IFMA Facility Fusion Conference: The Emerging Workplace

The Facility Fusion conference, organised by IFMA with focused sessions by Workplace Evolutionaries, saw facilities managers from all sectors come together to discuss workplace strategies.

Attendees packed into a room to hear a panel discussion titled, “The Emerging Workplace”, where Cisco, Blackstone, and Regeneron shared their strategies, learnings, and insights.

Introduced by Suki Reilly, Regional Director at MovePlan, the discussion covered technology, finance, and pharmaceutical industries.

Lisa Dettore, Senior Project Manager at MovePlan, also attended the event and said the audience heard about the varying strategies used to support facilities management.

The panel discussed topics and shared insights on strategies for reopening the office.

One panellist explained they were taking a white-glove approach to welcoming staff back to the office.

Lisa said: “It was great to hear companies prioritising and fostering meaningful connections within the office.”

A lot of discussion was sparked by one of the panellists discussing their collaborative centres’ approach.  The audience was surveyed, and the vast majority were moving to a hybrid setting that is closely related to the collaborative centre approach. The speaker was able to provide great insight and tips for creating buy-in.

She said the main message from the discussion was “don’t be afraid to fail”, adding: “Everyone is still experimenting and trying to see what works for their organisation. If it doesn’t work that doesn’t mean it needs to be completely scrapped. It can be tweaked. Getting feedback is important to see what is working and what isn’t.”

Lisa said that feedback following the event was positive, adding: “Everybody said that it was one of the best panel discussions that they had seen, so we were pleased to offer insight and share valuable information.”