The New Normal: What is it?
Everybody has been impacted by COVID19 whether they like it or not, even if they haven't gotten the virus, they are either working from home, have been unable to get their hair done, or unable to go to their favorite restaurant. The million-dollar question everybody wants to know, what is the new normal? Followed by when will that new normal finally be here?
I can't tell you much about medicine, so I can't tell you much about when the new normal will be here however I can tell you a little about what technology & business will look like when "normal" returns.
We've already seen companies like Fujitsu declaring they will move to a permanent work from home policy. We've seen companies like Infosys and Wipro saying that work from home relaxations should be permanent.
What will happen to all of that commercial real estate if even 3% of the companies in the USA go permanent? Another question, what will happen to the lunchtime economy? The restaurants strategically built near office spaces. Similarly, what about bars that make their money on the 5 o'clock happy hour?
I don't think anyone has definite answers to those questions yet, but what I can tell you is communication and IT spending will rise. If a company still thinks IT is a commodity and moves its employees to a remote policy permanently, they'll change their minds about IT quickly. Commercial rent budgets will have to be re-appropriated into IT & Communication.
We've already seen companies like Microsoft, RingCentral, Zoom, and many more fast-track new features since March. The quality of the collaboration products available in the next 9-12 months is going to increase ten-fold because of the speed at which these companies are forced to work.
Imagine a future, a "new normal" where companies spend less on their office space and more money on their employees. Employees go to collaboration spaces like WeWork, use tools like Microsoft Teams, and collaborate with the whole company. Imagine that this is executed so well that there is a productivity gain.
Don't get me wrong, this doesn't make sense for every company, and not every employee would love it, leadership will need to understand the company culture. I know I can't wait to get back in the office (when it is safe), I enjoy the comradery and the lunch economy.
Finally, if there is one thing I know for sure, in the next two years, we'll see a trend that successful companies will require, a strong IT partner, great bandwidth, and cutting edge collaboration/communication technology for all of their business units.
This has been the conversation in many of my spheres. We are evolving and it will result in greater efficiency. I hope employers invest it in their employees instead of pocketing the difference.
great post, Steve! I would love to be able to work one day a week in an office to connect with other staff. i see our main offices as smaller settings with a setup where we book a desk for the day. this would allow us to connect with other staff to do training or work collaboratively onsite. lots a changes and ways for companies and staff to save money. Sad that this crisis took place but the way we work as shifted for the better. I, for one am able to focus without all the distraction of a big office setting. thanks for this post!! 😉
Great post! Very insightful.
Good stuff Steve. Any thoughts on what collaboration tools you think are best poised to thrive in this new normal? I personally have been really disappointed with MS Teams.
Great article and it will be very interesting to see how this all shakes out. I'm hoping that some companies will take a balanced approach so there are retail savings but also allow employees to have some say on their work day and where they work from.