B.C./A.C.: Before Corona — After Corona

There’s no doubt, the Corona pandemic has drastically changed the world as well as our lives and we won’t go back to B.C. I believe some trends which developed during Corona have come to stay. Let’s take a glance at how the “new normal” could look like:

BUSINESS

Hybrid models with a strong focus on digital will stay popular. For example, take-away services of restaurants will remain as the infrastructure is already there and people haven been getting used to it. Business models like “Click & Collect” will stay too and save companies a lot of money. These business models also benefit from higher efficiency. 

Another business-related trend that has come to stay is home office. Some companies will for sure offer the possibility to work from home at least a few days a week. According to studies, 92% of all employees would like to work remotely for at least part of their working time. 

INNOVATION

All companies have an instinct: they want to survive. To do just that during the Corona pandemic, innovation was essential. From online customer service to remote working to the use of artificial intelligence, companies had to rethink their strategies and ways of working in a short timeframe. Covid has been a catalyst for innovation and the development of new products. I think that companies are now more aware that innovation is vital to being successful in the long run. 

Disruption also creates space for entrepreneurs. Even though Corona destroyed a lot of small businesses, I truly believe that it also offers a wide variety of opportunities to people who want to build “the next big thing.” This trend of a new generation of entrepreneurs could help with the creation of jobs and economic growth once the worst is over. Also intrapreneurs for internal development will play a more important role in the future.

SOCIETY & ENVIRONMENT

As a society we (hopefully) learned that “we” is more important than “I.” I expect to see this trend in companies too: dealing with things together as a group rather than alone, focussing more on purpose as a performance driver, paying more attention to each other. Corona showed how unsure and fragile our lives can be – safety will be more important for individuals and our whole society.

Covid also reminded us that we are part of our environment and that we can’t really control it. I think that this “reset” paved the way for more sustainability and environmental protection in the future. The pandemic has been a wake-up call: we can’t continue the way things were anymore and have to take more responsibility for environmental development.

What are your thoughts on B.C./A.C.? Can you think of more trends?