Our fearless leader, Kelly Ennis, a visionary in data driven and strategic interior architecture and design, has always been a seeker of knowledge and inspiration. For the last 15 years she has religiously been attending WorkTech- a conference committed to “Exploring the Future of Work and the Workplace.”

We all have a bit to in glean how the workplace has been impacted by the pandemic but there is so much that HAS NOT changed. We are just talking about it differently-See this SME piece our team wrote at the beginning of the pandemic. (https://bit.ly/3LGQVZs)

Nuggets and thoughts from the event on September 22, 2022 in NYC last week:

• Hybrid is a new word for REMOTE working which has been happening for over TWENTY YEARS.
• Hybrid/Remote is totally dependent on relevant programming, market sectors and organizational culture.
• Let data tell the story, the WHOLE story. (A Verve Sweet Spot!)
• Activity Based Working (ABW) is FINALLY getting due credit. Tool around this web site https://bit.ly/3Siu8FOand read up here https://bit.ly/3fniDOVAlexi Marmot has been studying and designing with ABW in mind for over TWENTY YEARS.
• Useful data collection using sensors: (and please don’t hide sensors in creepy places)
  • Occupancy sensors
  • Noise sensors
  • Parking sensors
  • Transportation sensors (Think large campus shuttles)
  • Temperature/IAQ sensors
  • Heatmap Sensor

• All great workplace projects start and end with change management.
• Employees need to make the most of their time together. This is a good one. It is intentional and deserves more thought.
• Designing for neurodiversity simply means providing space that supports many different work styles and settings. Not one person works or learns the same as another and it is important that we as designers dig deep in programming to truly discover who are we designing for, what are we designing and why does it matter. 
• Real estate can both create and not solve HR problems.
• Defrag the workplace to identify gaps. (BTW-LOVE this term as it applies to workplace design!!)
• Create units of space anchored by other things. This is “NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING” and has also been around for over TWENTY YEARS. Just ask anyone who has ever worked at HOK or Gensler.
• GIMMICK. This word was used in a presentation. Strategy is not a gimmick so if you don’t truly practice strategy you are counting.
• Overused words:
  • Hybrid
  • Experience
  • Hybrid
  • Collaborate
  • Hybrid
  • Innovate
  • Hybrid
• Please just STOP measuring everything by the square foot. It is useless data. Rather, measure by people, performance, productivity, experience, revenue, retention. There are so many other ways to provide value to workplace design.
• If you take away your chair, desk and computer-what happens. Study the hierarchy of needs.
• Does “IT” spark JOY? Is “IT” commute worthy?
• People are not simply going to come into the office just to jump on a ZOOM call with colleagues who aren’t even in the office. Create spaces where people want to be-with intention.
• Design with EMPATHY, which undoubtedly will become an overused word, but lets at least start.As a reminder, empathy is the ability to sense other people's emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. (this goes back to digging deep in programming)Design Thinking has its roots in empathy and #funfact is a cornerstone of the pedagogy of the Waldorf Education philosophy-worthy of a google search.
• Finally-The Future Looks Bright!

All in and always, a great conference, great content, great people. Looking forward to attending the following conferences this and next year. @CoreNetGlobal #Chicago #FinancialWorkplace2022 #NYC #WorkTechNetherlands2023 #WorkTechSydney2023.

Who is with me?

The history of WorkTech is steeped in all thing’s workplace noting the event as a holistic research platform that aims to create awareness, drive change and provide specialist insight into the future of work and workplace. The forum, borne out the first industry-specific conference launched in 2003 by Philip Ross and Jeremy Myerson, has now become the world’s leading conferencing and thought leadership series for workplace intelligence.

#Ifyouknowyouknow IYKYK

WorkTech is produced by Unwired Ventures, a global production and research organization that produces compelling conferences, events, research reports, and thought leadership materials to provide up-to-date knowledge and leading opinion on all aspects of work, innovation, urban realm, technology, and workplace.