3 Tea-Leaf Predictions and the Challenges That Come With Them

“Things happen that we cannot control, but it is how we react that makes us different.”

I ran into this quote while gathering ideas to prepare the message for my team about the one-year mark of the pandemic. It comes from a corporate video about self-determination, one of our core beliefs. The ability to adapt to different circumstances is inherent to the human being. Sometimes adaptation to unforeseen circumstances leads to permanent changes in behavior.

As vaccine rollout expands globally, we will slowly return to the life we knew in 2019, yet some modifications we’ve made during the pandemic will remain, becoming part of the so-called new normal. Here are three adaptations that I think will prevail, spawning new opportunities.

1.     Everything ecommerce

The meteoric rise of ecommerce was to be expected due to social distancing, yet why should we be so confident these ways to purchase won’t just stick but will keep rising post-pandemic? A wide range of categories saw growth, including the atypical suspects for ecommerce. People ventured into grocery, apparel, furniture shopping and car-buying using websites and apps during lockdown. These were categories reserved for early adopters that have now gone mainstream.

2.     The expanded restaurant

Saying that it has been a tough year for the hospitality industry is an understatement. But as Danny Meyer, head of Union Square Hospitality Group, and creator of Shake Shack, said during a recent CNBC interview, there are reasons to be optimistic. Restauranteurs and patrons alike have enjoyed the benefits of outdoor dining and are advocating for the temporary sidewalk and parklets to become permanent. But also, the myriad of options for delivery and shipping are bringing new tools for business growth.

3.     A reinvented work dynamic

The massive experiment of remote work showed its feasibility for several industries and roles. It also made the benefits of in-person interaction more evident. Organizations will continue to leverage the ability to hire talent beyond the vicinity of their corporate offices and promote work models that combine in-person and remote work, contributing to a better work-life balance, and reduced emissions due to fewer commutes and business trips.

As these adaptations become permanent, there are also underlying challenges in maintaining company culture and building a sense of belonging that organizations will need to overcome.

Seismic shift in corporate real estate and business travel

CFOs in every industry are seeing the unintended savings in corporate travel and facilities-related expenditures. There is no way that they will not push for some of these economic benefits to become mainstream. Offices will shrink and be designed for hoteling and interaction. Meanwhile, business travel will be the exception, not the rule. The next couple of years will be characterized by significant transformation and innovation for the corporate real estate and travel industries.

The digital-have and digital-have-nots

Organizations that started their digital transformation early have been reaping the benefits of those efforts in the past 12 months. Amazon, Walmart, Target, Starbucks, Panera are organizations that had been building their digital capabilities for years and are coming out of the pandemic in a strong position. Others had to react and found themselves in a more vulnerable position.

Widening wealth gap

The biggest challenge for the next decade will be to address the wealth gap that became so apparent during the pandemic: the difference between those of us fortunate to be able to continue doing our job or learn remotely, and those that could not…the disparity between those that benefitted from a rising stock market, and the ones that had to rely on government aid to keep their family afloat.

The pandemic happened; it is how we leverage the new opportunities and address the disparities that it highlighted that will set organizations apart.