Career

Career | Links | Mental Health

Linked: 1 in 3 Employees Might Quit “for the Sake of My Mental Health,” Survey Shows
ByMike McBride October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 Reading Time: 2 minutes

This is a real problem, our C-Level folks think they are addressing the issues of burnout, mental health, etc. because they’ve adopted an employee assistance program and instructed their people managers to be concerned about mental health issues, but they’ve not actually given them any training in how to do that. That’s a real problem and puts those managers in a real bind. How do they support the people who report to them, when no one has taught them appropriate ways to do that?

Read More Linked: 1 in 3 Employees Might Quit “for the Sake of My Mental Health,” Survey Shows
Career | Personal

You Are More Than Your Job
ByMike McBride October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Reading Time: 3 minutes

I think this is something that many of us have been realizing to some degree in the past couple of years. We are more than our work, and there are things in life that are more important than our work. I enjoyed the questions and challenges Arthur lays out as well, so you should go read the article and consider those. As I read through them I had one thought, over and over again.

How many of my friends don’t even care about what I do for a living?

I feel very lucky to have those folks. The people who’ve remained friends regardless of my current career status, The ones who might not even really understand what I do for a living. Because they ground me, and remind me that in actuality, what I do during my workday isn’t really that big of a deal. It’s all well and good to be great at my job, but the important people in my life are there because of the relationship we have, not because I’m good at legal tech, and I want them in my life because of who they are, not what their job is.

That’s a big deal.

Read More You Are More Than Your Job
Career | Links

Linked: Why publishers say opening up remote hiring has grown and greatly improved the applicant pool
ByMike McBride September 28, 2021September 27, 2021 Reading Time: 2 minutes

Still, I think it’s clear that opening up the hiring process to people who don’t live in the immediate area creates a more diverse pool of talent to choose from. That we have to go out of our way to tell people that makes me question what companies are doing, or really care about, when they talk about being diverse.

Read More Linked: Why publishers say opening up remote hiring has grown and greatly improved the applicant pool
Career

Quick Thought – Meeting Free Days Also Say Something About Your Workplace Culture
ByMike McBride September 21, 2021September 21, 2021 Reading Time: 2 minutes

Yes, I am on record as saying that the most important thing in a remote workplace is communication, in fact, I’m a fan of over-communicating. That doesn’t have to mean more meetings though. It can, honestly, just mean making use of all of the communication tools we have, especially when the discussion does not need to be had in real-time.

If you make Monday “meeting-free” but cram five days’ worth of meetings into the other four days of the week, you’re not helping the situation. You’re just rearranging deck chairs. The real change comes in figuring out how to make do with less meeting time, by taking advantage of alternatives when that makes sense, and by learning how to have more efficient meetings. (Start by not scheduling every meeting for 1 hour, for example. A 10-minute conversation can be a 10-minute meeting. There is no law that says all meetings must be divisible into 30-minute increments just because your Outlook calendar defaults to that.)

Read More Quick Thought – Meeting Free Days Also Say Something About Your Workplace Culture
Career | Links

Linked: Intentional connection in the digital office
ByMike McBride September 20, 2021September 19, 2021 Reading Time: 3 minutes

The only thing preventing most offices from being fully remote is simply a lack of know-how, or an unwillingness to commit to that change and design the workplace around it. Once you do that, what you’ll find is that rather than hoping for some magic collaboration, you decide who to invite to the table, and ask for their input, on purpose. Intentionally.

Read More Linked: Intentional connection in the digital office
Career

Quick Thought – What Does It Say That You Need To Shutdown Your Business for People to get a Break?
ByMike McBride September 17, 2021September 17, 2021 Reading Time: 4 minutes

If the issue is that people are getting burned out because they are either not taking time off, are continuing to work during their time off to avoid being overwhelmed with work that piled up, or are actually being contacted by their team members during their time off, how about we figure out how to create a culture that allows people to disconnect during their time off, instead of literally just closing up shop for a week?

Read More Quick Thought – What Does It Say That You Need To Shutdown Your Business for People to get a Break?