I talk frequently with people in the UC and collaboration industry about the “future of work” and where the workplace is headed. Since the pandemic, these conversations have become ever-more inspiring and innovative. Over the last year (and a bit), we’ve gone from talking about open offices and coworking to embracing a future of hybrid work.
Huddle rooms are being replaced by virtual reality meeting spaces. Video, AI, and other innovations have leapt into the forefront of our investment strategies.
The future has arrived.
McKinsey and Company discuss this in its report from December 2020, which claims that businesses have leapfrogged around 7 years’ worth of digital transformation in a matter of months. So, what does it mean to be working in the workplace of 2027 today?
Changes in Consumer Behaviour
One of the major points mentioned in the McKinsey study is that changes in customer behaviour has driven much of the demand for the sudden transformation of businesses. People under lockdown were forced to find other ways of connecting with companies. We began using the digital world for everything – even having food and essentials delivered (Contactlessly, of course).
Respondents in the study were 3 times more likely to say around 80% or more of their customer interactions were digital after the pandemic. With consumers embracing the digital frontier, businesses simply had to catch up. Face-to-face interactions became a thing of the past almost overnight, and the response to this change was amazing.
Businesses spent more on digital investments than any other continuity method during the pandemic, and digital service and product offerings jumped ahead massively. In Europe, the degree of growth equates to around 7 years of innovation. The scale drops to 6 years in North America, and 10 years or more in the Asia Pacific space.
Respondents said their companies acted up to 25 times faster than expected to the need for innovation. We only need to look at the remote working environment to see this. Before the pandemic, most companies ignored the concept of remote employment completely. When the virus hit, countless organisations changed to 100% remote work in a matter of days.
These Changes Have Launched Us Into the Future
Crucially, McKinsey notes that we’re not just borrowing ideas from the future temporarily with our new enhancements. We’ve made a fundamental jump in the way we live and work. Though some of the video conferencing and collaboration tools companies chose were purchased in haste, virtually every brand has now begun implementing long-term plans for the “hybrid work” infrastructure they’ll need going forward.
