The post-COVID world of work will not be the same. Many companies discovered during the lockdown that their employees can be just as productive and efficient working from home as they are on-site. Even managers who had always categorically rejected working from home have become more open to it and are surprised at how well remote work actually functions.
Hybrid work models
There are already plans to integrate working from home as part of the New work to be implemented permanently. Twitter is even going so far as to allow employees who can work from home to stay permanently and is paying each of them $1,000 to set up their workspace. The concept of mandatory office attendance is also being rethought in companies. Does it only make sense to be present when strategic and creative meetings are scheduled that require face-to-face interaction? Permanently unused office space no longer justifies the negotiated rent. The insights gained during the social distancing period are shaping the new normal of work. Hybrid work models will follow (e.g., one day per week working from home or one week on-site and one week from home). Digital collaboration tools, once used out of necessity, are becoming commonplace, and old patterns of behavior (a flight from Hamburg to Munich just for a one-hour conference) are being discarded. And despite the physical distance, people have definitely grown closer on a personal level. "Our CEO didn't talk to us much before, but video calls have made him much more approachable," a marketing manager told me from her home office.
Strategy internal, operational implementation external
What will the future of work look like? Will we not only be at home, but also in the café around the corner or in a coworking space provided by the company? Will companies also utilize digital nomads who work remotely as the.. New Work normal Recognizing and implementing more agile networks from the outside? Publishers are eagerly debating (and calculating) whether full editorial teams still make economic sense. The future work model could be: strategy internal and operational implementation external. One editor-in-chief told me she asked her editorial team who wanted to return to the newsroom now that restrictions are easing. No one, except for a layout artist. She's currently experiencing a lot of stress with her partner. This reaction surprised her. Although even she, after almost 35 years in the business, has to admit: working from home is going smoothly. However, she misses the personal interaction, the emotional moments, the spontaneous encounters very much, and these can never be replaced by a video conference. At SCRIBERS[HUB], we're seeing an increasing number of inquiries for freelance teams to work on content marketing and corporate communications. For the client, the professional focus is paramount. Where the freelancers work is pretty much irrelevant. Will this become the new credo? act local – work global for the new normal?
Sabine Fäth, Managing Director SCRIBERS[HUB]
