Welcome to Work 20XX. A show focused on work as we continue to navigate these transformational times. I am your host, Jeff Frick. In this episode, we explore the world of Design, Real Estate, and Facilities through the eyes of long-time industry veteran Ryan Anderson, Vice President, Global Research & Insights, MillerKnoll. No surprise, these professionals are moving from cost center/efficiency thinking to a more human-centric, and ‘seat-at-the-table’, rethinking their resources. How can we use our portfolio of resources? (real estate, facilities, interior design, remote support, etc) to help our People CREATE the BEST WORK of their CAREERS. It’s hard to attract talent, you want to retain good people, you’re looking for engagement. I invite you to take raise your expectations by changing the focus to the small discrete things Ryan and the professionals at Herman Miller Labs have been studying and documenting and reporting for decades. I didn’t realize how much the tethered-PC infrastructure of the last several decades inhibited the execution of Activity-based spaces, something on design boards long before the PC. The infrastructure has caught up with the vision, with advances in Mobile and WiFi technologies, powerful handsets, and the proliferation of the cloud as an application delivery method. No department wants to be a cost center, and by shifting the focus to human productivity, from spreadsheet-centric optimization and utilization, Real Estate and Facilities are stepping up to do their part, in collaboration with HR and IT. ‘Average’ offices spaces, where everyone got the same ‘here’s your computer here’s your chair’ regardless of function aren’t good enough anymore. A single space built to accommodate all can’t be optimal for the individual, doing all types of work, in all kinds of conditions. Historically, organizations, over-indexed ‘private desk/cube/office’ and under-indexed in meeting collaboration space, even as private desk utilization rates continue to drop, even before the pandemic. In fact, offices should invest in places that support these activities including Community Socialization, Team Collaboration, and Individual Focus work. In this far-ranging conversation, Ryan shares his deep data-based expertise and best practices. The pandemic showed that work could get done outside the office, and on closer inspection of workspaces (COs, Air Quality), there are environmental improvements to be made. Most importantly, the promise of Activity-based spaces and concepts like ‘neighborhoods’, and a more agile/flexible mindset, will make the spaces and places of the future much more attractive, and productive than the rows of desks and tables and cubes of cabled computers in the past. My conversation with Ryan Anderson. This episode of Work 20XX is brought to you by Webex by Cisco  Webex Ahead Episode Page - Click Here  Work 20XX Episode Page with Transcript and show notes - Click Here 

Episode 2 - Meg BearWelcome to Work 20XXA show focused on the future of work as we continue to navigate these transformational times. I’m your host Jeff Frick.   The world changed in March 2020, Chief Human Resources Officers and Chief People Officers had to quicklyadjust to the new world. Amazingly, the companies and people adapted faster than anyone would have imagined.It quickly became apparent that this wasn’t a temporary situation, but really a catalyst to change the expectation of what’s possible, and the relationship between output and location, between employer and employee.  SAP SuccessFactors is a leading human resource solution provider, and as such, sits at the engagement point between company and employee, where the rubber meets the road in terms of systems and processes that define much of what the company means to the employees. Post March 2020, as the demands in the market, changed, far beyond simply supporting remote workers. It created a new demand need for better engagement tools, sentiment analysis, connection  In this episode, we are joined by Meg Bear, Chief Product Officer, SAP SuccessFactors. Meg shared the challenge many faced in responding to the shelter in place demands and working through a distributed team. But she had the added burden to deliver tools and applications to support this evolving relationship between employee and employer. In this far-ranging conversation, Meg shares her views on the factors behind the great resignation, what hybrid really means, and the fact that organizations need to get better at responding to change. We discuss authority, agency, control, flexibility, choice, collective intelligence, and intrinsic motivation because as Meg says “that’s what this is really about.”From the impact of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to the role of leadership and communications, Meg shared her perspective and vision of the path forward. So without further delay, my conversation with Meg Bear. This episode of Work 20XX is brought to you by Webex by Cisco  Webex Ahead Episode Site - Click Here  Work 20XX Episode Site with Transcript and Show Notes - Click Here     

Episode 1 - Darren Murph Welcome to Work 20XXA show focused on the future of work as we continue to navigate these transformational times. I’m your host Jeff Frick.   Who better to kick off the show than the #1 expert on the distributed team in the world, Darren Murph, Head of Remote for GitLab. Darren shares the lessons and best practices in making distributed teams successful. And the best part, all the lessons are applicable regardless of where you plug in your laptop. And since GitLab is Open Source They publish for all to use.  They include the power of intentionality, documentation, and moving as much work to asynchronous as possible, freeing up the extremely valuable face-to-face time (via room, phone, or Webex) for higher-value activities like 1:1s and culture and rapport building.  This episode of Work 20XX is brought to you by Webex by Cisco  Webex Ahead Episode Site - Click Here  Work 20XX Episode Site with Transcript and Show Notes - Click Here