Back to business as usual?

Welcome to the February edition of the #ArchitectTomorrow newsletter. In this edition I cover some personal experiences of the UK relaxing restrictions, challenges to consider in hybrid working and Business Architecture.

Challenges of Hybrid Working

Here in the UK with restrictions lifting working life is getting a lot more face to face again. I took this photo in London this week after using public transport for the first time in 2 years. With caution many of us are now venturing back to face to face meetings and business travel. But this presents challenges given how accustomed we've become to the benefits of virtual working. On the train into London I overheard a working mum talking about the difficulties of coming into the office having got used to being able to work flexibly.

Business travel coming back (over the next few weeks I'll be visiting 5 different countries for events and meetings) eats a massive amount of time. Not just the travel time but logistics and admin (don't even talk to me about business visas right now!)

Whilst I do appreciate this is a first world / knowledge worker problem (particularly in light of world events right now*) trying to operate in a hybrid capacity can be very stressful. Expectations of being able to handle virtual meetings back to back whilst also travelling to meetings in various different places is personally causing me anxiety. Not so much the health concerns about travelling (although that is in the back of my mind) but more the logistics and diary management overhead. We've got used to the extra productivity and flexibility of working from home and now need to adapt back to a more dynamic work pattern. That said the human connection from meeting in person is of course so much better and very much welcomed.

Challenges of Hybrid Meetings

As covered in the video below the meeting experience will continue to be a problem once more people are in person than dialled in. I'm already experiencing situations where in room only meetings are being scheduled. Whilst I get motivating teams to get back to in person to strengthen relationships; we need to be mindful that many require greater flexibility and can't always get to the office at the drop of a hat (or meeting invite!)

Business Architecture

Talking of business - and business strategy to execution - we covered Business Architecture on Consultants Saying Things in the latest episode. Whynde is a world renowned thought leader on Business Architecture and she has a fantastic way of explaining it. We also had a great conversation about the overlap between BA and Enterprise Architecture.

Upcoming Architect Tomorrow Content

Due to an incredibly busy month (including the admin discussed above!) there has been a pause to next month in Architect Tomorrow and the Architecture Podcast Mashup content. I have several videos in the cutting room including a brilliant talk with all four authors of Enterprise Design Patterns from Intersection Group along with intersection member Lisa Woodall.

Paul Preiss of IASA and the Argument is currently editing episode 2 of the architecture podcast mashup series - this one talking to the differences and similarities of different architect roles. It was a brilliant conversation so Paul has a tough job on his hands editing that one!

Do look out for both of those very soon. Thanks for reading - stay safe.

* My thoughts are with the people of Ukraine. I've visited Kyiv a couple of times for work and always found it to be an inspiring and fascinating place. It's a shame in 2022 we can't seem to put violence behind us and come together globally to face into the major challenges of tomorrow we all face.