Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the business world was undergoing massive transformation through the access of internet businesses like Uber, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Xbox, Twitter, among many others. The ability to apply machine learning, AI, location services, and speech recognition made the delivery of services easier.
However, the pandemic has rapidly changed the competitive landscape across various market sectors. Today, companies (small, medium, and huge conglomerates) face the necessary changes to adapt to New Ways of Working.
With the new social distancing protocols, companies have embraced technology to ensure productivity is going on. Employees are working remotely, and service delivery is getting better. This has brought makeup of the workplace to reflect the new changes.
What is NWoW?
New Ways of Working is an initiative meant to enhance retention and flexibility by eliminating barriers and conventional management styles. It brings a new and modern multigenerational workforce in the industry. Some organizations have realized that the world is changing and trying to adapt to these new changes. Small businesses that will not embrace the changes will be in danger of failing and losing productive competitors.
Companies create easy and seamless communication channels and allow staff to work remotely. It brings more flexibility and boosts productivity.
Adaptation to NWoW
Keep distance. This has become the norm. The protocol has disrupted the way companies, especially small businesses, work.
- Management Revolution
The freedom that comes with technology and change in attitude towards work is confronting the conventional managerial practices. If it’s possible to answer emails at your couch’s comfort, then why should you get fixed at your office desk from 9 -6 pm?
Now, it’s possible to carry a virtual desk and filing cabinet in the pocket. Managers no longer have to attend the meeting physically. Thanks to Zoom, Google Meet, and other platforms. Traditional leadership practices, communication processes, and management systems were designed to make a person commit in a fixed position for certain hours. This outdated approach is fast fading away. It no longer fits today’s value of freedom, flexibility, equality, and COVID-19 protocols of keeping a distance.
- Flexibility
Waking up early in the morning all because you want to beat congested traffic can be daunting. What’s even more tiring is working for long hours under supervision. Employees normally feel as if they are treated like children, lowering morale.
However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentism rules seem to have drastically changed. Employers have introduced flexible working schemes, which add some agility to the working schedules. Individuals will have genuine autonomy over the working patterns. It’s a smart move that involves the shift from the common command-control mentality. It cultivates a great leadership style that empowers people at work.
- Future Work
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted various market sectors. But it seems companies are rapidly evolving from fixed working schemes to highly flexible patterns. The employers are now introducing autonomous working practices to give employees high degrees of freedom. Some companies are following with varying levels of empowerment and different agility for their people.
Businesses are moving towards a future model that adopts the technological, economic, and social influences of the 21-century. There are no location or hour requirements and no schedules.
The Impact of Digitization
Digitization thrills some people while frightens others in equal measures. Multiple digitization options might have already occurred. However, it has taken a pandemic for its acceleration, especially in small businesses.
So, how will businesses benefit through digitization?
1. New Contact Channels with Clients
Digital presence brings new ways of communicating with clients. For instance, the real estate sector is among the businesses that are forced to shift from offline to online adaptation. House hunters have been moving from house-to-house, office-to-office for in-person closing deals.
Mortgage closings can be tedious and complicated because of the huge paperwork involved. Sending and receiving physical documents is frustrating and time-consuming. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these frictions.
It has driven the surge of remote online notarization, where notary parties can teleconference with clients and sign the deal online. This is another way to boost sales and customer loyalty.
2. The Customer at the Heart of Business
The digital transformation is placing clients at the heart of the business. The opinion polls and social networks facilitate the crucial task of finding out what users think about services and products. As a business person or company, you’ll find a constant need for improvement.
The new technology means companies can use various options to boost customer experience. This might costly, but the result will be satisfactory.
3. Improved Productivity and Efficacy
Efficiency and productivity is a major concern in every business. And most organizations have faced difficulties during the Covid-19 crisis. A fall in productivity is a fall in revenue. With social distancing being the norm, customers are avoiding in-person deals.
With technology, companies can improve various areas. Clients are expecting to have goods and services delivered at their doorstep and quickly. Small businesses are innovating delivery apps to make shopping easy.
4. Working Remotely
Covid-19 has greatly altered how companies operate. The crisis has forced organizations to schedule employees to work remotely. Customers are also adapting to these behaviors. Clients appreciate the face-to-face interactions should be avoided. There are also seeking digital channels where they can access products and services.
5. Better Decision-Making and Strong Leadership
The digital innovation strategy is a way of relentlessly discovering opportunities and deciding with speed. It’s time to seize the momentum, fly with technology, and win customers.
But to deliver with speed, organizations need an agile-lean customer-oriented network. In agile teams, there is competence needed to deliver end-to-end value.
Wrap Up
What will happen post-Covid-19? Will companies be the same again? With digitization, employees and customers will have adopted New Ways of Working, and the new behaviors are likely to continue. We will awake to a new norm where remote working and social distancing become part of the culture.
Any company that wants to be successful must rethink and digitize. They should also drastically adapt to the new norm for employee-company and customer-company interactions. The outside-in client-centric digitization will continuously deliver the right innovations.
No matter the digitization strategy you choose, ensure you create a substantial customer relationship.