In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Julian Sera, Senior Manager of Facilities at Cytokinetics, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on muscle biology and heart disease innovation. From locking down conference rooms for regulatory response teams to collaborating on creative room naming conventions, Julian unpacks the operational details that are often overlooked when it comes to workplace management. He dives deep into how he leverages utilization data to design smarter offices, why small tweaks to airflow timing can have a massive impact on the bottom line, and why flexible design elements prevent wasted space in hybrid environments.
In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Julian Sera, Senior Manager of Facilities at Cytokinetics, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on muscle biology and heart disease innovation. With experience at large enterprises such as Tesla and Apple, Julian shares what it takes to scale workplace operations internationally while maintaining complex regulatory requirements.
From locking down conference rooms for regulatory response teams to collaborating on creative room naming conventions, Julian unpacks the operational details that are often overlooked when it comes to workplace management. He dives deep into how he leverages utilization data to design smarter offices, why small tweaks to airflow timing can have a massive impact on the bottom line, and why flexible design elements prevent wasted space in hybrid environments.
You’ll also hear practical lessons in change management and how the team at Cytokinetics balances standardization with personalization as they expand their global footprint. Some key lessons from the conversation include: don’t assume knowledge, always communicate the “why” behind new tech, and build trust by following through on even the smallest requests.
This episode is a must-listen for facilities leaders, workplace strategists, operations executives, and anyone responsible for scaling physical environments in fast-growing, regulated industries.
—
Quotes
“No cookie-cutter approach is gonna actually work even within a company itself. Every department has different needs. And I think that kind of trend that we've seen a lot in the workplace design world is really creating different worlds, different environments for people rather than creating a cube farm.”
“If you say that you're gonna do it, just do it. Because if you don't, next time it's cold they might not reach out to you. Next time they have a bigger thing that's not just office temperature, they might not reach out to you. I think it's building off those seemingly meaningless little asks that can have a big impact.”
“If people aren’t asking us and we’re catching it ahead of time, awesome. That’s a good day. A lot of facilities, workplace, all of our operational aspects, we’re kind of like those ninjas in the background. And I think if you’re too noticed, that means you’re doing something wrong.”
—
Timestamps
(00:32) Background on Julian and Cytokinetics
(01:47) Managing global offices and scale
(03:32) What brought Julian to the space
(05:04) Avoiding a cookie-cutter approach
(07:58) Operating in a highly regulated industry
(11:36) Underestimated aspects of facilities and operations
(13:45) The team logistics that follow global growth
(17:58) Strategic space planning leveraging data
(25:22) Empowering all types of roles across the organization
(29:27) The power of follow-through
(31:06) Looking toward the future
(36:28) How to prioritize new tools
(39:39) How Julian makes himself @ Work
—
Links
Connect with the guest and host on LinkedIn!
[00:00:00] Matt Tverberg: Modern workplaces rely on people, systems, and spaces working together. I'm Matt Tverberg, a success leader at Envoy, and this is Make Yourself at Work, the show about the people making work, work. In this episode, I'm joined by Julian Sera, a Senior Manager of Facilities at Cytokinetics, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company where he oversees site operations, workplace strategy, and space planning across a global growing footprint.
[00:00:41] Julian, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. Great to see you. Yeah. So a little bit of, of your background here. You have a o- over a decade worth of experience in workplace and facilities leadership. You've managed super complex, highly regulated environments at enterprise companies such as Merck, Apple, Tesla, and JLL.
[00:01:00] Very impressive. Your work spans across everything from strategic space planning, multi-year growth forecasting, visitor vendor management, operational process design, and really, like, large scale workplace transitions. So our conversation today, today will be around those types of topics, but I'd love to just, like, hear a little bit about Cytokinetics and, like, what, what you do as a business and just, like, start there.
[00:01:25] Julian Sera: Yeah. We're a, a muscle biology company looking at, uh, the heart in particular, so a patient-focused company. Uh, it just brings... It, it, it brings a lot of just excitement as you come to work as we're building out these places looking at we're, like, changing people's lives. We're reminded throughout the day looking at our patients on the, on the walls throughout our headquarters, um, it just really humanizes what we're doing and, and really just kind of encourages just th- those sloggy days, this is why we're doing it.
[00:01:56] So it's, it's a beautiful- That's super- It's a beautiful company ...
[00:01:58] Matt Tverberg: super exciting. And I know you, uh, have a headquarters here in South San Francisco- Yeah ... but you also manage offices all over the globe.
[00:02:05] Julian Sera: Yeah. It's exciting. A big growth time. So we, we have a site over in Radnor, Pennsylvania. We actually just opened up a small site in Dublin, Ireland, and then we're working on a couple other expansions in, uh, Germany, UK, France, and, uh, Zug, Switzerland.
[00:02:22] So it's, uh, it's growing.
[00:02:25] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. That's, uh, that's quite the footprint. Do you get to travel to these locations and- I, I try not to. I, I don't know if people
[00:02:32] Julian Sera: know it, but work travel's not as fun as, uh, you know, The Travel Channel makes it look like. When I need to, I'll head over there, but, um, tools like Envoy and, and the technology really just expands our footprint, um, and what we're capable of doing from remote locations.
[00:02:48] Matt Tverberg: For other, you know, workplace leaders that are- in your position that have, like, a global footprint, how do you find yourself being able to manage all these offices, you know, remotely? What do you think something that really stands out to be able to do that effectively?
[00:03:02] Julian Sera: Having quality people there on site is always, is always clutch, right?
