The Office Chronicles: Recent Episodes
Kursty Groves
THE OFFICE CHRONICLES is a podcast that charts the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on workplaces. Author, professor and workplace consultant Kursty Groves goes behind the scenes to hear the stories and learning of influential organisations as they tackle the question: will the office ever be the same again?
What’s a better life? What’s a better office? Those two questions are inherently connected. Your workspace’s biggest challenge is to stay relevant, and it’s impossible to do so without obsessively making being in the physical workspace an incredible life experience. This is IKEA’s workspace development philosophy and in this episode, Momo Pavlovic shares how IKEA brings it to life through an infinitely iterative process.
Developing an incredible workspace is work that is never finished. Tune in to discover how IKEA does it.
What we discussed
(00:24) Developing Ikea workspaces
(08:12) How the pandemic changed workspace planning
(13:09) Workspaces vs. team behaviour: what’s the connection?
(16:39) Infinitely changing IKEA workspaces
(18:04) Feeling forced to be in the office (BIG MISTAKE)
(23:31)Creating a destination office
(31:04) IKEA’s 3-part workspace plan
(33:17) “Why do I have to go in 4x/week, when they come in 2x/week?”
(41:55) Momo’s question to you (about meetings)
3 things you can learn from how IKEA manages its workspaces:
- Ask the question “how do we make this a great experience?” rather than “how do we get more people in the office?”
- Prepare your workspace to support the new behaviours you want your team to embody. But, before you can do that you must concretely understand what the new behaviors you need really are.
- It’s important for team members to not feel like they’re forced to be in the office. How many days people spend in the physical office should be a team mandate, not a rule enforced by executives.
Links
Momo Pavlovic is the Workplace Support Leader at Ingka Services which is the force behind IKEA’s holistic and in-demand workspaces.
Connect with Momo Pavlovic: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com
Follow The Office Chronicles Linkedin page for more information, to share an idea for an episode or start a conversation around any f the topics covered in the show.
What’s it like inside a Netflix office? What’s the workplace culture like? How does Netflix stay genuine? Nasreen Potter from Netflix tells all about what it’s like to work there.
She shares the Netflix workplace philosophy, how they justify their office space investments, how they engage employees with relevant communication and the secrets behind their vibrant work environment.
Nasreen Potter is a Workplace Director at Netflix. Previously she was Workplace Director at LinkedIn and Regional Workplace Lead at Microsoft.
“There isn't a limitless bucket of money available to everybody, especially in our line of work. And we need to be really fussy figuring out what is going to help move us forward and then fixing it.”
“If the space isn't working for the purpose that it was intended, right, then you are wasting your money anyway.”What we discussed
(00:24) Diversity, equity, and inclusion at Netflix
(03:13) Pale, male, and stale: “this is not my tribe”
(07:40) How workplace feedback at LinkedIn is different
(09:39) Netflix workplace philosophy
(12:39) Netflix’s pandemic project
(18:24) Authentic DEI vs. faking it
(22:08)How to lead inclusively
(24:14) Tick box communication
(28:30) Why we need farewell parties
(29:35) First days back at Netflix
(32:32) What if we can’t afford to fix the office space? (solved)
(34:05) Secret behind Netflix’s buzzing office
(40:12) Measuring space usage
(41:15) Who does the Netflix CREWS team hire?
3 things to remember:
- When you leave one job for another, it’s normal to need closure. Leaving a job without having a farewell event (no matter how small) can be confusing and overwhelming.
- If your office space isn’t serving the purpose it is meant to serve and you are not working on fixing it for financial reasons, then you might be losing more money waiting to fix it.
- To have a buzzing workspace you first have to have a culture that allows and encourages a buzzing workspace.
Links
Connect with Nasreen Potter: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com
Follow The Office Chronicles Linkedin page for more information, to share an idea for an episode or start a conversation around any f the topics covered in the show.
Join Kursty as she enjoys the energy, enthusiasm and enlightenment of Tom Kegode, Work:Lab Lead at Lloyds Banking Group.
Tom shares some candid thinking around the efforts and learnings that he, his team and wider colleague set have experienced over the past few years as they collectively think about the future of work, people & places.
This episode covers:
- Introducing, driving and embedding future ways of working aligned to the needs of the business, customers and colleagues in a hybrid environment.
- Empowering, enabling and encouraging teams to embrace an iterative approach and 'learn by doing' to shape the way they work in the future.
- The distinction between collaboration, connection and community.
- The importance of coordination to generate a critical mass of people in the office for atmosphere and building social capital.
- Adopting a more nomadic nature and mindset.
- The conundrum between having a sense of belonging - and letting go of place ownership.
Full show notes and links to come.
Author, speaker and thought provocateur Bruce Daisley joins Kursty to discuss topics in his latest book, Fortitude.
Some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding resilience are discussed, as well as some key findings and insights that Bruce uncovered throughout his two years researching the subject, including:
- Why some of the ways we think about resilience are incorrect
- Demystifying the relationship between trauma and success
- Why identity plays an important part in our sense of fortitude
- The three pillars of fortitude, and some tips and the role that place can play to help build it
More comprehensive show notes and links to follow.
TEMPORARY NOTES (update coming soon)
This episode takes us back to the office in a conversation with David McKay, Head of Culture and Workspaces at innocent drinks - the little big smoothie and juice company. ‘Little big’ in that - while they’re relatively small for a drinks manufacturer or brand, just shy of 800 employees in 14 locations, they punch way above their weight and managed to maintain the values and outlook of an open and entrepreneurial small company even when 90% owned by Coca-Cola.
The company attained B-Corp status in 2018 and as you’ll hear, they put the health of people, communities and the planet right at the core of what they do. They’re one of the few in the world that is both a billion-dollar brand and certified with over 100 B-Corp points.
I found this conversation really enlightening. True to form and totally living innocent values, David talks candidly about the challenges they faced when trying to marry the ways individuals want to work, with how that impacts space. He shared a really experimental and inclusive approach to figuring out what would work for their colleagues - and the process itself that he describes involved really open and honest communication around the change process. He shares some great examples, so listen out for them.
Finally, we talk the innocent carbon-neutral healthy drinks factory recently opened in Rotterdam - aka ‘The Blender’ - no mean feat designing and implementing that during lockdown…and there’s an open invitation - so innocent - to visit, learn, steal ideas and improve to make better production facilities that are good for people and the planet.
(DRAFT NOTES)
Kursty is joined by Emma Morley, Founder and Director of London-based commercial interior design studio & consultancy, Trifle* to discuss some of the common challenges their clients face as they emerge from the pandemic-enforced lockdown into a new world of work - and how that's impacting the spaces they occupy.
Look out for more detailed notes with links soon.
Plants can change your mood, so should offices have more of them around? Kali and Katie from The Glasshouse project join Kursty to discuss how plants can boost mental wellness, productivity, and creativity. They also chat about how having plants in the office can encourage staff to want to work from there rather than from home. Rediscover why you need more plants in your life throughout this episode.
