Our ‘new normal’ after the virus – some predictions from an innovation consultant

Most of the world has been on standstill for a few weeks now because of a highly communicable virus that threatens to change life as we know it. During this emergency, people are still doing their best to lead normal lives by staying entertained, fit and productive.

A popular historian wrote that when emergencies happen, behaviours change, and these behaviours lead to new habits that stay. And this is the largest emergency many of us have had to deal with in our lifetime.

I work in innovation, and we understand times of Fluxx. So I wrote down some behaviours I expect to change as a result of these trying times. While these solutions have existed and have had traction, those who were previously naysayers will be forced to experience these solutions, and those who accepted them partially may start to accept them wholly. We may come out of this experience accepting a ‘new normal’

• Pyjama working will be more acceptable : As soon as he realised he needed to work from home, my husband bought himself a desk, a comfortable chair and a large screen monitor in an attempt to mimic his office work station. 3 days in, he was working longer hours (he could dedicate his commute time to work) and quite productive. He missed the social aspect of working with colleagues and the efficiency of walking over to someone’s desk to finish a task face to face, but overall he found work from home quite suitable. So, after we can all go back to our offices, the industries who previously found it unacceptable to work from home will now be more comfortable with it.

• Empathy with those in pyjamas: While working from home, parents have had their children home from school as well. A common sighting in group video calls was the accidental child or pet coming into the frame (a friends daughter decided singing ‘let it go’ from Frozen was the perfect way to make her fathers conference call exciting). This has helped harness relationships personally among colleagues

• Business travel will take a hit: People have tried it now. With zoom video calls, people are realising that they don’t need to fly across the world for a single meeting.
• Creative collaboration: Working in innovation, we took pride in working collaboratively. But now tools like Microsoft whiteboard and google docs won’t just be for the creative or innovation professionals, they will be used by more industries
• Retail will change further: Plenty of us have had enough experience with shopping online, be it just buying essentials, or buying pretty much everything online. This emergency has forced even naysayers to experience the convenience of retail at their finger tips. This new behaviour may continue even after the emergency
• Why cinema when you have Netflix?: We already have access to a whole lot of content in our own homes. I see more new content (new movies etc) being launched straight on digital channels, and people becoming even more comfortable with ‘staying in’ and watching the latest movies online
• Fitter at home: This very individualistic time forced us to move from group exercise to socially distant exercise. Those of us who preferred exercise classes finally downloaded those home workout apps. Using these will show people the convenience of working out as and when they wish and possibly move people over to workout apps

• Hygiene lessons will stay: The importance of hand washing became known over a century ago. Since then it has been an easy method to fight disease. The importance of hand washing during the current emergency has been highlighted even further. This is a hygiene behaviour that will stay.
• Health at our fingertips: It’s already available – wearable technology to monitor your steps and your heart rate. But after a health emergency of this magnitude, it’s only natural that people will become more cautious and invest more in their health. With wearable technology giving you the feeling of being in control of your own health, people will invest in it more.
• Better schooling far and wide: Teachers have started to put up classes online, and plenty of families are appreciating teachers a whole lot more. From math to PE, teachers have found creative ways to ensure that there are no gaps in the curriculum. Hopefully a positive outcome from homeschooling will be that students who previously did not had access to good schooling can now take advantage of learning online and geography won’t be a deterrent.

• Stocking up will become rational again: When I was younger, my mom used to buy at least a 2 month stock of staples (it was rice, dal, flour, cleaning supplies for my Indian family). But when I started managing my own house, I would buy weekly supplies (due of the size of our house and limited storage available). However, after experiencing shortages of supplies world over, stocking up (yes, including toilet paper) might become the new normal

There’s so much more that may happen. Being home bound for so many days may teach us to become content with less. And maybe we will finally realise the impact we have on the world with pollution and overuse of plastics. Hopefully this virus goes away soon and we will be back to our lives. But it may very well be that when we do, we may experience a ‘new normal’

Natasha Lalwani is a Senior Innovation Consultant at Fluxx. These are her views based on her experience in the innovation and communication industries, and view of the world.