The events of the last year have transformed the face of the working world and have meant we've all had to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. With the Government's roadmap to normality in motion, we asked you whether you think face-to-face meetings will go back to how they were before, and the results painted an interesting picture of the future of work.
A large number of people (60%) said they think that meetings will only 'partially' return to how they once were, and this was no surprise considering the percentage of the population who have adapted to a "hybrid working" model as a result of the pandemic.
With only 16% of respondents voting that they think face-to-face meetings will completely go back to how they were before the pandemic, it's clear that people believe the new model of working is here to stay. The working environment now appears very differently to how it was pre-pandemic, and we've seen circumstances change rapidly, with organisations having to adapt quickly or risk falling behind the crowd.
When the first national lockdown was instigated, many of us were thrown head first into working from home, with little to no time to prepare. The spike in MS Teams users at the start of the pandemic is a classic example of how companies had to adapt quickly to remote working, with daily active users more than doubling from 32 million to 75 million in a couple of weeks, and now peaking at 145 million.
LendingMetrics was fortunate to have had well-prepared contingency plans in place, meaning the team could commence working remotely easily and efficiently prior to the first national lockdown. The company was able to continue to deliver high standards to our customers, with minimal disruption. However, without those contingency plans in place, and an ability to adapt rapidly to the changing circumstances, there could have been significant roadblocks which many other companies saw when commencing remote working. Businesses need to be able to change quickly, as and when needed, and the same is true when it comes to the lending industry.
Lenders need to be able to make rapid changes to their credit policies, to match the constantly changing circumstances and adjust effectively to new regulations. As we saw with the recent Buy Now Pay Later controversy, regulatory changes can happen almost overnight, and providers should be able to adjust to these as instantaneously as companies did to remote working. One way that operators can make instant changes to their policies is with LendingMetrics's Auto Decision Platform (ADP), which allows lenders to create and manipulate decisioning logic on demand and in real-time to address credit risk, KYC, fraud and affordability requirements.
With the future of the working landscape unclear, and more changes to be expected, one thing that is certain is that the ability to be flexible and adaptive in response to changes is growing evermore important. To find out more about how ADP can allow you and your business to make real-time changes and prepare for future adjustments, book an exploratory call today.