The Glasshouse Project is a social enterprise in the UK that helps female inmates fin housing and employment by bringing nature into urbanized environments. They provide corporate gifting packages, plantscaping services, and workshops that simplify the process of caring for plants.
“They just grow, they’re just useful, how could you not want plants around you?”
Timestamps
[00:29] Episode overview: Kali and Katie from The Glasshouse Project
[03:38] What is The Glasshouse Project?
[05:53] The secret is in the soil
[07:26] The mental benefits of keeping plants in the office
[13:08] How plantscaping can change your corporate culture
[17:21] Expanding The Glasshouse Project
[18:55] How Katie got involved in The Glasshouse Project
[20:12] Becoming a horticulturalist: a softer way of life
[24:12] The connection between creativity, productivity, and nature (what the studies show)
[31:39] How to get plants from The Glasshouse Project
[33:57] How The Glasshouse Project’s business model is changing
[35:11] Can you bring the Glasshouse Project to your country or city?
3 Key Takeaways:
- Urban environments that are devoid of nature negatively impact mental health. Plants ground us. Being surrounded by a man-made environment without nature causes stress and anxiety.
- Plantscaping your office can potentially boost mental wellness and decrease the amount of sick days being taken. Even small moments of interaction with nature indoors can make a noticeable shifts in the way our minds deals with stress. Bringing nature inside can create a welcoming environment.
- Taking care of a plant can prepare people who are recovering from addiction for bigger commitments like taking care of a pet or getting into a serious relationship.
Links
The Glasshouse Project: Website | Instagram | Facebook
Connect with Kali Hamerton-Stove: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com
Sonya Simmonds joins Kursty to discuss how to meaningfully bring out your brand through workplace and office design. They explore how office design impacts employee morale, productivity, and work ethic, why the ‘wow factor’ of designing office spaces shouldn’t stop at gimmicks and fragmented Instagramable spots, and Spotify’s Work From Anywhere program that allows staff to choose between a ‘home mix’ and an ‘office mix’ work experience.
Sonya Simmonds is an interior architect with 20 years of experience and the Head of Workplace Innovation & Design at Spotify.
“It’s also really strange to me that people say 'I don’t care what it’s like. I really don’t care what the office is like or this building is like' and I’m thinking, well you’re going to spend a lot of time in it.”
Timestamps
[00:25] Episode overview: designing spaces, designing for brand cultures, co-creation, working from anywhere, and more…
[01:46] Who is Sonya Simmonds?
[03:33] Visiting the Nike store in New York and Working at Bloomberg in London (experiential design).
[10:51] How big is Spotify? How many offices does Spotify have?
[12:24] How do you choose an office building and how do you use co-creation to localize it?
[15:55] Flexibility, wellbeing, and working from anywhere - how they affect workplace design
[22:24] Home mix vs. office mix: planning based on people’s preferences
[24:19] Storytelling and communicating design updates with the whole team (how and why to make people care about design decisions).
[29:38] How office design brings out the brand (and a deep dive into Spotify’s Heart and Soul room)
[40:09] Instagrammable office spaces and office spaces that employees actually love being in
4 Key Takeaways
- One way to localise an office building is to invite local artists and local staff to co-create the look and feel of it with you. You should also ask members of the local office what they want to define what they wanted to express with the office.
- Explaining your design choices to the wider body of employees can help the whole team understand why design decisions are made the way they’re made. For example, if you chose not to occupy a building in an area that displaces the local population - this strengthens your brand values and shows staff that you are serious about your convictions. It also helps the team become more proud of the offices they inhabit.
- The migration back to the office is intimidating and stressful. Your workplace design can help people ease that stress.
- Bringing your brand out in the design of your workplace isn't about purely aesthetic elements or fun gimmicks, the brand has to be deeply embedded in the functionality of the space as well.
Links
Connect with Sonya Simmonds: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com
Continuing with the specials, this is the final of our three-parter. And two more snapshots from the hot topic discussions at the LEGO workplace symposium.
Kursty is joined again by Sabine Ehm as they bring you 2 more groups:
- Insights-to-impact for space design.
- How to orchestrate purposeful meetings
NOTES TO BE UPDATED WITH SHOW LINKS
Be a fly on the wall in two hot topic discussions that took place in the LEGO Workplace Symposium:
- What is the purpose of the workplace?
- Hybrid headaches over the past year
You’ll listen in on groups of executives from many large companies like Microsoft, Netflix, Unilever, Spotify, Ikea, and Booking.com discuss a range of topics about finding a compelling purpose for returning to the office and how to minimize the speedbumps that come with hybrid work.
A recurrent theme within the discussions is that hybrid work and returning to the office is forcing companies to be more intentional with what in-person work looks and feels like.
Tune in to reflect on the many different ideas being thrown around the room answering the question: how can we make the workplace work harder for us? You’ll also hear interesting ideas about How to recreate on-site experiences as off-site experiences.
Timestamps
[00:30] Hot topic discussion(1/4): What is the purpose of the workplace? What is our end goal?
[01:02] Is the purpose of hybrid work to provide flexibility or to cut costs?
[06:07] Have people always wanted hybrid work or do they want it because of the pandemic?
[09:06] How hybrid work changes the face of society (and the responsibility that comes with it)
[10:07] “We build culture in the office” is a weak purpose for in-person work (how to be deliberate with why we meet in person)
[12:10] Consequences of not having a hybrid option
[17:47] “Build the experience you want to be part of, and they will come”
[19:43] The risk of hybrid work and the shifting power dynamic
[23:08] How hybridity is affecting retail businesses
[25:33] Hot topic discussion (2/4): Hybrid headaches
[26:50] Lessons from experimenting with hybrid over the past year
[30:03] How remote work steals your “reclaimed” time
[31:46] Why do some people never want to return to the office again?
[34:13] How do we recreate the coffee machine connection in hybrid mode?
[38:36] Why do people work where they work?
[42:01] Will we always feel like a little dot on the screen in remote meetings?
5 Key Takeaways
- If there is a clear purpose explaining why work needs to be in-person, hybrid, or remote - it’s much easier to get the buy-in of your team to comply with the rules. You have to give people something to believe in.
- People have likely always wanted the flexibility that hybrid work offers. However, the pandemic empowered them to seek what they want.
- Having beautiful offices is not a compelling enough reason for people to want to return to the office. You have to think of what experience they want to be a part of. Think of it this way: what kind of experience will make people feel the urge to return to the office?
- When mandating a specific number of days per week for in-person work, your reasoning has to be grounded in data or else people will see through it. If you expect people to come into the office 3 out of 5 days, you’ll have to explain why it’s 3 and 2 or why it’s 3 and not 4.
- The power dynamic between employees and their employers is shifting. People have more choices and feel more empowered now. The shifting power dynamic poses a major risk for employers who don’t adapt.
