Future of Work Roundup: May 3rd

This week’s Future of Work Roundup includes big name orgs going fully-remote, plus how to make your hybrid work presentations more exciting.

Airbnb tells employees you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. (NYT)

The brand synonymous with the short term rental market announced that their workforce can indefinitely stay at home (or, at a tropical locale, mountain town, or cabin in the woods) to get the job done.

That checks out, given the nature of their business.

• Totally. While they originally aimed to be back in the office this September, their CEO feels strongly about having a workplace model that gives folks opportunity to travel – and to use Airbnbs to work from, of course.

The bottom line: Businesses are still figuring out the future of hybrid work and what the best solution is; to allow people the autonomy to work where they choose (like Airbnb, Zillow, and PwC) or to create offices that entice folks back in (like Microsoft and Google).

Hybrid presentations are here to stay. Let’s make them better. (Duarte)

We’re slowly but surely becoming less, shall we say, awkward with hybrid presentations. And while we’ve improved a ton since March of 2020, there’s still ways we can do better to create meeting experiences that’s best for everyone in-office and working remote. 

Anything to not get snoozy at 2pm, right?

• Let’s say something we’ve all been thinking: don’t present something that you wouldn’t personally want to sit through. That means the primary focus of your meeting needs to be on the content you’re providing – so make sure it’s engaging, informative, and relevant to your audience.

The bottom line: Focus on your content being clear and concise to keep the audience’s attention on your message.

Why thinking like a storyteller will improve your presentations. (HBR)

To piggy-back off our last point, one of the best ways to create interesting content and an effective presentation is to think more like a storyteller, and less like a person simply pressing play on a PowerPoint.

Cue the secrets, Spielberg. 

• Your presentation should first start with your story; your accompanying slides then complement that story. Outside of that, you need to have the right software so your story can be told properly (as in, offering presentation options that have way more than just hard-to-maneuver titles and text).

The bottom line: Expert storytellers think through their stories first (like the structure, theme, heroes and villains, surprises, and conclusion) long before they open any presentation platforms.