How We Will Work After the Novel Coronavirus Subsides

2020/2/29

Article illustration: Online or In Person? Thoughts from February 2020.

Every day brings nonstop news about the novel coronavirus.

How to protect yourself from the novel coronavirus, and whether the current administration's response is right or wrong, are raging mainly on social media.

I share information focusing on the mindset for after the novel coronavirus subsides, and on the "work-style reform," "life-style reform," and "digital transformation" that can overcome even a crisis.

Large live events cancelled...

Because of the daily coronavirus turmoil, large live events have been cancelled.

"Losses in the tens of billions of yen," "It's crazy to cancel live events while leaving packed trains running"—all sorts of opinions are being voiced.

I find it extremely regrettable that large live events have been cancelled.

At the same time, I realized that from now on, it will become crucial for us to draw a clear line between what we do offline and what we do online.

Now that digitalization has advanced to a high degree and rapid growth isn't stopping, most work and tasks can be done online.

Or rather, I think we should make it our starting premise to ask, "Can't this be done entirely online?"

That's because the performance is overwhelmingly better.

Telework and remote work as the trigger

Speaking of working online, in response to this crisis, large companies — starting with the internet conglomerate GMO, along with Dentsu, Shiseido, and others — have switched to telework and remote work.

In fact, the introduction of telework and remote work had been promoted for a long time, but most companies were probably reluctant.

On the other hand, many companies are still doing nothing in particular.

Among them, for companies that can't take the step into remote work, isn't the honest truth that they "don't know what to do"?

How to start telework and remote work right now

In fact, what you need to do is very simple: just free your work tools from "physical constraints".

Cut analog methods such as paper and phone calls to the absolute minimum
Move all data to the cloud
Use only laptops or tablets
Hold meetings and seminars online
Record knowledge (turn it into video data)

In addition, what matters is to switch without hesitation whenever there is a more convenient method or tool.

For example, changing what you communicated by email to FB Messenger (groups) raises productivity, but switching to Chatwork or Slack raises it even further.

In today's highly developed business world, where you must keep improving productivity and operations, the appropriate tools mostly already exist.

What matters most may be a mindset that can easily let go of methods you've long been used to.

The true value of offline

So in fact, most work and tasks can be shifted online at any time.

Then when does offline come into play?

It is the realm where you can feel life, emotions, and stories. Humanism is one word that sums it up.

Live shows, snack bars, theater, travel—I think we should free up our offline time so that we can devote its resources purely to entertainment like this.

Connections between people, shared experiences, and community are also worth devoting resources to.

We will build the post-COVID world

Just imagine for a moment.

What if, in today's chaotic situation, AI and robots that never get sick were working for us, and the safety of our lives was maintained?

Innovation in medicine is accelerating right now too, so in the near future our bodies may have far higher immunity than today.

Even amid chaos, solutions keep appearing right in front of us.

There's no point in grieving over the present, and a great crisis is a treasure trove of lessons.

While we eagerly await the day it subsides, we are the ones who will build the post-COVID world—so let's start preparing for it right now.