Future of Work and supporting SMEs

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THE FUTURE OF WORK • SEPTEMBER 2020

The Covid nine to five SPECIAL REPORT

How the pandemic has permanently changed where and how we work

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INSIGHTS BRING THE BIG

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Training for a digital work environment Jeremy Swinfen Green looks at how effective training is for life, not just a one-off conference room course

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ORKPLACE TRAINING, like work itself, is changing rapidly, driven by digital technology.

But it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of shiny new digital training tools such as virtual reality and AI. To get training right in the new world of work we must go back to basics by understanding its objectives.

Trainers using technology should know that the aim isn’t merely to impart information. It’s to engage people and change the way they think and behave.

Digital literacy The way we work is increasingly influenced by digital technology.

So employees need digital skills.

For most people that doesn’t mean coding or understanding how IT systems work, but people do need to be digitally literate.

Digital literacy is the ability to use digital devices efficiently. It goes far beyond watching TikTok videos and talking to friends on WhatsApp. People of all ages can be surprisingly illiterate. Keeping safe online, knowing how to search for information efficiently, identifying “alternative truths”, behaving appropriately, protecting reputations: these are fundamental digital skills that all employees need.

Many, perhaps most, need help in acquiring them.

Soft and hard skills Digital literacy isn’t enough though. These days most workers are knowledge workers, even workers in what were semiskilled jobs such as caring, hospitality, logistics and retail sales. And knowledge workers need “soft skills” such as effective communication, empathy,

analysis and creative thinking.

These skills are hard to teach. But they can be acquired at school and university. Drama teaches communication. Music teach listening skills. Literature teaches analysis. Retaining the humanities as part of the school curriculum is essential for the future digital workforce.

Of course, learning maths and science is important too.

Basic maths skills deliver an agile mind. And an understanding of scientific research techniques, a familiarity with statistics, and the ability to critique scientific “truth” are all important skills for the workplace.

But coding and advanced calculus are not. We should be teaching the workforce to collaborate with computers, not to compete with them.

be abandoned quickly by users who get lost or fail to understand how to progress.

Worst of all is the digital training that is designed as a regular test of knowledge of a particular subject such as cyber-security or health and safety. This “training” often consists of a video followed by multiple choice questions. It doesn’t explore what the student really understands or whether their behaviour is likely to change. It is often resented, especially where it is used as a “punishment”. (“You failed our phishing test s o y o u mu s t p a s s t h i s training”.)

Of course, well-designed digital training does have a place. But it needs to be part of a wider set of methods including self-discovery and group learning. Technology provides no short-cuts.

Training methods Remote digital training methods are increasingly used. These have advantages: people can access training, anytime and anywhere, and at their own pace. Interactivity can provide engagement. And it’s easier to track if people are focused on their learning.

But digital technology is by no means perfect. For instance, a 45-minute Zoom lecture is unlikely to engage the audience. During the pandemic, many academics learned that they needed to cut their lectures into short, highly focused segments, with activities at the end of each one.

There are other issues: remote learning is rarely effective at encouraging discussion or questions. And a badly designed training package will

Emerging technology New technologies are further changing the nature of workplace training, often in highly significant ways. For an engineer learning how to make a repair in a dangerous environment, VR headsets and haptic suits can give them practice without exposing them (or indeed the device they are repairing) to danger.

AI is also transforming training. AI will start by analysing existing training and outcomes, improving the quality of training. It can provide detailed analysis of individual training requirements, delivering content based on previous behaviour or new requirements. Ultimately it will be used to generate content that improves itself over time.

SEPTEMBER 2020 Publisher Bradley Scheffer | Editor Dan Geary | Client manager Maida Goodman | Contact us: info@lyonsdown.co.uk Campaign directors Paul Aitken, Marcus Edwards, Justin Payne, Adam Robins, Matthew Rodford

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that is reducing the need for training. AR devices such as smart glasses can deliver information to people whenever they need it. No need for training when you can call up the information you need by “looking” at and interacting with a virtual interface. And in only a few years, non-intrusive brain-computer interfaces will do away with the need for AR devices and allow you to “think” your way to the instructions you need.

Best practice for training Too often, training is thought of as something that takes place at specific times or in response to a particular need. But the nature of work, and the technology that drives it, is changing too fast for that to be effective any more.

We ne e d to move to life-long and continuous learni ng s o t h at p e ople c a n constantly upgrade and evolve their work skills. We need a flexible attitude to training where new content is always being generated to replace tired case studies or out-of-date information. And training

needs time. Organisations must spend time developing and testing it. And they must put time aside for their employees to learn and grow.

If we are to develop a workforce fit for the new digital workplace, a shift in culture will be required. The sharing of knowledge and ideas should be encouraged, as experience

is far more valuable than infor mat ion. R at her t ha n focussing only on practical training, we should be encouraging curiosity about the future, and about new ways of doing things. The idea of learning for its own sake should be promoted so that people become open to learning and better at it.

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TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANS DON’T ALWAYS GET ALONG. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION FROM PROCENSOL Low Code, High Performance

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ITH THE UK leaving the EU, an ongoing war for talent and a longer-term shift towards the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, human resources had plenty of issues with which to grapple before the untimely intervention of Covid-19. But the pandemic has issued in a new wave of challenges, some of which will inevitably shape the next few years for HR. “For businesses, one of the biggest impacts of the pandemic was taking part in the biggest ‘work from home’ experiment ever,” says Aliya Vigor-Robertson, co-founder of JourneyHR. “Recent research by Adecco Group has shown that 75 per cent of workers want to retain the flexibility they gained over the course of the lockdown.

In reality, organisations are set to benefit from this new way of working, as flexible workers tend to be more engaged at work and less likely to leave.”

Yet it will also throw up a number of issues for HR. Researc h by t he Advanced Workplace Institute (AWI) and the Amsterdam-based Center for Evidence Based Management highlighted three core areas of a “psychologically safe” workplace – trust, social cohesion and information sharing – which are made harder when people work remotely. “Business and HR leaders need to consider how they motivate and inspire colleagues when they can’t be with them all the time,” says Andrew Mawson, MD of Advanced Workplace Associates.

“And they have to rethink how to create energy, momentum, connection and creativity across their communities.”

There will also be implicat ions for t he day-to - day elements of HR. “The move to virtual working has the power to shift companies’ entire approach to HR, from how they think about hiring, learning and development, culture, collaboration and communications with staff,” says Tessa Raum, vice president of HR at Colt Technology Services.

