Working from home is becoming increasingly common, and that’s compounded by the recent coronavirus outbreak. In fact, because of the outbreak, you might be working from home for the first time in your life and if so, it is something that you have had to make adjustments to, especially if you have kids. The problem is compounded if you were caught off guard without the requisite tools to be able to work and conduct your research from home.

Alibaba CEO Yong Zhang has noted that coronavirus is likely to alter how consumers conduct business in China. Around the world, buying behaviour may also change. If this holds true that buying behaviour changes, then it holds true that sellers of goods and services must devise and explore new ways of deliveries. In the end, it is expected that competition will drive greater efficiencies and the effect of the pandemic will lead to a greater emphasis on workers’ health and the workplace environment.

A change in how work is done is imminent with an expected permanent rise in remote working. Companies that provide services that empower remote location access and services will definitely enjoy a boom and with this change in the work environment, many companies embracing remote location working and access will experience a significant drop in running expenses on things relating to human resources, rent and other associated cost involved in taking care of workers locally in the office premises.

The world as we know it is changed forever. Are you prepared for that change? Is your firm positioned to be fully operational online? Can everything run smoothly online and can you reduce the maximum direct physical interactions even with clients?

Some of the expected permanent outcomes from the Coronavirus pandemic include:

• Travel expenses will fall due to fewer face-to-face interactions. The need to travel will be really questioned to determine if it is an absolute necessity.
• The use of automation will be accelerated to augment the workforce.
• HR practices will change. Fewer humans in one confined space may mean fewer human resource issues and investigations.

There is a need for you to review and access your firm operations and streamline it to reflect changing times to stay relevant. The firms of the future will look for ways to further minimize expenses and increase efficiency while expanding reach while clients will look for services and firms who can attend to them even remotely as they minimize direct meetings for virtual meetings. They will prefer firms who can reach them wherever they are.

Businesses and individuals will be guided going forward by the need to stay safe and be prepared for any possible outbreaks of another pandemic. This will shape how they do business and what models they adopt and adapt to be safe and stay profitable. They will look for firms who can deliver results based on their changing demands and needs in the face of the pandemic.

In the midst of the numerous lockdowns, companies and individuals still require legal services as they have moved online to continue operations. They are looking for those law firms who can meet them and attend to them right now, remotely. If you were properly equipped to have provided such services in this hour of crisis perhaps your firm will be experiencing a surge to meet demands.

Perhaps you weren’t ready and this caught you unawares in terms of your firm’s capability to operate remotely. What are you going to do about it now? Are you going to be proactive in your response to a pandemic that has shut down businesses or will you just sit it out and wait till the storm is over? That could prove to be catastrophic or you may get lucky.

The future belongs to those who are proactive and take the initiative to evolve their business with the times; to make strategic changes that will position them ahead of other competitors and not simply rely on chance as they sit through things. More importantly, you need to strategically position your firm to be top of mind before your clients. This is the right time to invest in research tools like Legalpedia and smart office solutions that ensure that work continues wherever you are.

Why not talk to us about ways to ride through in uncertain times? Send us a mail – [email protected].

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