Surprise! The Future is Here!
COVID-19 changed the scheduling of a work and wellness research initiative but it didn’t change the mission.
Immediate Frontier’s research-first approach is set to offer new thinking about working in Corporate America — just when we need it most.
Early this year, GreenHouse::Innovation began work with Greentarget Global Group and LAB/Amsterdam on a wellness summit about how Corporate America could improve work, wellness and space.
A group of experts was scheduled to meet on April 23 in Chicago.
"The project was of great interest, particularly for those involved in commercial real estate and development," said Howell J. Malham Jr. founder and president of GreenHouse. "But between the February announcement of the summit and its scheduled date, the world as we once knew it changed."
The WHO declared the COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, the in-person summit was canceled, and — most significantly — what we had accepted unknowingly for years as norms largely went out the window.
"We could have walked away right then and there, or at least waited idly by for an 'all clear'. But we realized that the work was more important than ever, and that we could help chart a course forward," he said.
The old game plan was torn up.
In its place, a new one that focused on the growing demands for new solutions to new problems wrought by the pandemic:: specifically, what will the commercial workplace look like in the months and years ahead, given Corporate America's concerns about the health of its workforce, the safety of its workplace, and, not the least, the sustainability of the economy as it is presently configured.
“We wanted to bring together a group of experts in the area of work, wellness and space — but, clearly, the coronavirus had other plans,” said John Corey, president and founding partner, Greentarget. “Switching to a research-first model conducted over electronic channels not only yielded insights at an incredibly important moment, it’s done so in a way that’s actually appropriate for the times.
“What we’ll release this summer will capture the return-to-work conversations of the moment — and, we think, help shape what the workplace and wellness will look like going forward.”
For the past three months, Greentarget Director of Research & Innovation Betsy Hoag has led a series of one-on-one interviews with domain experts in a variety of fields.
Already, her team has uncovered a fund of insights on what healthy sustainable development looks like now — and for whom. It spans a wide range of topics — everything from the management of virtual spaces to the changing nature of mental health programs to aligning wellness initiatives and green programs.
“Necessity is the mother of invention, and the events of the past two months forced us to truly invent what I’m calling a 'collaborative qualitative' approach to research,” Hoag said.
“The knowledge my team has gained throughout this process means we can engage in conversations with experts on near-equal footing allowing us to start conversations about innovation at a time when new thinking is especially important.”
Even before COVID-19, the project’s focus was on finding new ways to improve the health of the workforce. That meant healthier and safer buildings, cultures and environments — but more broadly, new ways of thinking and a holistic approach to preventative wellness.
"For developers, it goes well beyond LEED and WELL certifications," said Nicholas White, co-founder, LAB/Amsterdam. "For corporations, it goes well beyond the promises of existing wellness programs and flex-time.
"But these new ways of thinking will only work through collaboration…and if corporations are in it for the long haul.”
Phase I of the project will conclude with the delivery of an exhaustively researched report on the new normative expectations of development and design, as they relate to optimizing the workplace and the workforce for health, wellness and prevention in the era of COVID-19 and beyond.