Links
The Workplace Leader Podcast
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com
In this first of a three-part special, Kursty is joined by fellow podcast host, Sabine Ehm, of The Workplace Leader podcast.
Sabine and Kursty joined a dozen organisations invited to visit the new LEGO Campus in Billund, Denmark for a symposium that explored a range of themes and topics that are hot right now in the world of work and workplace.
Scott Witthoft joins Kursty to discuss how we are becoming more intentional with how we use and divide physical and digital spaces. They explore many thought-provoking questions like: why do some things work in some places and not work in others? Are in-person meetings and activities catalysts for progress? And why are some office spaces abandoned?
In their conversation, they discuss how the pandemic helped us refine our improvisational skills. Using those skills, we have become designers who create experiences that live between physical and digital spaces. They also chat about how having two zones where work can happen in different ways, we are now pushed to be more intentional about how we divide how we show up digitally versus physically and what we do in each space.
Scott Witthoft is an educator, designer, and author. He is a co-designer of Stanford University’s d.school’s space and the author of Make Space. He is currently an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Austin School of Design.
“These virtual tools are amazing tools that I can now use in lots of different ways and I can now be intentional about what it means to be in-person when I’m in-person” - Scott Witthoft
Timestamps
[00:52] Who is Scott Witthoft (and episode overview)?
[06:09] What is Scott currently working on?
[08:50] Are successful solutions context-agnostic?
[12:25] Building spaces that trigger specific behaviours.
[20:00] Abandoned spaces and what happens when people use new spaces.
[28:15] How remote work can create more meaningful in-person meetings.
[35:44] Everyone is a designer juggling physical and digital spaces
[44:31] Do in-person activities catalyse progress?
[46:18] Redesigning rituals for what it means to be with people
4 Key Takeaways
- If something works in one context, there is no guarantee that the same solution would work in a different context. You can’t just lift and shift. You can use successful solutions as prototypes rather than blindly implementing them without adjusting them for context.
- Environments have to support the goal or behaviour you want to achieve. You have to ask yourself “what behavior am I trying to encourage?” and build a space that triggers that very behaviour.
- Designing spaces goes way beyond the physical. You are not just designing to trigger certain behaviours, but you are designing the invitation for people to use the space a certain way.
- The numerous constraints we’ve been faced with the past few years have allowed us to explore and develop our improvisational qualities.
Links
Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration by Scott Witthoft and Scott Doorley
This Is a Prototype: The Curious Craft of Exploring New Ideas by Scott Witthoft and Stanford d.school
Connect with Scott Witthoft: Twitter
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com
Jason Fried joins Kursty to share wisdom on how he runs a fully remote company by simplifying things and focusing on what matters. They explore where deep work happens, how to create space for it to happen, why rigid workplace rules can kill passion and create distractions, and why companies who want to run remotely need to adopt a new mindset.
Jason Fried is the co-founder of Basecamp. In fact, he has been running the company for 23 years. He is a monthly columnist at Inc. Magazine and has authored several books including Rework and Remote: Office Not Required.
“A lot of work doesn’t happen in the office. A lot of distractions happen in the office. We get in each other’s way all the time.” - Jason Fried
Timestamps
[01:13] Who is Jason Fried?
[04:16] How did Jason grow Basecamp?
[06:32] Where do people do their best work?
[09:28] How to create the space to do great work.
[13:44] Why don’t people have the space to do great work?
[17:58] Why remote work requires a different mindset from physical work.
[22:32] 40-hour week: how much can you get done in 8 hours?
[25:34] Balancing work life and home life when working remotely.
[29:02] What if employees abuse our generosity or trust?
[34:18] Organisational culture is NOT created.
[36:47] How to stay social when your company is fully remote (expensive but not frivolous).
[41:01] JOMO - The joy of missing out.
[43:25] Creating great and safe digital workspaces.
[47:24] How to stay in touch with Jason Fried
4 Key Takeaways
- People need to have space to do great work. When space is restricted by workplace rules, people aren’t able to fulfil their potential. Restrictions include: being monitored or watched, not being able to move while working, and being forced to work in specific places or at specific times.
- Remote work requires a different mindset from local work. Amongst many other aspects, remote work requires more trust, fewer meetings, more individual work, and less oversight. If companies don’t adopt a different mindset for governing remote work, it may end up being worse than physical work.
- Being driven by philosophies rather than rules can allow organisations to be more flexible and adaptable. It creates a more open, lenient, and thoughtful culture. It creates more space for agency and openness. For example, instead of having a rigid rule about purchasing very specific equipment for employees who work from home, you can have a general guideline for what sorts of equipment can be funded and assess people who need different unusual equipment on a case-by-case basis.
- Culture is not created, it is a byproduct of what actually happens. Culture is a byproduct of consistent behaviour.
Links
Listen to Workplace Geeks: Podcast Web Page | Kursty’s Episode on Workplace Geeks
Why Work Does not Happen at Work: Jason Fried at TEDxMidwest
Books by Jason Fried: Amazon
Jason’s new email service: Hey
Connect with Jason Fried: Newsletter | LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question
Trend forecaster Li Edelkoort joins Kursty to discuss the anatomy of trends, the ecology of fashion, and the post-pandemic workplace. Reflecting on the state of the world, Li discusses how to redesign the modern workplace to respond to new and upcoming trends. She explores how the pandemic has made us more in tune with nature and the good things that have come of it. Throughout the discussion, Li shares nuggets of wisdom that show us how trends that haven’t yet made it to the main stage are currently being formed.
Li Edelkoort is a globally renowned trend forecaster and activist for fair, sustainable, and thoughtful fashion. She is the author of the Anti-Fashion Manifesto and a co-author of A Labour of Love. Recently, she founded the World Hope Forum.
“We don’t need that much infrastructure. We don’t need a desk for everybody. We don’t need to have isolation. We can live with lower temperatures. We don’t need to make it ice cold in the summer. There are so many things where you can win if you’re just clever. You just have to sit three days together and say imagine that we don’t have what we have now, what would we do?”- Li Edelkoort
[00:49] Who is Li Edelkoort?
[01:43] The Workplace Geeks Podcast
[02:28] More about Li’s impact on eco and fashion issues.
[04:22] Where do your clothes come from?
[07:40] The energy of immobile items and all the ideas that have shaped Li’s career.
[12:05] Getting clients that align with your values.
[14:28] Fashion has become old-fashioned - what does that mean?
[20:01] The disappearing joy of finding a new fashion piece.
[22:39] Would slavery have existed if cotton and sugar didn’t exist?
[25:57] How to predict trends before they happen.
[30:52] How the pandemic pushed us to live in a more seasonal way (winter hibernation).
[34:05] How organizations can adapt to post-pandemic realities.
[37:50] Why it’s profitable to be in smaller cities.
[39:39] A simpler way to think about money and managing resources.
4 Key Takeaways
- We are rooted in the earth. Our clothes are made from plants that grow in the ground. Fashion grows from the earth. We need to ignite our consciousness of the connection between fashion and the environment.
