It’s probably time for all of us in business to reflect on what’s happened…

And to start thinking what the business landscape is going to look like, as all those that can, slowly return to work.

We can only speak for ourselves. But we wanted to put something out, that might get others talking and thinking about it too. From your own perspective.

Social distancing is likely to be with us for some time, as is (those that can) working from home. At least until the government get the track and trace system fully optimised.

Furthermore. We’ve also got to consider. No. Accept…

They’ll be some organisations and individuals who have found working from home a real advantage.

Thinking back. Before we started our business (18 years ago), I was in IT outsourcing sales & marketing and had no choice but to work from home.

There was no super-fast broadband and fancy websites back in the day. It was archaic ISDN and doing anything online was super slow, even sending emails.

But I tell you what. Working from home made me much more efficient and I probably worked longer hours too. Sometimes even at the weekend.

I’ll admit though, not everyone can work from home. You do need to be very structured and be able to deal with the lack of face to face social interaction.

I suppose I was lucky. We’d already boarded out the loft, put electric in and installed a Velux window. I’d climb the loft ladder and shut myself off from any distractions from below.

Not everyone working from home has that luxury. Some work on kitchen tables, desks in bedrooms and I even heard someone was using an ironing board as a desk.

The ironing board story took me back 30 years to when I was 20. Some of you’ll remember, back then, we used to get mega hot and long summers.

Whilst on a night out in Haslingden, a guy we knew (Paul Wilson), walked into the Roebuck wearing Bermuda shorts & Hawaiian shirt, whilst carrying an ironing board.

Paul raised the ironing board in the middle of the packed pub, clambered on board and surfed the night away to the music. That night stays with me forever and still brings us much laughter.

Sorry. Back to the business future…

Which means, for those that have seen a benefit to working from home, they’re likely to continue.

And even those organisations dead set against anyone working from home, might even consider it now, even after social distancing eventually disappears.

Obviously, some people can’t work from home…

Like trades people, physical retail employees and warehouse personnel. But even some of these will have office people, who might now want too.

We’ll probably see various business models:

·        Those that migrate to completely working from home, probably tech type organisations.

·        Hybrids. Who’ll have smaller offices, with these supplemented by home workers.

·        Flexibles. Those that want the flexibility to work from both home and office.

·        Some who can’t change because of the work they do, will return to the same workplace.

·        And, they will be some that just don’t want to change and will revert to the status quo.

What does this all mean from our perspective?

It certainly means we’ve got to change and become much more flexible ourselves. Not only with the products and services we provide, but also in how we deliver them.

Potentially, we’ll have hundred’s more service delivery locations to manage. Team members in these locations are still going to need technology, stationery, workplace solutions and even furniture.

But not necessarily in the same quantities, size or with the same functionality as within the office environment.

Then we’ve also got to consider the slimmed down head office who now need to manage all these home workers:

Can head office phone systems provide home workers with the office functions they require, whilst also providing the required reports and savings to the business manager?

Have you noticed the home broadband infrastructure seems to be creaking under the pressure of all the home working going on. If working from home becomes permanent for many. Is there a need to upgrade to business quality broadband and who pays for the difference in price?

Have home workers got existing furniture they can use (like an ironing board), or do they need something which will fit into a bedroom. playroom or home office?

What about printing and scanning technology, as most will still need it:

Have they existing equipment they can use?

Is it up to the job?

How much do the cartridges cost?

What happens if something goes wrong with it?

It’s a similar question about PC and laptop technology. It they become permanent home workers, the business needs to provide and support this required technology too.

So for us…

It’s not just about delivering to hundreds of new locations. It’s also about providing the right products, solutions, invoicing structures, and reporting.

…whilst having the infrastructure in place to support head office and home worker technology too.