In my younger days, a few active voices often dominated meeting discussions. I know (with regret) that I have also led a few meetings like that. This means that the valuable insights of a quieter team member may have been ignored. This taught me an important lesson—engagement doesn’t always come with a raised hand or a loud voice. It’s my responsibility to encourage diverse forms of input and give everyone an equitable opportunity to express themselves and make their unique contribution. By doing so, we can make the most informed decisions while making everyone feel heard. People and their experience need to be at the center to design better meetings with better business outcomes. This conclusion holds beyond meetings: If we want to design a positive future of work, people and their experience need to be at the center.
In today’s workplace, technology has become a great ally. It adapts to these varied styles and needs while helping us enhance productivity and creativity. It pushes us to constantly relearn how to lead and how to create a space where multiple voices and points of view can be heard and every idea can flourish. But how can we do so? What does it take? I would like to share some of what we have learned over the past years.
Balancing Personal And Professional Life Better
Gone are the days when the 9-to-7 schedule was the only way to work. Professional success is no longer defined by how late you work. Today, businesses and their teams are discovering that flexibility is key—not just in how we manage our time but in our whole approach to work. The future calls for companies to stay nimble and to support the kind of work-life balance that everyone is looking for.
This also means rethinking how we lead, challenging our biases, and stepping outside what we are used to doing. Every team member is different—some hit their stride working from home, while others prefer the buzz of the office. Some are early birds, some are night owls. Leaders who get this create a place where every worker can do their best. It’s time to trust our team’s dedication and judge success by outcomes, not hours spent at a desk. This shift empowers people to manage their work-life balance better, leading to happier, more productive days.
Working Across the World: Mastering Time Zone
In our connected, global world, we need to be smart about bringing together teams from different corners of the globe. I have a global team spread across 3 continents and multiple time zones, but I am also the mother of two kids, and there are many things I enjoy doing to recharge the batteries… Like most of us, I can’t work from 7am to 10pm daily. In a global company, it is common for teams to be dispersed worldwide. Keeping teams within two time zones helps everyone work better without burning out. We also experienced that grouping smaller teams on specific themes and creating more vital meeting discipline (fewer meetings with a clear agenda/objective) are crucial to managing busy schedules and being more efficient. My leadership team is set in two time zones; in turn, their respective teams are based on 2 time zones, but collectively, we cover all time zones. It’s an organizational strategy that lets us pass the baton smoothly, keeping the workflow going around the clock and sparking continuous innovation.
Mixing Digital With Personal: The Magic Of Meeting Up
Even though we can work together from anywhere using tech, meeting in person is still special. Investing time to connect face-to-face can spark new ideas and strengthen team spirit, which remains highly valuable. I try to organize quarterly face-to-face meetings and site visits, and once a year, we all gather together to celebrate achievements and get ready for the road ahead. We also have gravity days during the week so team members know when they are more likely to meet face-to-face with specific groups or leaders. Finding the right balance between online and in-person can take our work to the next level.
Building A Team Where Everyone Belongs And Is Heard
The significance of company culture and core values can’t be overstated – especially in these transformational times. Cultivating an environment that openly welcomes diverse ideas isn’t just ethical—it’s also good for business. By embracing various working and thinking styles, we can tap into the full potential of our teams. I am committed to facilitating virtual and face-to-face inclusive meetings, ensuring that every individual can voice their thoughts. While this might not always be easy or successful, we need to try to do our best here as it fosters a sense of inclusion and empathy, including for those who may not speak up initially. Furthermore, when differences of opinion arise, our goal is to defuse tensions by helping each other to understand different perspectives and helping everyone understand why a decision was made and how it will help the business.
Reskill, Upskill, and embrace technology
According to last year’s WEF Future of Work Reports, employers estimate that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years, requiring training of six in 10 workers before 2027. We need to enable and encourage that. Technology will continue evolving, and we as humans need to evolve with it. Take AI for example: like everyone else, my team and I have to leverage the power of artificial intelligence… The productivity gain can be mind-blowing: the time saved in writing and editing documents with the help of GenAI can be invested in thinking about strategies or customer impact to drive even more robust results. Collaboration tools make it easy for teams worldwide to work together as if they were in the same room, like our Logitech Sight Camera, which helps make meetings more equitable. In the future workplace, technology will be the tool that allows us to design work to fit every person’s needs. The tools I use at my workspace will differ from the tools other people use: how we setup our workspace is personal, adapted to one’s need to feel and be one’s most productive, creative, collaborative and, in the end, happy selves. One size does not fit all. By embracing these tech tools, we’ll create a workplace that’s always in tune with what we need to succeed.
Breaking Free From The Past: The Path To An Inclusive Tomorrow
To make the most of the future of work, we need to let go of old ways of thinking. This means tearing down the walls that have held us back and building a place where every voice matters, where technology gives us more power. After all, our diverse thoughts and experiences make us stronger.
In the end, the future of work is here now, and it’s up to us to make it a place where flexibility, trust, understanding, and inclusion help everyone flourish. Let’s step forward with confidence, embracing our differences and ready to make work better for everyone today and for generations to come.
