The silver lining of a dark cloud

Unless you happen to inhabit a cave or are without access to the news or internet, you will be aware that we are currently in an unprecedented and ever evolving landscape. The impact on our daily lives is obvious and the longer-term implications for individuals, companies and the economy are unknown. 

In a moment of reflection as I sit working at my dining table at home, I thought I’d share some potential silver linings to what is currently a very dark cloud. 

For the last decade, animal welfare has been brought into the limelight and thankfully, from my understanding, animal cruelty occurs at only a fraction of regularity of years past. More recently, the environmental impact of what we eat has been brought into the question and many, (myself included) have significantly reduced the amount of meat consumed both for health and environmental reasons. 

Much like meat, travel (particularly air travel) was previously considered a luxury and in recent years, low budget airlines (even for long haul) now have made travel accessible to many. Whilst taxes on travel have increased and now account for sometimes more than 30% of your average air ticket, the environmental impact of travel still seems to be pushed under the rug in the most part. 

Video conferencing technology has been around for more than a decade and numerous other technologies (and features of many day to day tooling) are already at our disposal to enable us to do our daily work from anywhere in the world if we (and the organisations we work for) are willing to adopt a new way of working. 

This new way offers flexibility and benefits that many organisations have yet to consider. Ironically self-quarantine and stay homes notices restrict flexibility and aren't exactly positive but they have raised the profile of working from home (WFH) and remote working and this is a big plus in my book. 

An hour's commute each way is not uncommon for a significant portion of the world's population accounting for 25% of the working day and the cost of making that commute can also be significant (the average rail season ticket in London is now more than ￡3000). 

Then there are the positive impacts the flexibility WFH also brings. Offering parents the opportunity to take their kids to or collect from school is a prime example and this could be as simple as arranging a time for a delivery or some much needed maintenance on your home. Likewise, there have been a number of studies conducted that suggest people who (in-part) WFH are on the whole more productive and I would have thought that removing a daily commute should have a positive impact on our health with a reduction in stress. 

Now I'm not advocating that we shut all office spaces. It's also clear that some industries require their staff to be present and some individuals are not fortunate to have homes conducive to working from. However, there is a middle ground and if anything, this virus will help advocate working together, albeit remotely and the benefits it brings, particularly to organisations previously unwilling or receptive to it. 

Fortunately, for the progression of WFH or remote working, the companies also stand to benefit. By reviewing the necessity of business travel under the same lens, significant time and cost savings can be made if meetings are conducted via video conference (VC) and not always in person. We are social beings so our interactions shouldn’t exclusively be via a screen or phone but at the same time, saving our face to face interactions for when they are most valuable, naturally increases the value of those face to face interactions.  

This movement if we can call it that should not just be driven by vendors, customers must also play their part in being receptive to meeting via VC or conference call. This is even more pertinent for businesses operating at a global level. 

Finally, there are environmental benefits of all this "necessary" travel. Imagine if 50% of the workforce could work remotely! Reduction in travel using cars, trains, buses and in the air would result in less congestion and strain on our transportation systems. 

Most people I know like to travel and see the world and I’m fortunate enough to have spent a number of years in South East Asia where there are so many interesting counties right on my doorstep. I’m not advocating we stop all travel and face to face interactions in the same way that I'm not (yet) a vegan. I’m lucky enough to have the choice to eat meat when I want to, not because I have to on a daily basis because there are no other options. 

So once the storm has passed and the clouds have cleared, I hope that travel follows the same course and becomes an option reserved for the most valuable interactions in both a commercial and personal context. And with all the productivity gains and cost savings, perhaps there is a little more time for travel to see friends and family or exploring a new culture or country. While you're there (or better still, on the way) perhaps you can open up your laptop and finish a few things that have been on that to do list for a while because you now have the flexibility to do so.