Cue to work
As Covid-19 forces many of us to work from home, it is imperative that we create the right environment to increase productivity
The notion of working-from-home used to be an excuse to take it easy. Or at least it did for some. Now, with many employees around the world resorting to homeworking in the era of the coronavirus (Covid-19), some consideration needs to go into the actual physical working environment. Many organisations are asking the question – how geared up are our employees to do a good day’s work from home?
Let me demonstrate, by way of example. If I stroll into my dining room and see a plate of chocolate brownies on the counter – which is quite likely, since my family are rather fond of them – then it’s possible I may snatch one up and start munching, even if it hadn’t been my initial intention. If I walk in and see a bowl of fruit – apples, grapes, kiwis, I’m likely to grab some fruit. Our behaviour changes depending on the cues in the environment around us.
Perhaps one of the ultimate cases of environmental cues shaping behaviour is the case of Laszlo Polgar - a Hungarian man with an interesting theory in the 1960s. He believed that: “A genius is not born
but is educated and trained.” His view was that with deliberate practice and the development of good habits, a child could become a genius in any field.
In fact, his conviction was so strong that he decided to test it on his own children. Laszlo and his wife formulated a plan to raise their children to become chess prodigies. To facilitate this, the children were to be home-schooled, very unusual in Hungary at the time, and their home was going to be filled with books on chess and pictures of famous chess players.
Of the couple’s three daughters: Susan, Sofia, and Judit, the eldest, Susan, started playing chess as a four-year-old and within six months was defeating adults. Sofia, by 14, was a world champion, and a few years later, became a grandmaster. The youngest, Judit, at 12, was the youngest player ever listed among the top 100 chess players in the world. At 15 years and four months old, she became the youngest grandmaster of all time.
The Polgar sisters grew up in an environment where chess was pre-eminent. Having a chess obsession was normal in their world. The cues we find in
“A GENIUS IS NOT BORN BUT IS EDUCATED AND TRAINED”
our environment and culture normalise the behavior and make it appealing.
We like to conform with society around us, to fit in. If your work environment, the office that is, is one where people wear expensive designer brands, then it’s going to affect your choice of clothing as well. Being equipped to work from home is not just about having the right technology and broadband, but also the subtler environmental cues which impact our productivity and quality of work. Are we eating healthily by stocking up on non-processed food which takes longer to break down, sleeping 7-8 hours a day so that our bodies are strong enough to fight off the effects of a virus, doing regular exercise to boost our mood and build strength?
As the future unfolds and we find ourselves in the midst of the next pandemic, placing the right environmental cues around us will make our workhome lives more productive. As quality of work is a factor of intensity of focus multiplied by time well spent, I’d warrant that we’ll be able to do a lot more in much less time.
When OPPO launched its Reno2 smartphone in the UAE last year, it decided to reveal the news from the top of the world – quite literally. Taking over the façade of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, OPPO made clear its intent and statement – it was here to compete among the top ones.
The leading technology company, which began manufacturing smartphones 10 years ago, has gone global, with business in 40 countries and regions, six research institutes and four R&D centres around the world, as well as an international design centre in London.
Looking at the MENA region, OPPO entered the Egyptian market in 2015 and a year later, set up its Middle East and Africa sales centre in Cairo. Its regional presence has since expanded to Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, the
UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Kenya, Nigeria, and the Levant.
More recently, the company moved its regional centre to Dubai. To explain its decision, OPPO states: “So far we have achieved success in Africa, especially in North African countries like Egypt where we are number one in the market now. There, our brand awareness and credibility are already up to the mark, and our teams have become mature. So next we will consolidate our success and replicate it in other countries.
“Dubai is the economic and cultural hub of the Arab world, influencing the development of the whole region and South Asia. If we desire to be widely recognised by the region as a high-end brand, we must secure a foothold in the UAE. Since the high market volume and per capita income in countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE provide us with many potential opportunities, we have every reason to take the region seriously.”
Regionally, it has also embarked on the process of localisation, which covers products – to meet the core needs of users further; marketing – to better communicate with local young customers, and the team – to understand the local consumers and provide better services.
A key factor that OPPO is focusing on is catering to its primary audience – the youth, by developing new smartphones with enhanced camera technologies that will appeal to them. It has also adjusted its production lines to target the regional high-end markets, which has included the launch of its flagship OPPO Find X smartphone and the introduction of the OPPO Reno series.
The company is also concentrating on the future, with its sights set firmly on 5G technology.
In April last year, OPPO announced at the 5G MENA 2019 summit that it was collaborating with telecoms operator Etisalat to test the compatibility of 5G smartphones for commercialisation for the very first time in this region.
That was followed by the launch of Reno 5G in September – one of the first 5G products in the MEA region.
Its future ambitions are enormous. “Apart from network and download speed accelerations, 5G technology will give birth to a whole range of new application scenarios. We are hoping to come up with a comprehensive set of 5G solutions instead of merely some devices,” OPPO states.
Looking ahead, OPPO continues to have big plans for the region. “OPPO will be investing more in the Middle East to assure our presence as a high-end brand. Now is the perfect time to emphasise our presence in these markets. We will make no bones to meet and exceed the expectations of our valuable customers,” it adds.