[00:03:05] Who, who can I, who can I reach out to and I know that they'll be able to help me get an answer, be like, you know, that, that good strong talisman that, that we can refer to over there. Um, but just keeping communications going throughout whatever projects or kind of phases are going on, and just trying to stay as, as kind of entrenched in it as we can.
[00:03:27] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. To ha- having good boots on the ground I think is important in any- ... any type of role, right? Oh, definitely. Yeah. Well, ultimately, like, you know, managing facilities, workplace o- operations, you've done multiple different industries. Like, what originally pulled you into this line of work?
[00:03:44] Julian Sera: Um, a fluke, I guess.
[00:03:46] Um, outside of college, didn't really know what, what I wanted to do. Got kind of in a placement job at Yahoo through an agency setting up events and cleaning stuff up. Um, it was just gonna be kind of a temporary thing until I figured it out. Um, then I saw the big boss roll up in, like, a s- super sweet Corvette and I was like- What is this guy doing?
[00:04:10] like, wait a minute. Yeah. You can, you can get that doing this? Obviously, not my job, but you know, in that realm. Um, so yeah, took it upon myself to set up an informational interview with him, just figure out what he really did, how he got there, and I was like, wow, this, this could be something that I wanna do.
[00:04:30] My dad was a construction worker. My mom was a interior architect. Um, so unknowingly was kind of bred for this position.
[00:04:39] Matt Tverberg: Yeah, exposed, exposed to building spaces at a young age.
[00:04:43] Julian Sera: Yeah, yeah.
[00:04:44] Matt Tverberg: What do you think something that... It sounds like your, your initial mentor there, your, your boss at the time, what do you think was one of the biggest, like, impactful things that he mentioned when you set up that informational interview?
[00:04:54] Julian Sera: He just, he made it, without making it sound easy, he made it sound obtainable. Like, nothing is impossible. You don't need to be some super genius. You don't need to be a, you know, a doctorate degree to do this. Like, if you work hard and place yourself in the right positions, you can make waves in the industry.
[00:05:15] Matt Tverberg: That's awesome. So looking back, I guess, at some of your previous roles at the companies that I had mentioned, like Tesla and Apple, what experiences do you think most shaped how you think about building and, and planning your workplaces today?
[00:05:30] Julian Sera: Like you said, it's, eh, all of them are so different. Um, you learn that no, no cookie cutter approach is gonna actually work.
[00:05:37] Even, even within a company itself, um, every department has different needs, different wants. Um, so really not trying to fit people into your workplace- And I think that's kind of that trend that we've seen a lot in the workplace design world, is really creating different worlds, different environments for the people rather than like, you know, creating a cube farm and saying, "Hey, you get to work in this one.
[00:06:03] It's a loud environment, and if you have quiet work, tough," right? Um, now it's, "Hey, we have quiet rooms, focus rooms. We have collaboration areas. We have your cube office," whatever, right? So it... We're trying to create spaces that, that mold to whatever those work styles, types of work, all that kind of thing, and I think that's kind of what I- I've seen throughout all the industry.
[00:06:27] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. And, and I know that that's something that's, like, evolving constantly, right? Yeah. Like, the, the feedback loop that has to happen to continue to mold and evolve your spaces like that, uh, is critical, right? Yeah. Like, how are you going about gathering that information to know that maybe this space isn't quite working for this group of employees, like, the, the approach that you take there?
[00:06:48] Julian Sera: Yeah. One, one thing that comes to mind i- actually at Tesla, one of my managers, he, he really talked about creating a cyclical effect. We had, we actually had in-house designer construction and, and workplace, so operations, uh, which is a rarity, but we actually had that under one roof. And, and he created this cyclical idea of, hey, as we finish a project, each group should be talking back to the other.
[00:07:14] The designer created this really beautiful piece. The construction workers come back and say, "Hey, that was a real pain to make. Let's think that through," right? Let's go through. It's like, "Hey, we found this beautiful piece of carpet." Now operations say, "Hey, that carpet is impossible to clean." Let's have that creative or in that communication going so that we're not kind of recreating the same issue as we do each project.
[00:07:38] Let's actually try and fix it instead of just, like, making do. And this is something I can kind of bring in. It's not as, it's not as, like, cohesive now, but as we're building out new locations, say, "Hey, you know, let's look at the carpet. Let's look at those crazy designed walls. Let's, let's look at those kind of things and see if we can kind of create a better, a better place every single time we go."
[00:08:02] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. It's like learning from not necessarily mistakes, but just, like, incremental improvements- Yeah ... it seems like that you're trying to make each time.
[00:08:09] Julian Sera: Yeah. No, definitely.
[00:08:10] Matt Tverberg: Awesome. So just looking at, you know, Cytokinetics, and you're in a very highly re- regulated, um, industry now, and how does that change, like, the, your day-to-day and the realities of running a workplace comparatively to the other organizations you were at?
[00:08:28] Julian Sera: Um, it to- it took me a while, but it's, like, some, like, bizarre request- they have some merit, you know? I think in the past they're like, "Yeah, we need this conference room blocked off for, for our teams working on some real important stuff." And you're like, "Yeah, yeah. I've heard that a thousand times." But it's like, "Oh, no, they, we have regulations that require us to, at the drop of a hat, you know, get the whole team together and go full force in this, you know, to get these answers."
