Welcome to mid-December in the workplace. The time when time spent planning for next year is only surpassed by the time spent planning and talking about the events that took place following the office holiday party.
One of the many reasons why some of us love working remotely. ;-)
On the other hand, I recently talked to a friend whose spouse can do hybrid work, working from home three days per week yet going to the office every day anyway. He likes it better that way. I don’t understand it, but I respect anyone who knows themselves well enough to do what works for them. The trouble for employers will be when someone like him and someone like me are both employees you’d like to keep. No one solution is going to satisfy either of us. It will require a lot of flexibility and purposeful design. I’m afraid too many organizations don’t have the creativity to make that work, which is sad.
Thanks for reading. Here’s a little bit of fun before we get into the links:
When the fortune cookie writer has clearly never met me
Careers and the Workplace
When — and How — to Say No to Extra Work
“With more and more teams being understaffed, chances are you’ve been asked to take on more work. Top performers are a prime target for additional requests. But you need to be careful about what you agree to take on. In this piece, the author outlines when it’s best to say no to taking on more work: 1) When your primary job responsibilities will suffer. 2) When it’s someone else’s work. 3) When there’s no clear exit strategy. 4) When the ask is unreasonable.”
Linked – Monitoring Individual Employees Isn’t the Way to Boost Productivity
“I am convinced that the best managers are the ones who help remove obstacles to doing good work. Every organization has them. It’s a question of how effectively they can be navigated. In toxic environments, it’s not possible. In healthy ones overcoming obstacles is possible, and that is where managers focus their efforts. Monitoring every action of an individual employee does nothing to help them navigate the obstacles and does nothing to support them. It’s all a top-down case of the “gotchas.”
That sounds toxic to me, and toxic places never bring out the best work in their people.”
To Retain Your Best Employees, Invest in Your Best Managers
“Unfortunately, managers aren’t always prepared to meet their moment because they’re woefully under-trained and overworked while tasked with leading their teams during heightened turbulence. In fact, new research by Future Forum found a record 43% of managers say they’re burned out — the highest of any job level.”
Linked – Productivity is outdated. Here’s why
“Lior makes an accurate observation, we still measure productivity the same way we did when everyone worked in a factory, but very few of us work in a factory any longer. So, that might be a bad idea.”
Mental Health at Work
The Economic Cost of Poor Employee Mental Health
There are plenty of economic reasons to care about your employees mental health but I would argue that you should care just because they are human beings who work for you.
Link – Is It Okay to Disclose Mental Illness at Work?
“Only you can decide whether being open and sharing your mental health issue at work is appropriate for you, and it’ll depend a whole lot on the environment and your willingness and ability to deal with the potential blowback. Don’t let anyone force you into either decision. You are the only one who can know it, but it also doesn’t hurt to get feedback and read about others’ experiences while you consider it.”
We Need to Talk More About Mental Health at Work
eDiscovery and Legal Tech
In Flex: Utilizing Hybrid Solutions for Today's eDiscovery Challenges
“Hybrid solutions offer the best of both worlds: the ability to use self-service for small matters or full-service for large and complex matters. This flexibility is essential in today's litigation landscape, where the volume and complexity of data can change rapidly.”
In Case You Missed It: eDiscovery and Education in 2022
“These trends are also reflected in the notable cases discussed below and are likely to continue in 2023. Data privacy laws are multiplying, cybersecurity is growing more challenging, and new source types continue to appear as custodian behavior evolves.”
Looking Back at 2022 in LegalTech Reveals Trends Going into the New Year: An Ediscovery Day Recap
“December 1st marked another successful Ediscovery Day celebration full of great educational content for the legal tech industry. Now in its eighth year, Ediscovery day became more focused in its content offerings, with a great lineup of sponsored events.
Read on for highlights!”
Security and Privacy
CISO considerations for data privacy & compliance in 2023
“The number of privacy-related fines, settlements and violations continues to rise, as well as the number of national and global privacy laws and regulations that companies are required to comply with. The trends clearly demonstrate that while not a new concept, privacy continues to gain traction.”
15 Things Companies Should Stop Doing If They Want To Improve Their Cybersecurity
“15 members of Forbes Technology Council discuss some things companies should stop doing if they want to improve their cybersecurity posture.”