The Best of This Week
The week’s must-reads for managing in the digital age, curated by the MIT SMR editors.
Topics
Weekly Recap
Addressing Burnout at the Root
The global pandemic has had a major effect on the mental health and well-being of employees, with many reporting that they’re experiencing increased stress and feeling stretched too thin at work. Leaders and managers can create a healthier work environment for employees by taking these seven steps to address burnout.
An Intersectional Approach to Mitigating AI Bias
Although companies have been ramping up their efforts to develop fair AI algorithms, most still treat characteristics such as gender and race as single, isolated components. But treating each unique attribute in isolation continues to disadvantage those who possess multiple attributes, resulting in intersectional bias. Columnist Ayanna Howard suggests four specific ways to mitigate such bias within AI applications.
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Does Your Company Need a Remote Work Leader?
As companies broaden their policies on hybrid and remote work, many are finding that the needs of this new kind of workforce go beyond the traditional roles of human resources officers. In this interview, Darren Murph, head of remote at GitLab — an all-remote organization — offers insights on what companies should look for when hiring a head of remote.
How Digital Media Turned Us All Into Dopamine Addicts
Since the turn of the millennium, behavioral addictions have soared — especially when it comes to digital media. When we’re confronted with a complex or unsettling issue, our digital companions are always there to help us escape the stickiness of life with an easy distraction. But at what cost?
Making Sense of Mixed-Mode Meetings
Mixed-mode meetings — where some participants are physically onsite, while others are participating virtually — run the risk of creating two tiers of participation, access, and influence. Five fundamental principles can help leaders determine whether the potential advantages of conducting a mixed-mode meeting supersede the potential drawbacks.
What Else We’re Reading This Week
- Retailers should analyze customers’ preferences before deciding how to optimize their delivery networks (Source: MIT SMR)
- There’s a direct correlation between employees’ commute times and their enjoyment of working from home (Source: HubbleHQ)
- Adam Grant weighs in with 10 new leadership book picks for fall (Source: LinkedIn)
- Using AI to spot art forgeries (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Quote of the Week:
“For low-wage workers, the pandemic demonstrated how much inequality there is — it’s really leading them to ask, Is this the kind of job I want? Or should I leave?”
Thomas Kochan, professor of work and employment research at MIT Sloan, in “Hourly Workers Are Demanding Better Pay and Benefits — and Getting Them”