ATLANTA — October 13, 2022 — NELSON Worldwide, award-winning architecture, design, and strategy firm, welcomes Lorin Lee as Senior Project Manager – Asset Strategy. In her new role, Lorin will advance the opportunities for continued growth in market share, profitability in specific service lines, practice areas, and the local Atlanta market.

“We are proud of the team we have cultivated in Atlanta, and more importantly, thrilled to welcome Lorin to NELSON,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at NELSON Worldwide, John “Ozzie” Nelson Jr. “Lorin brings forth camaraderie, a strong project management acumen, and a willingness to tackle new opportunities and challenges. We couldn’t have imagined a better addition to support our teams.”

With a demonstrated history of successfully managing projects in the commercial real estate industry, Lorin will foster an environment defined by open dialogue—encouraging ideas to grow and come to fruition. She believes in instilling organizational practices that will enable teams to work together as one unit towards a common goal. Through openness and honesty, Lorin will also enhance the work and careers of teammates through continuous training, support, and mentoring on project specific items including: project management, production, and design development.

“I am honored to join such a diverse group of creatives and visionaries,” remarks Lorin. “As a Senior Project Manager, I see my skills in organization, quality assurance, client relations, on-site experience, design, and interpersonal communication to be a real benefit to my teams. I couldn’t be more excited to expand on my skills and share my knowledge with others.” 

Lorin holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Florida and is a LEED Green Associate. Passionate about organization and project coordination, Lorin has successfully managed projects in the multi-family, mixed-use, industrial, arts, and religious institutions verticals, and will apply that expertise to a wider range of market sectors.

An avid traveler and anthropology enthusiast, Lorin draws her design inspiration from understanding different cultures and their relationships with the built environment–allowing her to see her surroundings in ever-evolving ways. Today, she is eager to channel her perspectives, passions, and expertise to her new role at NELSON Worldwide.

###

About NELSON Worldwide

NELSON Worldwide is an award-winning firm, transforming all dimensions of the human experience through architecture, interior design, graphic design, and brand strategy services. With more than 800 teammates spread across 20 offices, the firm’s collective network provides strategic and creative solutions that positively impact where people work, serve, play, and thrive. The team combines industry knowledge, service expertise, and geographic reach to deliver projects across the country and around the world. Client partnerships across the NELSON network include: Hilton, Macy’s, Comcast, Simon Property Group, Prologis, Yum! Brands, Boston Consulting Group, T-Mobile, Emory Healthcare, SAP Fieldglass, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Kroger, Hyatt, Bayer, Target, and many more.

NELSON Worldwide’s Evolving Workforce Expectations study explores employees’ sentiments about returning to the office, and the impact COVID-19 has had on work environments and employee engagement. As part of our Evolving Workforce Expectations blog series, we’re taking a closer look at each of the key themes that stemmed from our research: communicate, activate, control, and support. Follow along to learn more about each theme and how your brand can pull off a successful re-entry strategy.

As much of the workforce continues to work remotely or in the office on a limited schedule, individuals have embraced a new definition of work-life balance. With this in mind, and our research that shows most employees want to return to the workplace, people will look to feel a sense of control through flexibility.

Moving forward, the relationship between the employee and employer will operate with a high degree of trust that is dependent on several requirements; Are you providing your employees with enough space? Are you fostering an environment that embraces new work styles and schedules? Are demographic expectations being considered when asking employees to return? Here’s what employers can do to allow employees more control:

Diversify Your Space 

While many employees are excited to return to the office, health and safety will understandably be top of mind as they return. One way to offer people the control and independence they crave is to incorporate more space or space types into the office. This may include:

• Adding outdoor work spaces with more room for breathing and opportunities for safer collaboration
• Creating private office spaces so that employees may distances themselves or retreat to a private space when needed
• Providing an office environment that represents a dedicated home-away-from-home with resources and tools that remote employees may need but don’t have access to at home

Embrace and Encourage Flexibility  

As mentioned before, many employees are excited about the prospect of returning to the office (eventually), but are feeling anxious without reassurance that their health has been considered. Flexibility and a sense of personal control are going to be important at all levels moving forward, and employers should consider ways to not only encourage, but embrace flexible schedules with no repercussions. Here’s how employers can embrace flexibility:

• Give employees the option to work in different parts of the office to allow for more variety and availability of collaborative workspaces
• • Be open to a flexible combination of in-office and work from home (or hotel, or beach, or cabin…), and set up a formal policy around how to communicate when people are working off-site or on-site
• Encourage employees to take time for creative breaks or days off to refresh and reset as they re-adapt to life in the office and get used to new health and safety policies

Mind the Generation Gap

For the first time in history, there are five generations in the workforce. As companies plan their return to the office, the desires and expectations of each generation will have to be considered. Cultural priorities are different across the generations, embrace those differences and help them feel unified and connected to each other among shared values. Here is what our research from the Evolving Workforce Expectations study tells us:

• Older segments were more likely to want to return to the office completely, whereas the younger segments wanted flexibility and variety
• Younger demographics placed a higher importance on concerns around upskilling/reskilling while older demographics highlighted the impact to their direct team
• 21-34-year-olds placed a higher importance on cultural values surrounding personal and career growth, while the 65+ group emphasized improvement from a company-wide perspectives

Before working from home, it was easy for me to separate my professional life from my personal life. I could take off my work hat as soon as I walked through the front door and immediately put on my mom and wife hat. My daily ritual consisted of getting my family ready for the day, commuting to the office, catching up with colleagues over coffee, and bouncing ideas off my teammates before a client presentation. After my evening commute, which doubles as my transition time, my home life routine would fall into place.

