Want to get ready for the future, prepare for the big shift online

2020 has been a strange year. But one of the big things in business. Is the speed of change and innovation. We have moved forward for about 20 years in 6 months. Especially when it comes to remote working.

Yes I know, skype calls and webinars are nothing new. We have communicated that way for a few years now. Here is the thing though. The game has moved on.

Going forward we are going to have to learn to close business online.

Business will still be done face to face. It has to be. But that’s going to be on video conference.

The truth is that the business world has figured it out fast. We don’t need to spend money on having office and meeting space. Office staff can work from home and meetings can be held online.

The savings in property and utilities costs are huge.

So going forward, few of the business transactions we complete will face to face.

The successful going forward?

Well, as usual, the people who are quick to embrace the change. In this case that will be folks who can do the following:

• Get to know the online systems, Skype, Teams, Zoom. You’re going to want to know those inside/out. Our job now as business professionals will be to make these systems work for us. Especially when you’re trying to close business, a nice background, and professional sound set up all help.

• Presenting is going to be turned on its head. Your audience is going to be seeing your presentation on a smaller screen. That’s going to drive us away from wordy PowerPoint presentations. I would think more into corporate storytelling will come into play. The other thing that’s going to come back into fashion is the pre-read material. That’s where the detail is going to come from that feeds the Q&A. Not death by PowerPoint.
• Get used to “Amazon-style” i.e 15 mins presenting with 45 mins of Q&A based on your pre-read. That will become the new normal.

The good thing is that in business change is nothing new. In fact, change is the only constant we have.

The new innovation in business is here, let’s get up to speed and embrace the change.