The Best of This Week

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How to Make Better Decisions About the Coronavirus

Unpredictable, high-stress situations spur cognitive biases that can influence decision-making in damaging ways. But understanding our biases — including status quo bias, political bias, and confirmation bias — gives us a better chance of making better choices. We’re likely to encounter these biases when making decisions about COVID-19.

You Don’t Need to Optimize Every Minute During a Pandemic

What are you doing with all this suddenly available “extra time” at home? The urge to overachieve reflects America’s always-on work culture, but overloading ourselves with at-home projects may be counterproductive. As the pressure to be productive in the midst of a pandemic stresses us even further, Taylor Lorenz of The New York Times offers a reminder that many of us are finding it harder and harder to focus and get things done — and that it’s OK not to be productive right now.

Overcoming 3 Challenges of Remote Work

Decentralized teams face a number of unacknowledged challenges that can have damaging consequences if unaddressed: low-bandwidth communication, unnecessary meetings, and loss of passive knowledge sharing. Overcome these remote-work communication challenges with these strategies.

A Remarkable Rush to Build Ventilators

Colombia’s public health care system, fragile in the best of circumstances, was likely to be priced out of the international market for ventilators. This article from Vanity Fair explores how an innovative alliance of techies, biomedical engineers, university faculty, doctors, and financiers is tackling this pressing medical problem.

Balancing Technology, Social Needs, and Virtual Work

In the past few weeks, millions of people have begun working from home with just days’ notice. Many of the challenges these new remote workers are encountering are fueled by the speed of change and the sense of shock. We’ve learned from earlier waves of virtual work that we need to acknowledge and balance three distinct elements: technology, social needs, and work rhythms.

What Else We’re Reading This Week:

• McKinsey considers how to demonstrate corporate purpose when what’s top-of-mind is survival
• The new version of normal for work and organizations is likely further off than we think
• Mass location data may be useful in tracking the coronavirus, but privacy is still a concern

Quote of the Week:

“None of us is immune to the current state of our world, our towns, our companies, and our teams — and front-line workers, most at risk in a number of ways, may be even more aware of the uncertainty than their leaders when times get tough. It’s critical for business and HR leaders to double down now on the few things that can help employees stay informed and updated, feel seen and heard, and keep focused and on track.”

— Amy Leschke-Kahle in “What Employees Need to Hear From Leaders in Times of Crisis”