While the world’s population is slowly returning to normal, improving its pandemic management capacity, there are many changes in the way people live and work due to long periods of lockdown. First of all, the enormous acceleration of the so-called digital transformation, or the integration of digital working methods and interaction in everyday life. Already in the middle of 2020, Think with Google, the blog of the Mountain View giant, noted how consumer behavior had become more digital, so much so that “online” was classified as the first purchase channel for the majority of customers.

The digital transformation of work

It is easy to understand how this profound acceleration also has a direct impact on the world of work. Human resources managers, grappling with the forced smartworking of recent months, now have important dossiers on their desk relating to the process of returning to what is rightly considered the new normal. Furthermore, if one thinks of the investments that in the months preceding the pandemic large companies made in real estate to build modern and – often – decidedly impressive offices, it is clear that at the top of the agenda of all production companies there is precisely the understanding of the new way of working. A survey by the Digital Innovation Observatories of the Politecnico di Milano in 2021 confirms that 89% of the 244 large Italian companies interviewed will review their spaces with structural interventions, or will rethink their use.

The 4 mega trends of the future of work

What then are the mega trends that are already changing the way we work and our experience in the office? The World Economic Forum, in its white paper October 2020 Resetting the Future of Work Agenda: Disruption and Renewal in a Post-COVID World, highlights some key trends.

• Distributed organization: the era of large open spaces and rigid timetables is over. Smartworking has accustomed individuals and companies to working remotely and with new rituals of time and activity management. Over 50% of the corporations interviewed by the World Economic Forum are investing in the automation of tasks to ensure greater effectiveness of remote employees.
• New technologies and skills: digital is the cornerstone of change if everyone is able to seize the opportunities it presents. Upskilling and reskilling are the keywords for shaping new, more agile and effective ways of working.
• Well-being: for many months smartworking was a necessary but poorly prepared choice that has often had negative repercussions on the psychological health of workers and on the well-being of organizations. Nike recently announced that it has introduced a “mandatory” week off at its headquarters to allow employees to recharge their batteries.
• A new leadership: managers are no longer called to give directives and verify, but to inspire and foster a new culture of work and collaboration. Therefore, skills such as empathy and listening will become rewarding to build increasingly flexible and productive work groups.

The office as a community

Woods Bagot is an international architecture firm wondered in a recent post if the office is now permanently dead. The answer is no, although it is clear that we are already experiencing a profound transformation of it. There are several models identified by the architects, among which the so-called Culture Club, a space dedicated above all to collaboration (meetings, workshops, discussions), which envisages leaving the work of individuals, from desks, in a home environment. At home you can be focused and dedicated to deep work, working together in the office is better for workshops and brainstorming.

This new concept of the office, more a club, in fact, than an old-fashioned production place, will increasingly be an environment in which to live the values ​​of your company, meet colleagues, make decisions and, paradoxically, feel at home.

Sales in the new normal

The work of sales is the one closest to this new mindset: often far from the headquarters, but close to customers, already today they are in the habit of interfacing with colleagues remotely and using technology extensively.

Apparound is able to support sellers and commercial departments in grasping the opportunities of these transformations even more quickly, simplifying the sales process, making network work more effective and smart , thanks to constantly updated digital content and configurator functions. of product (CPQ), contract generator, remote signature and forms for data collection in the field.

Today, more than ever, digital transformation is a way to grow.

Key take away

• There are at least 4 main trends that are impacting the world of work: distributed organization, new technologies, well-being, new leadership models
• The office will change to adapt to these transformations becoming a Culture Club, or a place dedicated to collaboration and the values ​​of agency. Desk work will be done in smartworking
• The sales force already adopts many of the changes posed by digital transformation
• Apparound is future ready, being able to effectively support salespeople and sales management in seizing the opportunities of these transformations even more quickly.