Businesses told to prepare for chaotic 10 years

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Companies will need to get ready for some chaotic times through to 2020, as much will lie out of their control, an analyst firm has warned.

In the coming 10 years, there will be less cohesiveness between staff, as links become weaker and the working environment becomes increasingly virtual, Gartner has suggested.

One of the firm's predictions is there will be more work “swarms,” where employees will come together in a “flurry of collective activity” to add value to the group’s aim.

These swarms, which will increase in number as a response to the need for ad hoc action needs, will form quickly to achieve a goal before disbanding, the firm explained.

“People will swarm more often and work solo less," said Tom Austin, vice president and Gartner fellow.

"They’ll work with others with whom they have few links, and teams will include people outside the control of the organisation.”

“Work will become less routine, characterised by increased volatility,” he added.

Gartner said firms should prepare for greater “hyperconnectedness” as well, where the plethora of networks used by an organisation will lead to a struggle to keep close tabs on all communications and operations.

There will also be increased use of virtual environments, using similar technologies to those seen in the film Minority Report, according to Gartner.

People will be able to interact with different kinds of data from within these simulations and mold their virtual worlds, the firm said.

“In addition, simulation, visualisation and unification technologies, working across yottabytes of data per second, will demand an emphasis on new perceptual skills,” Austin added.

This is not the first time Minority Report-style technology has been talked about seriously in the real world.

Last month, it was reported two police forces in the UK were testing out IBM predictive analytics software, which many compared to the fictional systems from the film.

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