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6 ways our work habits will change in 2021

13 January 2021

 

“People will be standing up more for what they want. And the more power you have, the more important it will be to do the right thing for others as well.”

What will we be saying in December about how our world of work has changed over the course of this year?  In interviews I’ve been conducting as research for my book The Future of Time: how ‘re-working’ time can help you boost productivity, diversity and wellbeing, I’ve asked two questions of business and HR leaders across a variety of industries:

By the end of 2021, what will have changed in terms of the way we’re working?  
How will we be valuing and managing time differently?


Their answers were thoughtful and fascinating.  Here are the headlines if you are time-pressed, keep reading for the predictions.
  1. Businesses have learnt to evolve more quickly.
  2. Clients have shown greater willingness to adapt too.
  3. Many industries are genuinely balancing work between home and office.
  4. Lockdowns have embedded a better sense of trust and more constructive attitudes.
  5. Old mindsets have proven hard to break …
  6. … But employees are pushing harder for what they want.
1. Businesses have learnt to evolve more quickly
  • More organisations have caught up with the opinion leaders that were already embracing virtual working two years ago. Businesses that were already using online collaboration tools were far better prepared for the the the impact of Covid 19 . Those that weren’t really struggled during 2020 to evolve quickly enough.
  • Companies have got better at making decisions more quickly and at using working time more efficiently. The pace of business is accelerating in terms of new trends and new technology. Companies can't afford to can't afford to take their time over decisions and implementing plans anymore.
  • Inefficiency has been tackled as businesses have learnt how to ‘create once, deliver multiple times’ instead of duplicating efforts and reinventing wheels unnecessarily.
2. Clients have shown greater willingness to adapt too
  • More of the work we do to build relationships with clients is being done virtually in a meaningful way. This is driving greater acceptance that we don’t need to be working from an office all the time. 
  • The ‘hard-driving work culture’ of senior executives travelling all year to meet clients in person has gone.  Clients are no longer demanding this. Hence a huge amount of unproductive time spent trying to work from trains, planes and cars is no longer being wasted.
  • Clients are more willing to interact meaningfully in other ways too. For example, being willing to respond to meeting requests from a new business contact and trusting that such opportunities could offer value to them.
3. Many industries are genuinely balancing work between home and office.
  • The most likely pattern is 2-3 days a week in each place, varying depending on the function. This is recognised as “a massive and very healthy shift”. And it has happened because people now recognise that employees are as productive - if not more - at home versus in the office thanks to less  bureaucracy and improved communication technology.
  • More CEOs and Chairmen have recognised this new balance is here to stay and they have actively been encouraging this in their organisations.
  • The concept of the working day is far more fluid and individualised.  Employees can flex their working hours across the whole day to suit their working preferences and personal lives and are no longer shackled to traditional office hours. This is increasing their productive time. 
  • People are more at ease with video conference communications and have found healthier ways to manage the demands of online meetings. 
4. Lockdowns have embedded a better sense of trust and more constructive attitudes.
  • People are more conscious and wary of competitive, dysfunctional behaviours. They are having more open dialogue about the need to manage our working time differently.  They have used this Covid-driven disjunction to reset expectations and behaviours at work.
  •  We’ve turned more full-time roles into part-time roles more successfully, overcoming some of the systemic problems and mistrust that hindered part-time working and progression in the past.
5. Old mindsets have proven hard to break...
  • We’re still witnessing some laggards and ‘unreconstructed’ world views, where some people remain wedded to presenteeism and a narrative that labels people who don’t show up in the office as ‘unproductive’.
  • The economic pressure of unemployment and the fear of competition has driven us to yet more dysfunctional behaviour and attitudes in the world of work …. It’s all got worse.
  • Only ‘50% confidence’ that we haven’t crept back to the way things were: needing to be in the office a certain number of days per week and being penalised for working remotely. 
  • Leaders erroneously thinking they need to ‘role model’ going back into the office when they’re not role-modelling anything, they’re simply worried about ‘losing control of people’. 
6.  ... But employees are pushing harder for what they want
  • People are less willing to compromise their time because they want more of a work-life balance.  Not having to commute to work has given people back so much time, they are replacing this not with more work, but with personal time or family time, and living more balanced lives.
  • People are more selfish with their time, less compromising in their views and more courageous in challenging their employers around work-life balance and the hours that they work.
  • People are no longer prepared to waste time on meetings that aren't necessary.
  • Employees, particularly those with influence - those high value workers who everybody wants - are not accepting patterns that they find dysfunctional.
  • People are standing up more for what they want.  And the more power you have, the more important it is now to do the right thing for others as well.

To me these feel, on balance, a hopeful set of predictions. What resonates for you? What changes are you expecting to see? Do you feel hopeful or pessimistic?  Drop me an email or message me on Linked In or Twitter.  In December I’ll look back at how many of these predictions have come true. One thing is certain - it’ll be another year to remember.

With thanks to everyone I spoke to for their generosity in sharing their time and perspectives with me.

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