- Society has been overloaded with shopping. There is too much choice and that choice is overwhelming. In fact, the joy of finding a new fashion piece and celebrating when you purchase it and then go home with it is no longer as prevalent as it used to be. Editing and curating will become more important parts of fashion as mass production increases.
- The 'Great Resignation' is a movement that has just amplified what was already in the air. This new trend may be an indicator that urban environments will become less populous as people move into rural areas. This may lead to the urbanisation of rural areas.
- The pandemic has forced us to live in a way that’s more in tune with the seasons. Winter is for introspection, solitude, and hibernation. Summer and spring are for blooming into the world, exploration, and togetherness.
Links
Listen to Workplace Geeks: Podcast Web Page | Kursty’s Episode on Workplace Geeks
Books by William Morris: Amazon | Thrift Books
World Hope Forum: Website
Connect with Li Edelkoort: Website |
Interview with Ian Ellison and Chris Moriarty, two brilliant workplace thinkers 'on a mission to find and celebrate the most exciting and inspiring workplace research in the world'.
A fascinating geek-out into Kursty's second book, Spaces for Innovation, which dives into the science and design of inspiring environments that support creativity and collaboration.
Some of the topics covered include:
📖 How the book itself is designed with the user in mind
💡 The core themes for defining spaces that support creativity and innovation
📏 Metrics, how they need to accommodate new ways of working and the spaces that support
Links:
- Workplace Geeks Linkedin Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/workplacegeeks/
- Chris Moriarty Linkedin
- Ian Ellison Linkedin
Summary
Expert author Rachel Botsman joins Kursty to discuss the relationship between trust and space. They talk about how significant it is for organisations to empower individuals to have a rhythm of work that sends them into immersion mode, why getting through to-do lists shouldn’t be the most prized priority in the workplace, and what negative capability is.
Rachel Botsman is the author of Who Can You Trust and the host of the Rethink Podcast. Throughout her career, she has delivered 3 TED talks and written 2 critically acclaimed books. She has been appointed as the first Trust Fellow at Oxford University, Saïd Business School. Rachel Botsman’s book What’s Mine Is Yours predicted the rise of the ‘sharing economy', coining the phrase ‘collaborative consumption'.
“What you give attention to is the shape of your life” - Rachel Botsman
“What you need has to align with what other people need, that’s the way you create space.” - Rachel Botsman
Timestamps
[00:18] Who is Rachel Botsman (and episode overview)?
[03:54] The rhythm of unconventional work: finding immersion and working in 5-year cycles
[07:39] Resisting distractions and staying the course in your line of work.
[08:44] The relationship between trust and digital and physical space.
[15:22] Fake backgrounds in virtual meetings: is it inauthentic?
[16:44] What does it mean to trust yourself (and what is negative capability)?
[21:50] Three aspects of building negative capability in yourself and your organisations.
[27:01] How busy people make time for people (how Rachel does it).
[30:33] Rachel’s process for reading, reflecting, and capturing information.
[34:33] Why time blocking doesn’t work (managing competing priorities and creating space).
[37:23] Procrastination vs. avoidance (why we avoid work).
[40:44] What Rachel is working on currently.
[44:37] Rachel’s rituals when public speaking or podcasting.
4 Key Takeaways
- Technology has made the world noisier. It has become harder to resist distractions from long-term immersion. People need to be empowered to change the rhythm of their work to allow for immersion.
- Trust is a space and energy. It is a confident relationship with the unknown. When you have trust, you place your confidence in the unknown. How space is designed is a reflection of the culture of trust in that space.
- No creativity happens in the known. The known is the opposite of invention. Great minds can hold space in themselves. They don’t need to know the end result before they begin. There isn’t a lot of negative capability in the workplace.
- Timeframes, language, and work rhythms are three components that can reinforce or kill negative capability in individuals and organisations.
Links
Rachel Botsman’s Books:
Who Can You Trust? How Technology Brought Us Together and Why It Might Drive Us Apart by Rachel Botsman
What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers
Rachel Botsman’s Ted Talks:
We've stopped trusting institutions and started trusting strangers | Rachel Botsman
Rachel Botsman: The currency of the new economy is trust
Rachel Botsman: The case for collaborative consumption
Summary
Workplace strategist Neil Usher joins Kursty to discuss the nuances of navigating hybrid work, brain states that trigger creativity, and the research opportunities we missed in the pre-pandemic world. In their conversation, they accentuate that what makes hybrid working complicated is not just the space aspect but the time aspect as well. They chat about self-imposing discipline, internally inspiring creativity, and managing time and space when you work from home.
Neil Usher is the Chief Workplace & Change Strategist at GoSpace AI. He has 20+ years of experience managing property portfolios and large-scale organizational change. He is the author of the two books The Elemental Workplace: The 12 Elements for Creating a Fantastic Workplace for Everyone and Elemental Change: Making stuff happen when nothing stands still.
“It’s a crying shame, really, that we had many decades in which we could have explored the gathering data to support the value of being together and we didn’t take that opportunity. We’re all culpable. Really, now we’re struggling because all we’ve got to rely on are emotive responses or anecdotal evidence or that gut feel that somehow being together creates value.” - Neil Usher
Timestamps
[00:41] Who is Neil Usher from Go Space AI? (and highlights from the conversation with Neil)
[05:36] Why Neil wrote his two books Elemental Workplace and Elemental Change.
[08:54] Why coordinating time is more challenging than coordinating space in the hybrid working world.
[15:45] Is there more value to working alone or working together?
[25:00] How has the pandemic changed the 12 elements of the workplace?
[28:52] The value of your unpublished work (don’t throw it away)
[32:32] How to leverage your two brain states (beta state and theta state)
[39:18] Self imposing discipline when you work from home
[43:24] How to connect with Neil Usher.
3 Key Takeaways
- Time is more complicated than space. Before the pandemic, you knew where your colleagues would be at any point in time. Now, you need to make more decisions like where you will be at which point in time and where people you work closely with will be as well. Flexibility adds complexity and adds a mental burden.
- There is a value to being alone and a value to being together. We instinctively feel that there’s value to being together, but we didn’t use the decades of opportunity we had to explore the value of being together in a scientific way. We have a lot more data on the value of working alone from the past 2 years because we consciously looked for it. We need a dynamic capture of data to accurately understand how we work best.
- Inclusion has become one of the most important elements of the workplace. The pandemic has shed light on the range of considerations we need to keep in mind when we think of inclusion.
Links
The Elemental Workplace: The 12 Elements for Creating a Fantastic Workplace for Everyone
Elemental Change: Making stuff happen when nothing stands still
Connect with Neil Usher: LinkedIn | Twitter | Go Space AI
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com
Summary
Best-selling author Julia Hobsbawm joins Kursty to discuss her new book The Nowhere Office. In their discussion, they discuss how workplaces need to shift to embrace social health, how they can be a source of wellness, what managers need to do to overcome the 'Great Resignation', and the biggest powershift in the workplace.
