Certainty & Risk – A need for greater clarity on outcomes, returns and benefits is ‘certain’. We will see more hesitation in decision making, with a focus on shorter-term initiatives rather than longer-term projects.

Costs & Investments – Annual and multi-year budgets will have contracted substantially as revenue projections dissipate, with little appetite for large, uncertain investments. We will see increased scrutiny over projects and spending, and the need to identify and cut costs wherever possible. We expect to see smaller, dedicated initiatives with clearer objectives, rather than larger programs that span many months and years.

Remote Support – Whether servicing clients or hosting advisors, we will see a drastic increase in tele-engagement practices, even in areas where face to face travel has always been the defacto standard, such as sales and account management.

Hiring & Staffing – Companies will be hesitant to re-hire full-time staff, with a shift to project-based approaches and hires, to achieve a greater line of sight to the expected outcome from their staffing costs.

Partnerships & Collaborations – Leverage, as well as shared risk, will be commonplace, as companies seek new opportunities to collaborate with others, to reduce risk, cost, and leverage shared capabilities, data, assets, costs and investments. Industry associations, university teams and researchers, private and public firms, vendors, suppliers, technology and analytics firms who may have competed earlier this year, may now seek to collaborate for mutual benefit.