Trends and technology are so advanced and fast-charging today, that many people dont t even bother to keep up. However, if you’re a business person itching to advance their career, you need to know all the most important trends that are changing the way we work and live. 

If you understand how the industries change, you can adjust your operations better and stay afloat in the competitive world of business. Start preparing yourself for the future by studying these trends today and you will adapt to whatever the business world has to throw at you:

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is a great technological advancement that will allow us to create intelligent systems, smart companies and smart cities that interact, record data and create a ton of new information used for finding new intelligence. Today, human decision making is helped by real-life data in all spheres of life, the business strategy included. Data modeling will help experts test various scenarios and find the best solutions to business issues. However, workers, bosses and all in between will need new skills to read data and use the Internet of Things, so we can see a rise in training demand. 

Flexible remote policies

The pandemic won’t be here forever, but if you think that the employees will be rushed back into their offices as soon as it’s over, you might be wrong. Many companies saw how easy and effective it is to employ a remote workforce. Meetings and communication can be done through a SOHO phone service like Ring Central or Zoom, and everyone is saving a lot of money and time on workspace and commutes. Giants like Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, and Slack are planning to have a part of their workforce work remotely forever. This might not be possible for all industries and companies, but experts believe that most businesses will consider a more flexible remote work policy. 

Achieving superscale

Online communication and collaboration allow small firms to operate at a very serious scale. This ability to superscale allows businesses and people to achieve great goals and benefit from collective intelligence (for instance, games that push thousands of people to solve problems together online). Managing such concepts will require skills not of the traditional management kind, but from fields of design, neuroscience and psychology. 

Digital marketplaces 

Many companies today have e-commerce platforms. Those that weren’t on board before, rushed to build their platforms once the pandemic started. Today, we have a rise in subscription boxes, ghost kitchens, online fitness classes and other conveniences. Even industries that are not so quick to adopt changes like the Oil and Gas industry are creating digital marketplaces for easy purchasing of top-notch oilfield equipment that will save costs and ensure the improved capacity of operations. Oilfield parts, tools and equipment can easily be purchased today and shipped all over the world. 

Changes at the office

Those that return to the office will find a modernized business environment and changes in the workspace. The IoT will connect various systems to create a space that serves our needs. Smart offices will bring us better space utilization, lower energy consumption and better adjustment to the user. One of the trends that might affect business the most is smart desks. Desks with displays are all we need on the work surface because our phones will contain all the necessary applications, data and functionality stored on the cloud. 

Social media

New tech is changing the way customers communicate with businesses. With social media and virtual networks becoming more and more accepted, communication in the forms of video and animation is on the rise. New types of media are allowing businesses to work and communicate in a new way that will bring greater transparency. With all these new ways for businesses to communicate with their audiences, communications skills are more important than ever. Consider signing up for custom training workshops from the Throughline Group to get your media spokespersons ready for any challenge. However, while this sounds very good, greater transparency makes it harder to protect business reputation and keep identities private online.

Growing awareness

COVID-19 is not the only thing that marked the past year. We have also been hit with Australian bushfires, Amazon fires, the BLM movement, the US election, political conflicts and many more dark and traumatic things. So today, we have a greater need than ever to find emotional connections, guidance and positivity. Consumers today want quality products and service, but also demand ethical practices, sustainability and inclusivity of the brand. We are the generation that will have to live with all the consequences of climate change, so we want to support companies that advocate for sustainability and want to build a better future with us. 

This brave new world of business and work is changing rapidly and falling victim to many trends. So companies and professionals will need to adapt and try their best to survive in the ever-changing work environment.