The Office Chronicles

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. Support the showWhat 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 Support the showSupport the showFollow 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 to design, build and operationalize a Workplace project during 2020 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.”Support the showWhat 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: Diversity and inclusion is not just a tickbox - thinking of ways that it permeates throughout every touchpoint and process is key to authentically living and valuing DE&I.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: LinkedInConnect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com Support the showSupport the showFollow 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.

Tom Kegode, the Work:Lab Lead at Lloyd's Banking Group, dives into creating a ‘destination office’ that energizes employees. He highlights the importance of collaboration, connection, and community as the true drivers of productivity, rather than just hitting KPIs. Tom discusses the challenges of replicating joyful work experiences virtually and shares insights on designing spaces that foster social capital. He stresses that a thriving work environment is essential for cultivating a sense of belonging and enhancing overall employee satisfaction.

Resilience - why doesn’t it work? Most people get resilience wrong. In this episode, we’ll reframe what resilience really is and how to tap into it for yourself and your organization. Bruce Daisley and Kursty discuss the 3 pillars of resilience that people don’t usually take into account, the connection between childhood trauma and resilience, how your sense of identity can predict your well-being, and why many resilience training programs are ineffective.Bruce Daisley is the author of Fortitude. He is a writer and podcaster. Previously, he was a VP at Twitter amongst other roles.“What you find is that the more coherent someone's identity is, the story they tell themselves about themselves, the more able they are to carry themselves in the world.” - Bruce Daisley Support the showTimestamps(00:22) Episode Overview: Who is Bruce Daisley?(02:49) How to always be writing (05:07) Why resilience training programs don’t work (10:06) Do you have to go through great pain to have great success?(14:48) How bad was your childhood trauma?(20:56) 3 pillars of resilience and fortitude (25:25) Building resilient organizations (30:49) Individual identity vs. collective identity (38:35)  What is Bruce Daisley working on now?3 Key Takeaways: There is a correlation between adverse childhood experiences and super achievement. This doesn’t mean you have to go through great pain to achieve great success. Your experiences don’t necessarily predetermine your life outcomes but some experiences may put you at greater risk of negative outcomes than others. Identity is a key pillar of fortitude. The stronger your sense of identity, the more likely you are to have higher well-being.  Identity is how other people get access to us, it is how we belong to collective groups. Identity and community are two parts of the same piece. There are 3 pillars of fortitude: control, identity, and communityLinks Grab a copy of Fortitude: https://www.findfortitude.net/ Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat Podcast: https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/ Connect with Bruce Daisley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucedaisley/ Adverse Childhood Experience quiz: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/media-coverage/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com Support the showSupport the showFollow 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.

How Does Your Office Space Manifest Your Culture? With David McKayHow do spaces change the way we talk to each other? The way we feel about work? And the way we behave at work? David McKay from Innocent Drinks joins Kursty to discuss how their spaces manifest their company culture. They explore how spaces can bring people in, why they invested in a sustainable factory that’s filled with plants, how they experimented space configurations that work best for their teams, and why you’d want to be copyable. David Mckay is the Head of Culture and Workspace at Innocent Drinks. Innocent Drinks is a B-Corp-certified company. They started the first carbon-neutral drinks factory. Support the showTimestamps[00:29] Episode Overview: Who is David Mckay? [03:59] How spaces express company culture[09:56] What if any member of the public could visit your facilities?[12:42]  Why limiting choices at work is effective (and other lessons from Covid-19)[20:53] Experimenting with different space configurations[28:06] What’s the point of the office?[35:06] The blender: the first carbon neutral drinks factory 3 Key Takeaways: It’s human nature to want to slip back to what’s comfortable. Within this context, it can be helpful to take away choices from people or limit choices. To make it evident that you are listening to your teams, you have to be flexible with making changes. This is especially the case when you’re experimenting with new things and introducing new ideas that are meant to be tested and evaluated together. You do not necessarily need a prescribed purpose for what offices are for. It can be that you allow each team member to develop their own perspective and purpose for the role the office plays in their lives. Links Connect with David McKay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mckay-8579aa75 Innocent Drinks: https://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/ B-Corp Certification: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/innocent-drinks Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com Support the showSupport the showFollow 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.