“These past few months have taught us that onboarding is even more critical when staff are joining businesses without entering an office. Businesses need to think about how they can embed the same culture and the same networking and

Looking after the human element Human resources professionals have already had plenty to bargain with. But in the midst of a pandemic and with the final stages of Brexit looming, Nick Martindale looks at how HR needs to change if it is to meet the “new normal” head-on social experiences in a virtual environment.”

The experience of Covid-19 will also catapult the topic of wellbeing higher up t he agenda, something that was already gaining prominence as more employees suffer with mental health. “Employees are likely to be experiencing heightened emotions, worry, stress and tension,” says Teresa Boughey, founder of Jungle HR. “HR professionals will need to be attuned with their people so that they can provide a range of services, not only from counselling, but ongoing development and support. It’s imperative that organisations proactively seek to top up the fuel tank of their HR professionals and respond to their wellbeing needs too. They can’t support the wellbeing of

others if they are running on the fumes themselves.”

The rise of remote working will also have an impact on the war for talent – an issue for some time in many sectors, and which will be impacted further by changes to the UK’s immigration system after January 2021. “The war for talent will be a big issue for HR teams,” says Raum. “The shift to remote working is going to broaden everyone’s horizon when it comes to looking for talent, which means companies will need to differentiate themselves and have a strong employee experience to attract talent.”

This makes it even more important that organisations have a strong employer brand, believes Marilyn Chaplin, chief HR officer at NTT Ltd. “People

are looking for interesting work, with interesting colleagues, and a purpose to drive them every day,” she says.

“People increasingly want to work for companies that are making a genuinely positive impact on the world and environment. CSR has always been significant but Covid-19 has truly emphasised the importance of supporting communities and giving back.”

Other factors will also shape the landscape for HR in the next few years. The rise of digital, including the use of AI-powered bots, will impact on many businesses, with HR tasked with identifying roles that will no longer be needed, and working to reskill employees where appropriate.

Sundara Sukavanam, chief digital officer at Firstsource,

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which has a vision of creating teams made up of both people and bots over the next few years, believes this will affect in HR in several areas. “This affects performance management and evaluation criteria for managers, as well as cultural aspects such as encouraging experimentation, innovation, and fail-fast, learnfast behaviours,” he says.

“Promotion criteria will also change for similar reasons, as supervisors and team leaders require new levels of technology understanding and skills.”

Greater automation will also impact HR’s own role, particularly in how companies go about processing job applicants and evaluate interviews.

HR will have to embrace technology in other ways too, including the use of data analytics to help make decisions around staff and career progression. “Progressive HR leaders actively engage with data analytics and emerging technologies,” says Aine Hurley, managing partner and head of the global HR practice at Odgers Berndtson. “Like other functions on the leadership team, data analytics enables leaders to identify challenges such as future talent demands or current skills shortages.

“However, the core part of the people function hasn’t changed. Relationship management, influencing, judgement and risk management, and commercial nous continue to be core skills. It’s a multifaceted role that requires an individual to be adept in solving both human and business challenges.” A study by Capterra also hinted at the limitations of people analytics, finding that employees would not trust an AI to decide a promotion or salary increase.

If there is a positive for human resources in the midst of such challenges, it is the potential for the function to finally prove itself as a strateg ic bu s i ne s s p a r t ne r.

“Covid-19 has thrown HR and people management into the limelight and put a spotlight on a department that can sometimes be overlooked,” says Peter Ryding, a serial CEO and founder of the HRD PathFinder Club. “Now is the time for HR directors to showcase their own value, raising their profile and gaining a position as the CEO’s most trusted adviser.”

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The future will be project managed In turbulent times, the success of organisations will depend on putting adaptability at the heart of project planning and delivery

P

rated it as seven or higher. When asked how inclusive the profession is, 51 per cent of respondents rated it as seven or higher.

There is a need, however, to address more than characteristics such as race and gender.

Diversity must be embedded into how people think. Workplaces planning for the future must reflect on what “thinking differently” really means, so that leaders and employees can embrace changes and innovations that will support success.

Diversity Resilience

Diversity is rightly valued in most modern workplaces, including those within the project profession. APM’s latest Salary and Market Trends Survey found that, when asked how diverse the profession is on a scale from zero to 10, from “not at all” to “completely”, 46 per cent of respondents

15.15%

14.96%

13.96% 10.87%

10.07%

9.27%

8.77%

8.37%

2.39%

Other

None

Financial management

Digital and data skills

Planning and monitoring

Diversity of thinking

Project leadership

0.6%

SOURCE: APM/CENSUSWIDE

result of their main project. Organisations that encourage a culture of resilience will be more inclined to take the bold steps necessary to overcome unexpected situations.

Sustainability The government’s target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions has placed an onus on businesses to examine their own carbon footprints. Projects will play a leading role in this, with “net negative” rather than net zero rapidly becoming an accepted benchmark. Those tasked with delivering the projects that will help organisations meet their targets must be inspired and empowered to make environmental sustainability a priority.

In recent months we have seen the world transform at an astonishing pace. Skills and cultural elements that support the delivery of adaptable projects will be key to creating future workplaces that survive and thrive.

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5.58%

Strategic management

“It is increasingly apparent that many organisations can only survive and thrive by ensuring their projects can adapt quickly to new circumstances”

The increasing recognition of the economic and social value of projects risks putting pressure on practitioners’ shoulders if not carefully managed. APM’s most recent survey of project professionals shows that 65 per cent have experienced stress as a

What skill will be most important for project professionals to develop post Covid-19?

Risk management

The disruption of a global pandemic is a significant impediment to business. This is not the only challenge organisations face, however. Ongoing issues such as digital transformation and the climate crisis mean

workplaces are likely to continue changing at an accelerated pace.

New skills alone will not be enough to tackle these challenges. A shift in attitudes and behaviours is also required.

Organisations in the public, private and third sectors must examine their cultures and consider specific changes that will enhance the conception, management and delivery of projects.

Communication

Change on a cultural level

Debbie Dore, chief executive, Association for Project Management

People management and stakeholder engagement

ROJECT MANAGEMENT has long been an overlooked profession, associated mainly with construction and engineering. But this is changing as the economic contribution of the profession becomes clear.

Research by Association for Project Management (APM) and PwC, published in the 2019 report The Golden Thread, found that project-related work generates £156.5 billion of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy annually, and employs 2.13 million full-time equivalent workers. A further report published in 2020 found that project-related work among SMEs, which represent 99 per cent of all UK businesses, contributes between £79-£94 billion of GVA each year. This is to say nothing of the benefits successful projects create for businesses and communities.

