Empathy, technology, ergonomics. As part of our leadership series, DTEN recently talked with Paul Chapman, Senior Vice President and Global CIO of Box. We sat down to talk about the evolving nature of work. We discussed the impact of Covid-19 on businesses and employees. We explored how technology will play an increasingly important role for the work from home workforce.

Paul brought his business expertise as well has his unique view as CIO at a leading technology company.

Like many companies, Box realizes that, “even in a post-COVID-19 world, work will never go back to the way things were previously.”

“COVID-19 has affected every company in the entire world. Our business models, our operations, our technologies and even our cultures are being impacted. It’s impacted everything,” states Chapman. “It was an overnight transition into the world’s largest work from home experiment and re-entry is going to be even more complicated.”

“I’ve spoken to hundreds of technology leaders, COO’s and CEO’s all over the world – and one theme that has clearly emerged is that working remotely is here to stay. It’s only to what degree that is yet to be determined.”

“This is a leadership moment and it starts with leading with empathy. Leading with empathy for our employees, their families, our customers and our partners.”

Through their cloud content management platform, Box has assisted thousands of companies navigate this new normal. But as Chapman notes, technology is not the answer but the enabler, “this is a leadership moment and it starts with leading with empathy. Leading with empathy for our employees, their families, our customers and our partners.”

“At Box, our transition focus with the shift to work from home is focused on making sure our employees feel supported. Everyone is experiencing disruption and multiple stress factors; we knew if we focused on the wellbeing of our employees, the work would take care of itself.”

Staying Connected During WFH

Another key consideration is staying connected. Chapman continues, “Box has always supported employees working remotely so our technology services already allowed for that. But Box is also a big believer in the culture in our organization. We have great office spaces designed to bring people together, collaboratively and socially.”

“Now, suddenly working remotely, the question becomes: How are we staying engaged? How are we staying connected with our customers and our teams? And that’s largely been accomplished through Zoom, Slack, Box and other best of breed capabilities.”

One part of the answer is the right equipment, as Chapman shares, “For me personally, having a DTEN D7 at home has been a blessing. I’m clocking thousands of Zoom meeting minutes each month; with so many virtual video meetings, the DTEN D7 has really made that transition so much easier.”

Continue reading our conversation with Paul Chapman in Part 2: The Ultimate Office Hack for Zoom