5 Sessions You Won’t Want to Miss at IFMA’s World Workplace

The largest workplace conference of the year is less than one month away, and we’re filling our calendars with events for the week! One area we want to be sure you don’t miss are the educational sessions going on throughout all three days of the event. Below are five especially interesting topics we know you’ll enjoy. Be sure to mark them down on your calendars before you start packing for San Diego!

1. Tech Stories from the Frontline 

Location: Room 7A
Speaker: Elizabeth Dukes, Co-founder of iOFFICE, Inc. 
Date: Thursday, October 6th
Time: 8-9AM
Level: 200

Our co-founder, Elizabeth Dukes, has years of experience working with organizations to find and implement the best technology solutions for their workforce. She is bringing her expertise to this year’s World Workplace discussion on effective strategies for implementing new technology. Sharing stories from real clients, Dukes will cover the three key elements to workplace transformation; embracing technology, integrating technology and tactfully measuring technology.  Her talk will help workplace managers establish a framework where they can identify the best course of action to bring home to their own workforce. We’re sure this half-hour class will leave you confident in defining exactly what your workplace needs to excel moving forward. 

2. Get Your LinkedIn Profile Noticed by Recruiters

Location: Room 8
Speaker: JoAnne Funch, LinkedIn for Business 
Date: Thursday October 6th
Time: 9:30-10:30AM
Level: 200

We all know LinkedIn has graduated from a nice-to-have part of job searching to an absolute necessity. But why are so many workplace managers not taking advantage of the site like they should? Funch wants to change that. She understands that recruiters have a method in which they use to find eligible candidates. If your profile isn’t properly optimized to be searched through LinkedIn, you may be missed by them completely. Even if you’re happy with your current position, it is always a good idea to keep your online presence clean and well-organized. Funch’s session will dive into how to optimize your profile to build your “individual credibility, manage your reputation and fill your pipeline with the right people”. 

3. The New Scientific Workplace: Discover New Ways of Working

Location: Room 2
Speakers: Myung Kim, Sara Schonour, Erik Terry with CannonDesign 
Date: Thursday October 6th
Time: 10-10:30AM
Level: 200

You don’t need us to tell you the way we work is changing. “The New Scientific Workplace (NSW) is a planning methodology that removes traditional boundaries between laboratory and office”. As the workforce expands its flexibility and expectations of the facilities they require, a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t appeal to the majority in the very near future. Individual assigned spaces are decreasing rapidly, in favor of an activity based approach to the office. This is not about getting your workplace to follow what’s trending in design, but providing your workforce with the items they need to customize their own ideal work environment. In this quick session, Kim, Schonour and Terry will cover “how the success of a workplace depends on the thoughtfulness with which its design responds to the work being done there”, and how you can use this approach in your own facility. 

4. Next Generation Workers

Location: Room 2
Speakers: Kay Sargant, SVP Strategic Global Accounts for HOK
Date: Thursday October 6th 
Time: 3-3:30PM
Level: 200

Move aside Millennials, there’s a new generation hitting the workforce, and they’re going to rattle things up. Generation Z is even more digital incline than those before them, and they not only expect technology in the workplace, they won’t consider working without it. This class will examine “the impact the Gen Zs will have in, and emerging differences in lifestyle, culture, and work styles and their effects on the Next Generation Workplace”. Sargant will cover this emerging generation, and what you can expect from these young, digital natives. Engaging this new group will be difficult, but not impossible if the right measures are taken early. The class will cover how to incorporate technology in a meaningful way and various design elements that will make your facility appealing to the next group of workers. 

5. Easy Answers to Tough Questions on the ROI of Workplace Change

Location: Room 2
Speakers: Kate Lister, President of Global Workplace Analytics
Date: Friday, October 7th 
Time: 8-8:30AM
Level: 300

Did you know increasing the productivity of an employee by 5-minutes per day would offset the cost of their individual workspace for an entire year? Now that we have your attention, this next session is sure to pique your interest. The President of Global Workplace Analytics, Kate Lister, will cover how to implement this strategy at your own workplace. Session attendees will “learn how to estimate the potential impact of workplace change” while also “understanding the importance of establishing goals and measuring results” that will impact not just your current workforce, but future generations of your office.  Facilities managers will also walk away with a better grasp of how to estimate the value of human performance and how to test various workplace arrangements depending on your office’s unique needs. This is a higher-level session that we believe everyone should attend.