[00:08:57] It's like, "Oh, okay, so we do need this." It's like, it's, it's, it's being willingness and having the flexibility within your own rule structure, right? To say, "Okay, we... How, how can we make this work? How do we create the environment that's required for these regulatory aspects? Um, and then how do we then even communicate that to the rest of the company as well?"
[00:09:18] Sure. Because it's, you know, that kind of fairness feeling. Like, "Oh, well, why did they get that versus us?" And, and it really, that communication of it, of the reasoning behind it. But that was something I had to get my cynicism away and like- ... "Okay, there, there, there's reasons why they're asking for this stuff."
[00:09:39] Matt Tverberg: Something like that, I would assume, takes, like, a lot of internal process to be built around, and, like, leveraging not only, you know, tools like Envoy, but other tools to, like, make the request process kind of seamless. 'Cause I'm sure the, all right, team A makes a request- Yeah ... that has to really customize the workplace for that day.
[00:09:56] Like, how are you managing that probably multi-faceted?
[00:10:00] Julian Sera: I mean, we definitely have, like, work orders. But it, it's just for me personally, I just try to have com- like, you know, little relations with everyone, as many people as I can, um, that I'm someone that they feel comfortable they can just talk to and just ask me questions.
[00:10:18] Usually, we can get, get a headstart on things and kinda get that ball rolling ahead of time. Um, but then it's also then having that relationship where your request affects this other person, so, "Oh, I know them. Let me, let me just pop in really quick, shoot them an email or go into their office or whatever," and just kind of create that kind of just communication.
[00:10:39] I mean, that's kind of the joy of a workplace, right? Yeah. That's something you can't do from home in your, in your basement, right? Yeah, yeah. Let me, let me just walk over there. Just being genuinely, like, accessible. Yeah, and then, you know, it's that, that relationship is a different level, right?
[00:10:53] Matt Tverberg: Yeah, for sure.
[00:10:54] Well, I guess on the, the other side of that, you know, are you trying to empower your, your teammates in the other offices to probably create the same type of experience for the teams there?
[00:11:06] Julian Sera: Yeah, that, that's an interesting one because our Radnor site is mainly commercial, so they're already kind of that cohesive group.
[00:11:14] But now we're adding little, uh, little subde- groups and departments over there as it made sense for the hiring or whatever that, that group, group is working on. So how do we include these, like, you know, three outliers, right, to feel in that? Um, that's something we'll definitely- That, I mean, that's that great boots on the ground.
[00:11:35] We have an awesome, awesome support staff over there that really creates that feeling. But that's definitely something we're gonna have to, we're gonna have to think about. Yeah. Thanks. New challenges every day, right? I'll add that, I'll add that to my list.
[00:11:48] Matt Tverberg: So what, what would you say, like, something people outside of facilities and operations often, um, underestimate about, like, compliance-heavy workplaces?
[00:11:59] Julian Sera: Probably that, y- like, that balancing act. How, how do you... Facilities and workplace, we're representing the company, and then we have client groups with every department. How do you balance every client with the overall objectives of the company? And it's, i- it's hard. It's not, it's not as simple as, you know, a small task, especially, uh, like your department having a small ask sounds easy, right?
[00:12:28] Now you need to balance it with every other group's small ask. How do they overlap? How do they affect each other? By doing your small ask, is it now domino affecting someone else's? So it's, it's, it's a lot more challenging than I, I da- than I thought it was gonna be getting into this world.
[00:12:46] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. And that's probably because, like, a whole calendar of events and the evolving space as these random requests come in. Yeah. Is there, like, anything else that maybe other people wouldn't anticipate given the kind of ambiguity of what's going on and-
[00:13:05] Julian Sera: Yeah, I mean- ... the requests? It's definitely that jump. How can you keep it quick so that your team can jump at these things- Okay ... but also creating an environment where you're not constantly jumping?
[00:13:16] Sure. Um, 'cause that's then how your team burns out. If you're flying by the seat of your pants trying to put out fires every two seconds, you're, you're not, you're not having a good day. Your team's not having a good day. You're probably not giving great service. Right. So that balancing act. But then how are you not that slow, bureaucratic response of someone that just jumps over your team, like, "I'll just do it myself."
[00:13:41] Sure. Right?
[00:13:42] Matt Tverberg: So it's like- Yeah ... adding some predictability to the unpredictability. There you go. So I know you're, you're supporting expansions right now across multiple regions, including Ireland, Switzerland. Beautiful places. What becomes more complicated as workplaces scale globally?
[00:14:03] Julian Sera: I mean, right now as we're building out, it's, it's like those country regulations.
[00:14:08] Oh. Every country has different regulations when it comes to IT, security, privacy- Mm ... how even vendors operate. Um, so trying to balance that out. And every time you learn from one site, then you get to learn it all over again 'cause you jumped across another border and you're trying it out again. Um, so definitely doing that.
[00:14:30] But also kind of like you said, as you're building out these subgroups and subsites, how do you still, you know, maintain that feeling? Um, that's something we're doing like kind of with our brand standards, like trying to make it when you walk into a CytoConnectix building, if it's a suite, if it's a headquarter, it's a whatever, like it gives you that feeling.
[00:14:52] Um, I... As simple as using the same color schemes, using the same materials, having similar branding, things like that. But we really wanna make sure that people feel at home when they walk in, whether they're in Zug, whether in South City, wherever they are.
[00:15:08] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. So like having some of the local charm while still having the- Yeah
[00:15:12] the corporate feel. Definitely. You know, the, the pineapple behind you is probably in every Envoy office too. So we kind of do the, the same thing- There you go. You gotta get your thing, right? ... to create that vibe, you know? You guys have something that you try to keep consistent?