Project managers must embrace new skills and mindsets to ensure adaptability is at the heart of any project’s culture. APM’s latest Salary and Market Trends Survey found that developing the skills needed for the future workplace was the most significant challenge project professionals anticipated in the next five years. A subsequent survey – see the boxout below – asked project professionals what skills will be most important for them to develop in the post-Covid world.

Since project professionals are at the forefront of planning and delivering change to achieve social and economic benefits, businesses that prioritise the development of these skills within their project teams will have a distinct advantage.

The sheer economic power of this profession means skills development is a matter of significance, not only for project practitioners but for everyone with a stake in the performance of a business, a public service, or local or national government.

It is also increasingly apparent that many organisations can only survive and thrive by ensuring their projects can adapt quickly to new circumstances – for example, using digital communication delivery for remote work to bind teams together. One clear lesson from the Covid-19 crisis is that communication has become increasingly intertwined with technology and digital skills, elevating the importance of digital know-how in this new world.

APM’s Projecting the Future series is a big conversation with project professionals, decision-makers, business leaders and others with a stake in successful projects.

Our discussion papers share insights on the challenges and opportunities affecting our world, including the future of work and skills.

Visit bit.ly/APM-future to read the papers and join the discussion

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Recovery that starts at the roots SMEs are the beating heart of the UK economy. In today’s era of sustained crisis, the Small Business Leadership Programme is ensuring that they can survive and stay healthy “Coronavirus has put untold pressure on small companies. We need a system that supports small businesses at every point, and enables them to face the next 12 months with confidence and strength”

M

ORE THAN 99 per cent of businesses in the British economy are small to medium-sized enterprises. They number 5.9 million across the UK, employing 16 million people, and are often referred to as the backbone of our economy.

As we begin to take our first breath and assess the economic damage the Coronavirus pandemic has wrought, it is essential that SMEs are placed at the forefront of plans, and that they are supported, if they are to continue to survive and thrive. It is these businesses which have been hit hardest, yet they are the ones that will help us rebuild.

Coronavirus has put untold pressure on directors and CEOs of these small companies, and we have seen the impact this has had on many of them across the country. According to a recent McKinsey online survey of UK SMEs, 80 per cent of small businesses reported their revenues were declining in June 2020. This is something that is expected to continue as uncertainty persists.

We need a system that supports small businesses at every point and enables them to face the next 12 months with confidence and strength.

How to support small businesses It is not just cash revenue that will help businesses navigate these uncharted waters successfully. They will need support, advice and guidance to help them innovate and make the necessary transitions so they can continue to grow. By partnering with business schools, we will be able to provide the knowledge and support needed beyond cash assistance.

Over the last couple of years, the benefit of providing a government-backed programme to small business owners has been discussed with business schools, to provide support when it comes to the constant innovation and creativity required to grow and maintain a business. However, given the uncertainty and chaos in the global economic system caused by the pandemic, the need for a business school programme to support small businesses has become ever more apparent.

These discussions eventually yielded the green shoots of what would become the Small Business Leadership Programme, with the aim of the initiative to develop stronger leadership while helping businesses innovate, become more efficient and improve their resilience. Launched at the end of July, the Small Business Charter partnered with BEIS to initiate the Small Business Leadership Programme, with leading business schools across the country providing a course to owners and directors of small and medium-sized businesses.

The programme, rolled out through SBC Award-holding business schools across England, will help leaders make their businesses more resilient and productive for the long-term and will aid in businesses in future growth.

How it works All business schools delivering the programme have been assessed by the Small Business Charter (SBC), a national accreditation awarded to business schools that excel in supporting small business, student enterprise and the local economy.

To ensure participation in the programme is feasible – after all, those taking part will also have businesses to run – it will be kept short and focused, and in light of the current situation, will be delivered online through a structured course of eight 90-minute webinars over the course of 10 weeks, which will provide the knowledge needed for businesses to tackle crisis situations. Peer

group work will also be a vital part of the programme. The course will also give businesses the opportunity to strengthen their business network. Participants will develop strategic leadership skills and the confidence to make informed decisions to boost business performance, as well as studying issues such as productivity, sustainability and resilience.

The course is more than a how-to guide, and will provide participants with the tools to navigate the economic and commercial fallout from Covid-19. It is not just about the pandemic; it is also about the future.

The success stories The SBLP builds on the success of the smaller-scale Leading to Grow Programme, and other programmes run by participating business schools. The Leading to Grow Programme took place at the beginning of this year and specifically focused on micro businesses (those with between one and

nine employees). Some of our participating business schools also ran individual programmes based on a similar model.

For example, in Birmingham, via the support of Aston Business School, the founder of automation company Mechatronic Solutions transformed their engineering company after completing the business school’s servitisation programme. The programme enabled the company to shift its focus from just selling machines to providing automation as a service, while also honing leadership skills and bringing about a complete transformation to the business. The result was that the business has grown by approximately 400 per cent in the last five years.

Staffordshire University Business School, meanwhile, helped Potteries Print offset a dip in its traditional commercial order base, by pivoting to produce new online and offline revenue streams for both businessto-business and business-to-consumer.

Among these were sneeze screens, face coverings and other Covid safety products.

Potteries Print is now looking into new technology which can transpose a business logo onto a corporate gift or clothing so a mock-up can be shown prior to ordering. It is also building a new corporate merchandise e-commerce website to promote and sell these items nationwide.

These examples also highlight how businesses which are already successful and growing quickly are supported. Visit from the Stork CIC in Manchester pivoted from online parenting support to delivering essential baby-related supplies such as nappies and formula milk to parents in hardship and those who were shielding.

The business grew rapidly during lockdown, with huge demand for delivery options for essential items. Manchester Metropolitan University Business School was able to assist the business in this sudden boom in growth, by providing the mentorship and support to hire new volunteers and trustees.

All of these examples show the breadth of small businesses, and the different challenges faced by each individual one. There is no one-size-fits-all solution in the SME sector, and these programmes are designed to provide the tailored business advice necessary to assist all businesses which sign up to succeed.

The Small Business Leadership Programme will provide the essential confidence and tools all businesses need now to continue to survive and thrive during this period.

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@SmallBizCharter https://smallbusinesscharter.org/ small-business-leadership-programme

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ITH THE shift to remote selling, the future of sales has arrived ahead of schedule. Activities that we once assumed had to take place in person are suddenly digital by default: video meetings, virtual conferences, product demos. According to software review platform TrustRadius, interest in web conferencing is up 445 per cent since the start of the pandemic.

But the biggest change in B2B decisionmakers’ dealings with sales isn’t that their conversations happen remotely, but the agenda of those conversations. They’re about to discover how it feels when sales gets serious about putting the buyer first.

