What Will The New Normal Now Be in Business 2020 and Beyond ?

The question's on all of our minds ..

What will it be like when we go back to work ? What will it be like doing business going forward ? How will it all change ? Will it ever go back to normal ? How will we have to adapt ? What will it be like ? Will working from home become the norm for more people ? What about Video Chat will it have a permanent place in our lives now ?

I know that many found working at home a little strange to begin with , for me this wasn't an issue back in March as part of my working life for the past 20 plus years has always involved working from home so for me not much changed in that area .

Personally I have always found it to be very productive and never understood why more companies didn't encourage it , for some I think it was maybe a trust issue , for others a security issue , some merely thought that the role wasn't suited to home working and many more reasons I am sure.

Isn't it surprising how quickly things change when they HAVE to and I wonder how many companies will now stay with the new working boundaries , surely it has to be more cost effective for everyone in time and money.

And boy have we all realised how precious TIME is these days and how lovely it is to get some back in our daily lives instead of rushing around like headless chickens all of the time.

As a massive people person then I find keeping a balance is paramount and good planning is key to get the right mix of people facing and executing the strategies, targets and tasks that come our way !

Lockdown has clearly messed this up for us all and whilst we understand the rules of social distancing and so on we are not designed to be on our own for long periods of time so it brings it's challenges I know.

The power of social media and technology has become more important to us all and has become an even bigger part of our lives .... for the better I am not sure ? Screen Time is up in this house but so is Zoom on my part so again trying to keep a balance.

Having said that , who is seeing more of family and friends than they did before via video ? Lots of you I am sure , back to that valuable asset of TIME again.

One thing I haven't missed is all the miles driving up and down the UK , I love driving and I love meeting people however we have to consider how many of these meetings can perhaps be done remotely using Skype , Teams , Zoom and so on to make better use of everyone's day ?

Would you consider going to a demo for a printer online for instance or is that a step too far ?

Of course I could go on and on as you know !

However aside from this nasty nasty disease of course ....my Lockdown list of Pro's outweighed the Con's so let's be grateful for what we have and be ready to make some permanent changes to have a positive impact on our lives , those of others and the world in general.

It's changed things , but we were long overdue a shake up and having time to take a step back and reset.

I am so inspired by how the Print Industry have adapted their businesses and pulled together to help with manufacturing and saving lives #proudtobeinprint so well done to each and everyone of you.

Stay Safe Stay Home Save Lives

Sarah Winterbottom 5.5.2020