[00:15:26] Julian Sera: We don't have anything quite as fun, you know- as you guys, a pineapple. But, um, yeah, it's really like that color and, and, and like I said, the branding. Having like, you know, our patients at every site. Um, I think that's something that I learned, not to badmouth any past ones, but, um, being at a, at a, one of my old companies, we are kind of away from the, the mothership.
[00:15:52] Um, and it was easy to just kind of feel like a bubble, um, where I think CytoConnectix has an amazing thing of, of whatever department you are, you are, you are part of this culture, and you know what you're working for.
[00:16:06] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. Yeah. Ki- like a constant daily reminder of the impact that you're having from the work that you're doing. It's inspiring, really.
[00:16:12] Julian Sera: Every time I walk around a corner, I see, oh, there, that's what we're doing for, you know. There's our mission statement. There's, you know, some sort of reminder of, of why we're working this.
[00:16:22] Matt Tverberg: That's great. Yeah. Humbling, you know? Yeah. How do you balance that with the realities of like the local needs?
[00:16:29] Julian Sera: I think standards are, are important, not only like to keep that feel, but it's also from just a, a workflow perspective. If I'm... If I go to Zug, I know I can book a conference room. I know I can print out a piece of paper, you know, whatever those things are. Uh, I think those are like little things you don't think of, but if you're jet lagged, tired, and then you can't find your, you can't find your conference room, it's just like one put- You know, that's that thing that puts you over the edge.
[00:16:57] Um, but, you know, it's, uh, these are little things we do to try to make the life a little bit better. Um, something we did change up, like in Dublin, is we have cubes at our current spot. Um, apparently no one does that there, so we don't wanna, you know, do it just because, um, and make it feel weird for the employees that work there.
[00:17:17] Um, so obviously, and you have flex. How do you, how do you create a space that, that meshes with the workflow and the style of, of that country or that area? that department, whatever that is.
[00:17:28] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. And I guess how would you keep your finger to the pulse of, like, what local standards are?
[00:17:35] Julian Sera: you know? Who is that local... Who, who can give us that local flair and say, "Yeah, we don't do that there," you know?
[00:17:40] Matt Tverberg: And did you just o- move to, like, an open floor plan then?
[00:17:44] Julian Sera: Um, over the... It's a, it's a small suite, so it's definitely not, not what you guys have here. Um, but yeah. It's just, uh, the benching style, and it's like, okay, this is, might be a culture shock for our scientists over here, but, you know, over there they're...
[00:17:58] This is home, right?
[00:17:59] Matt Tverberg: Just good... Better collaboration that way. Yeah.
[00:18:02] Julian Sera: I love that style, you know? But I'm, I'm pretty loud, so, you know, my neighbors- ... probably don't like that.
[00:18:07] Matt Tverberg: Hey, quiet down over there, would you? So I gue- pivoting a little bit to, to space planning and, and data gathering, so you've led strategic space planning at multiple organizations, and, like, naming standardization to improve data across your sites.
[00:18:24] Why do you think consistency matters a lot when you do things at, at scale?
[00:18:29] Julian Sera: Yeah. I, I mean, I, I love data. I'm, I'm, like, a data-driven kind of person, um, so I love seeing those trends, where are we going with things. And, and thank you for your, for your system. Gives me awesome, awesome data all in one place, and then it's nice and pretty so I can pass that to leadership, right?
[00:18:46] Who, uh- Love that ... aren't as enamored as me, you know? So, um, um, but naming, um... The first... It, it sounds weird, maybe people in our industry know, but how you spell your name makes my life a lot easier from, like, a data perspective. Um, when we're talking about HR document, finance document, IT documentation, and all of it coming in one collective lake or something, you know, having that data actually talk to each other or have that single source that, that allows us to, you know, make it accurate.
[00:19:20] It's, it's little things like that. Do we spell the department the same way? Do we abbreviate a certain way? Uh, it just makes the data usable.
[00:19:28] Matt Tverberg: And you're talking about the way that, like, naming convention mirrors from system to system. Yeah, yeah. So as you're trying to analyze large cohorts of data- Yeah
[00:19:37] across different systems, it doesn't take an analyst to figure out what story's trying to be told there.
[00:19:44] Julian Sera: Yeah, yeah. It... A, a period or an extra space can throw the whole equation off, and then we're either hunting down, wasting time or, you know, we're just trying to do what's best. But again, that's what Envoy, it...
[00:19:59] You're allowing us to kind of compile all of this, and you guys kind of do the hard part, and then you just kind of push out this great data for us to, to do. But fortunately, not all of our aspects of our life are, are that easy, so little things.
[00:20:13] Matt Tverberg: What would you say the, the data that you're going to the most is today?
[00:20:19] Julian Sera: I mean, it's always good to have utilization. What, where, what groups, where are we- Where are we heavy on certain days. Um, I think what we were really looking at is just having a better idea of how we can optimize our building. So working closely. You know, our team all cross-functionally working together.
[00:20:41] Um, how can we make our, our building more efficient? By using a lot of, like, your data. By pulling, you know, certain days, start times, things like that. Do we need to ramp up the full airflow at 6:00 AM, or can we push it, this data, 7:00 AM? Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're talking about a 300,000 square foot building, that can move the needle.
[00:21:04] Right. And it's just little changes like that that, you know, can have us have a, a big impact from an environmental energy and cost saving perspective.