Why sales needs a new approach to building relationships Adapting to remote selling has created challenges for many sales organisations. Prior to the pandemic, 55 per cent of sellers surveyed by LinkedIn said they relied on face-to-face interactions to build relationships.

That’s one of the reasons 60 per cent expect to close fewer deals this year, 55 per cent expect their pipeline to decrease and 44 per cent anticipate a decrease in buyer responsiveness.

Why are salespeople so concerned about their chances of engaging prospects remotely?

It’s partly because buyers are increasingly guarding their time, but it’s also a verdict on how much value cold sales outreach is delivering. There’s a reason why 90 per cent of C-suite executives say they don’t respond to impersonal sales approaches.

Why salespeople don’t want more of the same When business pipelines come under pressure the traditional response of sales has been to scale up outreach and prioritise quantity of contacts over quality. When sales tech and automation first arrived, this is how sales organisations used them. It wasn’t a great experience for buyers, but it wasn’t for salespeople either. According to recent research in partnership with Miller Heiman Group, 60 per cent of B2B buyers described the sellers they deal with as “interchangeable”. There’s little satisfaction in being seen that way. However, over the last few months, far more are investing time in the tools they need to change this.

Buyers prefer to work with sellers who put their needs first…

88%

…of UK buyers choose to work with sellers they see as trusted advisors

93%

…say they’re more likely to consider salespeople who have a clear understanding of their business needs

36%

…say “active listening” is the most valuable quality in a salesperson (the highest of any trait)

SOURCE: LINKEDIN STATE OF SALES REPORT 2020

Why sales is finally putting the buyer first Taking a lead from top performers

Becky Schnauffer, director, LinkedIn Sales Solutions, UKI

Rather than using technology to scale outreach and hit prospects cold, sellers now invest in prospects where they’ve identified a genuine opportunity to add value. And it works. Top sellers are far more likely to list the ROI they can secure for a customer as the most important factor in closing deals.

They’re about delivering ongoing value, not just hitting that month’s quota.

Since the arrival of the pandemic, others have raced to catch up, with adoption of sales technology tools skyrocketing across

…sales professionals identify with this approach…

82

%

…say they identify with a buyer-first approach

81%

…are more likely to choose to work for a buyer-first organisation

81%

…of top performing sellers say they always put the buyer first

SOURCE: LINKEDIN GLOBAL SELLER QUANT SURVEY 2019

Europe. LinkedIn Learning data shows that the amount of time spent researching LinkedIn Sales Navigator among EMEA based sales professionals grew by 48 per cent on average month-on-month between February and April. The average number of accounts saved on Sales Navigator, a key indicator of sellers researching their buyers’ needs, is up 145 per cent year-on-year.

Investing in a buyer-first approach pays off. Nine out of 10 UK buyers say they’re more likely to respond to sellers who understand their needs and share helpful, relevant content. LinkedIn data shows that, between March and May this year, the average Sales Navigator user was five times more successful at establishing connections with decisionmakers than their peers.

A new view of sales performance means a new buyer experience Customer satisfaction and customer retention are now among the most commonly used metrics for measuring a salesperson’s performance. The way to keep customers loyal and happy is to act as their true partner, crafting solutions that help them achieve their goals, and surfacing new opportunities that show them what’s possible.

Sellers’ incentives are now about more than simply closing their next deal, and are focusing instead on finding opportunities

where buyers can gain the most value. In time, sellers earn trust and open the door to return business. One survey found that 88 per cent of buyers prefer working with sales professionals they regard as trusted advisors.

Significantly, these sellers don’t disappear after a deal closes. Putting buyers first isn’t just a prospecting tactic. It represents a genuine shift in how organisations think about selling that’s focused on creating long-term partnerships. And it’s arriving not a moment too soon.

INDUSTRY VIEW

LinkedIn Sales Solutions @linkedinselling

…and it’s made possible with LinkedIn Sales Navigator

2.2x

Sales Navigator users made 2.2x more profile searches than non-users

265x

…viewed 265x more decision-maker profiles than non-users

4.9x

…and made 4.9x more connections with them between March and May 2020

SOURCE: LINKEDIN GLOBAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SURVEY 2020

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The Covid 9-5

What will the postpandemic world of work look like, and how can you prepare for it?

F

EW THINGS have been skewed more by the Covid-19 pandemic than our sense of normality. Since April, the virus – and the new rules it has spawned – has crept into every aspect of our lives: social, familial and professional. We limit which friends we see and where we see them; we take care not to come into close contact with vulnerable relatives; and we find ourselves at home, often alone, for much of the day, working from a makeshift desk as the office spaces we used to inhabit lie empty.

The pandemic has atomised our society.

Remote working, once a plaything of freelancers, is now the norm for large sections of the working population. Many of those who now go into their offices do so intermittently, swapping their in-days with colleagues and, when there, keeping a distance from those they used to work

closely with. We once took for granted the fact that from Monday to Friday our days would be filled with social interaction – meetings, coffee breaks, brainstorming sessions. Even the commute, dreaded by so many, gave added structure to the day.

But for many, this aspect of their lives has gone. Of course, errands can now be run, and walks can be taken. But the office of pre-2020 was a social setting whose value we failed to comprehend until the moment it seemed as if it might no longer be available to us.

Yet there’s a second chapter to the story of how Covid-19 has reconfigured our sense of normality. The changes have been severe – empty offices, half-filled train carriages, limited restaurant space. Yet in a short space of time, we’ve been able to adapt to the sudden fragility of our social and professional lives. What’s more, we have begun

Further reading…

Teleworking During the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond Produced by the authoritative International Labour Organisation, this guide on employer best practice for safely managing the workplace during Covid-19 gives the nuts and bolts on how the virus spreads around offices, and what rights employers and employees have given the new threat. https://bit.ly/32g8TNh

The Design of Work Post-Covid This overview looks at key areas in which workplace design and technology – sensors measuring proximity of employees to one another, illness screening and so on – can best meet the new needs brought about by Covid-19. Written by US HR consultancy Mercer, it is nevertheless highly relevant to the UK market. https://bit.ly/3ihYuX0

Working Safely During Coronavirus This is the UK government’s official guidance to working safely across a range of sectors, from close contact services to performing arts or heritage sites – although note there are separate guidelines for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. https://bit.ly/2GGzXwM

Managing Work-Related Psychosocial Risks During the Covid-19 Pandemic This report exploring psychological ill-health resulting from Covid-related workplace pressures looks at work-life balance and aspects of communication and psychosocial support that are vital to maintaining the wellbeing of employees. https://bit.ly/3bI106x

“The changes have been severe. Yet in a short space of time, we’ve been able to adapt to the sudden fragility of our social and professional lives”

to work out ways to mould this new reality to our needs.

