Two ways to turn the uncertainty of the Corona era into major structural changes

The state of emergency has been lifted, and economic activity has begun to resume in stages. Across industries, all of Japan is facing the challenges of work and work styles during the coronavirus pandemic. Many companies have begun to shift to telework, and I feel that the difference between those that are able to respond smoothly and those that are not is starting to emerge. To what extent is your company or workplace progressing in response to the pandemic?

Many companies have already completed the transition to ultra-short-term actions, but speed is important in turning the uncertainty of the coronavirus into major structural changes that will lead to the creation of business opportunities.

In other words, we have entered an era where competitiveness lies in making changes ahead of other companies, rather than waiting for them to change.

So what exactly should we do to bring about structural change? Let's take a look at two important approaches to creating change in the era of coronavirus.

Point 1: The keyword is "3 Cs + movement of people".

The new coronavirus has had a fundamental impact on our society and work styles. Given the dense urban society and work style that we have had up until now, it will be essential to take measures to reduce the 3 Cs and the movement of people as much as possible, and to reduce the risk of a second wave of the new coronavirus and new infectious diseases as much as possible.

I would like to consider what kind of changes will occur in industry and society from these four perspectives.

With Social Changes in the Corona Era

1. Closed: Changing from a closed space to an open space (food and beverages, events/events, movie theaters, live music venues)
2. Density: Reduced work that involves high density and gathering of people (office layouts, call centers and intensive processing centers, laboratories, theme parks, schools)
3. Close contact: Work that involves people coming into contact will change to non-contact (customer service, supermarkets, medical practices (clinical, nursing care, treatments), public services)
4. Movement of people: Reduced movement of people (transportation, logistics)

We believe that these four points can be used to identify operations that require change in your workplace.

Point 2: Identify tasks that require change based on “essential, substitutable, and unnecessary”

After looking at the entire business flow based on the four axes of change in the era of coronavirus, let's look at business from the perspective of "essential, substitutable, and unnecessary."

Assessing changing business operations

1. Essential: Work that is essential to proceed with business or work.
2. Substitutable: Lockdown situations can be avoided or alleviated by changing workflows and tools.
3. Unnecessary: Review the purpose and necessity and stop the task itself.

Essential work is work that is absolutely essential to the business. Examples include medical work (clinical care, nursing care, treatments) and transportation/logistics driving work.

People need to act, and this multi-year timeline can't replace everything. In these essential operations, it is necessary to reduce the burden on workers and the risk of infection.

Substitutable tasks are tasks that can avoid or alleviate a closed situation by changing the workflow or tools.

The state of emergency has been declared nationwide, and the use of telework has rapidly spread. I think many people are realizing that there are many things that can be done outside of the office and that can be done online, including business practices that rely on paper and stamps.

The most important thing to do is to list as many substitutable jobs as possible and replace them with the four changes associated with the ``Three Cs + Reduced Movement of People''.

Take this opportunity to stop unnecessary work.
Clarify the purpose of work and stop unnecessary work.

Historically, it has been considered natural to do this, but
Eliminate tasks that could originally be reduced.
This alone is thought to have a huge impact.

Summary Two points to look at when looking at changes in the Corona era are changes in the ``3 Cs + movement of people'' and identifying ``work that can be replaced.''

Well, this time, we have explained the four points of change and the perspective of separating work, using the keywords "Three Cs + Reduction in the movement of people". Next time, we will talk about AI that will be used in a society with the coronavirus!

<Part 2> How can we use AI to dramatically change the way we work in the Corona era?
https://cinnamon.is/ideas/2020/06/01/workshift_with_corona_02/

Cinnamon AI Director and COO Yoshiaki Ieda Joined Cinnamon after working at Dentsu, Recruit, P&G Singapore and starting a business. Based on his extensive experience in launching new businesses, he is in charge of new business consulting and product/service design. Bridging business requirements and technical solutions.

At Cinnamon AI, we help companies utilize AI and promote work style reform through consulting, workshops, and solutions. We would appreciate it if you could feel free to contact us.

Click here to contact us => Inquiry form