In this episode of the NEXT NORMAL, we return to work and explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the workplace- redefining the what, how, where, and why as we focus on the future of work. Lisa Taylor is the President of Challenge Factory and specializes in the #FutureOfWork. Lisa says re-opening strategies aren’t one-size-fits-all and it’s okay to have new needs as we re-imagine work. [04:08] Lisa- “From a practical perspective, even individual employees don't want the options to be endless. They want to know what's the framework? What’s the way that we're going to do this? We hear it over and over again to our politicians, but also to our employers, what's the plan?” Dave Hardy, President and CEO of Hardy Stevenson and Associates, is an urban planner who is cognizant of the fact not everyone is going back to the workplace, many never left. [12:08] Dave Hardy- "There are a lot of professions and jobs that have never stopped working. They've had to adapt. I’m thinking skilled labourers, bankers, retail, service sector. They don't work from home. But it's interesting, we have a lot to learn from them.” Ujwal Arkalgud is a Cultural Anthropologist, CEO and co-founder of Motivbase. He and his team have noticed that our pandemic experience has shifted our meaning of productivity. [18:54] Ujwal- “It's still a small percentage of the workforce that has changed what productivity really means to them in their minds. But, even if it's a small percentage, it's significant enough that it's actually impacted work environments.” Sarah Thorne, President and CEO of Decision Partners, acknowledges the acceleration of managerial challenges and implications around career change and voluntary turnover. [20:52] Sarah- “I would just say, watch the women. I've had this conversation with at least four women in the past two weeks who have decided that they've done what they needed to do. They are going to step back. They are going to refocus. They're thinking about their values and what's really important to them at this point in their life." In the next episode, Dave Hardy will bridge how we accommodate the future of work in our immediate environments through urban planning of our homes and cities to facilitate and accelerate needed changes.