[00:21:13] Matt Tverberg: Yeah, for sure. When you look at, like, the data points to help you analyze if a space is being really used and unoptimized and how you wanna get the value out of the spaces that you're renting, right?
[00:21:25] Yeah. There's a lot of things that go into saying, "This is a very efficient space." How do you analyze the data to say, like, "This office is super efficient," or, "We need to lean into this area to make it more efficient"?
[00:21:39] Julian Sera: How I've seen it done, we, we didn't end up rolling out, but having, like, sensor technology, um, I've seen provide just phenomenal data.
[00:21:48] Obviously, it's a pretty significant undertaking to, to implement, um, but see exactly how, how rooms, how spaces, how, you know, our collaboration areas. I think that's something that comes in mind first and foremost, is we build out a space that we intend to be used however people want it and, you know, encourage people who work different styles and things like that.
[00:22:13] Um, but unfortunately, sometimes it's a swing and a miss. Yeah. Um, and they're just not used. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, or that's just not that area's style or whatever. So having a sensor that shows how much it's used, or you just go old school and you walk around the building sometimes and try and see. Um, I think something that, that people don't use and that, that we started to use but is, is look at just kind of how conference rooms are used.
[00:22:40] Um, that's a, a big swath of square footage, and it's an expensive thing to build out more of. And I guarantee you if you ask people, 90% of people will say there's not enough of them. But having data to back that up, um, I think it's, it's easy to go with just the common thought of everyone saying, "Oh, we don't need conference rooms.
[00:23:01] When I walk by, I don't see one open." Um, they don't realize, you know, we have seven floors, so there's- Yeah ... there's probably something open in other places. Um, so having technology like Envoy, um, and other aspects that make it easier for people to see what, what's available will allow us to kind of use that space more efficiently.
[00:23:22] Um, but especially as we're building out spaces, that's also s- tech information that I'm bringing in. So we're saying, "Oh, do we need more large spaces, small spaces? Are our large conference rooms being used by three or four-person meetings?" Then maybe we in, you know, in efficiency would future cut that in half, make two small ones there.
[00:23:44] Expand that. Right. Um, so utilization, I, I, I think that's, that's the biggest thing for me. And, and you can get that utilization number from a lot of different aspects.
[00:23:55] Matt Tverberg: Right. And can be interpreted in many different ways. But, yeah, I hear that a lot actually. Yeah. Is like, because conference rooms take up such a significant portion of your square footage- Yeah
[00:24:05] the curiosity around, like, how those are being used is pretty consistent across all industries, really.
[00:24:12] Julian Sera: Yeah. Especially with, like, hybrid work now, you know? A 20-person meeting could have four people on site. Right. Um, but then how do you know who's gonna be on site? So as technology grows, it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna be really interesting to see kind of how buildings morph.
[00:24:30] Um, something we actually just built out and we opened up our sixth floor end of, end of last year. Um, we have, uh, this pretty cool divider wall that drops from the ceiling, but that was one of the ideas of, A, everyone wants is, these big rooms for their team, their full team meetings. What the heck do you use those for the 80% of the time- Right
[00:24:55] where they're not meeting like that? Um, so being able to just drop a divider, make two, two rooms out of it, much more usable, um, than dropping a, you know, having our meeting in a big old room, you know? Yeah. Um-
[00:25:10] Matt Tverberg: Makes me think back to my elementary school classroom, those old dividers- Well, that- ... that used to come in the middle?
[00:25:14] Julian Sera: That's what came in mind when we were When the, when they were, designers were talking about this, I'm like, "Oh man, really? We're gonna bring those back?" Um, but this thing, this thing's pretty slick. It, it literally drops from the ceiling, um, and accordions out. Um, and yeah, that you're not having that giant pocket of wasted space.
[00:25:32] Right.
[00:25:32] Matt Tverberg: That's awesome. So o- on the, the people side of, of workplace operations, like executive assistants, scientists, admins, super different roles interact with the workplace differently. How do you design systems that, that work for everyone across a, a variety of different roles?
[00:25:52] Julian Sera: I, I think it's just like you said, have, have systems in place that are broad.
[00:25:57] Having overly specialized anything, you know, cuts a lot of people out of it. So if it's really specialized and works perfectly for this one group, it's probably not gonna work for everyone else the way you're thinking it. So how can you keep it broad but still useful? 'Cause you don't want it so broad that it's just useless for everyone or, you know, ends up making more work for yourself.
[00:26:23] Yeah. Right?
[00:26:24] Matt Tverberg: What... Could you give me an example of, like, another, maybe another tool that you've evolved to help fit everybody's needs?
[00:26:33] Julian Sera: Usually people aren't looking for a more complicated solution. Um, so how can we make a simpler solution? How can we make a more straightforward, um, just easier-to-digest situation?
[00:26:45] Event set up. So let, let's say EAs do it all the time. They're probably doing them in their sleep. A scientist wants to do a, you know, a scientific discussion. It's their first and probably only time they're gonna organize a giant meeting. How do we make it so they're not assumed knowledge, you know, assumed experts like every EA who's doing them every week?
[00:27:10] Um, so how do we create a, a nice system and, and work order system that gets, uh, allows us to gather the necessary information without, without expecting kinda too much from, from those people? Right. But also, it, I don't want it to be so broad as in I have a meeting on Friday.
[00:27:29] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. Don't do it. Okay. Cool.
[00:27:30] Cool. What do I do with that?
