We believe 2020 will go down as the Year – if not the eon – of Adaptation. It certainly seems like we’ve lived an eon in just 10 months, doesn’t it? Not only have employees, children, consumers et al adapted, but small- to medium-sized businesses have had their share of change thrust upon them as well. This article from Inc. Magazine praises leaders who’ve been able to pivot and survive, and extends their lessons to the rest of us. Though it may seem trite to say businesses need to anticipate as much as possible the challenges that lie ahead, it’s safe to say that 2021 will build on these changes from 2020.
- Working from home. As the author said, the genie is out of the bottle on this one, and the workforce has shown that remote work can be productive, efficient and successful. Although some aspects of work life – innovation, on-boarding, training and maintaining culture – may require the face-to-face connection, leaders need to find the right mix of F2F and remote work that balances myriad needs and meets the company’s business goals.
- Physical space. The amount of physical infrastructure most businesses have invested in is quickly being re-imagined. Some companies are re-visiting the need for large spaces across the board while others are re-configuring space to convey the sense of physical safety employees want with an eye toward that F2F/remote-work hybrid. Whatever you do for 2021, it will involve some amount of “re-.”
- Business travel. The author believes we will not return to the level of pre-pandemic business travel because it’s proven to be just not necessary. Here again, companies would be well advised to study which aspects of the business need F2F connections – maybe critical steps in the sales process? – and which can be continued virtually. We’ve seen some creative conferences that offered familiar convention features in a different manner, and so continued creativity will rule next year, too.
- Digital transformation. The article touches on the inadequacy of 2005’s Internet infrastructure and how up-a-creek, pandemically-speaking, we all would have been back then. The companies that have most successfully weathered COVID are those that have been making inroads on the digital transformation path for a while.
The opportunities for 2021 include embracing and continually adapting the four areas mentioned to better position our companies to fully bounce forward to, well, 2019 levels – only better.