Episode 24

full
Published on:

27th Jul 2022

Is It Really Working? Derek Laney - Slack

Working from home, remote working, back to the city, back to the grind, hybrid, virtual, deep breaths people. The way we worked was defined in the industrial revolution, where it was deemed we should roll our sleeves up 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday.

And whilst we humans have argued one way or another for 4 day weeks and working from home, it tended to be an exception rather than a norm.

And it seemed like just when we reached a tipping point, where work related stress was higher than ever, and we were working longer hours that we ever have before, we went remote. And replaced our in office back to back meetings for days on zoom calls.

It's fair to say 'shit got real weird' when we finished up our work Zoom, then transitioned straight into 'happy hour' with the same mob, whilst playing strange party games.

So now what?

We haven't quite come to terms yet with what successful working can and should look like. More so, it's not the same for every culture, industry, company and generation. A generation that is used to going to an office, vs a generation that graduated at home for instance.

How do we define the new ways of working? Who is getting it right? And how are people feeling about their own productivity and self empowerment.

Jeez that's a fair bit to tackle in one podcast. So in this chat I had Derek Laney, an evangelist from Slack, join me in my home studio to dissect some of these topics. And hot-off the press is the latest research report that Slack has conducted which has some remarkable statistics.

I hope you enjoy this podcast and for more information on Derek and the report he was sharing in this podcast please see below.

Research

Book

About Derek

Derek has held a broad range of roles in his 25-year technology career from startup developer, product manager, consultant, offshore development leader, solutions engineer and product marketing executive.

Derek now works as an evangelist helping organisations adapt for the future of work and advising on tech trends and the learnings of Slack customers.

Derek spent 15 years at Salesforce, working with the Salesforce ecosystem and the local technology industry in Australia, Asia and India exploring digital and customer experience. Derek has spent 9 years leading product marketing teams; 6 years in solutions consulting; 8 years developing and implementing software.

“I want to make work simpler, more pleasant, and more productive, I love experimenting with my own work-life joining Slack’s own Digital Headquarters from on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland or when towing a caravan around Australia.“

Try Slack for Free

Listen for free

Show artwork for Tech Seeking Human

About the Podcast

Tech Seeking Human
The intersection of technology and humanity with Dave Anderson
A podcast about the exponential growth of software, technology and AI and the impact it has on humanity with Dave Anderson. Is technology good or bad? Is it helping us or making us worse? What do we need to do to make our society, our parenting, are children aware of it's opportunity and it's shortcomings? They’re the questions some of the smartest people on earth are asking. And the truth is, nobody really knows for sure. A journey of curiosity, discovery, and occasional terror, as we search for answers with scientists, authors, TED talkers, and the brightest minds in tech.

Hosted by Aussie tech evangelist Dave Anderson, we’ll dive deep into the myths, realities, and possibilities. Answer your deepest, darkest questions.

Blow your mind with surprising and incredible discoveries. And unpack one of the most important, most controversial, most terrifying, and least-understood technologies.