Year 2020 - reimagining the future of work

We are now in the last quarter of 2020.  It has been a challenging and tough year.  We have seen and heard from many who rose above this unprecedented circumstances.

Nobody is prepared for this global pandemic.  What initially thought to be an outbreak in a city called Wuhan had in no time spread throughout the world.  City after city are in lockdown.  Lives, businesses, economy and many aspects are impacted.

Like it or not, we have to make new adjustments.  
I oftentimes find myself forgot to put on my mask when I got out of my car.  So, I decided to put it on the moment I leave my house, get in the car and get out of the car.  
Instead of "when can I meet you?", the new question is "when can we zoom?"
Instead of planning for our weekly grocery shopping, we find ourselves reviewing every available merchant online to decide where should we purchase our meat, vegetables, fruits and other essential items from.

So, how about our work?  Will it ever be the same again?

How many of you have been attending meeting after meeting over zoom just to get updates and realign with your team?  Is this the effective use of your time?
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This morning I was listening to one of the SMARTSHEET ENGAGE 2020 conference content: Crisis Leadership: How We Used Our Platform, Values, And Expertise To Support Our Community During The Pandemic by Smartsheet Team (Katie Bouwkamp - Director of Global Culture Communications, Hunter Reed - Product Marketing Manager, Megan Hansen - Vice President of People, Elektra Helde - Senior Product Marketing Manager)

I was so amazed by the team at Smartsheet in how they responded to the unprecedented pandemic by rolling out the Coronavirus Preparedness Dashboard to ensure all employees are kept informed in the midst of the such uncertainties immediately after the first Coronavirus related death report in Washington State.  How quick were you in responding to the situation when it took place in March this year?

And soon, not just the Smartsheet team who are able to monitor and keep their communication with employees up to date, but this resource is rolled out through Smartsheet Solution Center to enable all Smartsheet users to access it.  Instead of having to build a solution from scratch to respond to the pandemic, organisations can get started right away through the Covid-19 Response Resource Center.

Few months into the MCO, we at 57Network heard from many employees who have been working remotely, another challenge arose: attending meeting after meeting over zoom and no time to get the actual work done.  Work and life are assimilated.  There is no "after-work" or "me time" anymore. Having to juggle work and kids at the same time, employees are feeling burnt out.  We can see this "symptom" all over the social media where people are frustrated and yearns to return to office for work so there can be a distinction between office hours and off-work hours.

As we reached out to our clients whom we have trained to use Smartsheet, we heard so many encouraging stories.

How do you envision your future of work to look like?  It's more than just digitalising your system and tools. It's about unifying team collaboration, communication, content management and workflow to empower your team to work better and work different.

Are you ready for the future of work? ​

Connect with us to find out more