The Future of Work (a discussion with The Economist's Correspondents)

The Economist's Callum Williams, senior economics writer, and international correspondent, Avantika Chilkoti, conducted a webinar this morning looking at how the pandemic will change the world of work. A few items I took away from their excellent discussion:

- Many companies will move to permanent Hybrid Work post-pandemic. Their initial research shows employees want to be in the office 3 days a week and employers want them there 2 days a week. Either way, this will be the major new change for organizations that aren't even in the tech sector.

- Larger companies are looking at how they can ensure that meetings involving in-office and remote participants are conducted effectively. This includes 'Zoom Conference Rooms' that attempt to give everyone the same experience including a true 'conf-rm view', hiding your own face and highlighting on the speaker.

- Physical conference rooms will feature 'virtual receptionists' that show how many people are already in the room, air temperature, air cleanliness etc. BEFORE the participant walks in.

- Tips for virtual meetings. Avantika said these are 'pedestrian' but important: ~ Do you know this person well? Then maybe you don't need a video call. Just an old fashioned phone call will be appreciated by both parties. ~ Book large video meetings for 20/25 or 50/55 minutes to allow for breaks before the next session. ~ All the video tech generally 'works' now, but it still doesn't effectively show non-verbal queues that are communicated during an in-person meeting. ~ Use Chat liberally throughout the meeting rather than waiting for the end for Q&A. Many benefits here including encouraging the introverts on the team to participate.