The pandemic, the evolution of technology, the aging workforce, and how people want to work today have all rocked industry as we know it today to its very core. This article discusses four critical trends for organizations to keep an eye on and adopt in the standard course of doing business.
Modern industry has been implementing new technologies to save consumers’ time and money, increase efficiency and improve work-life balances. It even helped set the stage for the modern online user experience. However, when it comes to people and processes, most companies have a long way to go. Many of the existing company roles and processes never experienced a true transformation. Instead, companies transitioned to processing the information digitally, without embracing the full extent of what technology can do.
Today, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are facing the results of innovation without transformation. And while the task of embracing operational and cultural transformation is daunting, there are a few significant trends that will help your company take the leap.
1. Business Anywhere
Many organizations are working remotely or installing and adopting new tools for virtual communication. But remote-work technology is just one way digital-first approaches are changing how we work and live together.
Business Anywhere starts with assessing how you work today before making decisions that will affect tomorrow. And while digital tools enable organizations to function during these unprecedented times, deploying new processes and managing people’s acceptance of change is just as important as technology.
If you’re not interested in becoming fully remote, you might still need to employ a Hybrid workplace. Such models combine virtual and in-person work models to gain access to the “serendipitous moments” afforded in an in-office setting while allowing team members who prefer heads-down work in their own homes to have such opportunities.
2. Trust
You’re no stranger to trust, even at work. But as industry adopts more remote work following the pandemic, it’s essential to ensure you bake trust into your organization. This isn’t only important due to remote work, either — it’s critical to establish trust to help manage organizational change, communication and training to gain value from your strategic initiatives.
But that’s easier said than done — how, exactly, do you go about ensuring trust is part of your organization? By switching up how you measure results from your teams. Instead of checking how many hours they’ve worked or how many breaks they’ve taken, turn to results.
To do that, you need a performance measurement framework to give you a holistic view of how your organization defines success. Don’t base your performance measurement on how many pages your team produces, how satisfied your customers are or even how accurate your product is. Turn to a combination of these metrics, and you’ll have a good understanding of how your team is doing, regardless of where they work.
