#62 - Revitalising the office in a post-pandemic workplace with Lucy Minton
This week’s guest is on a mission to bring the workforce out of the lull of solitary remote working and back into positive, people-centric workspaces all around the UK. Lucy Minton, co-founder and COO of the disruptive workspace design and management provider, Kitt, joins Gareth on this week’s episode to discuss the case for going back to the office. Amongst other things, they reflect on how organic relationships and creative innovation are often born from collaborative working and are crucial in any organisation. In the episode, Lucy describes her personal experience pursuing growth building a culture within a start-up environment, and how important it is to ‘craft your own future’ despite setbacks that you may face. We also get insight into Lucy’s ‘workplace forecast’ as she remarks how ‘transactional’ business relationships are a thing of the past, and that the candid, spontaneous interactions— the ones that are made through person-to-person connections— are what pave the way for a ‘magical’ future workplace. Time stamps What good leadership means to Lucy (02:12) Grabbing opportunities with both hands (03:30) ‘Just cracking on’ (05:47) From rule follower to rule breaker (06:43) Making an impact (13:11) ‘Craft your own future’ (14:35) The beginnings of Kitt (17:15) Breaking away from transactional business relationships (17:40) How the pandemic influenced Kitt (21:55) Criticisms of remote working (25:00) Spontaneity in the office (28:17) Resisting the comfortability of being at home (32:30) Lucy’s workplace forecast (34:00) Life imitates offices (36:10) Ruthless prioritisation (41:00) ‘Failure is OK’ (44:12) Improving the education system for the business world (44:50) *Book recommendation- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team- Patrick Lencioni*