As a business owner, what trends should you look out for? How has the pandemic affected the workplace structure? What kind of digital strategy can you adopt to stay ahead of competitors? These are among the many questions on the lips of enthusiastic business owners who are ready to adapt to their continuously changing environment.
Admittedly, Covid-19 has changed the way humanity approaches work forever. While some companies plan to continue operating the traditional way, many others work fully remote or have a hybrid work setting. It is no secret that automation is a game-changer. In fact, 88% of small businesses say that automation enables them to give their bigger competitors a run for their money. Additionally, nine out of ten employees say that automation has helped enhance their lives. Automating their work process has allowed them to focus on other aspects of the company that really drive progress.
Now that 2022 is just around the corner, there seem to be even more trends to look out for and integrate into your business. That said, here are five of the most exciting trends people should look out for in 2022.
1. Increased Adoption of New Technologies
Technology is here to stay! Interestingly, the integration of technology into the workspace was met with much criticism. Many people feared it would take their jobs and even more feared that automation was not to be trusted. However, this has since been proven wrong by so many companies. Now, many companies have accepted, integrated, and are now beginning to use technology in their work process. They have understood that the integration of technology is key to an increase in organization and overall output.
2. More Flexible Workspaces
The workspace has undergone massive changes throughout time. However, one of its fastest changes has come from integrating technology and automation into the workspace.
Now, employees can work in different places and in various ways thanks to technology and innovation. Workspaces now change frequently depending on personal preferences and overall business objectives. More and more companies now prefer to use these flexible workspaces as it offers them a massive boost in creativity and productivity. It also ultimately enhances employee satisfaction.
3. Data-Driven Digital Transformation Techniques
Data-driven digital transformation techniques may seem like a difficult concept to grasp, but that’s not true. To be put simply, this is merely the use of new innovative technology to detect and solve problems in a company with data.
Some of these problems include decision-making and strategic planning around different operations in a company. However, this isn’t a simple thing to do. Every company would have a different kind of data-driven approach, depending on the type of information available to them.
One of the most important things you should know to make this process easier is that the effects of Covid-19 are going to be with us for a long time. From a strategic point of view, many of your competitors are looking for ways to one-up you, and data-driven digital transformation techniques are one of the surefire ways to do that. With the proper workplace structure, this technique can become a real competitive advantage for your company over competitors. In relation, you can also some small business networking solutions to help you in your company’s digital transformation.
4. The Balance Between Human Employees and Automation
Automation has been met with much controversy. Many people think automation will take their jobs, but that’s simply not true. In fact, Forrester conducted some research and found out that about 43% of employees feared that automation would decrease their job importance.
The truth is that business process automation has brought about so much human advancement in just a few years! The balance between human employees and automation is slowly changing, with more menial and repetitive tasks being delegated to automation. While automation reduces the need for human intervention for menial tasks, it has opened up doors for many other human jobs.
That said, the employee-automation balance is headed towards a healthy balance in the year 2022. Not only would this allow the allocation of more essential tasks to humans, but it would also sharply boost the productivity, efficiency, and even revenue of the company.
5. Workplace Culture Gets More Priority
Let’s face it; the culture in so many workplaces has been lacking for years. In an attempt to try and keep up with demand, workplace culture around the world has been pushed aside. People do not have the chance to express themselves, and they don’t even know the shared values, belief systems, and behaviour of the people they work with.
Having good workplace culture promotes togetherness and consistency in work, which would ultimately enhance employee happiness. Now that automation is handling many of these time-taking activities, companies can improve their workplace culture. If you’re like many techs and culture enthusiasts out there, you probably can’t wait to see the enhancement of communication and culture in companies worldwide.
Final Thoughts
Adoption of these five trends would lead to a massive cultural and financial improvement in the workplace. After all, the organizations are driven towards a business-IT collaborated environment, and when that happens, digital transformation flows more seamlessly, while maintaining priorities for cost and security.
It remains a mystery how many trends will be fully adopted in 2022, but these trends are highly likely to integrate into workplaces worldwide.
