Work/Business: The good I foresee that will emerge from this pandemic is that companies will start being more innovative. Companies will also start spending wisely. In the construction/property industry, we are already seeing opportunities in various sectors as a result of the lockdown - such as the health sector - conversation of building from current use to temporary health facilities and quarantine sites.
Because of social distancing – buildings will have to be re-looked for their current use and how they can be changed in order to comply with social distancing requirements, for example, office buildings - is the m2 per person /desk going to be the same for example is it going to be 5m2 per person or 10m2 per person? Shopping centres - doors - should they be automatic instead of manual. Restaurants - should seating areas extend out to parking lots in order to accommodate same number of people but still observe 1m social distancing.
Many other sectors will review if there is a need to have full staff complement in the office at the same time or should we rather have hot desks and also adopt an agile office environment. Is SA technologically behind? Is now the time to accelerate so we are on par with the rest of the world!
Family: Families will be closer, after spending so much time with their children, parents will appreciate their children’s growth. Families that are not so close, will go through a photosynthesis process!
My perspective of life had definitely changed again as this is not the first disaster in my life but has now confirmed more than ever the importance of appreciating life and taking each day as it comes and the importance of telling those close to you that you appreciate them every day. You will come to a point where you will never have times where you postpone plans or miss occasions.
I had a conversation with my husband the other day and he mentioned that he has definitely learnt a lot through this and that going forward he is now going to make decisions and never postpone. He will also plan and implement and not postpone because of fear of the unknown as tomorrow is not guaranteed and Covid-19 has demonstrated this.