Within disasters lie opportunities, and the workplace provides a telling example of this. Recent decades have seen attempts by companies to cut their spend on office rent while maximising space, meaning that employees have been crammed into evertighter environs. Proximity to colleagues will always, to an extent, improve communication and collaboration, but it leads to overcrowding, lack of privacy, noise, and, ultimately, higher stress levels. Mental health problems resulting from one’s nineto-five aren’t purely a matter of overly long hours, poor management, negative workplace dynamics and being overworked.

And the impact of inadequately designed office spaces on the wellbeing of staff has been well researched.

Yet with lockdown easing and both employers and staff growing impatient at the low productivity and isolation that can come with working from home, there has been greater momentum over the effort to have people return to their places of work.

With that, visions of the ideal workplace are beginning to change – and, some might say, for the better.

Contingent workforces In the pre-Covid era, it was by and large the norm that a business would have a cohesive body of full-time staff. Any contingent workers, whether part-time or freelance, were seen as more of a side dish: valued when they were being used, but altogether peripheral to the main operation. Yet this is likely to change, and the workforce long known for largely being called upon when the going gets tough looks set to establish

its central position in the world of work going forward. Contingent workers are by nature flexible, and able to pick up and deliver work at short notice. The temporary nature of the way they worked – short-term or medium-term contracts, freelance commissions – may well have previously marked them out as infrequently valuable and inessential, but it is likely that through the pandemic’s exposure of the precariousness of business models that had once seemed secure, this workforce will soon prove its worth. Will there be such a thing anymore as “jobs for life”? Without clarity on when normality will return, how long it will return for, and indeed what exactly it will look like, companies will be reluctant to commit to hiring full-time staff in the numbers they had previously. Into that space will step, with greater confidence than ever in their own value, contingent workers.

Adaptable skills It follows that the shift in our understanding of what the appropriate workforce for a post-Covid world will look like comes with a change in our sense of apposite skillsets. Can an individual worker spread him or herself across multiple tasks, or have we created a culture in which specialisation is seen as a distinguishable quality in a worker, while the value of adaptability goes underappreciated? With less rigid workforces likely to come into being, adaptability will be key to ensuring businesses continue to deliver work of a high quality. Workers therefore need to be ready to continually refresh, update, and widen their skillsets, while employers would do well to invest in new forms of training and come to the understanding

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info@lyonsdown.co.uk many staff can they realistically have in the office at any one time? Can people really use break out areas without breaching social distancing guidelines? It may well be the case that as the realisation of these difficulties become more apparent, employees altogether stop seeing the office as a social space, and use it only periodically, and for functional purposes: meetings, use of equipment, and so on.

Enhanced technology If remote working is to become the norm for millions of people around the country, then technologies – in particular, communications and those used for employee monitoring – will be integral to maintaining business momentum. Already the virtual meeting platforms Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become synonymous with the new age of work we find ourselves in, and with them users seek to replicate, as best as possible, the traditional meeting format.

Clocking-in technology, including phone apps, have been around for a while, but have taken on new prominence. The ability to easily complete timesheets from home will become yet another requirement of the post-pandemic era. Businesses will know that unless they can quickly leverage this technology, core aspects of the management side of the operation will suffer – and with that, so will employee satisfaction, turnover and a whole heap of other measures of success. that too many specialised staff may ultimately thwart the growth of the business.

Changing workspace Already the character of the workplace has, for many businesses, profoundly changed. Social distancing requires that colleagues carefully regulate the way they interact with one another in the office.

This means that access to breakout areas may well be restricted, small meeting rooms left abandoned, and desks spaced farther apart. In some cases, offices have erected protective screens between desks.

It all leads to a more impersonal workplace experience than we’d known before.

Recent research that uses sensors and other devices has offered a clearer view of how people behave in the office: how often they bump into one another, how often they use the kitchen or restroom, and so on. This gives an improved picture of how space is used, and from that, researchers have been able to determine the efficacy of social distancing measures. The findings show that, in short, it’s very difficult to do well – people always encroach on others’ space.

The upshot is that businesses will likely need to rethink their entire setup. How

Project management Workers, whether they be employees of financial firms, schoolteachers or civil servants, frequently remark about their vastly increased workload since lockdown began in the UK. Getting to grips with the new reality is taxing, and many of the initial problems that have slowed operations are likely to resolve themselves over time. But others may not, and it’s evident that new working arrangements require new strategies for project management. KPMG has produced a useful four-part model to assess a company’s ability to respond to the volatile

nature of work today, looking at its ability to react (resetting processes, adapting employee roles), its resilience, its ability to recover from loss and regain stability, and the flexibility it brings to the new reality.

Each of the core components of sound project management – budgeting, communication, staff, timelines and so on – take on added importance in this new climate.

Companies may decide that, given how quickly longstanding ways of running businesses have changed, it is more efficient, and ultimately more cost-effective, to farm out project management to specialist third parties who will have developed and tested a great variety of contingencies.

SMEs While larger businesses will have contingencies in place, or the resources available to call on third-party project management companies, things get more complicated for small-to-medium sized organisations.

SMEs are vital to the UK economy – they account for half the country’s total business revenue, and employ nearly half of all workers. But they are, on the whole, much less secure than larger companies. As McKinsey notes, 80 per cent of SMEs reported stable or growing revenue for the year prior to April 2020, but, as of June, the same percentage said revenues were in decline. Some recovery has been achieved, thanks to the easing of lockdown and government support, but the marked downturn indicates the precariousness these vital engines of growth experience.

But paradoxically, their smallness might be their ultimate saviour. SMEs are generally more flexible than large companies, and they are more embedded in local communities. Their profile has in many ways been raised since April, with concerned consumers encouraging one another to support small businesses in whichever way they can. The strength of local networks becomes paramount, as does an adaptable crisis management strategy. Enhancing these characteristics of SMEs will be vital to their longevity.

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Arts and culture in Saudi Arabia: the impact of Covid-19 W

E OFTEN associate culture with looking back: to the works of long-dead poets, old masters, traditional music and dance. For instance, In Saudi Arabia, the Jenadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival celebrates the heritage of the region.

But culture is about so much more than celebrating the past. It is also about looking forward, welcoming change and embracing the future.

And that is as true in Saudi Arabia as it is anywhere.

A vision for culture The kingdom has a very strong vision for culture.

In fact, culture is a central part of Saudi plans for the future. In its Vision 2030 programme, there are plans to boost the participation of citizens and residents in cultural activities. And culture is defined widely. It isn’t just music and poetry.

