Event Recap: Tango x MillerKnoll London
Tango and MillerKnoll brought together workplace and real estate leaders in London to explore a question at the heart of every organization right now: How can we create spaces that truly support wellbeing in a world that’s always changing?
The event, co-hosted by MillerKnoll’s Director of Insight and Strategy, Mark Catchlove, and Tango’s EMEA Director, Daniel Smith, at MillerKnoll’s London showroom, featured a dynamic panel of industry voices: Dr. Dan Wakelin, Katerina Ford, Bex Moorhouse, Caitlin Begg, and Frank Lee. Together, they unpacked what it really means to balance wellbeing, flexibility, and performance in the modern workplace—and why visibility and data are key to making it all work.
“The conversations throughout the evening really reflected the pace of change our industry is experiencing,” said Daniel Smith, EMEA Director at Tango. “Wellbeing, flexibility, and experience have all become core components of workplace success—but you can’t manage what you can’t see. Technology gives organizations the visibility to understand how what space you have, what your costs are, what space is being used, what’s working, and where to adapt, so they can keep evolving alongside their people.”
Left to right: Frank Lee, Bex Moorhouse, Caitlin Begg, Dan Wakelin, Katerina Ford
The evolving role of the workplace leader
One of the clearest themes of the evening was that the role of real estate and workplace leaders has never been more complex. As Bex Moorhouse observed, many assume that return-to-office mandates and hybrid schedules simplify the job of managing space. In reality, the opposite is true.
“Half the space, twice the experience.”
Hybrid work means fewer desks but higher expectations for better experience, more flexibility, and meaningful connections. Managing that complexity at scale requires more than instinct—it demands data-driven insights into how people use and experience space.
The importance of visibility
“You can’t improve what you can’t see” came up again and again throughout the discussion. For organizations striving to enhance wellbeing, understanding how spaces perform in real time, not just through annual surveys delivered from HR, is critical.
With Tango’s workplace solutions, companies can measure utilization, analyze behavioral patterns, and uncover where people actually collaborate, focus, and connect. These insights empower leaders to make continuous, informed adjustments that improve both experience and efficiency.
Rethinking collaboration and connection
Frank Lee shared a real-world observation that traditional “collaboration spaces” often aren’t where collaboration truly happens. The real value lies in creating spaces where collaboration can happen, whether that is cafés, kitchens, or shared areas that encourage spontaneous conversation and community.
This insight underscores a subtle but important shift: it’s not about designing for a single purpose but enabling people to use space in ways that feel natural and productive to them.
Employee wellbeing beyond amenities
Both Bex Moorhouse and Katerina Ford emphasized that wellbeing can’t be achieved through physical design alone. Wellness rooms, quiet zones, or fitness studios are important, but they need to be activated—with programs, activities, and opportunities for genuine engagement.
Some organizations are even extending this idea beyond working hours, opening wellness or event spaces to the wider community. It’s a reminder that workplace wellbeing doesn’t stop at the office door; it’s part of a broader ecosystem of human experience.
Turning insights into action
What connects all of these ideas is the need for visibility through data. The future of workplace wellbeing will depend on organizations’ ability to translate people’s lived experiences into actionable intelligence.
That’s where technology like Tango’s plays an essential role. By integrating utilization data, behavioral analytics, and occupancy trends, organizations can understand how their spaces perform and evolve them to continuously meet the needs of their people.
A mission for a better workplace
Events like this reflect the shared mission between Tango and MillerKnoll: to create environments that enable people to thrive. Together with our partners and the broader workplace community, we’re working to bridge the gap between human experience and operational insight, ensuring that decisions about space are grounded in data, empathy, and purpose.
A sincere thank you to MillerKnoll for co-hosting, to our incredible panelists for guiding the conversation, and to our fellow workplace leaders for candidly sharing their experience, expertise, and passion with us.
