Jul 26, 2024
Corinne Murray is Chief Strategist and Founder of Agate, an organizational transformation and workplace strategy consultancy. Corinne brings her formative experiences in commercial real estate, workplace strategy, and pre-pandemic implementations of remote and hybrid work models. She shares the benefits of empathizing with employees’ and executives’ different work experiences and explains how experiences inform culture. Corinne advocates for incremental, measurable steps to reduce workplace friction, improve performance, shift mindsets, and build momentum to effect change.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:18] Corinne studies religious studies and philosophy learning about different cultures.
[03:31] Leaving college at the end of the Great Recession, Corinne starts in real estate.
[03:53] Corinne focuses on market research and repositioning older buildings at CBRE.
[05:22] It’s déjà vu with real estate trends!
[05:34] Moving to American Express, Corinne shifts to workplace strategy and culture change.
[06:37] Amex facilitates workplace flexibility and remote working in 2013-2014.
[08:14] Corinne help employees transition to remote work addressing home setup challenges.
[10:22] The Blue Work program aims to create consistent brand experiences in all Amex offices.
[12:09] Post 2008, real estate strategy focuses on efficiency and densification.
[13:32] Workplace design and environments are adapted to different teams’ needs.
[14:10] Desk booking capabilities are implemented to reduce friction and improve flexibility.
[15:12] Reinstituting Blue Work with user-friendly changes and active listening.
[16:16] Desk booking is eliminated having caused—rather than eliminated—friction.
[17:39] Neighborhood seating naturally supports teams and flexible desk usage.
[19:15] Corinne join Gensler to explore the external advisory role.
[20:48] How UX/UI is applicable to workplace strategy.
[21:31] Joining WeWork, Corinne helps prepare the company for the Future of Work.
[24:16] The holistic employee experience extends beyond the physical space.
[25:07] The importance of good employee experiences to increase productivity.
[26:32] Frameworks for improving workplace environments through UX principles.
[28:23] Ensured basic workplace needs are met to reduce mental load and enhance productivity.
[29:58] Joining RXR Realty in February 2020, the pandemic impacts Corinne’s intended work.
[31:42] How Activity-Based Working supports different work activities.
[33:06] Corinne’s understanding of city dynamics changes her view of Central Business Districts’ viability.
[36:24] How reduced foot traffic affects commercial real estate.
[38:02] Corinne recognizes the shift in employee sentiments and work-life balance priorities.
[41:55] Executives different work experiences lead to their challenges with hybrid models.
[45:06] Millennials are driving change because of where they are in their careers and need for balance.
[52:02] Executive resistance to hybrid work can be reduced emphasizing data and gradual change.
[55:36] Corinne encourages an incremental approach to effect organizational change.
[56:20] “Hybrid work is broken” — what does Corinne mean by that?
[58:03] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Consider the dynamics of hybrid work and why it happens rather than just where it happens. Sequence and shuffle the puzzle pieces to figure out what needs to be decided first.
RESOURCES
Corinne’s company Agate’s website
QUOTES (edited)
"We can't decide what a culture is. We can decide what an experience is and what that collective experience amounts to is the culture."
"We are getting stuck focusing on where things happen, not why they happen, or how they can be done better."
"Executives lived experience is so radically different than everyone else in their organization, and yet they're the ones who are dictating how everyone else should be behaving."
"If we just assume that everyone wants to be productive, even if everyone's definition of it is different, how do we get stuff out of the way so people can do more of it."
"Hybrid is broken....Our application of it is what's broken. And why it's broken is because we have been almost exclusively focused on where hybrid happens rather than what are the dynamics of hybrid work."