The global spread of the Coronavirus has prompted an exponential change in our lives and our work. For many, the line between the two has blurred. Most of us did not envision the scenario of work-from-home for prolonged periods, juggling multiple video sessions, calls and doing actual work in between, and then, also dealing with the pushes and pulls of family, chores et al. Never a dull moment in the day!

The COVID-19 pandemic has become an accelerator of the biggest work-life transformations of our age. How we work, learn, communicate, connect, collaborate, and many other aspects, which seemed routine, are seeing a shift, and are set to change for the foreseeable future! 

The “new normal” and the “future of work" are a common conversation today, yet these thoughts fail to catch the speed of change that is influencing our current reality. Can organizations look beyond the new normal and instead anticipate and plan for the "new now”?

The Big Question: How will this transformation impact workplace, you, your team, and your organization? 

Here are some insights:

• Is virus the opportunity to re-define business: The pandemic offers new opportunity to redefine the business. The current situation will fundamentally shift how we live and do business, and this shift will be fuelled by smart technologies like Artificial Intelligence and supercomputing. Is your business future-ready? What’s your pivot?
• Investing in training and remote working: Worldwide, organizations are encouraging their employees to work from home. A new normal? Many companies are dealing with remote working by investing in training. This new normal of learning online and encouraging brainstorm ideas for staying productive, has the potential to accelerate behaviours as the responsibility for learning shifts from the trainer/organization to the learner. Moreover, with a plethora of options to choose from, reskilling and pivoting in career choices leading to increase in temp, gig working and project-based employment. Bye-bye organization loyalty? Not if, organizations create an ecosystem devoted to creating a skills inventory and reskilling their workforce, no matter if they are full-time or not.
• What is your digital quotient: Organizations are likely to move from employment based on qualification and domain skills to employment based on digital mindset and processing thinking skills. How well can you imagine your job role as modular processes and automate the routine elements? The human-skill based approach vs the machine-enabled one is a layered debate.
• The future of work is the state of worker wellbeing: The focus on worker wellbeing is especially important, as workers experience anxiety in dealing with the Coronavirus. Imperative for organizations to remain committed to helping build people’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. Does your Management demonstrate its interest in protecting and investing in their people?

The pandemic alone isn’t responsible for all the changes in how we work and set up our organizations, however it will be a huge influence in shaping it. As we crystal gaze into the future, organizations must invest in defining the ‘’new now’’, not just another fad, but a way of working. 

Companies are constantly striving for a competitive advantage… this transformation may well be the one that embraces the deserving!