39 min
Sheela Subramanian on Why Flexibility Defines the New Workplace Get Reworked
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- Management
The ongoing debate between return to office or work from home misses the point. The question isn't where we work, but how.
Over the last two and a half years white collar workers have taken part in a grand experiment which upended many of the long-held norms of the workday. Business leaders now have the choice of what to do next: embrace this new way of work or try to return to how things were in 2019.
In this kickoff episode to Season 3, Sheela Submramanian, co-founder of Future Forum and VP at Slack, and co-author of "How The Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do the Best Work of Their Lives" shares why leaders need to move past the debate around physical location of work to embrace a much more flexible approach to how work gets done.
Listen: Get Reworked Full Episode List
"It's really critical for leaders to think about flexibility when it comes to choice in both where and when people work, rather than setting mandates in terms of the number of days they need to come back into the office," Subramanian said. "There's an opportunity for us to shift the conversation from power to trust, because power reflects the command and control model that we had for so long."
Highlights of the conversation include:
The dangers of confusing presenteeism for performance. The outdated ideas around professionalism we've shed in the last few years (and the ones we still should lose). Why working from home increased a sense of belonging in employees of color. Why the future of work comes down to two things: flexibility and trust. What leaders' top concern today should be. Plus, we talk with Sheela about why we should all be in touch with our inner two-year-olds, why we need alternate career paths outside of management and where to find the best bagel in Oakland. Listen in for more.
Have a suggestion, comment or topic for a future episode? Drop us a line at editors@reworked.co.
The ongoing debate between return to office or work from home misses the point. The question isn't where we work, but how.
Over the last two and a half years white collar workers have taken part in a grand experiment which upended many of the long-held norms of the workday. Business leaders now have the choice of what to do next: embrace this new way of work or try to return to how things were in 2019.
In this kickoff episode to Season 3, Sheela Submramanian, co-founder of Future Forum and VP at Slack, and co-author of "How The Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do the Best Work of Their Lives" shares why leaders need to move past the debate around physical location of work to embrace a much more flexible approach to how work gets done.
Listen: Get Reworked Full Episode List
"It's really critical for leaders to think about flexibility when it comes to choice in both where and when people work, rather than setting mandates in terms of the number of days they need to come back into the office," Subramanian said. "There's an opportunity for us to shift the conversation from power to trust, because power reflects the command and control model that we had for so long."
Highlights of the conversation include:
The dangers of confusing presenteeism for performance. The outdated ideas around professionalism we've shed in the last few years (and the ones we still should lose). Why working from home increased a sense of belonging in employees of color. Why the future of work comes down to two things: flexibility and trust. What leaders' top concern today should be. Plus, we talk with Sheela about why we should all be in touch with our inner two-year-olds, why we need alternate career paths outside of management and where to find the best bagel in Oakland. Listen in for more.
Have a suggestion, comment or topic for a future episode? Drop us a line at editors@reworked.co.
39 min