Programming Feature: Reimagining Wellbeing for the WFH Era and Beyond
Who: WIN Global X Gensler
What: Reimagining Wellbeing for the WFH Era and Beyond
When: November 18th, 2020
In November 2020, Women in Innovation partnered with the fantastic team from, global design firm, Gensler to bring our global community together for a virtual workshop on the future of workplace wellbeing.
For many of us, working from home (WFH) during a pandemic has turned the whole notion of workplace wellbeing upside down. Many of us are experiencing chronic Zoom fatigue, that pervasive “always-on” feeling, disconnectedness from colleagues, or the dreaded monotony and ergonomic torment of our dining table/desk. But there are also some bright spots in the new ‘hybrid’ model of work, like squeezing in a virtual therapy session between meetings, catching an afternoon nap, or building unexpected relationships you would have never had access to before.
Amidst uncertainty, one thing is clear. This moment demands new paradigms for physical, emotional, and social wellbeing at work—and there is no space riper for innovation. So in the workshop session, we asked ourselves: How might we radically reimagine workplace wellbeing for the WFH and hybrid era?
We explored the topic through the lenses of 4 different binaries: stress/rest, psychological safety/danger, linear/contextual learning, and loneliness/togetherness. By imagining utopian and dystopian futures of these topic areas, we generated a range of bold new ideas and shared actionable concepts that could elevate our well-being at work in the near and longer-term future.
A special thank you to the amazing Gensler team, Amanda Ramos, Leah Delany, Zsuzsi Nagy, and Lauren Rondel, for hosting such an uplifting and thought-provoking event. We also appreciate our community members for your attendance, openness, and contributions on this topic. We thoroughly enjoyed exchanging thoughts on this topic. For any further reading, please find our learnings and reflection on the event in the WINSight blog here.
Want to continue the conversation? Check-in and share your thoughts with the wider community on the WIN Hub. Curious to see insights from the workshop? Keep an eye out for the WINsight, coming soon to our member newsletter. Subscribe here.