Adrienne Rowe: Crossing the workplace rubicon, practice purposeful presence | Work 20XX #07

Workplace professionals have worked with corporate real estate and facilities to build productivity and people-centric improvements in the office and work environment for decades. But resistance was usually high and progress measured, frustrating many who saw opportunities to do so much better and move beyond historical habits that continued to dictate so much of our work routines. As we come into Fall 2022 in the northern hemisphere, summer ends, and the kids go back to school, While some companies go fully remote or fully on-site, it appears that most companies are going to offer their people some type of hybrid working plan. The bad news is no one really knows what Hybrid means generally, and more specifically for their team. The Good News, there are workplace professionals who have the knowledge, experience, and tools to help. Welcome to Work20XX, a show focused on work, and the future of work, where we bring you the professionals to provide insight, direction, and specifics actions leaders, line managers, and individual contributors can use to navigate these sometimes choppy waters. Adrienne Rowe is Head of Workplace Strategy at Raytheon Technologies. Adrienne’s college summer internship sweeping the streets of Disney World turned into a 20+ year career with Disney, where she developed many of the foundational values that continue to surface today, starting with the connected threesome of the customer, the product or experience, and the employee. Purposeful attention to detail centered on the customer’s experience defines the perception of the company in the customer’s mind. In Workplace, Adrienne works in partnership with other departments like real estate, facilities, communications, technology, human resources, and others, to create a collection of work environments that are not just a place for calls and meetings, but where people can do the best work of their lives. Adrienne and I discuss a number of strategies and methods organizations can use to increase the chances of hybrid work success moving forward. Starting with the reality that we don’t have all the answers, and must be willing to try some things, and learn, knowing that not all the experiments will work. It’s a dynamic and changing world of work, and we’re entering new territory. As Beth Comstock reminds us, get comfortable being uncomfortable. As we dive into the vocabulary and priorities of the hybrid workplace, most importantly, Adrienne reminded me, that we have to think and frame the conversation not in the words of the experts, but in the words of people learning new behaviors, new management techniques, new 1:1 strategies, and more; many for the first time. I’m thrilled to share this interview with one of the leaders in workplace strategy. Without further delay, a conversation with Adrienne Rowe.