A year ago, the world became swept up in what was dubbed the world’s largest work-from-home experiment. Since then, we’ve run the full gamut of emotions that can be associated with virtual meetings – from embracing the fun and whimsy of video filters for work, to reaching the peak of video call fatigue’, and we’ve come to accept this as the new reality.

More importantly, most of these new trends were not created – but simply accelerated – by the pandemic.

Anywhere work is becoming the new normal

An anywhere work strategy is a business technology initiative. It enables employees to work successfully and securely from any location with a wide variety of devices, applications, and network connectivity options.

Anywhere work improves employee productivity and engagement, maintains business continuity, and ultimately deepens customer engagement. Businesses need to embrace an anywhere work strategy if they want to preserve employee engagement, maintain business resiliency, and stay connected with customers.

More flexible work is replacing the traditional 9-to-5 framework

The way we think about the workday is changing. The hybrid workforce, where some people will work from home while others will work from the office — in a rotating manner – is becoming the norm.

As a result, all employees are increasingly growing accustomed to more flexibility, and remote workers will no longer be treated as second-class members of the workforce. As more remote freelancers and gig workers make up a growing part of the workforce, a more flexible and diverse workforce will be born. Employees will increasingly be paid for the output of their role rather than just for turning up in the office.

Required skills are transforming

Technical skills in high demand include data analytics, software development, and other digital skills. But soft skills, such as flexibility, communication, planning, organisation, creative thinking, teamwork, and empathy, are also growing in importance.

Moreover, the rise of automation will affect many jobs, leading to an evolution in the tasks involved for many professions. Combining automation with soft skills will empower businesses to explore new value propositions.

Businesses are moving toward more agile product-based work styles

With the rise of agile businesses, cross-functional product teams are becoming more widespread. These teams are focused on one specific objective and are highly autonomous. They normally comprise of a product owner, designers, developers, a quality controller, and an agile team lead.

Such an approach to work requires more self-initiative, creativity, passion, and self-discipline from employees.

A customer-centric focus

In conclusion, characterised by the shift to remote working, changing skillsets and agile working patterns, the Future of Work will look vastly different from what we know of the workforce of today.

Amid these shifts, the focus on customer-centricity should remain a constant as it will guide organisations on the ways they should adapt to continue providing relevant results for the customers. As the workforce and workplace evolve, organisations face a new set of opportunities and challenges. How can businesses actively work to capitalise on the opportunities and address these challenges coming their way? We’ll address this in the next blog post, stay tuned.

Becoming future-ready

Vodacom Business is here to help take your business to the next level. We offer a wide range of products and services to fulfil the telecommunications needs of organisations of all sizes. From mobiles and fixed-line connections to a wealth of broadband and networking solutions, you can count on us to keep you confidently connected.