How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do the Best Work of Their Lives - Hardcover

by Brian Elliott (Author), Sheela Subramanian (Author), Helen Kupp (Author)

Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today Bestseller

Unlock the power of flexible work with this practical "how-to" guide from the leadership of Slack and Future Forum

The way we work has changed. The era of toiling from nine-to-five, five-days-a-week in the office is now a relic of the past, and is being replaced by a better way--flexible work. But flexibility means a lot more than a day or two a week to "work from home" 93% of your employees want more flexibility in when, not just where, they work. They want choice and they are leaving their roles to find it. The most successful leaders will go much further than offering occasional remote workdays--they will redesign every aspect of how work gets done, from defining how they measure organizational success to training their managers to make it happen.

How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do The Best Work of Their Lives offers a blueprint for using flexible work to unlock the potential of your people. The book offers the steps necessary to building the new principles and guardrails to empower flexible, high-performing teams. And it teaches readers to lead with purpose, to manage and measure differently, and to believe that by letting go, they'll get more back than they thought possible.

How the Future Works explains how to:

• Establish leadership principles, commitments, and outcomes for truly flexible teamwork
• Measure and assess productivity in a flexible workplace
• Reskill managers to ensure a level playing field for all employees
• Implement the infrastructure necessary to make flexible work successful

Using original research from Future Forum, a consortium by Slack, and global case studies from leading companies such as Levi Strauss & Co., Genentech, Royal Bank of Canada, and IBM, How the Future Works offers concrete solutions and practical steps for building high functioning teams of talented, engaged people by providing them with the flexibility and choice they need to do their best work.

Front Jacket

The way we work has changed. The era of toiling from nine-to-five, five-days-a-week in the office is now a relic of the past, and is being replaced by a better way--flexible work. But flexibility means a lot more than a day or two a week of "working from home" 93% of your employees want more flexibility in when, not just where, they work. They want choice and they are leaving their jobs to find it.

The most successful leaders will go much further than offering occasional remote work days--they will redesign every aspect of how work gets done, from defining how they measure organizational success to training their managers to make it happen.

How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do The Best Work of Their Lives offers a blueprint for using flexible work to unlock the potential of your people. It offers the steps necessary for building the new principles and guardrails to empower flexible, high-performing teams. And it teaches readers to lead with purpose, to manage and measure differently, and to believe that by letting go, they'll get more back than they thought possible.

Back Jacket

Praise for HOW THE FUTURE WORKS

"We have arrived at a moment where we can backslide into the status quo or transform society for generations to come. How the Future Works makes the latter possible-- providing us with a blueprint to deeply consider the future of work. It is a must-read for today's leaders."
--Indra Nooyi, former CEO, PepsiCo

"We know flexibility is the future of work--the big question is how. This book combines the latest data with actionable advice on giving people more freedom without settling for less excellence."
--Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again

"How the Future Works uncovers the key principles for building a culture that connects, supports and inspires every employee in this new all-digital, work-from-anywhere world. It's an essential guidebook for transforming the way people work and unlocking their potential."
--Marc Benioff, Chair and Co-CEO, Salesforce

"I pay attention to the Future Forum. And if you're interested in folks who take in gobs of data, listen, ask useful questions, and make helpful judgments on how we might work now, you might too."
--Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering

"CEOs confront few topics as complex, urgent, and strategically important as the future of work. Brian, Sheela, and Helen highlight pitfalls, provide insight and practical advice to guide leaders."
--Rich Lesser, Global Chair, Boston Consulting Group

"This insightful book provides a framework with examples for successfully implementing flexible, diverse, and inclusive cultures."
--Tsedal Neeley, Professor, Harvard Business School

"How the Future Works is as valuable as it is much needed for today's executive. The book is excellently conceived, organized and written. Bravo!"
--Alan Murray, CEO, Fortune

"At a time when the fundamental nature of how and where we work is changing, organizations of all sizes need guidance on navigating what has become a brave new world of work. How the Future Works artfully weaves together research, principles and storytelling to help leaders unlock the power of flexible work."
--Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM

Author Biography

BRIAN ELLIOTT is Executive Leader of Future Forum, a consortium backed by Slack and founding partners Boston Consulting Group, MillerKnoll, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow. Future Forum enables leaders to redesign work to be better for people and organizations. He has spent three decades leading teams and building companies as a startup CEO, at Google, and now at Slack where he is a Senior VP. Brian's a proud father of two young men.

SHEELA SUBRAMANIAN is Vice President and co-founder of Future Forum. She has 20 years of experience building high-growth global teams across Google, Slack, and startup organizations. As a champion for workplace equity, her work is cited in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fast Company, and other top-tier publications. Sheela earned her BA from Stanford and MBA from Harvard Business School and is the mother to two magical daughters.

HELEN KUPP is a co-founder and Senior Director of Future Forum. She has led many of Slack's largest cross-functional and growth initiatives, and is the creator of many of Future Forum's playbooks, tapping Future Forum's research and networks along with her experiences at Slack, Bain & Company, startups, and her MBA from Harvard Business School. She's also the lucky mom of two wonderful children.