Corporate CPR Episode 63: How to Stay Relevant in the New Era of Work

On today's show, we discuss the new era of work and how companies can navigate it to stay relevant. Emma Giles is one of the founders of SoWork, a product that helps digital-first teams do great work, no matter when they work or where they work from.  Emma leads product and spends her time working directly with SoWork customers who are leaders of organizations trying to navigate the digital-first work shift. This gives her a unique perspective on how the landscape of work is evolving, what leaders and their teams are struggling with, and how to solve the most pressing challenges with technology.  In her past life, she was a crisis counselor and a scientist. She dropped out of a PhD from Harvard/MIT in computational neuroscience to build a business, spent a year at Khan Academy creating free medical content for medical students, and scaled data initiatives for the WHO. Today, running a digital company allows her to live on Vancouver Island, where she spends her personal time hiking and running ultramarathons.  Key Takeaways: The concept of remote work isn't new, but the pandemic has catapulted these trends. Companies are trying to decide where on the spectrum they will land between all remote or all on site. Performance of a business depends on people to come together in ways that are productive and high-functioning to drive great results. Teams need to be able to come together to be a unit that is greater than the sum of its parts. Team members as individuals need to feel seen, heard, and valued to perform at their best. New tools are becoming available to help build spontaneity in digital teams, allowing people to be in common spaces digitally. As companies realize that many of their pain points are related to connection and collaboration techniques, these tools will become more in demand. Teammates with at least 5-7 strong connections within the company are more likely to stay with the company. A strong connection is one where a person feels like they can be themselves with another person. These connections take cultivation to form and then touch points to maintain. Because people are different, leaders should cultivate an environment for people to get what they need, but not feel forced to behave a certain way. Meet people where they are with technology and make sure they are able to use the technology in a way that keeps the benefit of their flexibility. Adoption is often the biggest hurdle when implementing virtual team tools. Behavior changes require understanding, time, effort, realization for why it works, and then fitting it into people's workflows. Less is more. Teamwork blocks are a great way to start. Select a unit of time where everyone comes together and works from the virtual office. They can see how it feels and build from there. Top Takeaways:Every team is completely different. People's need to feel like they can be themselves, be human, and connect in realistic ways is paramount.Everything in the business stems from the individual's needs being met. This empowers them to connect in teams and create great results that affect the bottom line of the business. Connect with Emma Giles: Website: https://sowork.com/