As always, looking back on the past year and the changes and developments we’ve experienced, prompts us to look forward to the year ahead, and this means delving into predicted business trends anticipated to affect certain industries. We work with the people who make businesses run, we help teams to grow and develop so that the businesses can too, with this in mind, we’re looking at business trends set to develop in 2020.
Flatter organisations
Business operations are increasing in pace due to the increasing pace of life and the increasing use and development of technology in the workplace. Together these factors mean quicker decisions, quicker changes and, ultimately, fewer layers in the managerial hierarchy. We expect to see flatter organisations evolving as the next decade commences.
Repurposing of Technology
Ever-increasing developments in AI, ML, VR and AR mean that businesses can provide their customers with new experiences, more streamlined services and more integration. As we become more comfortable with the way that we use these technologies as businesses and the way we interact with them as customers, the ways in which they are used can progress, crossing industries and roles, and become more widely used and accepted. While in 2019 these technologies were continuing to develop, in 2020 will see more widely spread and repurposed use.
Green
Going green may have been hovering on the to-do lists of many business owners and managers for a few years now; the pressure of environmental issues is weighing heavier than ever. The need to protect the environment and the responsibility organisations have to play their part in making this change is now being seen in the choices they are making.
Privacy
Data privacy is not a new issue, this is something which businesses have been battling with for years now. Continuous changes and frequent breaches mean that data privacy is a regular concern. Technology provides us with expanding ways to collect more complex data for each interaction with a consumer, user, browser, client or employee. As this continues, the opportunities for data to be misused or breached will continue and rise too, and new technologies and infrastructures will be required to manage and organise this data. So while we expect to see organisations putting more time, effort and money into the protection and storage of data, we also expect to see more job roles developing in this area as the demand to manage and organise safely and efficiently increases.
Strong Communications
Between the rise in attention around employee experience, and the technologies streamlining communication processes, there’s a strong emphasis on communication amongst and between teams, which will only grow throughout 2020 and beyond. Companies are putting an emphasis on the happiness of their employees, their experience and company culture, understanding the impact this has on the motivation, productivity, lower turnover of employees and their employer branding – not to mention all of the other organisational benefits of a well-communicating team!
