The Best of This Week

To Solve Grand Challenges Virtually, Digital Inclusion Is Key

When hackathons are held virtually, people from a variety of circumstances have an opportunity to participate. Research focused on global hackathons related to the COVID-19 crisis over the past year offers insights into how to make remote collaboration succeed with participants who have diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experience with technology.

Supporting Pride Month Requires More Than Rainbow Logos

Companies that treat Pride Month as a campaign need a disciplined, programmatic approach if they’re to change their mindset to one of commitment. This approach focuses on stakeholders representing the “three C’s”: the company, its customers, and the community.
 

A Year Later, Assessing How 2020’s Racial Reckoning Shook Up Big Tech

Last summer, the world watched as protest after protest erupted across the U.S. and the world in support of Black lives. Tech companies started pledging to do things differently, claiming they would doggedly support Black workers, Black organizations, and Black companies via investments, donations, and hiring pledges. A year later, how have the lives of Black tech workers, users, and citizens been altered by the bold commitments these companies made?

Reimagining Workspaces for Social Connection

A sense of connection with colleagues has been missing for many employees who had to switch to remote work during the pandemic. As businesses consider a return to in-person work, the question of what kinds of experiences benefit from what kinds of spaces can no longer be treated as though “one size fits all.” Leaders will need to anticipate and shape the kinds of social moments that enable richer, more meaningful human connections in our offices and work lives.

Three Ways to Compete for Tech Engineers in a Highly Competitive Market

The market for tech engineers is highly competitive. To pick the right candidate — and to improve the likelihood that they’ll pick you — consider prioritizing soft skills, updating your interview process, and offering more growth opportunities.

What Else We’re Reading This Week

• What burnout really means — and what leaders and employees can do about it (Source: The Washington Post)
• How companies can help employees of all ages — including older workers, the fastest-growing segment of the workforce — thrive in today’s multigenerational workplace (Source: MIT SMR)
• A new study from Wharton on evidence-based diversity, equity, and inclusion practices (Source: Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania)
• 25 micro-habits of highly effective managers (Source: First Round Review)

Quote of the Week:

“There is a good chance that those who have been working from home have come to appreciate the autonomy they have gained. Some employees might bristle if this management trust in employee capabilities to work more autonomously suddenly ceased.”

— David Pauleen, a professor in technology management at the School of Management at Massey University in New Zealand, in “How Working From Home Has Changed Employees”