It’s going to be fascinating to see how the rapid adaptation in working habits to the exigencies of Covd19 end up creating another industrial revolution.
Will the attractions of the metropolis as the magnet for workers dissipate for good? As a result, will more and more companies opt for space out in the country?
Will our happiness levels increase, because we don’t have to commute so much?
Will we have much more drive to blend face to face with online in future and so create more variety in the way we work while reducing our stress levels?
A few immediate thoughts from members of a group of entrepreneur business leaders (part of The Supper Club) in an online forum I was chairing on Thursday. They are responding to the question, how do you think you might change things permanently:
o Think much more carefully before deciding to travel
o Isolate myself for significant periods of time so I can think and get things done, as I am doing right now
o Work out what my strongest products are in terms of must have for clients when life is at its toughest; focus on those much more than my nice-to-have products
o Take a brutally honest look at where my best revenue is going to come from and double down on that (for one member of the group this was monthly recurring revenue from service contracts rather than what appeared to be chunkier money from one-off projects), possibly getting rid of other sources of revenue altogether
o Insist on people working from home more: buy them furniture if need be, as one of the companies had done, because it was cheaper to buy new than to ship them their furniture from the office
o Cut down on office costs: be ruthless in making decisions about this
o To make up for the lack of personal interaction brought about by having to work from home more: once the lock-down is over, rent a place in the country with swimming pool and tennis court to let staff use on a regular basis. So, they can carry on working mainly from home, but you’ll bring them together in a beautiful place on a regular basis. It will still be cheaper than the current set up.
Well, it will be interesting to write an update to this in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years. Who knows, we may, indeed we probably are, making history.
Blog|11/04/2020
The Industrial Revolution we are witnessing.
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All fascinating ideas…of course, let’s see where they lead. I would only say, as someone who absolutely has to work face to face, (I coach GP trainees and junior doctors on their interpersonal skills for a range of different exams & their medical careers beyond. By the way, I, personally, do not want to see an online doctor for serious problems, that is, & will remain, far too impersonal). On that score, all sorts of crucial nuances are being lost in the quite uniquely exhausting and often stressful Zoom/Skype context, where new, yet unwritten etiquette is being demanded of us and of course, all sorts of new nuances/protocol will undoubtedly emerge to address this. For a rather trivial example, conference calls, (to date) don’t seem to have developed a neat, swift sign off – it’s a messy raft of waves, ‘byes’, ‘ok, yups’, ‘be in touch’ etc. (I’d recommend the CEO sums the meeting up, calls time and a countdown – 321 – a group ‘bye’ on what would be zero, then blackout! Much neater & everyone knows where they stand). Definitely a fan of the swimming-pool idea, but don’t think the NHS would provide this….
Thanks for this, Jo. What’s the swimnming pool idea? I agree with you that we need a very quick evolution of online meeting etiquette, but I suspect that the increased demand for using this technology will bring about rapid development. I’ve come across several friends and colleagues who have been completely exhausted from sitting in front of screens having to focus intensely for hours on end. I’ve also been working with a group of business leaders who love the fact that they haven’t had to commute, or take flights to see customers: they now question the need to do this on a regular basis. As with most things in life, I guess we’ll end up with a bit of both, or what we educationalists call a blended approach…