[00:27:33] Julian Sera: How many? Yeah. When? Where? Like, you know. Um, but how, how can we create it to simplify it, be broad enough to gather the information we need without being, "Hey, give me every little thing." Right. Right? And I think
[00:27:47] Matt Tverberg: it's, like, eliminating friction and also bringing these types of processes to, like, where people work and interact all the time.
[00:27:53] Yeah. So you're not introducing all these new nuances to different things. Yeah. I know that that's something we try to do here a lot is, you know, processes evolve all the time, but, like, how do we bring it and simplify it as much as possible?
[00:28:06] Julian Sera: But also having them written out is key, 'cause they're... I, I think especially as we're growing, we're, we noticed a lot of just kind of ingrained everyone knows it kinda thing.
[00:28:19] And as we're growing, it's like, okay, we're not a tiny startup. Like, we're, we're a pretty big company. We can't assume everyone just knows how to do it. Right. That's just how we've done it. You should know that. It's like, no, we... They just started- Yeah, the- ... last week, and their manager just started two months ago, and their, their manager just started six months ago.
[00:28:40] It's like, you know, it's like we're having newer, newer swaths of people coming in. We can't, we can't just rely on how it was always done.
[00:28:49] Matt Tverberg: So how often do you find yourself, I guess, putting polish on the existing processes?
[00:28:55] Julian Sera: I think it's first having, like, a, a nice, you know, rock solid foundation of them. Um, and then it's, like, hopefully small tweaks to it.
[00:29:04] Um, but I think it's, it's making those tweaks immediately. Mm. If you, if you're kind of, "Oh, let's, let's try and compile enough to make it worthwhile," you probably forgot, you know, a bunch of them that, that were, that were asked or done. So just making those done right away. They're easy, quick, bite-sized little things.
[00:29:23] Just do it, done, forget about it, and it's in there.
[00:29:26] Matt Tverberg: Awesome. And then just, you know, keep building from there, you know? Yeah. And then,
[00:29:30] Julian Sera: then you look back and you have this massive playbook and you're like, "Wow, look at this."
[00:29:35] Matt Tverberg: Rinse, repeat. Yeah. What would you consider one workflow or operational moment that has an outsized impact on trust in workplace tools?
[00:29:49] Julian Sera: I think it's follow through, just simple follow through. We're asked so many little things. Um, I think that's something that I kind of need to remind myself as well is if someone asks you their office is too cold, you probably have 1,000 other things that you're thinking of that are probably more important than that.
[00:30:11] Matt Tverberg: Mm.
[00:30:11] Julian Sera: But if you say that you're gonna do it, just do it. 'Cause if you don't, it might not be a big deal. Next time it's cold, they might not reach out to you. Next time they have a bigger thing that's not just the office temperature, they might not reach out to you. So how do you be that one? Office too cold.
[00:30:33] Cool. Let's raise it up. Office too cold again. Cool. Let's raise it up. Hey, I have this major event that I'm struggling with. I feel comfortable I can talk to you. Or, you know, whatever that may be. I, I think it's building off those little things, seemingly meaningless little asks, um, I think can have a big impact.
[00:30:54] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. That's awesome. It's like trust can be degraded on the smallest thing, but also trust can be built up- Oh, yeah. They said it can- In, in the same way ... it
[00:31:03] Julian Sera: can die s- Spent two years building it up, and you do one thing and it's gone.
[00:31:08] Matt Tverberg: Yeah. Well, and then when- Yeah ... you need something from them, I'm sure they're very- Oh, yeah willing to help as well.
[00:31:12] Julian Sera: Hey, remember when I Remember when you were a little cold that one time?
[00:31:18] Matt Tverberg: So a little bit about, you know, technology and tooling, which, you know, you have a ton of different stuff that you use, I'm sure, to power your workplaces, but from desk booking to vis- visitor management, what do you expect from workplace technology today that maybe is different than five years ago?
[00:31:36] Julian Sera: When I first started, you know, we were writing names on printed out floor plans and pinning that up or making photocopies, and now we have this beautiful, simplified maps that you're creating, and that, that was even something I didn't even know even prior to using Envoy. We were using, you know, the, the construction drawings in PDF form that have all the information that nobody wants to see.
[00:32:02] Um, just making, making those maps all messy, hard to read. Simple things like that, having y- how you guys create just a, a very visually satisfying yet simple map of the space- I think that makes a difference. That's something I never expected, but sure as heck can't go back now- Right ... to the old way. Um, having visitor management, something that, hey, I just got a phone, a text.
[00:32:31] My visitor's here. Cool. I'll head down. Um, when it's used to be a, you know, a receptionist that had to ping you and email you and find your number and call you and hunt you down. You have a, a system who can do all three in instantaneous fashion, right? Yeah. Um, so it, it's definitely... I think it's a move away from the, the, the real manual aspects, um, of our day, uh, and just simplifying it.
[00:33:00] Matt Tverberg: That's fu- funny thing is, that's- that's actually how Envoy started. Our CEO, Larry, went into an office, and he's wro- wrote his name down on a piece of paper, and he's like, "There's a better way to do this." There's gotta be. There's gotta be a better way. What's one manual process, if any, come to mind, like, that you're still doing today that you think is, you know, ripe for automation?
[00:33:24] Julian Sera: I mean, a lot of them, technology's advancing so fast it's catching up to us. I think what we're now seeing in, in kind of our side of it is, is the adoption, is, is what can we... how do we sell this need a- as a worthwhile venture for, for our, for our company to move forward in. Automated work orders. I mean, from our side, that's awesome.
