The year 2020 has been a time of uncertainty, threats, risks, pain, and enormous social impacts. However, it has also presented immense opportunities, with a renewed spirit of unity, greater mutual help and collaboration, and higher civic standards. Despite being isolated, we have remained motivated. Despite working remotely, we have remained available. We have learned to balance work with family life, blurring the lines between the two in an inevitable "work-life balance".

As the past few weeks have shown, digital transformation has been accelerated due to external pressure for change. The need to survive in a new world has led to the rapid adoption of "new" ways of working. Despite years of promoting operational efficiency, process optimization, cost reduction, or quality improvement, remote and collaborative work practices have only gained traction recently.

We have long had the tools necessary for remote work, but its advocates were once a timid minority. This crisis has proven that modern jobs are based on knowledge and are no longer confined to a specific physical location. Work can happen anywhere - in the office, at home, on a balcony, or in a garden; in a bustling city or in a remote region. Our new workplace is digital, connected, and open to the global community, promoting collaboration and sharing of ideas.

As a result, knowledge has become the most volatile asset - highly sought after, globally interconnected, and challenging to retain. In this era of knowledge, business platforms that foster internal and external communication and collaboration, that engage employees and align multidisciplinary teams around collective projects while considering individual interests and company priorities, are crucial.

The major challenge organizations face now is retaining, managing, and utilizing knowledge that is generated but often lost when employees move within departments or leave the company, resulting in significant impacts on productivity.

The increasing volatility of talent, which may be further exacerbated by the widespread adoption of remote work, necessitates swift adoption of solutions that promote growth and development of individuals as professionals, stimulating their autonomy, involvement, and accountability.

As physical distance from employees increases, there is a need for realignment with the company's values and strengthening of collaboration and openness at various levels, including teams, departments, companies, and groups.

Therefore, it is important to foster continuous agility and innovation among employees, particularly in generating new ideas collaboratively and transparently. This is especially relevant in the current context of adaptation and transformation, where fast and innovative solutions are sought to address pressing everyday challenges, while adhering to clear processes and the highest ethical standards.

Motivating leadership and effective governance of management systems will ensure timely, reliable, verifiable, authentic, and secure management of information while decentralizing its availability.

Today, technology enables capturing and accessing content in various formats (text, audio, image, video, etc.) anytime, anywhere, tailored to the specific context (e.g. onboarding, new projects) and employee profile. Functions such as categorization, segmentation, and cataloging will naturally emerge in a dynamic ecosystem where institutional communication coexists with spontaneous and informal channels. This will accelerate initial traction, facilitate internal evangelization, and ensure that the organization's culture repository remains updated and expanded.

As Darwin once explained, the companies that will thrive tomorrow will not necessarily be the strongest or the ones with the most intelligent people today. They will be the most agile - capable of capturing and interpreting information, generating knowledge, and evolving with the changing context, reinventing themselves. And this innovation will be even more valuable as it brings together and impacts the entire community. What is certain is that employees and other stakeholders will be motivated to overcome the constant challenges they face in this new landscape.

Modified and updated in 2023, this article was originally published at Jornal Económico on July 28, 2020.

Thriving in the Modern Workplace