The New Normal: Welcome to the Future of Work

It only took the coronavirus a couple of months to change the business world as we once knew it. And there has been a lot of talk about how the new normal will look like. 

But how do we expect the future of work to be affected? How will the future of work look? Will we see a revolution in the way we work, or is this more of an evolution of new processes that were already started to take shape?

We have taken an in-depth look at what we can learn from the past, what changes we have already seen, and how we expect these changes to shape the future of work.

Remote Work Could Become the Standard

According to a few studies, over half of the workforce is now working from home. While this may be interesting, what is more surprising is that they have improved their communication and are more productive. 

Tech giants like Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Square, and Shopify are encouraging their employees to work from home. Some of them, like Shopify, are going all in on remote work, with no plans to bring their people back to the offices in the future.

Because of the improved productivity of the workforce that is working from home, we should expect that remote work arrangements become the new norm rather than a trend. Remote work will likely be regarded as more critical in the post-coronavirus world. Expect to see further development and new investments into platforms and technology for working from home.

However, this does not mean that all of us will be working from home permanently. For many jobs, working from home is not possible. Also, it is likely that even those who can entirely do their job without the office will likely visit the office for in-person meetings.

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The New Normal Will Be Technology Dependent

Working from home has forced companies to rely more on software to help them with communication, collaboration, and other areas of business. Technology has made working from home easier for people, which is why many companies will likely keep some of these tools in their arsenal even when everything gets back to normal.  

However, some software will not be easily transferable back to the office. Many companies started using employee monitoring software when they started working remotely. Since now everyone is back at the office, they think that they do not need a remote desktop monitoring software anymore. However, the need for remote desktop monitoring software is still there, maybe even more than before. 

Such software can be used as much more than a remote desktop monitoring software. With it, you can measure and improve the productivity of your staff, your employees' time and attendance, as well as create more efficient workflows. So you can see how a tool like this can still be useful, even with everyone working from the same office.

How We Do Meetings Will Change

Because of the COVID-19 virus, virtual meetings have become much more common. What was once reserved only for distributed teams has now become a reality for most organizations. We can expect that the trend of virtual meetings becomes more popular, just like remote work. 

In the last few months, we have seen the likes of Zoom, and other video meeting platforms pick up steam. However, do not expect that virtual meetings will just replace your daily standups. Many of your meetings will likely be replaced in favor of instant messages and emails since remote work has proven that things can still be done without 2-hour meetings.

Agile and Innovative Companies Will Succeed

If the coronavirus has proven one thing, it is that if companies want to be successful, they need to respond quickly and be prepared to adapt to any situation. Remote-first and remote-only companies have the biggest chance to come out of this pandemic unscattered. 

However, that does not mean that all other companies are doomed. The companies that also have the biggest chance to succeed are the ones who were able to adapt to the new situation quickly. For example, many companies are now making masks and there are gyms that are currently doing virtual training sessions with their clients.

Final Thoughts

The way we work will never be the same. However, just because everything is changing, it does not mean that it should scare us. Change is healthy and positive. 

Instead of fearing what will change and whether or not you will fail, you should instead make sure you are always prepared for any changes that might happen.