About Place podcast

Hosted by Ryan Anderson, VP of Global Research and Insights at MillerKnoll, About Place explores how our workplaces are pivoting.  Gone are expectations that employees work in the same patterns and places as they once did. Here to stay are expectations for location and schedule flexibility—and a deeper desire to connect and belong.  Each episode features conversations with thought-leaders, designers, researchers, and more, all of whom bring expertise and understanding about how the places we create can positively impact how we work and live. Visit millerknoll.com/ideas-in-action for more.

Here are some episodes to explore:

Everyone wants belonging

In this episode, Ryan Anderson talks to John A. Powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. After a thoughtful discussion about belonging in general terms, they pivot to focus on what organisations can do to foster belonging in the workplace. From the impact that belonging has on employee retention to the long-term effects more flexible work arrangements will (or won’t) have on workplace culture, it’s a fascinating exploration of this fundamental human need.

Advocating for inclusion

Thirty years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), there’s one research institute still pushing for more inclusive spaces for all. The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement at Drake University was created to deliver lasting support for social justice issues such as disability advocacy. Listen in as its founders, Ruth Harkin and former U.S. senator Tom Harkin—who authored the 1990 ADA—revisit the fascinating makings of the ADA and share about the institute continuing its legacy.

Facilitating connection

Ryan Anderson welcomes Matthew Boyle, Senior Work Shift Reporter at Bloomberg News, and Annie Dean, VP of Team Anywhere at software development firm Atlassian. The dynamic among the three of them is fast-paced and the insights come one after the other. Listen as Matthew shares takeaways from his reporting on what he calls “the messy present of work,” while Annie adds practical advice for leaders looking to understand the purpose of the office today and build well-connected distributed teams.

Remote working for inclusivity and better living

In this episode, Ryan Anderson tackles remote work with one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic, Darren Murph. Darren is Head of Remote at GitLab, a DevOps platform that helps co-located, hybrid, and remote teams collaborate and build software. Darren shares lessons that GitLab has learned as a completely office-less company with more than 1,400 remote employees—including boundary-setting at the organisational level, balancing synchronous and asynchronous tools, and the benefits their people have enjoyed working remotely.

Listen to these and other episodes of the About Place podcast here.