SUS TA IN A BL E BUSINES SES
T
he past 18 months have forced companies to rediscover their focus as they worked to survive and recover. Concepts such as resiliency leapt to the fore, begging the question: how can a company future-proof itself? The short answer: Don’t consider it a destination but as a continual culture, says Paul Barker, senior manager and OKR coach at Step Advisory. “The concept of future-proof is an illusion. The pandemic has shown that companies should be You can say you are future-proofing, but in a year’s time, are you still future-proof? Are you more resilient. But how, asks James Francis ready for what the future holds, because what you predicted a year ago now looks totally different? You’re never going to reach that point. It’s a OKR (Objectives and Key Results), a habits is key – ensuring that you pause, Paul mirage. Your strategy needs collaborative, goal-setting approach refocus and reflect at regular intervals.” Barker to be emergent and evolving to strategy. Strategy, Barker explains, A company’s culture and leadership makeup continuously. Strategy is “is much more of a direction. You is as important, notes Young: “Future-proofing important and needs to know where you want to go, and you is really based on the founding team - the first be considered. But if that set up a direction and move towards 10 people that they’ve employed around them. strategy doesn’t evolve, it’s it. And you need to have pit stops That sets the culture of any business. And going to be nullified within a on the way to see if you’re moving in if those guys have an agile growth mindset, matter of months.” the right direction. That’s where the they’re almost future-proofed for whatever Indeed, there is a more implementation of healthy business disaster comes, or exponential growth.” appropriate phrase for future-proofing, says Thinkroom Consulting’s founder, Catherine Young, “We’ve been Paul Barker working with future-proofing all along, but we call it a growth mindset. It’s that, ‘I can change if I need to’ attitude. Those who have The ‘hybrid office’ is defined as the an agile, flexible, and continuously learning ideal compromise between remote mindset future-proof their businesses for the working and being office-bound. ups and downs.” Until recently, future-proofing was associated closely with adopting digital technology. But those days are gone. Barker points out that practically everyone had to What does striking a leap forward into digital, morphing it from balance between working differentiator into the new baseline. “Suddenly, within a matter of weeks, everyone was online. from home and returning to That technology shift has fast forwarded. What the workplace look like? some predicted would happen over the next 10 years happened in six months. Companies have been forced into adopting technology irsty Schoombie, Paragon This, she says, can easily be done by and digital tools.” Interface senior associate, says reducing the number of work stations All things digital now being that striking a balance between and placing them further apart, while also equal, future-proofing relies the at-home office and a physical increasing the number of couches for social heavily on the execution workplace is likely to create seating, for example. of strategy. Step Advisory the “hybrid office” – the compromise Added to that, Schoombie says we’ll is a big proponent of between remote working and being also see: office-bound. This “new normal” • Wider corridors and doorways and provides the opportunity to reimagine additional partitioning the office of the future. “With social • Office furniture is likely to evolve in distancing, sanitising and mask-wearing terms of fabrics and advances such likely to be with us for the foreseeable as foldaway desks. Also, no-touch doors Catherine Young future, it’s important • Increased use of stairs to reduce for workspace crowding in elevators planning to take • The use of materials such as silver this into account,” and copper in surface finishes due to says Schoombie. their antimicrobial properties.
Future-proofing
your business
“You can say you are future-proofing, but in a year’s time, are you still future-proof?” –
Office of the future
12
THE NEW NORMAL
11_NewNormal_futureproofing.indd 12
IMAGES: ISTOCK.COM, SUPPLIED
IMAGES: SUPPLIED
K
Kirsty Schoombie
2021/06/02 11:40 AM
