In an exclusive interaction with SCIKEY, Mr. Saikat Ghosh speaks about the future of startups that have started during the pandemic, the dynamics of a hybrid workplace and ways to overcome challenges in the same.
1. What are your thoughts on a hybrid workplace? What are some challenges you foresee in implementing a hybrid workplace?
My perspective is that Hybrid workplaces are here to stay for multiple reasons with the pandemic accelerating its growth multifold. Organizers have realized that hybrid workplaces have proven to be efficient as it saves on real estate costs. However, in this new business environment, organizations need to respond quickly, which leads to the need of having a connected team, stepping up and bringing in innovation and technology within an organization etc. These seem to be the potential challenges of a hybrid workplace. Innovations too, are a significant part of today's industry which can take place within groups and teams rather than in isolation. We, therefore, have tried to overcome this challenge as we have always been a hybrid workplace.
To give a little background about our organization, we are a design consulting firm where we essentially help other organizations become a kinder place. We tend to achieve this by looking at ways to bridge the gap between the strategic intent of the organization and the strategic objective, making it work on the given ground. Instead of having an individual voice considered for an idea, we take up a holistic view. We are a strong core team with 4-5 members spread across different geographies like Mumbai, Bangalore, and Amsterdam, etc. A hybrid workplace is something we are used to working with even before the pandemic struck. Turning the pandemic into an opportunity, we tried to utilize this time to its core by connecting and building up to something worthwhile.
2. What strategic factors should a business leader consider for creating a post covid business plan?
Post Covid-19 effects have brought forth changes in the global business environment and the rise in the number of millennials joining the workforce. One other aspect that cannot be overlooked are the ecological changes that can cause sudden spurts of opportunities and pains for the organization. In the pre-pandemic era, we could create a business plan for a five year stretch which is no longer the case. Creating a three year business plan today would be a monumental task because of the rapid changes being experienced worldwide. Therefore, it is crucial that an organization or a business leader work on their ability to adapt themselves to be flexible, strategic, and open to the idea of continuously refining the business plan apart from bringing in authenticity.
3. What are the top shifts you foresee in buying behavior in the digital space? What are the factors that will contribute to this?
We can see that there has been a massive shift in the skills required to deliver output and tackle uncertainty with critical thinking acting as one crucial aspect of it. Organizations have realized that a single skill set or a tool is not good enough. Instead, one needs to think how, as a practitioner, would skills impact the business. Therefore, many of the requests received by us revolve around problem-solving, negotiations, and impactful presentations. In short, what has been accelerated in the digital space is the shift from inputs towards outcomes.
Earlier, for cost optimizations, companies called us for two days or a 6-hour session each day. Today, the in-person option has been replaced with remote working. This provides us flexibility to break a program down across multiple days with shorter sessions, where the focus could be higher. This has led to a change in the attitude of people coming into these sessions. Digital space has also accelerated individual’s problem-solving muscles and has taken ownership of their learning journey. The digital medium works in terms of how it lets you break down, collect feedback, and short quizzes to respond in real-time quickly.
4. What do you think the year 2021 might look like for India's startups that have commenced in 2020? Please share your opinions on the threats and the opportunities they might foresee in 2021?
As we consider ourselves a startup, our primary focus is on the survival aspect, i.e., doing whatever it takes to survive by conserving cash if the pandemic has negatively impacted you. However, many businesses like D2C brands, i.e., direct to consumer, FMCG brands, have done wonderfully well during this period. In a broader sense, any crisis always gives rise to threats and opportunities, and the question is how we would perceive it.
One of the significant elements that got negatively affected was that women globally had to face the brunt of this both at the workplace and domestically. In a more profound sense, the overall challenge is about inclusion. We do not have an inclusive nature, even from a global perspective. So when organizations are talking about agility, adaptability, and so forth, it requires the root as how is it possible to make them agile suddenly. In other words, we turned this crisis into an opportunity. For startups, an opportunity is something you always need to look out for, whether it is sustainable employee engagement or design a business model for consumers, or how your product can or business model be sustainable for the entire world end community.
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