[00:33:50] That's, that's that much less that we have to do. How, how can you create that value statement of why our company should, should look into that? Um, you know, like something that we're hunting down with yours is the integrating the badge readers so that we can have accurate data on those check-in and check-out times, so that we can, again, better utilize our building.
[00:34:13] How can we kind of encourage our leadership and, and show the value statement? So there's a lot of, of things that we might be doing a little bit manual right now. Mm-hmm. But that doesn't mean the technology's not out there.
[00:34:24] Matt Tverberg: Sure.
[00:34:25] Julian Sera: Where is that value, not, not just to me personally, 'cause there's a bunch of stuff that I can do that'll just help me out, but how, how do we take ourselves out of just me and look at the, the we aspect, and how, how that affects.
[00:34:38] Matt Tverberg: Yeah, and I think, too, uh, something along those lines is it's hard to change when you've been doing something the same way for a long time, you know? Yeah. And that's, d- like you said, technology is evolving rapidly, but we don't evolve rapidly. No. You know? So we have to adapt to find these optimizations, you know?
[00:34:57] Yeah. No, it's- Be open to it.
[00:34:59] Julian Sera: I think, which might be difficult in this whole AI world discussion. I think everyone's a little afraid of, you know, robots taking over the world- ... and things like that. But I think it's Having that, that confidence and that understanding that just bringing on a new piece of technology doesn't mean we're gonna now cut everyone's jobs.
[00:35:17] Sure. It's, no, this is gonna help us. So how can we use these things as a tool, see them as a tool, and not, you know, not see this as, as let's, let's bring on the robot. Let's bring on the Terminator and ax all these jobs.
[00:35:31] Matt Tverberg: Yeah, I think that's a key takeaway there is, like, as you do introduce new things to your team is lead with what, what it's gonna do for them.
[00:35:39] Yeah. What's the improvement versus the, you know, the scare that may come with that. Yeah.
[00:35:46] Julian Sera: Yeah. Change, change management's definitely a thing. Since when I first started, I don't think anyone was talking about it. It was just kind of a old school, just this is what we're doing kind of thing. Um, and that, I've definitely seen, seen that arc of, of the value of change, of good change management, what it can do for a project.
[00:36:03] Um, and that's, that's case in point. Like, hey, we're bringing on this, this new technology, and then the first thing is, "Oh, it's tracking me, so it, it knows I'm not working, and then you're gonna fire me," "... and then it's gonna replace me." And you know, it's like, oh, no, no, we're, we're actually not worried at all about that.
[00:36:22] We wanna save the world and save money and run the building better.
[00:36:27] Matt Tverberg: That's it. Yeah. Simple, a simple change in, like, delivery of the why.
[00:36:32] Julian Sera: And then when they hear that they're like, "Oh, oh, that's cool. Okay."
[00:36:36] Matt Tverberg: I'm on board now. Yeah. Okay. When you evaluate new tools, what, what do you think separates something that's a nice to have versus a critical need?
[00:36:48] Like, something you can't operate without.
[00:36:52] Julian Sera: I think i- impact, like, the impact it can, it can have downstream. Is it the only thing that can do that? I think that's something. If, if it is the only way that we can get to point B, then that's something. Or is it just make your track a little bit smoother? How much smoother?
[00:37:12] What does that actually equivalate to? And that, that's my data brain, right? Yeah. Like, okay, well, what's that saving in time or money or manpower or whatever, right? Like, it's kind of building that out, not just saying, "Hey, this is cool. Hey, this looks cooler. Let's do that." It's saying, okay, well, why? And when- Does it just look cooler?
[00:37:31] Oh, no, it's the map looks cooler, but it also is cleaner. It allows people who aren't a CAD expert to actually read it- Sure ... to then be able to find where they're going, to now make their whole building more usable because they're not gonna live on one floor that they're aware of. I don't know, right? So it's, it's little aspects like that.
[00:37:49] It's just asking some questions.
[00:37:51] Matt Tverberg: And when you analyze those type of thing, you mentioned a couple things like time savings, you know, operational efficiencies. When you a- analyze new tools to improve your work space and bring this up to the leadership, is that the type of analysis you're doing, is, like, really trying to understand what those, the time savings are?
[00:38:09] Julian Sera: I think it's kind of knowing your audience. Like, who, who am I selling it to? Um, are they all about the people aspect? Is it gonna make people happier? Are they worried about the bottom line? Is it gonna save us money? Are they the recruiting group and they don't wanna have to hire on more headcount for it?
[00:38:28] You know, it's like knowing what is the audience and understanding that. I think that's that thing with being in facilities and workplaces. You're not just in your bubble. You're now trying to look at multiple different groups and client sets of how that impacts them.
[00:38:44] Matt Tverberg: Yeah, ideally it does both, right?
[00:38:45] Saves time. It also- Saves money and makes people happier. Yeah. That's like the, the perfect trio there, right? What do you think some lessons are that you've learned the hard way about introducing new systems?
[00:38:58] Julian Sera: Something that it kind of happens a... used to happen a lot is it's kind of like seeing things through your own world or your own experience or expertise.
[00:39:08] Something that makes total sense to you might not make someone... sense to someone else. Um, and if you're tech savvy enough and someone's not, just assuming that they're good to go, um, or they know what HVAC is, you know? You know, it's... I, I think it's, it's d- dangerous when you bring in your own expertise and your own experiences and just assume.
[00:39:30] Like, I know what I'm doing, so you should be good. This is easy for me, so it should be easy for you. It's aspects like that I think are- Yeah ... that's where you can get in some trouble.