Since Covid, people have strongly insisted on genuine work-life balance. Organizations that aren’t understanding this desire are losing out to the great resignation. Those that do understand this fundamental mindset shift are now in the process of becoming forever changed. Tune in for a deep dive on what organizations must do to stay relevant, productive, and desirable.
Julia Hobsbawm is the author of The Nowhere Office. She is also the author of five other highly acclaimed books and is the founder of Editorial Intelligence. Julia has been awarded an OBE for her services to businesses.
This episode is the first episode in our new mini-series: Space Matters
Timestamps
[00:21] What is Space Matters about?
[00:47] Who is Julia Hobsbawm (Author of The Nowhere Office).
[03:51] Do you feel like you’re in a Nowhere Office?
[05:30] The process of writing the book while dealing with heavy personal issues.
[07:36] Two key approaches that have shaped the ideas in The Nowhere Office.
[09:44] 6 ways our work landscape is permanently changing (and why the workplace will never go back to pre-covid ways).
[12:16] What if work was a SOURCE of wellbeing (instead of being a source of stress and confusion)?
[16:02] The unreasonable expectations placed on HR departments.
[20:00] The biggest post-covid powershift in the workplace (and how to navigate hybrid working schedules).
[27:37] Where is The Nowhere Office (how physical workplaces are changing forever)?
[31:26] The great resignation: what managers MUST change to attract top talent.
[35:10] What’s next for Julia Hobsbawm (book launch, pilates, and what she did with her office)?
5 Key Takeaways
- Work is shifting in 6 significant spheres. These are (1) time and place, (2) identity, (3) purpose and productivity, (4) the way we network, (5) management and leadership, and (6) wellness and wellbeing.
- The workplace shouldn’t limit itself to providing mental health support for people who seek it. Rather, more profoundly, work should be a source of wellbeing in and of itself. Some workplaces can be a source of unreasonable expectations, elitism, and confusion. The pandemic has disrupted the workplace and we should use this as an opportunity to rethink the alignment between wellness and work.
- HR departments usually have a huge mandate that keeps them busy. Paradoxically, they are awarded too little agency to do it well.
- One of the most significant shifts that the pandemic has caused in the work is a power shift between managers and their employees. In the post-covid era, knowledge workers have amassed much larger negotiating power than they used to. This is particularly evident in the negotiation of remote working schedules and work preferences. This is positive because it creates a culture of discussion and conversation.
- The idea of an office filled all the time with a particular number of people has now become an outdated, unproductive, and undesirable idea. The truth is, you can be anywhere in the world and do knowledge work. Organizations that want to stay relevant and attract top talent have to shift their policies to keep up.
Links
The Nowhere Office by Julia Hobsbawm
Connect with Julia Hobsbawm: Website<!--&l
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Adding to the inspiring leaders in well-known organizations who share what they're doing and how they're implementing new ways of working, including hybrid, we'll look beyond physical space.
We'll explore my hypothesis is that there are three further types of space that impact how we think, feel, behave and interact in order to do our best work: digital space, social space and cognitive space.
Embarking on a year-long journey of exploration, Kursty will be speaking with experts from the worlds of psychology. Neuroscience, organizational development, tech, architecture, and design to understand whether and how space matters in all of these different areas for high performance work.
Interview with Sabine Ehm of Locatee, and host of The Workplace Leader.
We dig into what makes inspiring work environments and touch upon some of the misconceptions around creativity and collaboration:
❗Collaboration does not equal everybody together all the time.
❗Creativity does not equal bright colours and post its everywhere.
A thing will not make you or your people creative. So, for instance you cannot install a foosball table and then expect creativity to happen.
It is much more important to understand the fundamental human elements that support creativity like
☀️ natural light,
🌳 exposure to nature and
🏃 movement.
SummaryWorkplace experience expert Sudhir Saseedharan joins Kursty to discuss the opportunities the pandemic has presented in terms of reshaping work and the workplace. They talk about the four main pillars of the Tetra Pak workplace experience framework, why policies and frameworks should never be set in stone, and the realities of rolling out a framework globally.
While you might not have heard of Tetra Pak, you might have used it. Tetra Pak is a packaging company servicing 170 countries. It employs over 25,000 people.
Sudhir Saseedharan is the Director of Workplace Experience and Future Working at Tetra Pak. He has an impressive educational background that encompasses design, engineering, and social science.
Timestamps
[00:33] Episode overview: Tetra Pak (the company all over the globe that you probably should know)
[02:19] Who is Sudhir Saseedharan (in his own words)?
[04:02] Why every adversity (like the pandemic) is an opportunity.
[05:22] Why everyone in the food industry should be considered a key worker.
[06:38] The packaging that keeps food fresh without preservatives.
[08:35] 4 main pillars of an optimal workplace experience.
[10:26] Why you should map out personas of your employees.
[12:47] The future is now (what does that really mean?).
[14:15] How to convince leadership to accept constant iteration.
[17:08] What is the workplace experience like at Tetra Pak?
[22:14] The challenge and excitement of innovating at a company with a mixed age demographic.
[23:47] How do you roll out a framework globally (across 170 countries)?
[26:57] Quick-fire question round (coming up with awesome ideas, getting into flow, etc.) 3 Key Highlights
- Workplace experience can be broken down into four main pillars: (1) flexible working arrangements (2) workplaces (3) digital tools (4) health and wellbeing. To understand how to tackle each of these aspects, it can be a good practice to map out employee personas and use the personas to create a framework that considers everyone.
- Working productively, dynamically, and capably across teams is heavily catalyzed by having a hyper-collaborative work culture and ethic. The future of work involves everyone and not the workplace experience team alone.
- Rolling out a policy framework globally is undoubtedly a complex process. That being said, if we view policy frameworks as a constant work in progress (rather than instructions that are necessarily set in stone) it allows us to manage obstacles as they arise.
Links
Connect with Sudhir Saseedharan: LinkedIn
The Sharing App: Olio
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Summary
Timothy Ahrensbach and Anne Sofie Fedders from LEGO join Kursty to share insights from the hybrid work model they are currently implementing. Since the pandemic, the future of work has been one big experiment. The perspective we’ve held about work from home and hybrid work life has changed month by month since the beginning of COVID-19 lockdowns.
Tune in to listen to Tim and Anne Sofie’s insights about how they created principles and guidelines to facilitate an effective and happy hybrid working environment. They discuss what it’s like to build community and run meetings in a hybrid working world amongst many other things.
Timothy Ahrensbach is the Head of Workplace Experience at LEGO and Anne Sofie Fedders is the Head of LEGO Ways of Working.
“We’re still trying to figure out what the future of work is while we’re implementing it.” - Tim Ahrensbach
Timestamps
[00:49] Episode overview: The best of both (LEGO)
[02:18] What’s been going on at LEGO Workplace Experience the past 9 months?
