HYBRID IS THE NEW NORMAL

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

We thought we were ready to deal with disruptions like Covid-19 after going through SARS. The pandemic of 2003 saw some changes to work like the adoption of conferencing technology, the beginnings of a disparate and spread out workforce, and sowed the seeds of a work from home idea.

But reality set in when we found that technology couldn’t quite deliver on what they were promising.

Broadband speeds were enough to deliver good voice communication, but video was lacking unless you were prepared to splurge on the most expensive telepresence suites. Working outside of the office was difficult with limited internet coverage and mobile data couldn’t be relied on; coverage was spotty since 4G wasn’t an option then.

Fortunately, we were able to deal with SARS in a less than a year and kept the number of lives lost as low as possible.

‘WORKING OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE WAS DIFFICULT WITH LIMITED INTERNET COVERAGE AND MOBILE DATA COULDN’T BE RELIED ON; COVERAGE WAS SPOTTY SINCE 4G WASN’T AN OPTION THEN.’

And we also returned to the old ways of work with face to face meetings and work travel resuming