The Covid-19 pandemic has again shown how adaptable and strong humans are. We immediately adopted new ways of work when we were not allowed to go into the office, and in many instances, we were working and delivering like before, and in some cases even better.
We did run into some issues, but these issues were largely due to us still trying to work in the old way, the way where our work was designed around location and time.
From a time perspective, we think that by being available between 09:00 to 17:00 is still the expectation, but in some instances, this is what certain employers want, if I don’t see you, you are not working. Our measures of success needs to be output driven, and measured according to return on investment, rather than time being busy. Integrating work and life will probably be the future, and having more than one employer will become the norm, rather than the exception.
From a location perspective, many tasks performed are based on people in the office, but this becomes a lot broader, location can mean anywhere in the world, and to both employees and employers this opens up many new avenues. We will face many inherent issues like tax law, international money movement, etc. but the possibilities are endless. Employers can have a follow the sun workforce, and be truly 24hours per day working, with teams across the world. Employees can work remotely anywhere in the world, and live in the country of their choice.
This all sounds like something from a Sci-Fi movie, but it is a lot closer than any of us can anticipate, the question is to both employers and employees, are you ready for the future, or will you be left behind?