The Saudi Ministry of Culture has expanded its role to embrace 16 different cultural forms including film, fashion and the culinary arts.

There are practical reasons for this growing emphasis on culture. It’s an important part of

developing a fulfilling way of life, of course. But it is also a way of growing the economy, which is important as Saudi Arabia diversifies away from oil production. And just as importantly, culture is a medium for international exchange, a way of developing the kingdom’s relationships with the rest of the world.

As Saudi Arabia integrates more closely with other nations, it is also embracing some of the norms that many other nations follow. This is shown in the increasing diversity of arts and culture leadership: for example, Dr Amal Fatani has been appointed cultural attaché to the United Kingdom (one of three women in this role), while Dr Zainab Al-Khudairi is head of the kingdom’s cultural programme.

Considerable investment Alongside these changes comes a considerable investment in culture. There is, of course, Ithra, a beacon of change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a window on global cultures for its citizens.

Open since 2018 and housed in an inspiring building, Ithra (more formally the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture) is a space that aims to provide transformative experiences that unlock people’s potential through culture and innovation.

Ithra is a major investment. It is not just a building. It is a continuous collection of programmes designed to fuel creativity, inspiration and a passion for lifelong learning. Educational workshops are side by side with culinary experiences, film screenings, museums and performance art. By offering this rich cultural mix, Ithra provides Saudi Arabia with a vigorous source of potential, equipping citizens with knowledge and stimulating curiosity.

The organisation’s mission, as described by Ithra’s director Hussain Hanbazazah, is simple: “to enrich culture, art, and society”. By celebrating innovation and traditional culture together, Ithra is helping the kingdom preserve the best of its past while at the same time moving towards its new tomorrow.

Another major cultural investment is the Diriyah mega project, a development intended

to preserve and celebrate the 18th century home of the rulers of Saudi Arabia and turn the iconic landmark of Diriyah into a global gathering place.

These and other investments demonstrate the determination of Saudis to strengthen and share their cultural achievements.

The pandemic and culture in the Arab world The cultural scene in the Arab world is a lively one. Indeed, as Saudi film director Ali Alsumayin said, “Before the pandemic we were living in a cultural and creative boom, especially in the kingdom.”

And then the world was hit by Covid-19. Inevitably this had a major effect on creative endeavours around the world. Saudi Arabia was no exception. In a research report written for Ithra, Art, Culture and Covid-19: The Expert View, two major impacts of the pandemic on cultural life were identified.

First, the pandemic obliterated traditional routes for raising revenue for artists, museums and many other parts of the cultural ecosystem.

Theatres and festivals, where people paid to gather together, were particularly badly hit.

And second, certain types of artistic activity became impossible. Filmmaking, for instance, was halted, ironically at a time when the desire

“[What] we have learned in isolation is the importance of being rooted, not only in our country or our region, but also in our home, whose corners we almost forgot because of the speed of life around us” – Ahmed Al Mulla

to watch films online grew among people trapped at home.

However, the news was not all bad. Commercial opportunities for selling cultural artefacts such as artworks and jewellery still exist online, and indeed have been growing as people look to spend money in new ways. In fact, despite the pandemic, cultural progress in Saudi Arabia has been maintained, and in some areas even accelerated.

Positive effects of the pandemic Among the many positives resulting from the pandemic in Saudi Arabia, one of the most important is increased creativity. Denied traditional outlets, artists have been forced to find new ways of working. According to Maya El Khalil, one-time director of the Athr Contemporary Art Gallery in Jeddah, “Artists will continue to find innovative ways to communicate, to reach out, to explore and to express.”

And so it has proved, with online media in particular offering new ways of sharing, explaining and exploring culture. For instance, Ithra’s director Hussain Hanbazazah describes how, because of the physical shutdown caused by the pandemic “We curated programs not based on one-way communication, but by reaching out to the public to co-create the content.”

The focus of artists has changed as well.

Forced to stay at home, often isolated, artists have been pushed to greater introspection. Basma Al-Shathry, curator at the Misk Art Institute, has noticed something rather beautiful. “Artists have been using their personal stories for their work, where they delve into their own memories and streams,” she says. The poet and filmmaker Ahmed Al Mulla adds another significant point: “The other thing that we have learned in isolation is the importance of being rooted, not only in our country or our region, but

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also in our home, whose corners we almost forgot because of the speed of life around us.”

It’s important to also remember that isolation doesn’t have to mean a lack of collaboration. Just as businesspeople and teachers are getting used to sharing ideas over Zoom calls, so artists are using online technology to work together. As collaboration and co-operation become more important to individual artists who are physically isolated, so innovation and creativity increase.

It seems that even the loneliness of locked-down societies can have cultural benefits.

Another, perhaps unexpected, benefit has been the degree to which the move online has increased audiences. Ithra’s Hussain Hanbazazah explains: “We have much wider audiences than we previously realized. An example is our Scinights, which usually attract between 30 and 35 attendees. Our first online session attracted 250 attendees. Over the course of the lockdown, we engaged with over 30,000 people from 75 countries around the world.” Ithra has learned from this and has reopened with a combination of physical and online programmes.

Furthermore, as we slowly come out of lockdown, there are also benefits for consumers of art and culture. The physical experience of art is important: visiting galleries and museums, seeing and even handling cultural artefacts that are grouped with others to provide context and contrast – these are essential parts of engaging with culture. And in the short term at least, the physical distancing required to manage the pandemic means less crowded galleries, sometimes with pre-planned paths that visitors can follow – discovering things they might otherwise miss.

the setbacks caused by the pandemic. We have already seen technology being used to support art in new ways – virtual museum tours and “distributed” choirs performing online, for example. As well as providing new experiences, this technology also brings new audiences for arts and culture, people who previously would have been unable to visit galleries and theatres.

We are seeing a rethinking of the role of museums in the Arab world. The curator Maya El Khalil poses an important question when she asks, “What does it mean to hold a universal collection when people cannot access it? Perhaps it’s time to start talking about collections, about the presence of local audiences and their engagement with art and even about distributing the power of the museum across multiple museums around the world.”

The localisation of culture, with local people and visitors to a local area, able to engage with artefacts that are particularly relevant to them, would be powerful. Especially so if combined with wider regional, national and international experiences, perhaps delivered online.

We are also seeing new cultural experiences emerge. The use of digital technology to create artefacts that people can interact with or that respond to a changing environment opens up many new opportunities for experimental and traditional Saudi artists.

The government of Saudi Arabia has shown a strong determination to support arts and culture in the kingdom. As the world evolves, Saudi Arabia is transforming at an even greater pace. Culture is central to that change.