[03:35] What hybrid working at LEGO is like.
[07:11] Why is their hybrid working initiative called The Best of Both?
[07:55] The process of crafting and coordinating the LEGO hybrid working plan.
[12:23] Two-pronged approach to building a trust-based system.
[15:55] The main question to consider when rolling out a hybrid work programme.
[21:23] The practical side of rolling out a hybrid work programme (behaviour and mindset)
[23:32] How is the workspace changing to accommodate hybrid work?
[25:21] The necessary feedback loop between workspaces, individuals, and teams..
[28:00] The beauty of the LEGO Leadership Playground model.
[29:35] Co-creating unique shared experiences in the office to grow a strong culture.
[36:45] How do the different parts of the hybrid experience work together?
5 Key Highlights
- The LEGO hybrid work plan was tested with several stakeholders before it was presented to the executives. They had to also ensure that the plan is compliant with local legal requirements and codes.
- People are now much more aware of what it is that they want to get out of the office. They are more particular about what they want their experience to be like.
- Coming into the office is not merely a personal affair but a collective one. Some structure and systems are required to mandate that a certain amount of time is spent in the office. This is for the wellbeing and harmony of the whole team.
- Workplace culture should be co-created with staff rather than imposed. Culture is heavily influenced by the kinds of relationships that are formed between people. Strengthening culture is also about strengthening relationships.
- A principle that can streamline hybrid work is: if one is online, then everyone is online. This can eliminate the awkwardness of having part of the meeting cohort online and the other part offline.
Links
Connect with Tim Ahrensbach: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Anne Sofie Fedders: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Summary
Sue Glew joins Kursty to discuss how she’s changing the work environment affecting 52,000 people with a 200 person team after realizing that BT has too many offices. They talk about how the physical workplace environment can influence productivity, why there shouldn’t be a standard way to implement hybrid working, and how BT adapted to COVID-19.
Sue Glew is the head of the Better Workplace program at BT. She specializes in change management and HR transformations.
“Someone once said to me: do any kind of change ever, but don’t mess with people’s desks... and here we are messing about with 52,000 of them”
Timestamps
[00:28] Episode overview: Growing an animation studio in the pandemic.
[02:13] How (and why) BT decided that it is better to have FEWER offices.
[03:43] A vision statement for creating better physical workspaces.
[05:48]Enabling key workplace experiences by changing office design.
[10:23] How to run an office where nobody owns a desk.
[13:38] How BT acted when COVID hit.
[16:34] Why going back to the office will be more challenging than transferring to remote work.
[18:33] What is smart working? (experimenting after COVID)
[22:43] Why it is ok for autonomy in the workplace to be confusing (and not standardized).
[25:40] Multitasking in the hybrid working world.
[29:11] What Sue Glew is most excited about!
4 Key Highlights
- Moments that matter in the workplace (that you might not think of immediately): being welcomed into the office, solo focus time, collaboration time, and moments of relaxation and refuelling. When redesigning workspaces, it is important to take these significant moments into deep consideration. Great workspaces are key to retaining the best talent.
- People need to feel at home in the workplace. This is why, even in highly collaborative workplaces where no desk spaces are assigned - it is important for people to be able to find each other. One way around this challenge is to have ‘neighbourhoods’ for every team. So, you roughly know where you can find someone when you need them.
- People adjusted to work from home very rapidly because they had no choice. However, going back to the office will likely be a lot more challenging.
- Autonomy in the workplace does not have to look the same for every team in the same company. People have different working styles and personalities. It is best to leave it up to every individual team to decide how autonomy looks for them.
Links
Connect with Sue Glew: LinkedIn | Website
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Summary
Managing Director of Blue Zoo Animation Studio Tom Box joins Kursty to discuss how they almost doubled their staff during the pandemic. They talk about how to successfully set up a hybrid working environment, how to ensure you are actually true to your corporate values, and what doesn’t work well when going fully remote.
Tom Box is the co-founder of Blue Zoo Animation Studio as well as AnimDojo. Blue Zoo animation started when a few friends at university decided to start an animation studio from their bedrooms. Today, Blue Zoo has been responsible for creating some of the most popular children's TV animations. Their clients include Nickelodeon, the BBC, Disney, and many more.
“Everything is based around communication...if communication is weak, everything falls apart” - Tom Box
Timestamps
[00:35] Episode overview: Growing an animation studio in the pandemic.
[02:01] Who is Tom Box and how has he doubled the size of his team in the pandemic (Blue Zoo Animations)?
[05:24] What allowed Blue Zoo animations to thrive during the pandemic (satellite studios and company values)?
[09:50] Why you should never send a blanket email to all your staff about following the rules.
[12:00] A litmus test to check if you have a culture of trust in your workplace.
[14:56] How can a creative animation studio run on remote working?
[17:37] How Blue Zoo adapted to the pandemic (technology, communicating with clients, mental health).
[20:52] Lessons learned from running a fully remote animation studio in the pandemic.
[24:06] Why this animation studio will NEVER go fully remote.
[27:37] The undocumentable learning experiences you miss out on if you only work remotely.
[34:11] 3 things to consider before setting up a hybrid workplace.
[39:32] Making physical changes to your office to make it more democratic.
[42:00] Why companies who won’t figure out hybrid working will lose out.
[43:55] The future of Blue Zoo, B Corp certification and sustainability.
[46:16] Do you need to know how to draw to work in animation?
[48:51] How to connect with Tom Box.
5 Key Highlights
- Trust and diversity can make your company resilient in the face of a storm (like COVID-19). Ask yourself: why do you force people to work in ways that aren’t suitable to them? If you trust people, you should also trust that they know the best way for them to be productive.
- If you want to authentically build trust in the workplace then ask yourself “does this rule treat my staff like children” before you establish any office rule. If it doesn’t pass that test then you must have a strong (pretty much legal) reason to be needing to implement that rule.
- People really thrive by seeing each other. There is a tonne of value in having meetings without an agenda. You have to have a good balance between social communication and project communication.
- Working remotely does not bring to life the physical movements and nanosecond facial expressions that are so crucial to bonding, creating, and communicating.
- Getting your sound set up right and having enough screens to facilitate good eye contact are two important aspects you need to consider before setting up a hybrid workplace. Not addressing these concerns can turn Zoom meeting participants into second-class citizens in the meeting. Experimenting is how you get hybrid working right.
Links
Young Animator of the Year UK: Website
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After almost two years of working from home, companies are unsure about what to do with their office space - but Airbus has a plan. Rob Fretwell, Head of Space Management UK for Airbus, joins Kursty to discuss the Airbus Workplace of the Future initiative to tell-all on what they are doing to transform the office space by incorporating agile and tailored ways of working.
The workplace tries to be one-size-fits-all, but Airbus knows this will no longer fly. The pandemic has made that all too clear.
Tune in to learn how Airbus is using what it learnt during the pandemic to flip its workplace on its head.
