Aaron and Adam welcome Mandy Sutherland on today’s show. She is the Senior Consultant of Applied Research and Consulting at Steelcase. Additionally, she is part of a team which is responsible for helping clients discover the next best steps in returning to the office after COVID-19.
With a debate on going in the real estate industry about the change in office space demand due to physical distancing rules, Mandy gives her opinion on this and many other return to work measures. She speaks to the importance of leadership and addresses challenges that she has been seeing.
Topics covered include:
- Conversations with clients about moving away from dense office space.
- The rise of unassigned seating.
- Recognizing that many individuals can work from home.
- What the return to work after COVID-19 is potentially looking like.
- Challenges related to elevators and bathrooms.
- Using sensors to measure occupancy of office buildings.
- Other high-tech tools that may be introduced.
- How the consulting team was formed at Steelcase.
- What good leaders have been doing during this pandemic.
- Preserving organizational culture from a distance.
- Steelcase’s global presence and the return to work in other countries.
- Mandy’s take on whether office space will be in higher or lower demand.
- The potential of satellite offices.
- How leaders are managing the changes required because of COVID-19.
For more commercial real estate content, visit the First National Commercial Resource Centre.
More about our guest:
Mandy Sutherland is a Senior Consultant with over 30 years of industry experience working with clients, architects and designers globally to develop a common understanding of a corporation’s issues, worker needs and work experience solutions. She specializes in the creation of new work experiences that drive increased organizational resiliency and the amplification of individual and team performance. Currently based in Toronto, Canada, Mandy has led a variety of engagements across North America and Europe with public and private corporations across industry sectors who are attempting a moderate or high degree of change. She speaks publicly at various business and design events on issues related to culture, change management and the changing nature of work. Mandy is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner, has a BA in Psychology from the University of Windsor, Ontario and completed the program for Managing Strategic Change, University of Toronto | Rotman School of Business.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download