Now that we’re all blurring the lines between office and home, the concept of work-life balance is evolving into work-life unity. Before COVID-19, work and life were more divided than they are today. Rituals are morphing, technology is bringing us closer together, and colleagues and clients have a front row seat to our living rooms, home offices, bedrooms, and kitchens, thus uniting us more than ever before.

Every part of our lives is united, and it isn’t as easy to compartmentalize our daily routines. As more companies get closer to transitioning back into the office it will be important to remember that employees are now functioning under this work-life unity mantra, and some may want to continue working that way, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Embracing new rituals, putting technology to good use, and empowering employees to continue to share parts of their personal lives can lead to more engaged teams.

There are a few short-term solutions to help team members embrace work-life unity, without losing the balance they value, when heading back to the office:

Refresh Rituals

Think of all the traditions within the office that may need to be refreshed. Hand sanitizing stations will become the new water cooler catch-up spot, communal coffee pots will be replaced with walks to the nearest coffee shop, and individual caddies with mini white boards, cleaning supplies, and markers will take the place of shared collaboration boards. Additionally, finding creative ways to mark new break areas with environmental graphics or scheduling walks outside are just a few examples of how to unite employees again, and get them back into their office groove, while staying safe.

Treasure Technology

Most people prefer in-person, face-to-face meetings, but our clients, partners, and maybe even a few colleagues may not be returning to the office at the same time, and visitors may not be permitted for a while. Social distancing is forcing us to use video conferencing we probably weren’t as comfortable with before, and with that, we are communicating better than we were before. Seeing facial expressions and body language have a significant impact on successful professional relationships and leveraging these technologies at the office will maintain this unity we built up while away from the office.

Bring home to work

Working from home brings daily distractions along with it. Whether it’s a noisy pet, curious toddler, or a roommate passing by, our co-workers are seeing more of our personal lives than ever before. For those that are passionate about their families and hobbies, they may want to continue sharing more at work. Individual cork boards for personalization or uniform picture frames to match the office aesthetic can be a way to share more of your home life at the office. Installing personal lockers for employees to store these keepsakes during deep cleanings can help mitigate germs. Companies may also encourage more high-tech ways to showcase personal anecdotes. One example could be to ask employees to share photos that can be displayed digitally on monitors throughout the office.

In some ways, social distancing and stay-at-home policies brought us closer together. I think we are all learning a lot about ourselves and the ways we work. Reinventing rituals, leveraging technology, and bringing aspects of home when returning to the office will help maintain those connections we made while working from home, uniting us stronger than before.

A Legend in Cincinnati says that the official first day of Spring has nothing to do with the Spring Equinox but rather everything to do with the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day game. This year marks a very special year for the beloved Reds Legs as the team and baseball community celebrates their 150th anniversary. And, what better way to honor the legacy of the organization than to reintroduce the Reds Hall of Fame!  After an extensive renovation, the Hall of Fame has reopened showcasing a bold refresh for fans of all ages can enjoy.

It’s been 15 years since the Reds Hall of Fame originally opened. This time around, the goal of the Museum was to create a transformative experience that elevates the team’s storyline and showcases Reds artifacts/memorabilia in a celebratory way. Rick Walls, the Reds Hall of Fame Executive Director says, “The museum is all about celebrating greatness, preserving the history and providing inspiration.”

As visitors enter the new Hall of Fame, they are immersed in a number of galleries that build and share a multitude of stories. The first space visitors get to experience is a rotational gallery that highlights curated Reds memorabilia and shares the groundbreaking strides made by the Cincinnati Tigers, the cities historic Negro league baseball team. Acting as a guided timeline, the next gallery introduces the exclusive 1869 Room, a space dedicated to the team’s founding history as the Cincinnati Red Stockings honoring the players and highlights of the Red’s 150-year journey.

Moving forward, customers walk through a Timeline room that showcases the teams most memorable moments and most valuable artifacts from all generations. Custom player mannequins and reproduction uniforms were brought front and center to allow fans to truly engage in the stories being told. Next up is The Archive, a space that marries an extensive analog baseball card display with a full digital catalog, bringing every Reds baseball card to the fan’s fingertips – an extra special interactive feature even allows fans to create their own personalized baseball card! After this, visitors can get hands-on at the Fox-Sports broadcasting booth. This experience places the visitor in control while celebrating the legendary voices of the Marty and Joe Broadcasting Hall of Fame that have played a key role in connecting Reds fans and the world, with the game.

After enjoying the Fox booth and scrolling through the baseball card collection, it’s time for the show-stopping, goosebump moments.  Inside the Hall of Fame room technology and design merge to tell the individual stories of Reds Hall of Famers in a 360-degree cinema and plaque room- an all-encompassing experience that inspires fans to hear the stories behind each baseball legend. Culminating the Museum experience is the Champions Room. This space celebrates the team’s 5 World Series Championships with amplified floor-to-ceiling media, curated memorabilia, and a flexible event bar.

We enjoyed partnering with the Reds to bring the new Hall of Fame to life and to give back the Cincinnati baseball community. We hope everyone has a chance to experience the new museum and to celebrate the Reds legends of today and the future. Here’s to 150 years and 150 more!