Workplace of the Future

Meet Addison Bouck
Meet Addison Bouck 1707 2560 SageRiver Consulting LLC

Addison (Addie) Bouck has joined SageRiver this summer as an intern. A true Renaissance woman, Addie is studying history, philosophy and management consulting at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. She also enjoys art, volunteering, sports and sailing—and recently returned from a semester in Italy, where she spent some of her time learning about traditional printmaking methods. We sat down with Addie this month to talk about what she’s learned at SageRiver thus far and what drew her to an internship with the firm.

SageRiver (SR): What prompted you to pursue an internship with SageRiver?

Addie Bouck (AB): I’ve always been interested in consulting. The project-based structure and the problem-solving focus really pulled me into the industry. SageRiver’s size—coupled with its clear focus on strategy—gives me a perfect opportunity to explore the industry while getting hands-on experience. I was also excited to work with this amazing team within a company culture that I find inspiring and enjoyable. The SageRiver culture is one I will look for in future jobs.

SR: What will you be focusing on this summer?

AB: As I mentioned, I was really excited about the variety of work that I get to do at SageRiver. Thus far, I have been focusing on marketing strategy and graphic design, researching emerging industry trends (e.g., artificial intelligence and collective impact), supporting client projects and interviewing other industry members to expand my understanding of the range and scope of consulting practices. I’m looking forward to putting together a final presentation summarizing my work from the summer, as well as compiling and synthesizing the research I’ve completed into a final deliverable.

SR: How does this internship relate to what you’re studying in college?

AB: I’m a history major with minors in management consulting and philosophy. Originally, I added consulting to my degree as a sort of “practical application” of the skills I’m gaining in my liberal arts core studies. However, the more I learn about consulting, and the business world in general, the more direct correlations I’m able to find between these fields. For example, storytelling is a fundamental part of historiography, as well as understanding the developments and rationality of many philosophical trends. It is also foundational to developing an actionable strategy for an organization that speaks to the organizational values and mission, while also taking into account its culture and day-to-day operations. I’m really enjoying discovering these similarities, and I’m looking forward to uncovering other connections as I learn more about the industry.

SR: What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?

AB: I spent a month backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska two summers ago with the National Outdoor Leadership School. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever had the opportunity to do.

I also spent this past May in Barga, Italy, a small town just north of Lucca. with the wonderful artist Swietlan Nicholas (Nick) Kraczyna (pictured at left). He was my drawing professor during my semester abroad in Florence and is staging an exhibition commemorating the 50 summers he has spent creating art in Barga. He is a printmaker known for his multiplate color etchings, and he needed help producing the etchings for his show. I was lucky enough to learn from him and work in his print shop. It was a dream.

SR: What is your biggest learning at SageRiver so far?

AB: I have come to understand that team dynamics and company culture are even more important than I initially thought. Getting to work with the SageRiver team has been educational, interesting, insightful and straight up fun. I can’t wait to apply all that I have learned, not only to my future career but also to how I orient myself in future teams and communities.

Becoming Mindful: Unlocking Innovation by Awakening to the Present
Becoming Mindful: Unlocking Innovation by Awakening to the Present 800 533 SageRiver Consulting LLC

During a yoga session one day, my instructor encouraged us to “take an inversion of your choice.” These upside-down poses increase flexibility and circulation and allow us to view the world from different angles. She returned to the idea with a parting question.

mindfulness-yoga

“Where do you have opportunities to welcome new perspectives?” she asked.

It’s a question I pose in my strategy work with clients. Some organizations struggle to execute their strategies because of embedded aspects of their cultures. They may focus on the “way things have been done,” think in top-down terms or instinctively move away from unfamiliar ideas.

Mindfulness can help us shift to generative ways of thinking and experiencing situations.

Stopwatch at 90 Seconds

Mindfulness is a tool I employ with clients at all levels. It’s especially important for leaders, as it supports their focus and stress management. Leaders live demanding lives, and they need tools to help them stay grounded and awake to new possibilities.

Mindfulness works by helping us create space between a stimulus and our response. Research shows that an initial feeling lasts for about 90 seconds. The impact depends on the meaning we assign to our feelings and the resulting decisions we make.

Through a daily mindfulness practice, we can learn to focus our attention on the thoughts, feelings and sensations we are experiencing in the present moment. As thoughts enter our minds, we simply observe them, allow them to move through our consciousness, consider them, honor them and let them go. As we detach and observe, we open ourselves to curiosity and learning, rather than judgment.

