The future of work, after the COVID-19 pandemic, will be defined by workflows, groups, and power bases [see photo]. And within this new schema the radical change is that each of element is opaque not transparent. Let's take a peek inside these opaque elements.
WORKFLOWS
Work is becoming more, and more, of a streaming operation. In the past we dealt with work in batches. Today that has largely changed due to the need for speed which has become a prerequisite within our new workspaces. Do it and do it now - this is our new workspace creed. This means that workflow has become an online feature, rather than an offline bug, for all productive effort from initial design to completion of task. And great workflow is only truly possible if and when the system can anticipate demand and supply. What will the client demand in the next minute, second, nanosecond, etc and how well is our workflow system setup to meet that request? This means our workflows must be designed, curated, and maintained to match demand to supply in an instant. A perfect match of supply to demand is the goal - workers who can not achieve that standard will be downgraded or discarded.
WORK GROUPS
The most radical change to work groups is they have become influential in ways not seen in command-and-control workplaces. Low-level workers have become arbiters of a workspace culture. Workers who may never meet each other are nonetheless an integral part of the work group formed by a collection of nodes on a virtual network. These nodes may spread around the globe but they have a common focus - that is, match supply to demand for their part of the enterprise [private, public, charitable, political, etc]. These work groups might specialise in delivering education and training to other nodes of the network or they might provide online support to problem-solve technical and social issues as and when these arise. Therefore such work groups will have assembled the best talents and skill sets available for what will prove to be a constantly changing and evolving workspace.
POWER BASES
Another radical change is that the power bases, from top to bottom, will have been integrated, and consolidated, in ways that were never desirable or feasible in a command-and-control operation. This feature is possible because the new workplace operates on the principle of "first on the scene takes charge" then others bind on to form a team as the work progresses and becomes more reliant upon specific talents and skills. Within this type of networked system the culture over-rides the dictates of traditions, shibboleths, politics, etc. In turn, this means that each power base is grounded in the system not in the people. Indeed it is the people who best fit the aspirations, and expectations, of the system who ultimately wield power inside this opaque structure.
Richard.
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