[00:39:39] Matt Tverberg: Yeah, I think it's just like d... Over communicating and don't, uh, don't ever assume. It seems like that's the approach is you don't know what others don't know.
[00:39:48] Yeah. Right? Totally. So, you know, I... We're on Make Yourself at Work, so I'd be remiss to not ask you, like, how do you make yourself at work, and like how does Envoy fit into your day-to-day operations right now, and like what problems does it help you solve to help better, you know, make yourself at work?
[00:40:09] Julian Sera: I mean, it, it definitely simplifies my life just in organizing the space planning, organizing the moves.
[00:40:17] We just did a, you know, 150-plus person move and it was seamless. And then updating the, the company was seamless. It was press publish and we're done kind of thing. Um, so definitely just it makes my life so much easier. Um, but I know there's a lot a... lot of aspects within Envoy that we're not using to its fullest, and that's something I'm really excited about implementing here.
[00:40:43] We're finishing up some of our projects, get some more bandwidth. Let's, let's look at how, how can we start improving our workplace instead of just building it out bigger. Let's make it better. Um, and I, I, I truly think Envoy's gonna have a big role in that.
[00:40:56] Matt Tverberg: That's awesome. And do you... Are you finding that your employees are, like, self-serving a lot of the information and understanding the moves by?
[00:41:03] You know, interacting with our tool, are we still in the change management aspect like you were mentioning? Sometimes it takes time for people to get acclimated with new, newer systems.
[00:41:12] Julian Sera: Yeah, I think some people are. It's exciting when you, you show someone what it can do and it answers someone question and they're like, "Whoa, it can do that?"
[00:41:23] Like, it's like, "Yeah, it's, it's been sitting there- ... for the past, like, you know, four years." Like, um, but we're definitely in change management. I think we're kind of constantly, especially as we connect, kind of continuously evolve our use with you guys and, and, and expand your scope, it's gonna be just this constant change management.
[00:41:43] But I'm hoping as they keep hearing Envoy pop up, they're like, "Oh yeah, maybe I should download that app 'cause it seems to do a lot of cool things." And then once they're in it, that's when they're hooked 'cause they're like, "This is, this is cake." Yeah. "This is awesome."
[00:41:55] Matt Tverberg: Everybody has to have their own aha moment to, to get on board. I guess on that topic, like what would be something you'd maybe recommend that we do here to help make your life easier on that front? Is there anything we- Yeah ... could do to- I think,
[00:42:09] Julian Sera: I think my customer service team has heard plenty of those. Okay. I don't know, just little, little things that a- as we pop around, just, um, the simplicity aspect.
[00:42:19] Um, but o- overall, jokes aside, it's been, you've been a, a fantastic company to work with. That's why I felt honored to come onto your podcast 'cause it's definitely, you know, a group of people who I've worked with that are, been a lot of fun to do that, and it's, it, it's exciting what you guys are doing.
[00:42:35] Matt Tverberg: Well, vice versa. You bring a lot of expertise and, you know, don't be shy with the feedback. We love it. That's why we have, you know, guests like you on, and, uh, we're excited to hear from our customers, and it's really cool to hear, honestly, how much it's impacted your approach to managing new facilities and, uh, you know, there's a lot of cool insights you're giving here.
[00:42:56] Looking ahead now, what role do you expect Envoy to play as you continue to expand globally?
[00:43:04] Julian Sera: I mean, right now with us, I think the, the biggest thing is as we're going global, using you guys for just kind of helping our staff as they're going throughout the, traveling the world, right? I'm coming from... I'm gonna go over to Zug.
[00:43:19] How do I see what it even looks like? How can we see where, where's the cafeteria? Where's the break room? Where's the bathroom? Where's those kind of things? Where does Greg sit, right? Um, helping people as they're, as they're moving around. I think within our company, we're gonna see more people jumping across other groups, more people from, you know, the EU coming over to our headquarters.
[00:43:45] Just dumping them into that space would be probably, probably pretty daunting, um, pretty daunting task for them. Um, but with Envoy, if they, as, as we kind of teach them and, and get them to use that, I think it can, it can benefit them.
[00:43:59] Matt Tverberg: Absolutely. And then just to, to close this out, this has been awesome.
[00:44:03] What part of your job would you say brings you the most satisfaction when everything is just running super smoothly?
[00:44:12] Julian Sera: It's funny, but my most satisfied thing would probably be when no one's talking to me. No one's asking me, no one's thinking about me, because that means that we probably did that job before you even knew it was an issue.
[00:44:26] Um, a lot of facilities, workplace, all of our operational aspect, we're kind of like those ninjas in the background. And I think if you're to notice, that means you're doing something wrong. I don't think this is a world where you, you come in looking for that recognition. Like, I, I... You're not coming for kudos here, because if we do a great job, no one will think about you, and that means we did awesome job.
[00:44:51] Which is a weird, weird thing to put out there, but, you know, um, that's kind of how I see my job. If, if people aren't asking us and we're catching it ahead of time, then-
[00:45:00] Matt Tverberg: Mm ...
[00:45:01] Julian Sera: Awesome. That's a good day.
[00:45:03] Matt Tverberg: Silence is bliss- Yeah ... in workplace facilities. There you go. Well, Julian, thank you so much for being here.
[00:45:10] Yeah. It's been an honor. Thanks for having me. Great conversation. Really appreciate it. Um, this has been Make Yourself at Work. I'm Matt Torbert. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time.