Solving hybrid work challenges requires us to talk less about desks and more about how we work. Emma Morley and Kursty discuss what it’s like to solve hybrid work, all the things that get in the way, and how to be more intentional in solving for it. Different stakeholders around the office often have conflicting and ever-changing requirements for what the office should be like and what it should be for. Tune in for insights about how to decide what problems are worth figuring out and what problems are unnecessary distractions. Support the showTimestamps[00:29] Episode Overview: Who is Emma Morley? [03:15] Should you give your employees what they ask for? [10:17] Is it possible to future-proof office spaces?[13:02] Does balance really exist? [16:34]  Working in silos vs. working together to design office space [23:28] Designing for Monday morning meetings vs. designing for energy[27:40] What’s missing from online conferences?[32:01] What remote work problems should we solve? (and which are not worth it)3 Key Takeaways: Sometimes, when companies attempt to have adult-adult relationships with their employees and try to be employee-centric, things start becoming rather individualistic. People start making demands that pertain to them without considering the larger group's needs. There isn’t a perfect static balance. Balance is always moving and shifting. It is dynamic. If things feel balanced, you must also keep in mind that it might not stay that way long. Conferences are re-energizing. They remind everyone of their purpose and renew their commitment to the company and its mission.  But, it’s not the same in virtual conferences. It is hard to replicate the energetic experience of face-to-face conferences. It’s critical not to compromise such high-value face-to-face interactions. Links Connect with Emma Morley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-morley-b9664b21/ Trifle* Creative: https://www.triflecreative.com/ Connect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com Support the showSupport the showFollow 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.

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?”Support the showTimestamps[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: LinkedInConnect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com Support the showSupport the showFollow 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.

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.”Support the showTimestamps[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 in4 Key TakeawaysOne 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 Support the showSupport the showFollow 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.

In the final part of this series, listen in to the last two hot topic discussions from the LEGO workplace symposium on (1) designing spaces and (2) orchestrating purposeful meetings. During the discussion on designing office spaces, we discuss how to create spaces that break traditional norms and influence positive behaviours. You’ll discover insights on whether activity-based office space design is effective, why one size fits no one when it comes to space design, how to interrupt traditional views of what the office should be like, and how to ask the right questions before redesigning your office space, and which metrics actually matter in office usage. When we move on to the discussion on purposeful meetings, you’ll tune into a conversation that critiques meetings as an overused problem-solving tool and discover a way to frame the purpose of meetings in order to host and attend them more intentionally. We also explore the behaviours we need to unlearn and the way technology must change to adapt to the new age of meetings.Support the show Timestamps[00:16] Episode overview [00:43] Hot topic discussion(3/4): Designing spaces [00:47] Spaces that serve a dual function[06:57] Should you have activity-based spaces?[11:02] Asking the right questions to discover an ideal space design.  [17:58] Should you measure space usage data?[22:04] Hot topic discussion(4/4): How to Orchestrate Purposeful Meetings[22:10] Meetings and the fear of missing out[24:52] How hybrid meetings can be disruptive for people joining remotely [25:51] What goes wrong in workshopping, idea co-creation, and engagement in remote meetings. [31:03] How often do we need to travel for work, really?[31:48] Framing a purpose for meetings: Being thoughtful about the different types of meetings we conduct. [34:44] Relearning our meeting behaviours: Do we need meetings? What meetings can we skip?[40:04] How to activate better meetings through technology?   3 Key Takeaways If you ask your team what they need from a space, they will answer you based on the paradigms they already know and have internalized. The better question to ask is “what do you want to do” and design spaces based on the needs of the primary tasks rather than based on traditional paradigms of what a workplace should look like. Hybrid meetings can be a terrible experience for people joining remotely. For example, activities happening in the room like eating and drinking can interfere with the sound quality and end up leaving the remote attendants confused about what is going on in the meeting. Technology hasn’t kept up with our new behaviours. We need to be more thoughtful about what type of meeting each meeting is: transactional? Relationship building? Output-oriented? Project check-in? Ideation? We need to re-learn our meeting behaviours to be more intentional. We need to make sure we only attend meetings in a way that brings real value, rather than merely out of habit. Links The Workplace Leader PodcastConnect with Kursty Groves: LinkedIn | Twitter | Ask a question or pitch an idea: kursty@shapeworklife.com Support the showFollow 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.

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. Support the showTimestamps[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 PodcastConnect with Kursty Groves: Support the showFollow 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.