Speaking of human contact, the panel explored the changing nature of leadership and collaboration \u2014 and the kinds of soft skills the future of work will demand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the next generation of leader,\u201d Patel argued, \u201cIt’s going to be really important to be good at building deep relationships without ever having met someone in person. If the prerequisite is you have to meet someone in order to be a good leader, you\u2019re going to limit yourself in the kind of talent you\u2019re going to be able to find.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The panel agreed that face-to-face interactions and the office itself will continue to play an essential role, even if it\u2019s never again Monday through Friday every week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the way technology has evolved,\u201d Swartz said, \u201cit\u2019s minimized face-to-face contact whether through social media or video. So, the means of communication have totally changed, but you really do need some sort of pairing of the two. You just can\u2019t be at home all the time. I mean, sometimes I feel as if I\u2019m totally disconnected from the people I work with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was particular concern regarding younger-in-career workers, who could miss out on important mentoring and social opportunities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a news clerk at the New York Times,\u201d Knight recalled, \u201cand you learned through osmosis just watching and hearing great journalists apply their craft. It certainly wasn’t like that in Business Insider when I was there recently. The young people were working at home like me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The office can still facilitate that kind of connection, Patel argued, but without the rigid strictures of the past \u2014 and office design, as well as company cultures, will need to adapt.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe role of the office is fundamentally changing,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople go into the office to have a social experience collaborating with people; people work at home when they need to make sure that their heads-down trying to get something done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In lieu of face-to-face leadership and office interactions, however, human skills and culture still reign supreme in a hybrid work world \u2014 for leaders and workers alike.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWork is a state of mind nowadays,\u201d Knight said, \u201cbecause we\u2019re not going to an office every day. But how are people experiencing this? What kind of community are we creating? How are we treating each other? Are we cutthroat? Are we competitive? Are we compassionate? Those kinds of leadership skills are required, but also to be a good colleague.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Artificial Intelligence in a (still) human-centric world\u00a0\u00a0<\/h3>\n

As for AI, all agreed that its impact on work is already enormous \u2014 and not slowing anytime soon. But that human talent will not be eclipsed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking from his own experience as a journalist, Miniter sees the value of AI in its ability to augment, streamline, and support work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think we\u2019re going to end up in a world in which AI writes most news stories,\u201d he predicted. \u201cI think we’re going to end up in a world very soon if we’re not halfway there, in which AI puts together the research and the structure of a news story.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Knight is already there, using AI to support her writing efforts on a daily basis \u2014 somewhat to her own surprise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s definitely made me a better writer,\u201d she said. \u201cIt also takes away a little bit of the loneliness of working from home. I almost feel like I’ve got a writing partner\u2026 I’m surprised at how I use it every day, and I can’t imagine my life without it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

AI will indeed have a huge impact across society, however. And all agreed that some workers will not fare as well as journalists in maintaining a relationship with AI without being replaced by it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Privacy and security concerns were also raised, and Patel stressed the need for better public- and private-sector cooperation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’ll start to see a far tighter relationship between the public sector and private sector,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause I don\u2019t think the private sector can be completely unregulated in this particular case. And we will own some responsibility in the private sector in educating the public sector on how quickly things are moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, Swartz sounded a positive note on some AI regulations being explored in the United States.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am actually encouraged about lawmakers, AI, and regulation,\u201d he said, \u201cand the forums through the Senate and through the White House. Because they\u2019re trying to find a balance between innovation and however we want to define privacy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regardless of the technologies involved \u2014 hybrid collaboration tools, AI, or whatever comes next \u2014 humans will always be at the heart of work. And creating the right experience for them will always mean the difference between success and failure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fear of AI is real,\u201d Knight concluded. \u201cSo, you don\u2019t discount that. And technology will help solve a lot of the problems of what does the future of work look like, but it won\u2019t solve all of them. A lot of it does come down to what we\u2019ve been talking about, leadership and the actual human behaviors and practices of working together to get the job done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Patel has often stressed, creating great work experiences for everyone \u2014 no matter where they are in the world \u2014 demands concerted, integrated efforts. That means from tech providers, business leaders, employees, IT, and so on. And as the WebexOne discussion confirmed, the opportunities hybrid work presents are great. But we all need to work together to make it happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The full panel can be viewed below.<\/p>\n

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Cisco\u2019s Jeetu Patel leads a panel at WebexOne on what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cisco-newsroom-collaboration"],"yoast_head":"\n