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KATE BORGER: I'm Kate Borger, and I recently
had the pleasure of sitting down with Maribel
Lopez, a technology industry analyst and a strategic advisor
at her firm, Lopez Research, to discuss
the future of work, collaboration,
and productivity.
Maribel, it's wonderful to have you.
MARIBEL LOPEZ: Thanks.
KATE BORGER: What are some of the trends that you
are seeing around technology and how
it's changing the workplace?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: We have so many different technologies
that allow us to really work anywhere,
anytime, on any device.
So we have mobility.
And now we have cloud computing services
that allow you to have these apps that
just go with you on small screens, on big screens.
And all of those are wrapped nicely
in a set of security services, so that people don't really
have to worry about their data being compromised.
So now, they can give employees access
to information that they couldn't before.
And the other great thing about it
is I think so many corporations and so many employees
have spent so much time just looking for data.
Where is that data?
How do I find it?
Is it the right data?
And now, where we've gone with systems,
we have a much better handle on where the data lives,
who's accessed it, who's updated it.
So instead of wasting all that time trying
to figure out, where did I put it,
it's right there at your fingertips.
And as a result of that, we can do it at home.
We can do it in a cafe.
We can be across the world.
It's just a new thing.
KATE BORGER: As automation becomes more forefront,
how do you think that will change the workplace?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: There are all these things that we do
over and over and over again.
They're repetitive, they're monotonous.
And you can take that low-value work,
and you can start to automate that.
And once you do that, it allows you to ideate.
OK, we've taken out the mundane.
And all the things that you don't have time to do,
you now have time to do.
And if we believe the research, 50% of your job
could be automated.
Well, that might sound scary, right?
KATE BORGER: Right.
MARIBEL LOPEZ: Really, it's a fundamental opportunity
for everybody to learn new skills,
do the other projects that we didn't have time to do before.
It really opens up a lot of opportunity.
The best-in-class organizations are already
thinking about empowering you to do more with your time.
And now, we can evolve with the organization,
because we're taking all those routine things off the table.
KATE BORGER: What are some of these routine tasks
that you foresee being automated?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: It could be something as simple
as when you come in in the morning,
you probably open the same three apps every day, right?
Then you can imagine a scenario where
the software will have your email and your calendar open
and will decide, hey, given the meeting that's
coming up next for Maribel, she's
probably going to need this presentation.
So I'm going to surface that for her to work on.
Where did I put it, and which system was it in?
All of that could be surfaced for me.
Then you get to the next step.
Instead of me finding the presentation,
I can say, oh, hey, there's some other data
I might have wanted that I wouldn't have had time
to put into the presentation.
Now, I can find that and incorporate it.
It's a really nice virtuous cycle.
KATE BORGER: A lot of companies still struggle
to create this culture of collaboration and flexibility
and ideation.
So what would you recommend to companies who are
looking to make this change?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: We have to realize
that the biggest trend that's going
on in every organization I talk to
is this move to a dynamic workplace.
So that means that you're going to have
to think about how do I let people
work in different places?
How do I let people work with different devices?
And in some cases, how do I let them even choose
some of their own technology and applications
that they want to work with to get the job done?
And I have to focus more on, say, securing the data,
and making sure that we've set a direction
for the goals of the company that we're trying to create.
KATE BORGER: And how do you get to this adaptive workplace
mindset?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: First thing you have to think about
is if you are allowing digital workspaces that
allow you to gain access to data both in and out
of the office, your applications and services on any device,
you're probably going to move to a set
of cloud-collaborative tools that allow people to basically
share information more easily wherever they are
and to comment on things.
You're going to want to get into a mindset
where it's not just sitting in a room.
It could be capturing all that information in a set of systems
so they can go back and be reviewed at a later date,
so that people that weren't in meetings can still participate,
or people in different time zones
can still be in that flow of what's going on.
We have to get people better tools
so that they can share information.
All of these are things that were
difficult to do before we had such great access to technology
to allow us to communicate, to allow us to collaborate,
to allow us to capture ideas so that they could be shared
globally--
KATE BORGER: --and in real time.
MARIBEL LOPEZ: --in real time.
I think collaboration was always a concept that we had.
You go back to village life-- people worked together
to do things.
Now I think we just are doing slightly
different with better tools.
KATE BORGER: So the technology is
driving these cultural changes.
MARIBEL LOPEZ: Technology has gotten
to the point where it's so much simpler now
that we're not focused on learning the technology.
We're now focused on using the technology.
And really, it's allowing us to be the people
that we want to be to share the ideas that we have.
There used to be such a limited availability for someone
to share their ideas, to communicate
across the boundaries of geography and time.
All that's gone now.
And so it's a really extraordinary time in the world
that we don't have to focus on how to get things done.
We can focus on what to do.
KATE BORGER: I love that description of tech
getting out of the way.
As we see that more and more coming into the workplace,
how do you think that will change the way employees work?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: One of the big changes
is that you used to need to go to your organization
and learn the technology they gave you.
And it was also very universally the same.
You went to a place.
You had the same type of cubicle and desk.
You had the same laptop computer.
You had the same applications.
And really, it wasn't about you doing things.
It was about you learning to do things
within the confines of the box that was created for you.
Now I think we're moving into this much
more dynamic environment where the tools can
be customized to you.
They're more flexible.
They're not a one-size-fits-all.
They're adaptable to different devices.
They're enabled in different locations.
So it's really a different way to think about it.
KATE BORGER: So how can companies
use this new and emerging technology
to build a more diverse workplace?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: When we think about diversity
in the workplace, there's a couple of types of diversity
we're looking for.
So one of them is geographic diversity, right?
So people can be anywhere in the world,
and we now have technology that allows us to do that.
One could actually, in fact, be diversity of time.
So, for example, people that have exited the workforce
to take care of family members can now
have the option of working part time
and still being part of the culture.
A third thing that I think is really great
is this ability for people to collaborate and to share ideas
and have a place that happens.
And once you get to the part where people are ideating,
in this, maybe, more real-time environment,
you start to get a better sense of what people know
and what people are interested in.
And sometimes that surfaces like,
hey, there are these people in the organization that
have great expertise that isn't part of their current role,
and we should consider tapping into that.
So I think that that's all very exciting.
KATE BORGER: So Maribel, any closing thoughts
before you wrap up?
MARIBEL LOPEZ: I think this is really
a call to action for organizations
to go out and figure out what the new technology can
do for your group.
Because if you don't, your competitors are going to do it.
And they're going to be able to innovate faster and serve
your customers better.
So really, go out, see what's available.
Check out the art of the possible.
KATE BORGER: Thanks, Maribel.
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