Frontline - The new Digital Nomads
COVID-19 has had far reaching consequences, with one of the more significant effects now manifested in the way we currently work. I have been a full‑time employee in investment banking with a desk, a routine, and multiple colleagues. I have also been a self-employed management consultant with an independent peripatetic lifestyle, again with a variety of clients and colleagues. I now work for an Emerging Technology Advisory firm, Appold (www.appold.com), that facilitates and bridges the gap between institutions and the ‘Emerging Technology’ community. As part of our offering, we build long-term relationships with viable technology firms and potential buyers of their services. The recent pandemic has brought into sharp focus the importance of firms deploying the right productivity technology to support the firm’s operating model.
The impact of the pandemic has led me to think how working practices have altered from the full Digital Nomad lifestyle popularised for individual workers in the 80s and 90s to a broader move towards flexible/home working for many of us.
Digital Nomads, first championed in the Popular Computing article on Steve Roberts in 1983 and in the Wiley 1997 publication ‘Digital Nomad’ written by Tsugio Makimoto and David Manners, were typically seen as retired or semi‑retired, the independently wealthy, entrepreneurs, some ‘life/work balancers’ and the young. They were also perceived as being strong willed individuals, self-reliant, disciplined and with a defining need for freedom and flexibility in their lives. They used smartphones, Wi-Fi and Internet-enabled laptops, exploited services including Evernote, FairyTrail, PayPal, Stitcher, Trello, TourBar & TransferWise, attended conferences including DNX, Nomad Cruise, Nomad Train & Wi-Fi Tribe and searched for jobs via websites such as Freelancer.com, Remote.com & Upwork.
More recently there has been growing pressures within firms from employees who perceive that technology now allows them to work differently, from the infusion of ‘children of the digital age’ with a new mindset and a growing focus on mental health. But technology is the enabler. Advances in high speed internet access and Wi-Fi connectivity technology, affordable laptops and powerful PCs, better quality webcams and audio devices, together with intuitive and robust cloud-based ‘productivity’ services such as Drop Box, MS OneDrive, MS Teams, Skype, Slack and Zoom, have added to the new reality that working remotely is not just possible but practical.
We have seen this acutely in the performance of the technology sector of global stock markets. Year to Date (In USD, as at market close on 8th of July 2020) we see that the technology focused Nasdaq 100 has outperformed traditional stock index by significant amounts:
Nasdaq 100 +16.94%
S&P 500 -1.88%
Dow Jones -8.66%
Unlike the “Internet bubble” of 2000, the pandemic market crash of 2020 has been brief, so far, for many technology stocks. We need technology more than ever and this time we are not seeing the “Flight to quality” style of investing in blue chip stocks that we saw when tech stocks dropped in 2000. The world and its needs have changed.
So, what long term effect is COVID19 likely to have? What will be the ‘new normal’? The answer may be twofold; more people will work remotely, and technology adoption will have to increase to meet this demand.
Will the historic consensus approach and indeed acceptance of the early rise, commute, communal working, commute, and late home lifestyle struggle going forwards as the norm for all office-based workers and firms? Instead of setting the alarm at 07:00 to arrive in time at the office, with the right technology in place why would some people not choose to take out the commute, save the fuel, and arrive at the home desk in a more relaxed state of mind with less distraction. Another significant factor is that meetings and discussions can be held across multiple time zones & locations just as easily as before. Face-to-face meetings will continue but will be part of a wider reality. Of course, this is not a panacea for everyone, but a significant proportion of both management and employees will be in this mindset already. Not least because they have already done it. Perhaps not in the streamlined fashion they might have expected but having been forced to adopt “WFH” for most employees, companies have risen to the challenges and hit the ground running, with some evident gaps in technology their only barrier.
The marrying of technology spends across the operating model will only grow. A former colleague, who is now Head of IT and Operations for a UK Investment bank has confirmed that his Executive Committee are fully engaged with the adoption of productivity solutions across the firm. Even fund portfolio managers and bank front offices sales staff have told us how they have worked effectively during this period to trade and facilitate their client orders. Could the traditional five day in the offices of the financial districts be confined to the history books?
The virus pandemic has shown that businesses utilising flexible digital technology have adapted to the new normal with surprising ease and have kept their productivity levels high, whilst culling the costs of business-related travel. A pertinent example applicable to Appold is the Signing Authority tool from Cygnetise (www.cygnetise.com). Historically, this process has been manual & paper based, with ‘wet ink’ signatures. COVID has highlighted how these old-fashioned operating procedures need to change. Cygnetise is an online service that utilises Blockchain for a fully immutable audit trail on a fully secure distributed network hosted on Amazon Cloud services. As with all digital services, continuity of availability and functionality is baked into Cygnetise’s DNA. Current clients of Cygnetise can continue to create, maintain, and distribute Authorised Signatory lists, Bank Mandate, Delegated Authorities, Incumbency Certificate, Authorised Trader Lists etc.
Personal prerequisites for workers are likely to see a rising demand for out of the City homes with home/garden offices, re-configured houses with more space to work and live, powerful broadband, mobile technology that allows dual purposing of a space (breakfast table one minute, home office shortly afterwards, family dinner table later on). Such changes also chime with the general desire to have less impact on the planet and to achieve a sensible work/life balance.
Many will want to continue working directly with colleagues to drive their creativity, productivity, and energy levels. Two recent conversations with the COO of a global Private Equity firm and the CEO of an infrastructure business confirmed their strong personal desire to work in their offices; they will adapt where colleagues want to work flexibly. Management practices will develop with, for example, coordinated approaches to ensuring that workers remain engaged and motivated members of the team. Executives will also need to think about how workers avoid burnout from living and working in the same space, with mental health awareness becoming a focus in this transition.
So, what does the future hold? There will always be Digital Nomad workers who fully embrace the peripatetic lifestyle, but the real impact of COVID-19 will be the change in how everyone sees the future of remote/flexible working. Perceptive and dynamic firms will fully understand the importance of getting significant remote working infrastructures in place. BCP solutions will have to take account of multiple employees working from home. The discussions between the C-suite have already been simplified around this topic. Similarly, office workers have understood what it means to their quality of work / life balance. More sleep, no standing on the commuter train or bus, more energy, valuable time with their families & friends, more time to do what they want, and more productivity as some physical meetings are replaced with video conferencing. The key to a successful outcome is individual happiness & motivation and corporate flexibility. Some firms will adapt to this new reality, others may resist this change. It will be fascinating to watch how the world of work changes over the coming years.
Philip Alexander
Business Development Manager
Appold