Future of Work

One word may sum up the future of workspaces: flexible. Organisations shall find that agility will be key to navigating an uncertain future of work. It’s likely to be a tremulous transition, as workers and employers attempt to find the right balance, with these bleak measures and prohibitive designs in place.

It is remarkable that the pandemic has created a situation in which countries are now transitioning to a more futuristic way of work simultaneously, albeit from different starting-points. We shall need knowledge collaborations and transparency even more so than before, as the digital economy is predicated on trust much more than the material economy. Best practices need to be shared around the world and this will demand an unprecedented level of global cooperation, at a time when its most wanting.

At a time when everyone in the world is searching for the best way to come out of this current economic situation in one piece, perhaps we should consider not WHAT to do, but HOW we do it. The leadership skills most important right now are empathy, vulnerability, and courage.

Part 1 of this miniseries described the base level of personal cybersecurity setup. Part 2 talked about virtual private networks (VPNs), including the fact that they still leave you exposed when you are connecting to the internet via a Wi-Fi network, even if you are in your office or at home. As part of this, we also consider the rather cunning technology from the folks at WifiWall.

Consider some additional technologies you can use to protect the integrity of your data and your systems while working at home. One solution is to use a VPN. In this case, when you launch the client app on your computer, it immediately establishes an encrypted channel between your machine and the VPN provider’s servers.

COVID-19 has changed the way we work forever. This is a challenging time for many organizations. All organizations are bringing a heightened sense of humanity to what they do. They’re reaching out to their customers, clients or citizens to show they care and waiving their regular terms and conditions in exemplary acts of proactive customer service.

IT workforce suddenly transitioned from having only a small percentage of the employees working from home to almost 100%. As a result, many IT departments are now frantically scurrying around trying to plug security holes and bolster the cybersecurity status of their workforce.

Telecommuting was going to be critical in the future of business, but wonder if organizations were ready for the shift in workplace. According to the published academic paper in February 2019 titled, Remote Work: Competencies and Motivation, eight skills are showcased as essential to success in a virtual workplace. How do you and your colleagues measure up?

Remote isn’t flexible. It’s just differently rigid. The work that people will do while physically disconnected from each other and monitored by apps is transactional. Zoom calls and weekly gatherings in a hotel for a corporate approved and observed get-together are not as good as the bonds that we are used to. They only approximate our connections, a poor facsimile of human interaction.

For companies that are transitioning out of a significant shutdown, some top priorities include recalling workers and addressing new health and safety measures. Aside from new policies around physical distancing and other health precautions, the new COVID world might also require an overhaul of work illness policies.

What are organizations abandoning since COVID-19 and what will they not continue to do once things return to “normal?” Hear from a few of the brightest minds to help us answer the question.