A woman giving a keynote speech is talking to the audience, standing on a stage.
Rasa Strumskyte at Inspirefest 2019. Image: Conor McCabe Photography

‘Don’t underestimate the power of conversation’: Rasa Strumskyte on future of work

16 Sep 2019

At Inspirefest 2019, Talent Garden’s chief strategy officer gave insights into her guiding principles for mapping innovation.

Future of Work Week

The future of work is undoubtedly a hot topic right now, attracting attention from companies across all sectors.

No matter what kind of business you’re in, the future is coming – through transformed HR processes, updated technologies or new methods of communicating.

With a tidal wave of information crashing about on the subject at the moment, it can be overwhelming and difficult to get a grasp on what’s to come and how we’re going to navigate these uncharted waters.

Thankfully, Rasa Strumskyte came to Inspirefest 2019 to offer some insights into how we can map out innovation as we go forward.

Passionate about growing impact-driven tech ventures, Strumskyte is manager of Talent Garden Denmark and chief strategy officer for the Talent Garden group – a European network that runs innovative co-working spaces across 23 locations in eight countries.

She spoke to this year’s Inspirefest audience about creating these modern workspaces for workforces that are diverse and constantly changing.

According to Strumskyte, co-working spaces are thriving around the world as employees flock to the concepts of online meetings and “going nomad”.

“How do we accommodate that?” she asked, before explaining that we must adapt our spaces to the future of work, while also upskilling and educating workers.

“Actually, nearly 170m Europeans don’t have basic digital skills. Here we have a massive challenge for the European continent.

“At the same time, we see it as an opportunity for Talent Garden to tap into that, and find a new model to educate, upskill and upgrade this future workforce.”

The future of work will heavily feature technology, but Strumskyte emphasised that we can’t assume it will be the sole element. It’s also important to remember the human aspect of work.

“Don’t underestimate the power of conversation, and the feedback from the people, when creating for people. It has to be a combination,” she said.

And when it comes to people, working together for the greater good is imperative.

“I think one of the greatest challenges that we have is we are still very, very fragmented. So here, we actually have to work on creating this one unique network that can help the value in every single local innovation ecosystem, to circulate and be connected.”

Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event celebrating the point where science, technology and the arts collide. Ultra Early Bird tickets for Inspirefest 2020 are available now.

Lisa Ardill
By Lisa Ardill

Lisa Ardill joined Silicon Republic as senior careers reporter in July 2019. She has a BA in neuroscience and a master’s degree in science communication. She is also a semi-published poet and a big fan of doggos. Lisa briefly served as Careers Editor at Silicon Republic before leaving the company in June 2021.

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