“If we try to go back to how we were, then we’ve not learnt from the lesson...we shouldn’t forget this knowledge, we shouldn’t forget what it (the pandemic) taught us.” - Rob Fretwell, Airbus
Timestamps
[00:16] Episode overview: Workplace of The Future Initiative
[01:15] Who is Rob Fretwell (and his role at Airbus)?
[06:16] How did Airbus manage operations and protect staff in the pandemic?
[11:31] How long did it take for Airbus to adapt to the pandemic?
[13:32] Dealing with technical difficulties while working from home for Airbus.
[16:36] What is the Workplace of the Future and how does Airbus create customized work environments?
[23:42] One amazing thing Rob Fretwell looks forward to going forward.
[26:15] How Airbus figured out how to transform their office space.
[28:35] Should companies go back to how they used to operate pre-pandemic?
4 Key Highlights
- The pandemic has helped companies introduce technological innovations much quicker than was previously possible. It goes to show that lots of challenges that we consider to be technological are actually just behavioral challenges. A mindset shift can be all it takes.
- The Workplace of the Future initiative aimed to create a new way of working for Airbus employees that allowed them to work how, when, and where they wanted to maximize their productivity. It is based on three main pillars: people, behavior, and policies; the office environment; and the technological side of things. This will help attract the right talent.
- Gen Z and Millennials are entering the workforce after graduating from very flexible, open, and collaborative environments at university. The workplace (as it stands) does not match the energy of the university. This stifles creativity and does not inspire youth to stay at their jobs.
- Going back to the way things were before Covid-19 completely misses the point of our experience in the pandemic. We must value the ride that we went through since March 2020 by learning the lessons it taught us and staying agile.
Links
Connect with Rob Fretwell: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Head of Workplace Experience at LEGO Tim Ahrensbach joins Kursty to discuss how play can revolutionise the workplace. It is his job to make sure LEGO’s offices are as fun and as awesome as their LEGO sets and throughout the episode, he talks about how he does that.
Tune in to learn:
- The six layers of workplace experience;
- What it means to play at work;
- Why being a fully remote workplace might stifle creativity.
“The aha moment for us was realising what our colleagues were missing was play” - Tim Ahrensbach
Timestamps
[00:23] Episode overview and who is Timothy Ahrensbach?
[02:16] What was happening at LEGO before the pandemic?
[04:05] Adding a little bit of play to the interview! (walking the walk)
[07:29] How play helped keep people connected during the pandemic (does it matter if it’s forced?)
[08:16] What does unconventional productivity look like (much more than getting through a to-do list)?
[10:56] Why and how people have struggled to do strategic creative thinking remotely.
[14:45] How LEGO was prepared for the pandemic.
[16:46] The big aha moment for LEGO in the pandemic.
[24:54] The SIX layers of workplace experience.
[30:06] How play revolutionized the LEGO workplace in the pandemic (what is play in the workplace?)
[33:04] Examples of what play can look like in the workplace.
4 Key Highlights
- Activity-based working gives people a lot of variety in their work. However, activity based working is not very community centred.
- Our conventional measures of productivity can be completely misleading (eg: how many emails you send per day). For example, investing time in building relationships is not a conventional measure of productivity. That being said, it is through building relationships that you can get work done more quickly and in a fun way. Creative outcomes don’t just come from sitting at your desk for hours. They also come from having coffee with a colleague.
- Working remotely is much easier when you already have a strategic creative plan that you are following. It is much more challenging when you don’t have a plan and need to create one remotely. Collaborating creatively is easier face to face. One of the reasons for this is that it is much easier to pick up on body language face to face.
- The pandemic compelled people not only to be their best working selves but also their best working colleagues. The future of work post-pandemic needs to work for people personally but also for companies as a collective. This is why work cannot be fully remote nor fully in person.
Links
Connect with Tim Ahrensbach: LinkedIn | Twitter
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Graham Marshall, Head of Organization Development at Shell, joins Kursty to discuss autonomy in the workplace.
Tune in to learn:
- How employment can be a force of good in the world (not just financially);
- The worst thing about working from home during the pandemic;
- Why the demise of the office is completely untrue.
Graham also describes how they developed leaders as role-models during a big HQ refurbishment and how they used the move to leverage engagement and introduce new behaviours.
Recording took place towards the end of 2020. Apologies - the sound quality isn't perfect, but it's full of insights, so well worth a listen!
Timestamps
[00:30] Episode overview and who is Graham Marshall?
[02:07] The organizational development philosophy at Shell.
[03:37] The different types of workspaces at Shell (where do people do their best work?).
[08:22] How does autonomy in the workplace empower staff and make companies thrive?
[11:35] Training leaders to be welcoming hosts: why it matters.
[17:44] What you had to learn and unlearn about managing the workplace when COVID hit (And what is legacy-free reinvention?).
[22:57] What is the intimacy paradox? (working from home vs. working AT home)
[28:44] What is the BIGGEST challenge we all face at work because of the pandemic?
[30:33] Why are the rumours around the demise of the office greatly exaggerated?
[33:45] How can you shift mindsets about working from home and diversity and inclusion?
4 Key Highlights
- The workspace matters. Space influences how people work. Space has to enable people to do their best work. Different personalities require different spaces and different types of work require different spaces.
- Giving people autonomy in how they organize themselves, their time, and their work creates thriving workplaces. Autonomy is inclusivity.
- People’s personal circumstances heavily affect their work from home experience. The work from home experience varies from country to country, it also varies by health condition and financial wellbeing. People require different types of care.
- The biggest challenge of working from home during the pandemic is the monotony of work. Being around people brings about spontaneity and variety.
Links
Connect with Graham Marshall: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Masha Osherova, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Warner Music Group, joins Kursty to discuss how they survived the digital disruption of the music industry and how that experience enabled a quick and resilient response to the pandemic. Throughout the episode Masha discusses the interesting new approaches to work at Warner Music that were born out of the pandemic.
Tune in to learn:
- How to nurture a sense of belonging in your employees.
- How to thrive rather than just survive in the pandemic.
- The difference between creating an equal vs. equitable workplace
Timestamps
[00:29] Episode overview and who is Masha Osherova?
[01:59] How is the Warner Music Group (WMG) work environment unique?
[05:43] How are employees treated at Warner Music Group?
[07:38] How was work from home viewed at Warner Music Group before the pandemic?
[10:10] Thriving in the pandemic rather than just surviving (WMG experience)
[18:00] How did WMG improve team communication and sense of belonging during the pandemic? (Go Contribute Initiative)
[22:11] Should you keep pandemic workplace initiatives after COVID-19 is over?
[23:34] What other initiatives were born out of the pandemic at WMG?
[26:28] 4 key ways COVID-19 is changing the workplace at Warner Music Group.
[32:35] How do we create more inclusive, equitable, and diverse workplaces post-pandemic?
