Environmental concerns can also impact the way we work. 

Environmental concerns are changing how we work. The Pandemic has shown that changes are possible and now it is time to develop this further.
The development of online consultancy will see few limits in providing services efficiently. Contracts will move from paper to digital, but not the persons dealing with it are still human beings no matter AI and “Smart Contracts”. Face to face meetings will still be an important part of the dealing but it can be substantially reduced. By making routine meetings digital, the lesser but still important physical meetings will not only be more efficient but also more enjoyable.

Many have now experienced working on distance and know how to use videoconferences and online tools. The change in how we will work continues. Lots of the services can be provided online. Reduced environmental footprint is only one advantage of minimizing traveling. Reduced cost is another.

Easy access to experts whenever needed.

No long-term employment, just assign the experts online when the questions arise. No “idling” or “invented” doings to keep people occupied when they are not buzy.

The experts online are no robots, no AI dummies, they are human beings and understand your thoughts and ideas and they are ready to discuss and answer your questions.

Training is also a field that can be arranged online – we still want to meet eye to eye sometime, but lots of up-to-date training and meetings can as well be done online.

To meet in person is not removed from the agenda, only reduced.
A change will always bring new things, some liked, some disliked. When we realize that a change is a must, our curiosity and our creativity will make sure we find new and better values through the change,. don’t fight the future, you will lose.

Environmental concerns can also impact the way we work. 

Environmental concerns are changing how we work. The Pandemic has shown that changes are possible and now it is time to develop this further.
The development of online consultancy will see few limits in providing services efficiently. Contracts will move from paper to digital, but not the persons dealing with it are still human beings no matter AI and “Smart Contracts”. Face to face meetings will still be an important part of the dealing but it can be substantially reduced. By making routine meetings digital, the lesser but still important physical meetings will not only be more efficient but also more enjoyable.

Many have now experienced working on distance and know how to use videoconferences and online tools. The change in how we will work continues. Lots of the services can be provided online. Reduced environmental footprint is only one advantage of minimizing traveling. Reduced cost is another.

Easy access to experts whenever needed.

No long-term employment, just assign the experts online when the questions arise. No “idling” or “invented” doings to keep people occupied when they are not buzy.

The experts online are no robots, no AI dummies, they are human beings and understand your thoughts and ideas and they are ready to discuss and answer your questions.

Training is also a field that can be arranged online – we still want to meet eye to eye sometime, but lots of up-to-date training and meetings can as well be done online.

To meet in person is not removed from the agenda, only reduced.
A change will always bring new things, some liked, some disliked. When we realize that a change is a must, our curiosity and our creativity will make sure we find new and better values through the change,. don’t fight the future, you will lose.

Lockdown and then? Less office – more online.

I am not sure the world economy will see such dramatic change as many expect due to Covid 19. But the pandemic will sure be the trigger for a long period of changes in business life. Environmental concerns together with the Covid 19 experience will start a rethinking of old truths regarding production and distribution of products. And thereby how we do business. It may not be as obvious that it is cheaper to produce in China than in Europe if applying new risk models for “just in time” and “comparative advantages”.

Even without Corona a change of economy, change of work life, employment models etc have for some years been waiting behind the corner to take advantage of the new IT environment (5G is one) and combine it with a new and still developing approach to work, where to work and how to be paid for it. 

Will the world economy collapse? Do we need to see a dramatic change in living standard? No, I don’t think so, neither due to Corona, nor due to environmental concerns. But yes, we will see changes but rather how to measure living standard than how to experience it. But if the world economy collapse? It will not, it will change and as all changes it will temporarily cause problems but also ignite new thinking – and this is exactly what is needed to adapt to the time we are already in. This is why I see the present pandemic as a trigger for a change, not the driver for it. 

Changes will come – 2020 Contract Management goes online! 2020 is the year we will realize 80-90% of the work can be done online, little travel but the whole world’s expertise available at your PC/Smartphone. All tools are there, but of course, human meetings cannot be totally replaced by faces on monitors. We need to meet face-to-face to understand the psychology of business. Most of the Contract Management, however, requires physical meetings only occasionally. 

And the Stock Markets, up or down?
Today’s Stock Market is not only driven by fundamentals, it is an AI controlled play where the overall moves in the day trading are rather a function of the big “Market Makers” co-operative and controlled efforts rather than the underlying values. If trading or even investing in the stock market can produce a higher revenue than other investments, the general move will be up. This is valid as long as we have no other view on what is profitable than the revenue measured in money. Environmental concerns will perhaps cause changes to this thinking. 

As we are entering a new era(?), old definitions may not be relevant any more. It would be very exciting to hear our economic scientists discuss and explain the world economy after Covid 19 and into the next decades.

Management must also be open to changes.

Changes are inevitable and whether we want a change or not we have to prepare for it and adapt to it. A question all CEOs the board of directors and everybody involved in a kind of business shall ask themselves is; Are we prepared for the paradigm shift which will come tomorrow? Sounds dramatic, but a paradigm shift is already coming and is visible for the ones who don’t stick their heads in the sand and don’t want to see it. This “Tomorrow” is not in the next 100 years or so, it is literally the day after you read this, maybe not dramatic but the change is here and it will not stop. You can see it in politics as well as in business, the yellow west movement in Paris is perhaps the most obvious right now and cannot be overlooked as “just a political issue in France ” It is an obvious sign that something is going on, something is bubbling under the surface which is a start of something new. It may calm down within some short time and by promises from President Macron, but the underlying force will not be silenced, it will continue to grow and reach many areas including business. 

Does this have to do with management?

Yes of course, as the whole society will change dramatically in the coming decade. Information is now available everywhere in real-time and from the whole world and you can get it in your smartphone wherever you are. But it is worth considering that the all-time availability via smartphones is more and more questioned which means that we may see a change of direction in people’s approach to be open to all communication 24/7.

Reflections and thoughts of most anything. 

The professional part – management – can always, and shall always be, discussed and questioned. I welcome and encourage all to comment, criticize, propose and be creative with new ideas and thoughts.
Looking forward, we don’t know the speed of change, but we know change is an essential and unavoidable part of life as well as of management. Does, for instance, all managers and politicians understand what information technology has brought and still will bring? They can use Social Media, but do they understand the full power of it?

How many believe that old authoritative management will survive in the future? No one I hope, as it represents a very different time, with human beings having to offer their physical power and skills in working for the few, who believed their heritage and social status made them superior rather than their skill.
The change is here and we will continue to experience a gigantic shift in the attitude to work, employment, remuneration and all which is seen as the norm today. A few understand the inevitable change but many don’t. Old financial and economic science may still be partly relevant as it is based on common conservative human thinking, but we shall be very happy that creativity will prevail. Human beings, at least a few, have a desire to develop, improve life, make things better. These creative and brave minds are the ones taking us into the future.

What has “management” to do with this?

Take a quick look at project management, risk management, contract management, and other management areas. The focus is on tools, methods and preservation and too little on creativity, thinking out of the box, risk-taking etc. I mean that the tools and methods shall be the small part in all management while creative thinking and looking ahead and humanity should be the big part. And the base for all your management shall be your own personality and your way of approaching matters!
Years ago, I recommended a book by Briner, Geddes, and Hasting about “Successful Project Management” to students as it was moving the focus from tools to a creative process. 

Your management and my management may be different, but we both learn from each other as long as we don’t fall into the trap and try to follow known managers even if our personality is very different. To imitate may be fun, but not creative.