crunch, companies that provide healthcare from a distance will help reduce the strain on healthcare providers. Now is the time for more intelligence in how we provide care. It’s a time to empower patients to self-monitor and take command of their health and engage with apps and medical devices only seeking further help in times of emergency.
While the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds, we can hold a small place for optimism.
With great change comes great opportunity.
