This is the story of hope – the story of a ray of light at the very end of a tumultuous dark tunnel. Covid-19 has come to test humanity – from businesses to relationships and human communications. True to the words of Jack Ma, it is in times of trouble that great leaders are nurtured. This can apply in every area of a person’s life – from social leadership to economic and political leadership.
Many are still groping on the origins of this nightmare while others have a form of relative truth that you won’t find on mainstream media. One thing is clear, nonetheless, it is during such times of a pandemic that ‘auto-pilot’ mode for most people is activated. This is when people follow every instruction given without thinking about it; this is when panic strikes and impulse buying is at its peak as people stock for months to come. It is also the best time to pause and reflect on the past and future – however bleak it might appear. The role of technology at such a time as this was felt during the Chinese SARS virus outbreak of 2002-2003. This could be a time where your business could flourish or receive a slap from which it will never recover. Here’s why…
The Panic Stricken Reaction to the Corona Virus
“Stay away from crowds!”
This is the main message coming from the WHO. Small companies are shutting down and directing workers to work from home as giant firms downsize the number of employees reporting to work. Zoom (video conferencing co.) stock has risen from $68 in January to an all-time high of $125 as of 5th March. Everyone has turned to Zoom video conferencing and some top businesses were skeptical whether the platform could host extremely large numbers of workers at a single meeting. This has led platforms like Zoom to improve their technology to make WFH tech a present reality. Oh, did we say there is already an acronym for ‘Work From Home’!
Twitter has directed all its worldwide employees to use technology to work from home if possible. Intel and HP Corp have also presented this option to thousands of employees. Microsoft’s LinkedIn has added travel bans to this call to action for its workers apart from essential business travel. Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, and Apple are all frantic and emphatic about employees using smart home technology to stay in touch with all that is happening at work.
Since technology firms are the trendsetters in today’s world and also have the technology to achieve WFH, home technology is likely to soon be accepted by all and other businesses are likely to copy this business model worldwide. Covid-19 may have caused a wave from which we will never recover. Moreover, it is spurring the dawn of the cashless society since money is now considered monstrous and the economy is most likely to crash after this pandemic.
The Way Forward for WFH Technology
When the going gets tough, the tough are forced to get going!
Future home technology is currently in the making. Taobao – the leading Asian e-commerce site for C2C was an idea formed after the SARS epidemic in China in 2003. It started as a young technology company and was up against the e-commerce giant – eBay! Without receiving direct aid from the government, the emerging company soon took over the Chinese market and was able to eliminate eBay from the Chinese e-commerce market in 2006.
This is just a glimmer of hope meant to show you that not all is lost. You can still grab hold of the opportunities technology presents and make this period an epic success story for you.
The Singapore FinTech Association considers this a time to build bridges instead of burning them. Entrepreneurs could develop strategic technology in the home to create a working environment and boost productivity, keeping consumer satisfaction and value firmly in mind. With the help of internet technology, it is quite possible to come up with innovative problem-solving solutions even during a pandemic that has stricken us.
Conclusion
Upscaling! That is the term!
Zoom and the likes of WhatsApp, Telegram, We Chat, Skype, Signal and Slack have set the bar, but it is up to individual tech companies to find smart technologies to boost existing tech or improve it. Other companies should aim to maximize such technology tools since this seems to be the way of the future.
While it was unimaginable to skip work some 2 decades ago, it now seems that the introduction of internet technology in our homes will enable us to shop from bed or our home technologized office. This will have both pros and cons, but the wise person is the one who finds ways for both worlds to work for him.
Has your company sent you to work from home yet? Do you find it more efficient than working in the office? Share your opinions and thoughts in the section below.
