Looking Forward podcast: conversations about the future of work

Hosted by Ryan Anderson, Vice President of Global Research and Insights at MillerKnoll, the ‘Looking Forward’ podcast series explores the future of work from multiple angles. In each episode, Ryan talks with executives, thought leaders, researchers, designers, and innovators—all wrestling with questions about the dynamics reshaping work today.

Looking for ideas to help your company create more inclusive places of work, provide more equitable employee experiences, and foster a greater sense of belonging among your workforce? Then Ryan and his guests have you covered.

Here are some episodes to explore:

Everyone wants belonging

In this episode, Ryan Anderson talks to John A. Powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. After a thoughtful discussion about belonging in general terms, they pivot to focus on what organisations can do to foster belonging in the workplace. From the impact that belonging has on employee retention to the long-term effects more flexible work arrangements will (or won’t) have on workplace culture, it’s a fascinating exploration of this fundamental human need.

Rebuilding organisational networks

In this episode, Andreas Hoffbauer, a sociologist by trade and the founder and director of the organizational and behavioural design studio Atelier Kultur, talks to Ryan Anderson about how organisational networks have been damaged by the pandemic and how prototyping spatial interventions can help strengthen them for the future.

Moving beyond accommodation

Inclusive design is a topic not nearly enough people are talking about. But the guests in this episode are working to fix that. Jolene De Jong is an Applied Insights + Design Specialist at MillerKnoll and Joseph White is the company’s Director of Design Strategy. They recently collaborated on a white paper for the peer-reviewed CRE Journal and in this episode they unpack the need for architects and designers to move beyond accommodation of unique needs and toward a more widespread adoption of the notion that spaces that follow inclusive design principles simply work better for everyone.

Remote working for inclusivity and better living

In this episode, Ryan Anderson tackles remote work with one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic, Darren Murph. Darren is Head of Remote at GitLab, a DevOps platform that helps co-located, hybrid, and remote teams collaborate and build software. Darren shares lessons that GitLab has learned as a completely office-less company with more than 1,400 remote employees—including boundary-setting at the organisational level, balancing synchronous and asynchronous tools, and the benefits their people have enjoyed working remotely.

Listen to these and other episodes of the Looking Forward podcast here.