Positive Contagions

A mindfulness practice also helps leaders set a positive tone for their organizations. As researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California at San Diego have demonstrated, people “catch” positive or negative emotions from others. That means a reactive leader can produce anxious, rigid teams. Conversely, open leaders can help their teams interact in more inclusive, collaborative and creative ways.

work-mindfulness-leadershipAt SageRiver, we harness the power of mindfulness in team strategy, as well as executive coaching, sessions. We often begin our sessions with a mindfulness exercise to help participants let go of whatever stresses or demands they experienced that day. By grounding them in the moment and encouraging them to observe, welcome and honor thoughts and feelings, we set the tone for the work to come.

This simple practice pays dividends for the team. As we map their strategic landscapes and illuminate possibilities, we welcome divergent ideas without judgment. We listen with curiosity, seeking first to understand, and then consider what that contribution can add to our thinking.

This curiosity-driven approach creates space for everyone to contribute to and embrace the widest range of potential solutions. As we sift through ideas, we find new connections and possibilities, which create opportunities for innovation and break-through thinking.

Kiss the Earth

mindfulness-practices-walking

It takes practice to become mindful, and I consider myself a student learning alongside my clients. Day by day, however, I see the benefits in my own work and life and enjoy watching others experience greater focus, creativity and calm as they begin their own mindfulness practices.

You can start today by trying this mindfulness exercise:

  • Find a place where you can take a quiet walk (where you can also practice social distancing)
  • Take a moment to stand in place and focus on your breath
  • Notice the rise of your chest and expansion of your abdomen
  • Feel the passage of air as you inhale and exhale
  • Begin walking as though your feet are kissing the earth
  • Notice how the ground feels against your toes and heels
  • Describe the trees, grass, skies and birds (facts not judgment)
  • Connect with your senses and fully experience your surroundings
  • If thoughts intrude simply observe, allow, consider, honor and let them go

After you’ve spent a few minutes walking, stop and take note of how you feel. Repeat this practice every day for a week and notice the difference in your focus and ability to manage stress.

Then, contact us to take the next step in bringing the power of mindfulness to your team and your strategic planning process.

Beyond Open Offices: The Workspace of the Future Is Here
Beyond Open Offices: The Workspace of the Future Is Here 622 622 SageRiver Consulting LLC

A conversation with Layer 10 Consulting

In our latest interview with business thought leaders, SageRiver sits down with Ken Wilkinson, chief enablement officer of Layer 10 Consulting. His firm has pioneered a new service called digital workspace enablement, which looks holistically at how technology can be leveraged to foster more collaborative, creative workplaces that lift team performance. We asked him how leaders should think about workspace technologies, how technology can support culture change and what the workplace of the future may hold.

SageRiver (SR): Your company has created a new service. How would you describe digital workspace enablement?

Ken Wilkinson (KW): We help clients to design technology into their workspace, so they can foster the culture they want and lift team performance.

We’re at the table before a new build or renovation begins to provide a holistic overview. We help clients define what they want to achieve, identify opportunities for technology to enhance their space and then select the right partners to support those technologies based on their goals and budget. Once those decisions are made, we collaborate with architects, engineers, IT staff and interior designers to produce the results our clients want.

SR: What’s driving the need for digital workspace enablement?

KW: The drivers are different for every client, but we see some overarching trends.

First, technology is no longer an add-on to the way we work. In the past, businesses designed their workspaces and then retrofitted them with technology. That approach cost more, and their employees were less productive because the technology didn’t work well. Organizations simply can’t afford to operate that way anymore.

Second, we have an extraordinarily tight labor market, and organizations are fighting to attract and retain talent. Millennials, in particular, want flexible, collaborative and fun workplaces. Having the right technologies in place helps companies create attractive cultures.

“The best solution is to encourage people to come to the office by creating an experience they can’t duplicate from home.”

And, third, many companies have a love-hate relationship with the work-from-home trend. On the one hand, it may help them shrink their office footprint and cut real-estate costs. They also know that many employees want—or need—to work at home at least some of the time. On the other hand, companies know that collaboration and creativity happen when people are together in a space. The best solution is to encourage people to come to the office by creating an experience they can’t duplicate at home. If companies do that while also making it possible for employees to work at home successfully when appropriate, then everyone wins.

