Managed.IT - issue 59

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 19 www.managedITmag.co.uk discussing long-term business plans. This is not the time to make decisions behind closed doors or to tackle problems in siloed teams. Business leaders must accept that many things are beyond their control – and make up for this by taking full ownership of the aspects of their business that they do have a handle on. Business leaders should also improve their ability to overcome change through agile reconstruction. 2020 has taught us the value of flexibility and this is sure to remain a core requirement for a long time to come. The new normal may be a daunting prospect for some, but by adopting a fresh perspective and leveraging new technologies, businesses can use this opportunity to not just survive, but thrive under unfamiliar circumstances. Now is the time to rethink old habits, welcome change and reap the benefits of a reset to the way we work. Brandon Oliveri-O’Connor, Director UK&I, Procore Throughout the pandemic, technology has been instrumental in enabling businesses and individuals to continue with ‘business as usual’. One industry increasingly realising the benefits of digitalisation is construction. With its work being conducted predominantly on-site but with lockdown restricting contact, digitalisation has been necessary to keep teams connected and safe. By connecting business applications and storing relevant information in one place, platform technology allows applications and tech tools to talk to each other. This means that everyone, whether they are on or off site, can have access to a single source of truth. As companies look to support distributed working, with teams increasingly being based across office and home environments, leaders must follow a similar approach and seek out technology that doesn’t silo information but encourages transparency. This will be absolutely critical to how we all work in the future. Dr Tim Guilliams, Co-Founder and CEO, Healx As a tech company, we were able to transition to full remote working with relative ease back in March. With a solid foundation of supporting remote workers prior to the pandemic, and with established working practices of running meetings and projects with a hybrid workforce, we certainly felt some of the workplace challenges less acutely than others. Simple practices we have employed to connect teams and support collaboration across the company include moving to a weekly all-team meeting; utilising Slack extensions like ‘Donut’ to recreate those ‘water cooler’ chats; creating a ‘common language’ using semantic emojis on Slack; implementing regular wellbeing check-ins; and building in more contact time between leaders and teams across the organisation. All these initiatives help to keep the Healx culture alive. In tandem, continuing to expand and build one’s team has never been more important. At Healx, we’ve been open to widening our recruitment beyond Cambridge, recognising that, for many, remote working is an option they now expect from an employer. As we continue to grow our team of experts, we’re implementing new onboarding and development programmes to remain ahead of the curve in this ‘new normal’. Sergei Anikin, CTO, Pipedrive One of the key challenges of the new normal and this year in general has been its unpredictability. The best thing teams can do to navigate this is to practise transparency both in everyday work and when already accrued earnings before payday is a simple technology- based project that need not impact business cash flow or change HR and pay technologies already in place. At times of crisis, organisations that support their staff’s financial wellbeing will see this strategy pay dividends in terms of engagement, productivity and retention. Tanzil Bukhari, Managing Director EMEA, DoubleVerify The pandemic has altered our behaviour in many ways, and how we engage with online content is no exception. This year, COVID-19 has been at the forefront of complex and rapid international news cycles, with fake news and inflammatory content levels also on the rise. Our new study Four fundamental shifts in media & advertising during 2020 shows that the time we spend consuming content has doubled since the start of the pandemic, from an average of 3 hours 17 minutes per day to an average of 6 hours 59 minutes. In this context, advertising opportunities are opening up, as long as they are brand-appropriate, with two thirds (69%) saying they are more likely to look at an ad that is relevant to the content they are viewing. But it’s not just about relevance and suitability. As we find ourselves in an increasingly complex digital world, businesses must ensure they engage consumers in a safe and compliant way. Investing in the right technologies, such as AI-powered solutions, can help navigate the new normal to protect brand reputation and power performance, while complying with consumer privacy demands. Brandon Oliveri- O’Connor, Procore Sergei Anikin Dr Tim Guilliams, Healx Tanzil Bukhari