4 Key Highlights
- Before the pandemic, it was viewed that you have to be physically present at the office to be considered to be working. This has shifted dramatically because of COVID-19. To have mass remote working was unprecedented before COVID-19. WMG held a one day test before going fully remote.
- Approaching the challenges of the pandemic with a survival mindset can really limit the heights you can reach. Instead, it is best to strategize for the following challenge: how do I use the restrictions of the pandemic to thrive and improve my company? When crisis strikes, don’t put life on hold - innovate and adapt.
- The pandemic has created a lasting effect on the workplace. Lots of initiatives that were born out of the pandemic will be kept up and running after the pandemic ends for good.
- Creating inclusive, equitable, and diverse workplaces post-pandemic includes having options to work from home and work from the office. Some people thrive by working in solitude; for other people, it is almost like a death sentence. The best way to figure out what to do is to extract data from your workforce and make sense of it to create the best workplace possible.
Links
Connect with Masha Osherova: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Ange Pattico and Susan Stanley join Kursty to discuss why the future of work is not fully remote. Throughout the conversation, they discuss the adverse effects of long-term remote work on people’s mental health, the importance of physical office space, and ways employees can stay connected when working remotely.
Ange Pattico is Chief People Officer and Susan Stanley is the Head of Space at MVF.
MVF is an exciting fast-growth business which started off as 5 friends in a basement flat with an ambitious mission to transform how businesses find new customers. Fast forward 10 years and MVF are world leaders in marketing at a global scale and use proprietary tech, data and smart marketing to grow some of the world's most notable blue chips. With over 500 people, operating in over 50 countries across the globe they won the Sunday Times' Best Company to Work for in 2020.
“When you’re in the middle of a pandemic, meeting daily is really essential because things change so quickly” - Ange Pattico
Tune in to learn:
- Why the future of work is hybrid;
- How having a crisis response plan makes your workplace resilient;
- Why you need a workplace environment manifesto (even if you only work remotely).
Timestamps
[00:33] Episode overview and who are Ange Pattico & Susan Stanley? (How Susan got the title ‘Head of Space’)
[05:44] Why the Head of Space/Facilities should NOT report to the finance department.
[08:31] How were things before the lockdown at MVF? (Getting a COVID case at work before the lockdown)
[15:40] How did the workspace strategy change once COVID-19 hit?
[18:24] The crisis response triangle built at MVF.
[20:04] Tactics you can use to keep your employees connected when working virtually.
[22:34] Why MVF is not going to be working remotely long term.
[28:30] What COVID workplace changes will stay and which will be discontinued? (the biggest lessons they learnt from COVID)
4 Key Highlights
- How you use space is how you convey wellbeing (or lack thereof) in a building. It also sends a message to employees about how you feel about them.
- Creating a response chart for crises can be a great way to give your employees clarity during stressful times.
- Pre-recorded videos, live streams, and live Q&As can be useful tools to stay connected during mass remote work periods.
- Working remotely (only) long term can be bad for your mental health. According to MVF, the hybrid model would be the healthiest. The effect of physical interaction cannot be replicated online. Oxytocin levels rise when you see people in the same space.
Links
Connect with Ange Pattico: LinkedIn
Connect with Susan Stanley: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Kate Derrick, Director of Workplace at AstraZeneca, joins Kursty to discuss how AstraZeneca is handling the pandemic in their own workplaces (no, not just in terms of producing the vaccine).
“People drive culture and to keep it remote it’s really difficult to drive that culture”
- Kate Derrick
Tune in to learn:
- The mindset shift that managers have had to make towards flexible working;
- How activity-based working acts as a strong base for what's next in hybrid working;
- How different personalities benefit or struggle with home working.
This episode was recorded just as the UK went into its second lockdown since the COVID crisis hit.
Timestamps
[00:20] Episode overview and who is Kate Derrick, Director of Workplace at AstraZeneca?
[00:47] Why did they manage to work from home overnight with no problems?
[01:54] Best practices of working from home at AstraZeneca.
[06:02] How COVID-19 empowered employees to lead executive management.
[08:53] AstraZeneca’s crowdsourcing event: gathering opinions about working from home.
[12:18] Why the press around working from home can be misleading.
[13:41] How does working from home affect inclusion and equity?
[16:44] What workplace changes will continue after COVID (and what won't)?
[23:58] How do cultural differences affect responses to the pandemic in the workplace?
[25:00] Why did people WANT to come into the office after remote work?
[26:43] How did office space at AstraZeneca shift because of the pandemic?
4 Key Highlights
- Encouraging flexibility is the future of the workplace. When work from home began, people were excited about it, however the excitement started to wear off once remote working prolonged. The opposite is also true. Therefore, we need to find a solution that encompasses the best of both worlds.
- Remote working does not always lead to equitable working environments. Some people live in much smaller spaces than others because of the real estate market in their areas.
- Seeing people and collaborating with people face to face are amongst the top reasons people want to return to the office. On the bottom of the list of reasons people want to return to the office is focus.
- Remote work added another place to the mix of spaces where work is possible: the home. This does not mean that corporate office space must be reduced. Rather, it compels companies to think: how can I make my space work better for us?
Links
Connect with Kate Derrick: LinkedIn
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
Tracy Hawkins, Vice President of Real Estate & Workplace and Remote Experience at Twitter, joins Kursty to discuss whether offices are dead.
Tune in to learn:
- If you should reduce your office space post-pandemic;
- How you can create a workplace culture even if you only work remotely;
- How to keep people connected even when everyone is working remotely.
Timestamps
[00:19] Episode overview and who is Tracy Hawkins?
[03:00] What does it mean to be in charge of remote work experience?
[05:41] How did Twitter support employees to adapt their homes to remote work?
[09:38] What are the main lessons from dealing with the challenges of the pandemic at Twitter?
[12:26] Is the office dead?
[16:00] Are the COVID changes in the workplace temporary?
[19:14] Useful tools for remote work.
[21:08] How do you build a workplace experience if you are only working remotely?
[23:35] Will Twitter be reducing its office space?
[27:35] Twitter’s office re-entry plan.
3 Key Highlights
- Asynchronous work will likely be part of the future of work. People in the future will be able to work on their own schedules, at times that are convenient to them.
- The office is a tool. Therefore, it wouldn’t make sense to kill it or declare it dead. Rather, the way we use the tool (that is the office) will merely shift.
- Useful tools for remote work include Google Docs and Salesforce. They can also be great for managing health check ins.
Links
Connect with Tracy Hawkins: LinkedIn | Twitter | Real Estate and the Workplace Twitter
Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter
A podcast that charts the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on workplaces.
Join author, professor and workplace consultant Kursty Grovesas she gathers stories and learnings from influential organisations as they tackle the question: will the office ever be the same again?
Each episode explores the moments during and post-pandemic when extraordinary people are reimagining and reshaping workplaces to support people through this unprecedented time – from tech giants with extended work-from-home policies, fully-remote businesses to COVID-safe coworking and collaboration hubs.