Karoliina Kettukari has spent her career helping people communicate and collaborate smoothly using the latest digital technology tools. This role took on added importance when the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly forced much of the world to embrace this “Modern Work” lifestyle.
“The change was very dramatic and drastic,” said Karoliina, who became a Microsoft MVP in 2019. “The concept of Modern Work existed before the pandemic, but now everything has completely changed, in terms of hybrid work and the importance of collaboration in the workplace. It’s been incredible to witness.”
After studying organizational leadership and management at university, Karoliina has had a front-row seat for the tremendous growth in collaborative digital work in Finland, where she was born and raised. It’s something she takes a lot of pride in.
“Finland is technologically very advanced—almost everyone is working in the cloud already and using Teams,” she noted. “So, our focus for the last couple of years has mostly been on how you can better use tools that you already have—how you can utilize those functionalities in Teams to make your workday smoother and to communicate better with your colleagues, whether you are remote or at the office.”
We spoke recently with Karoliina about how Office collaboration technologies have changed the way she works, what being an Office Insider means to her, and how she likes to unplug with a good (paper) book at the end of a long day in the tech field.
Tell us how you started out working in technology.
Karoliina: I’ve always been a little bit of a nerd; I think I coded my first website with HTML when I was 10 or 11 years old. I have never been super technical—I’ve never been a real coder or developer—but I’ve always been interested in what you can do with technology.
After I graduated university, I was working at a large Finnish organization developing teamwork and reporting systems. And then they had this huge internet renewal project come up, and I was like, “Hey, please pick me!”
My first experience with SharePoint was with SharePoint 2007, and the company was working on upgrading it to SharePoint 2013. It was through that project that I fell in love with SharePoint. I also realized that I might be able to do this for a living. You know, maybe I can help other organizations and teams to communicate and collaborate better. Eventually, I switched to consulting, and after working with a couple of different consultancy companies, I’m now the Modern Work leader and advisor at Meltlake.
How have Microsoft 365’s collaboration tools changed the way you—and your clients—work?
When I started my technology career it was like, you open a Word document or Excel worksheet and it was locked to you, and no one else could access it. And then you’d always have to remind your colleagues, “Can you please shut down the Excel sheet, because I need to go in there.” Luckily, we don’t have to do that anymore. The work has changed from “I do my stuff and you do yours,” to more collaborating and co-creating things together.
One example of this was a few years ago, when I and a colleague were planning a workshop for a customer. Previously, we would have done the planning separately, where I would have edited a PowerPoint presentation and then sent a message to my colleague and asked him to do his part. Today, we can sit on couches at the office (or remotely!) and I have my computer, he has his computer, and we both have the same presentation open. We can talk over and collaborate on the presentation in real time. Now it seems like a super-normal thing to do, but just two years ago it was an amazing new thing.
How does being an Office Insider help you in your career?
It’s not just knowing about the new Office features, which is great, but also about how you use those new features—which is why I really appreciate your Insider blog posts. And I love that, as an Insider, I can give feedback on those new features.
For example, you recently blogged about how you can insert a live camera feed into your PowerPoint with the cameo feature. Most people wouldn’t discover super-cool things like that by themselves. But when you can see it and test it early by being an Insider, you can let your colleagues and clients know about it and help them use it.
Another thing I love in PowerPoint is the Design Ideas feature. Microsoft experts and power users know about Design Ideas in PowerPoint, but other users don’t. They’re amazed every time I demo the feature. I simply enter a title, add a picture, and watch the magic happen! And I love how you can add other “wow” effects—like Morph or the premium stock images—with the new features in PowerPoint so easily.
What’s one word that describes how you work?
I’d have to say “organized.” I love creating task lists and using To Do. I also use OneNote for my memos and planning. I think it all comes down to my basic nature. I’m very organized in both my professional and personal life—I like to keep things tidy and clean, so my mind is still.
At the same time, I also love creativity and design. I was very into architecture when I was a child. My hobby was to carefully examine every single floor plan I found in magazines and brochures and, of course, make them better and draw my own floor plans. That hobby has remained—I still love to read apartment listings and experience different architecture when I travel. I see what I do professionally reflected in both these characteristics: I love to organize things, then develop processes and help people find the best possible solution to their particular challenge.
Tell us something that you do to relax outside of your job.
I read a lot—I think I must read around 100 books per year. And I like to read physical books with pages you can touch. I don’t think I’ve ever read an e-book, because at work I’m always in front of a computer or mobile screen In my free time, I love to feel the book.
I enjoy reading fiction; some of my favorite genres are “chick-lit” and horror/thrillers—I know, they’re totally opposite! I’ve also loved Roald Dahl books since I was a kid; the stories are just fantastic. My favorite book as a child was Dahl’s Matilda, because I saw a lot of myself in that witty, book-loving girl.
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