[0:03]The coronavirus pandemic has transformed businesses. It has been a huge challenge for many industries and for many organizations. But it has also offered some opportunities. So, in this video, I want to talk about the six biggest impacts and trends that have come out of the coronavirus crisis that will be very important for businesses going forward. Working from home 2.0. What lots of businesses have experienced is that they had to have people working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic. And lots of businesses are now rethinking their entire business model. They're rethinking, do we still need offices? But if we're really honest with ourselves, productivity has gone up for businesses, but the way people work from home is not necessarily great for everyone. There are some people that have amazing and comfortable offices in their houses, they have all the equipment, they can do this very well. There are lots of people that work on a on a kitchen table that haven't got a comfortable chair. So, what businesses are now really need to do is they need to reimagine their own workspaces, their offices. And really support people working from home. So they need to give them the right office equipment, the right computers, comfortable chairs, the right setup. And also, the mental health support and everything that goes with it to really make sure everyone can work from home comfortably in the future. Business model innovation. What we need to do now is to really reflect on what are we offering our customers, how do we operate as a business? What we've seen is that lots of industries have been completely transformed during 2020. We've seen this in the hospitality industry, in the events industry, and businesses that have carried on thriving are the ones that have been able to react to this really quickly. If you are a restaurant and on day one of lockdown, you really rethought your restaurant and make sure that you have takeout abilities. There are companies like even the Formula One companies that were producing ventilators. Then this is something businesses have always needed to do. Think how is the market shifting and how do we transform our own business model? And innovating your own business model is, I think, more important in 2021 than ever before. Virtual interfaces is another big trend. We'll be really think about how can we deliver some of the services in a digital format, especially using things like augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality. Again, during the pandemic, people realized actually, do I really need to go into the shop to try on makeup if I can use an an augmented reality app that allows me to put the makeup on and try and test it? Do I really need to have a consultation with a fashion advisor? If I if my virtual avatar can try this on in VR and I can actually place this in the different settings, be this a boardroom or an office environment to see what the clothes will actually look like from all different perspectives. So, this whole try before you buy and this new world of virtual interfaces will continue in 2021 and will transform how businesses offer their services. Automation. What businesses have been doing is they've looked at their own business processes and said, where can we take people out of the process where they are not really adding true value? So, we've seen this in warehouses, in supply chains. We now have automated vehicles, we have trucks and ships driving and sailing autonomously. And we are seeing this in in lots of business operations where we now have chatbots that can replace call centers, or at least a big part of it. And more and more what we will see in 2021 is this white-collar automation. When we think, okay, if we look at the job of a lawyer, the job of a doctor, for example. Which bits can we actually automate? Which bits can we give to artificial intelligence and smart robots? And this will carry on. And we are seeing this already. I work with so many different organizations that are rethinking the way education is delivered, healthcare is delivered, and even many of the services we are used to are delivered through automated interfaces. Going from global to local. What we are seeing in this current political and economic climate is that we have seen supply chains being disrupted by coronavirus. We are seeing increasing tensions between the US and China. We are seeing Brexit being delivered in Europe. And all of this means that companies need to rethink where am I sourcing my goods, where am I selling my goods? And what we are seeing is that there's a big movement towards more localized buying, more localized manufacturing, more localized selling. And this is also a movement towards more environmental awareness because what people realize is, okay, do I really need to ship my food and vegetables from across the world, or can we grow this locally and sell this locally? So, this is a big trend where businesses really rethink where their products come from and where they are going. Social engagement. What companies need to do is they need to make sure they engage with their customers and potential customers across social media. This has become such an important channel, especially during the pandemic that we're going through at the moment. And businesses that haven't got a strong presence simply feel a bit lost. They suddenly have lost access to customers. So, what we are seeing here is that there's a big push towards a more authentic presence on social media. This that is less curated by communication experts, but where you say, this these are our real people working for our organizations. This is a real behind the scenes footage. And especially a big trend that goes with this is actually engaging influencers. Not necessarily the massive million subscriber influencers, but even micro influencers that are influential in your industry. This is something we need to as a business, you need to really think about who are the key people that are driving those conversations across social media that have built some trust and how do we engage with them to bring across our message.
[6:54]I hope that was useful. If you want to learn more about any of these trends, head to my website, where I have hundreds of articles, subscribe to this channel, where you can view hundreds of videos on any of these technology trends, or have a listen to my podcast.