SR: You mentioned that employees want flexible, collaborative and fun workplaces. What does that look like?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. The design depends on who you are, how you work and who you want to be in the future.”

KW: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Every organization wants a “wow” space or a fun space, but there’s a balance to be struck. Some companies attract employees through open offices with spectacular amenities and recreational areas. If you’re a publicly traded company, you also want to show that you’re spending money wisely on what makes employees productive. The design depends on who you are, how you work and who you want to be in the future.

SR: What are the most important questions for leaders to ask before making workspace technology investments?

KW: We ask our clients to think big and then smart.

“Thinking big” starts with asking who they are today and who they want to be. What kind of work do they do, and how do they work together now? Are they all on site, or do some work from home? Once we know that, we ask how they’d like their culture to evolve and what they’d like to be able to do that they can’t do now.

Once we know their aspirations, we “think smart.” That involves prioritizing goals and options to fit their budget and looking at both technology solutions and other approaches that might fit the need at a lower cost.

SR: How do you design a workspace technology solution for a client?

KW: We take a multilayered approach (see diagram) to designing the right solution for each client, and we always begin with the end in mind.

Our goal is to help our clients achieve their vision in a way that optimizes the experience of individual employees and teams. For example, we often use technology to create privacy in largely open office environments through sound masking, glass masking overlays or other strategies. We’re also incorporating more sophisticated collaborative tools into conference areas to support geographically dispersed teams, or boosting wireless capabilities inside and outside buildings so employees can work anywhere.

Another goal is to help our clients get the best long-term return on their investment. Technology changes by the minute, and no one can guarantee what the future holds. We can be sure of what will stay the same, however: There will be more people with more devices needing more connectivity and mobility. We prioritize those capabilities for our clients to support their future growth and productivity.

SR: Based on your experience, do you believe technology drives culture change?

KW: We’re technology enthusiasts, and we firmly believe that people, partnered with the right technology, can work more effectively and productively. That being said, we think technology can “nudge” an organization towards culture change, but it can’t shove a workforce in a particular direction.

For example, if you have a geographically dispersed team, you may want to use videoconferencing to strengthen team relationships and improve collaboration. To get value from the investment, however, people must use the tools. You have to set expectations about how you work together, and leaders must model that behavior.

Organizations also need to acknowledge that people have different preferences and decide how much variation they’ll allow within their team. When it comes to technology, we tend to think about generational differences. We also find that where people fall on the introversion / extroversion spectrum can make a difference. Not everyone is comfortable being on view or in open spaces all the time, and those employees will be more productive if they can occasionally work in quieter, more private settings.

At the end of the day, technology is a tool that supports culture change. Leaders will get the best results if they model the behaviors they want to see and work with their teams to define group norms while respecting individual differences.

SR: As you look into the future, what are the most important trends or developments you’re noticing in workspace technologies?

KW: Near term, there are four we’re seeing.

First, companies overall are taking advantage of the reliability, functionality and ease of use of cloud-based services and storage. That means they’re spending less for IT infrastructure.

Second, organizations are investing significantly more in wireless capabilities and connection points throughout their buildings and grounds. The investments make it easier for employees to move and work in different areas throughout the day. Even more importantly, companies can now capture real-time information about where people are located and what devices they’re using. The data can help them improve security or quickly evacuate buildings during an emergency. Organizations can also see how work areas are being used and adjust to ensure they’re getting the best return on their real-estate dollars.

Third, companies are increasingly offering personalization, flexibility and choice to employees and teams. For example, in many companies, an employee will check in for a work area assignment for the day. The employee’s badge indicates the employee’s preferences about location, type of work area, temperature, desk height and more. From a team perspective, companies are using structural approaches, such as architectural walls, that enable teams to reconfigure their space as needed to fit their needs.

And, finally, there’s a trend toward detaching from things and spaces. Rather than sit in the same space every day, people are more willing to get up, move to different work areas to collaborate and shift to open or private workspaces as needed. There’s a wellness component to this as well, as many employers are thinking about how to create workspaces that promote walking, standing, interacting and other healthy behaviors.

SR: And what about trends that are further out on the horizon?

KW: Many technologies that once seemed on the distant horizon are already here in some form. Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are already being incorporated into our projects, and their role will continue to increase. Robotics are here as well, although many of the applications are too costly to be practical for most companies.

The technology that’s available today is extraordinary. Who knows what the workplace will look like in 10 to 20 years?

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