The future of culture in the kingdom The future for arts and culture in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is undoubtedly positive, despite

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HANGE IN the workplace is nothing new. The recent pandemic, however, has accelerated change and reshaped the way we work. For some time, we have used the acronym VUCA – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity – to describe a world of rapidly changing business. But as a result of recent events, the term is no longer sufficient.

Our new landscape is one defined by shock (major and dislocating change), speed (rapidly accelerating change) and surprise (change that is unexpected both in its nature and its impact).

Organisations already had a need to be agile, but the Covid-19 pandemic has added complexity by way of major disruptions to our society virtually overnight. To thrive in a post- Cov id landscape – one characterised by shock, speed, and surprise – organisations need more than agility alone; they need a “gymnastic” mindset to cope with change.

What are some characteristics of a gymnastic organisation?

• Nimble: they pivot their activities rapidly in one direction and then, if necessary, in another • Elegant: as they pivot, these organisations are controlled in the way they implement change • Confident: they believe in achieving success and are resolute in finding it Becoming gymnastic is not easy. It requires a multi-pronged approach that draws upon both the traditional and the new – balancing structured project management approaches that have stood the test of time, a mindset that embraces change, and the capability to manage complex situations that involve multiple stakeholders.

Beyond agility: why organisations need a gymnastic mindset Organisations must be willing to try different approaches, remain focused on results and maintain the ability to move in a different direction when new ways of working appear to fail. To succeed, this requires a disciplined and structured project management approach, layered on top of innovation and flexibility.

Manage shocks of change Major change can tear down old certainties and foster anxiety. It can destroy the way value was once created and its consequences can be hard to understand.

Organisations that are adversely affected by major shocks must focus on how they adapt to new situations.

As one example, many restaurants upweighted their home delivery services during the pandemic to offset the loss of in-house customers. But adaptation is frequently not enough. In a crisis when customer needs are constantly evolving, organisations must pivot to change their mission and reinvent what they do to continue to deliver value.

Overcome the paradox The ability to pivot requires nimbleness and agility. In a time of crisis, with the future of an organisation at stake, a “fail fast” approach may not be optimal. There needs to be some certainty around outcomes when there is pressure on profitability.

Therein lies the paradox: ignore change and fail, or change in the wrong direction – and fail.

With a g y mnastic mindset, an organisation can solve this paradox.

Sunil Prashara is president and chief executive officer of Project Management Institute

“In a time of crisis, with the future of an organisation at stake, a ‘fail fast’ approach may not be optimal”

Apply Disciplined Agile One well-established response to change has been to apply an Agile approach to projects. In fact, Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Tomorrow’s Teams Today report found that, over the past year, one in four projects were completed using Agile, and that over the next five years half of all project management offices expect that number to increase.

PMI’s suite of Disciplined Agile (DA) offerings can help organisations tailor Agile processes to meet their unique challenges.

DA provides guidance for understanding different ways of working, the freedom to choose the approaches that best suit team objectives, and the opportunity to continuously improve ways of working so that productivity can increase. For example, with PMI’s Basics of Disciplined Agile online course, users can learn how to navigate hundreds of Agile frameworks and techniques so that they can pick the best approach for the situation at hand.

The new world we live in requires constant adaptation in the ways we work

– new openness, structures, and skills are required. Disciplined Agile recognises that every organisation is different, and within each organisation there are different ways of working. This is the centre of the gymnastic mindset.

Address technology – and people Technology plays an important role in helping organisations deliver against their objectives. As people increasingly work alongside machines to perform their jobs, the need for technolog y will also increase. However, technology is not a solution on its own. Organisations must recruit, develop and retain people with the right skills and knowledge, the right approach to technology governance, and the belief that technology can be an avenue for success.

Beyond technical skills, organisations must also identify individuals who possess what PMI calls “power skills” and encourage their growth. In a time of increased automation, these power skills emphasise enduring human capabilities, including: • Collaborative leadership • Empathy for colleagues and customers • Creativity and innovative problem solving • E xcellence in communication and persuasion • Passion and determination to deliver on outcomes

Power skills are increasingly important in today’s new work ecosystem. In fact, PMI’s Pulse of the Profession research found that project professionals ranked collaborative leadership as the single most essential team skill to possess. With teams equipped with both technical and power skills, organisations will be able to deliver a competitive advantage in an evolving work environment.

Enable the change maker In The Project Economy, change is carried out through a transformative series of projects. Outcomes are what matter in The Project Economy – delivering substantive value at the conclusion of each initiative – and project managers, or change makers, will be at the forefront helping the world reboot and recover following the pandemic.

Armed with the right skillsets, change makers will help ensure organisations continue to respond positively as the world increasingly changes. By providing training, best practices, effective tools and networking opportunities, PMI is committed to helping organisations and change makers master the skills and capabilities necessary to operate and thrive in this new work ecosystem.

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Optimists, pessimists and the future of work 37% The proportion of businesses that have been undertaking digital transformation projects for more than five years, according to a survey by Appian

W

HO’S RIGHT about the future of work: optimists or pessimists?

By looking into the more distant future the pessimists believe they have a strong case.

The precise date is disputed, but sometime around 2047, the theory goes, we will reach a point called the Singularity, when machine intelligence will surpass that of humans. With barely disguised glee, the pessimists reflect that we will, at that point, become superseded by a higher form of intelligence that will have little use for our labour – or even our existence.

Pessimists also appear to have the edge when it comes to assessing today’s urgent operational problem of implementing successful digital transformations. Appian, the global leader in robotic process automation and low-code platforms, has assessed the future of work by conducting a survey of more than 500 businesses within EMEA who employed more than 1,000 people.

What they found was a bleak picture of the way humans and technology interact.

Respondents had, on average, been undertaking digital transformation projects to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of work for at least three and a half years,

and 37 per cent of businesses surveyed had been undertaking such projects continuously for more than five years.

While this is a good thing, as organisations have to improve to prosper, the results are, on the whole, dismal. More than half of the projects ended either in failure or frustration, 16 per cent of projects never even got going, and a majority of businesses spent most of their time paying back technical debt from earlier projects.

Businesses incur a technical debt when they have to rework a technical solution at significant financial and operational cost. But technical debt is not accumulated because of fast implementations driven by the need to deliver a minimum viable product. It’s accumulated because IT departments are not aligned with other organisational departments and are overwhelmed with demands for new technical applications. On average, each organisation surveyed lodged 230 new development requests every year. That’s almost one per working day!

Despite this demoralising reality, 60 per cent of respondents to the Appian survey were optimistic about their ability to deliver successful digital transformations, and there is real cause for that optimism. It’s called intelligent automation (IA).

