Although the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented disruption, it also created a unique opportunity to pursue the most substantial workplace experiment in history. Given the fact that employers and staff had no time to prepare for remote working, a decline in productivity was widely anticipated. There have been drops in some instances, but productivity has largely been maintained or improved in a host of areas. Whatever the scenario, though, one thing is clear today – business as usual will be different in the new normal.
As the wider business community continues to adapt to the changed reality, shifts in ways of operating are likely to continue in the new world of work. A recent Workplace of the Future employer survey emphasizes this, with more than 70 percent of managers open to more flexible models for their teams than they were before the pandemic and 60 percent of employees wanting more flexibility moving forward. With society taking steps to emerge from the crisis, now is the time for organizations to decide the direction they go from here.
It is imperative for organizations to establish a balanced way to move forward so they can overcome challenges and capitalize on opportunities that drive long-term success. However, no remote working will succeed long-term unless companies re-evaluate and transform underlying ways of working to empower teams, drive development, meet customer demands, and safeguard agility and productivity.
Many have already started down this path having recognized the benefits that new work practices can bring – and here are some considerations for companies to adapt in today’s changed reality:
Become a customer-centric organization
Encouraging all employees to truly understand their customers, take proactive steps to fulfill their needs, and provide seamless end-to-end customer journeys could be a primary goal. By being customer-centric and applying data-driven approaches to decision-making, individuals and teams will know precisely what tasks to prioritize, reducing the potential for wasted effort and time in the process.
Encourage iterative development
Companies can encourage teams to release incremental improvement frequently, learn from customer feedback, and adapt the next iterations accordingly. An iterative ‘test and learn’ approach – establishing a time-sensitive pilot program that embraces new ways of working – could also be adopted, with the objectives being to solve a problem and do so in a fundamentally different way
Select a driven cross-functional team
A cross-functional team with a mix of people, experiences, expertise, diverse corporate functions, and business units will avoid potential silos and increase the odds of successful outcomes with input from business units, marketing, IT, HR, and others.
Develop new ways of working playbooks
Preparing a playbook outlining fundamental concepts and techniques regarding ways of working in the new normal should also be considered. Ensuring everyone within the organization has the opportunity to become accustomed to new concepts and techniques can result in better business outcomes as personnel familiarize themselves with today’s changing environment.
With collaborative productivity essential to innovation, the above considerations can enable companies to adjust to the new normal and become more competitive. The key to success lies in following a flexible, comprehensive approach to testing new work practices. When pursued, companies can emerge stronger than ever before in the post-pandemic landscape.
Simply put, the time for action is now. The crisis of late has presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvent the workplace, and things that may have once seemed impossible may now be workable. COVID-19 has undoubtedly shown that remote working is effective, and the momentum built during this ‘new reality’ should be exploited and organizations should begin considering their longer-term needs.
Shoaib Yousuf, Principal, Boston Consulting Group.
Thomas Joykutty, Principal, Boston Consulting Group
