Podcast: Real Estate Forums

COVID-19 and the Return to the Office with Mandy Sutherland of Steelcase

CRE Podcast · COVID-19 and the Return to the Office with Mandy Sutherland of Steelcase

Aaron and Adam welcome Mandy Sutherland on today’s show. She is the Senior Consultant of Applied Research and Consulting at Steelcase. Additionally, she is part of a team which is responsible for helping clients discover what they should be doing next with their workplace.

With such a debate on going in the real estate industry about the change in office space demand due to physical distancing rules, Mandy gives her opinion on this and many other return to work measures. She speaks to the importance of leadership and addresses challenges that she has been seeing.

Topics covered include:

• How the consulting team was formed at Steelcase.
• Conversations with clients about moving away from dense office space.
• The rise of unassigned seating.
• Recognizing that many individuals can work from home.
• What the return to work after COVID-19 is looking like.
• Challenges related to elevators and bathrooms.
• Using sensors to measure occupancy of office buildings.
• Other high-tech tools that may be introduced.
• What good leaders have been doing during this pandemic.
• Preserving organizational culture from a distance.
• Steelcase’s global presence and the return to work in other countries.
• Mandy’s take on whether office space will be in higher or lower demand.
• The potential of satellite offices.
• How leaders are managing the changes required because of COVID-19.

Released: June 26, 2020