By using a combination of low-code platforms and bots, which are fast to develop and deploy, IA ensures humans and technology can deliver success not failure, efficiency not cost, as long the transformation process is framed within a strong strategic vision allied to clear, measurable objectives.

It quickly translates ideas into visually intuitive applications hosted in secure cloud environments. This creates instant accessibility, which accelerates adoption.

IA also bridges the technology gap between IT and the rest of the organisation.

Above all, IA is a driver for positive change. Rather than leaving humans behind, our goal at Procensol is to use these technologies to enable people to do more with less, to become more efficient, effective and empowered in their work.

It takes people to extract value from technology. IA enables them to do that, which is a real cause for optimism about the future of work.

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To find out how IA can help your business, contact Steve Huckvale, co-founder and managing director at Procensol UK 0121 231 7045 steve.huckvale@procensol.com

How to get more value out of business data A new report points to DataOps as an overlooked way to business growth

C

OMPANIES STRUGGLING in the pandemicstricken economy are searching for growth opportunities. Fortunately, there is one resource hiding in plain sight – and it’s in the IT department.

Some 68 per cent of data available to enterprises ends up not being used. That’s the key finding from an IDC survey commissioned by Seagate Technology, published in the report Rethink Data: Put More of Your Business Data to Work – From Edge to Cloud. The remarkable percentage identifies a loss, but also a business opportunity. Improved data management, combined with the new discipline of DataOps, holds the key to this opportunity, not just for IT departments but for businesses as a whole.

When it comes to digital, businesses must adapt to thrive The key question is not whether a company will be digitally disrupted, it’s how. Consider London’s home-grown fintech champions, such as TransferWise, Monzo and WorldRemit: each has in its own way used a data-driven approach to build compelling products and services that are highly competitive with the established players in the market.

Yet most businesses fall well short of those fintech champions. Harvard Business Review reported that, on average, “more than 70 per cent of employees have access to data they

should not, and 80 per cent of analysts’ time is spent simply discovering and preparing data.

Data breaches are common, rogue data sets propagate in silos, and companies’ data technology often isn’t up to the demands put on it.”

DataOps to data value So how can companies ride the digital transformation wave – and avoid being consumed by it?

According to Rethink Data, the top five challenges in putting data to work are: making collected data usable; managing data storage;

ensuring needed data is collected; ensuring data security; and making the silos of data available. The good news is that 1,500 global enterprise leaders surveyed for Rethink Data identified the solution: DataOps. IDC defines DataOps as the discipline of connecting data creators with data consumers.

Fundamentally, this means employees talking about data, and using the right language when they do. It means robust data classification, and designating a purpose to each data set.

DataOps is about figuring out what we want

data to tell us. It’s about relying on technology, such as automation and virtualisation tools, to access data and use it to make better business decisions.

Implementing DataOps leads to better business outcomes – better customer loyalty, increased revenue, profit, and cost savings, better employee retention, and more. DataOps is both the means of digital disruption and the way to prevent falling victim to it.

Its importance means DataOps should not be delegated to IT and forgotten. It should be the responsibility of all business leaders.

The way I see it, the technological implementation of DataOps is essential – and relatively easy. The human part is trickier. DataOps starts and ends with communication – conversations about what we know, and what we want learn.

It’s time for enterprise leaders to start having these conversations, stop overlooking the value unlocked by DataOps, and put all their unused data to work.

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Jeff Fochtman is senior vice president of marketing and business at Seagate Technology. To find out more about powerful and practical strategies for building the future of data, attend the Seagate Datasphere virtual event: http://seagate.media/6007Tsk9L

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The debate What will be the biggest opportunity to emerge from Covid-19?

Sunil Prashara, President and chief executive officer Project Management Institute

T

HE PANDEMIC has taught us that disruptive change will only continue to increase in the years ahead. In response, organisations are restructuring, turning to more flexible models and structuring work around projects designed to achieve specific outcomes. In short, leaders must build cultures that enable the emergence of gymnastic organisations, which can embrace change and seize new opportunities.

At Project Management Institute, we recognise that transformative times call for bold strategies, and organisations can truly hit the accelerator when their employees become change makers. They develop critical power skills to lead, master ways of working to make things happen fast, and possess the business acumen to see the big picture.

As the world rebuilds from Covid-19, gymnastic organisations will need creativity, collaboration, determination and change makers to deliver on outcomes. And those organisations that exhibit a gymnastic mindset will be positioned to succeed in the post-pandemic world.

Anders la Cour Co-founder and chief executive officer Banking Circle

W

ITHOUT DOUBT, the unique combination of accelerated digitalisation and an increasing focus on collaboration.

Our latest research showed that banks and PSPs are rethinking the value of digital infrastructure in futureproofing their institutions. While respondents confirmed they had digitalisation plans in place prior to Covid-19, most have fast-tracked these.

The pandemic is providing clear evidence in favour of working digitally, but it has also demonstrated the value of human interaction.

Post-pandemic, we expect – and hope – to emerge into a world which places greater importance upon human touch, solidarity and empathy, where we work together rather than competing against each other at every turn.

Understanding how and where human interaction fits into a digital model and determining which services should be digitised will be critical in the future.

Financial institutions of all types must take time to learn from the past to better understand the future and determine longer-term thinking around the infrastructure that enables success.

Debbie Dore Chief executive Association for Project Management

W

HETHER IT’S tackling the Coronavirus or enabling a return to normality in certain areas of life, the essential nature of projects during this pandemic highlights a great opportunity for businesses to professionalise project management in order to support adaptive change.

Businesses need to empower project professionals to do things differently. So much has been achieved in the past six months around new ways of working, enabling flexibility and improving productivity. This must be allowed to continue, rather than reverting back to familiar habits. They also need to recognise what is possible. Initiatives such as the furlough scheme and the construction of the NHS Nightingale Hospitals show what well-managed projects can do.

Finally, they must understand the importance of the project professional.

Dedicated practitioners will achieve the right balance between speed of completion and proper process, ensuring the end results are fit for purpose. Recruiting, developing and retaining full-time project professionals is the way forward for organisations.

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Jeff Fochtman Senior VP of marketing and business Seagate Technology

D

IGITAL TECHNOLOGY and the IT sector have played a pivotal role in ensuring business continuity during the pandemic.

As companies look ahead to what their “new normal” looks like, there are real opportunities to use IT, and specifically data technologies, to help push businesses through recovery and into growth.

According to Rethink Data, a recent IDC survey commissioned by Seagate, some 68 per cent of data available to enterprises ends up not being used. Covid-19 is an opportunity for businesses to put this into perspective, and realise that the data they have stored about their business could make all the difference.

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