“April showers bring May flowers.” At first, I wasn’t sure why that thought popped into my head when these beautiful hyacinths arrived just in time for Easter weekend. But then I realized, it’s a metaphor for the past year. We’ve been in a seemingly endless period of April showers. But the flowers reminded me that while the rain is […]
From the mass exodus of women from the workforce to inequities in flexible work experiences, organizations continue to face a tsunami of issues as they deal with the global pandemic. We touched upon several of these critical topics during my recent conversation on the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Center Stage podcast series, which explores innovative […]
On February 28th, one year ago, HBR published my commentary, “What’s Your Company’s Emergency Remote Work Plan.” On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. In less than two weeks, we went from contingency planning to shutdown. This milestone caused me to reflect not only on COVID-19’s catastrophic human and economic toll […]
Over the past couple of weeks, the pandemic’s unrelenting impact on parents and mothers, in particular, has reached the breaking point. You can’t help but think of the classic scene of Howard Beale in the movie Network yelling, “I’m mad as *%#!, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” This rage is well-founded. Since […]
In March, employers around the globe told millions of workers – practically overnight – to “work from home until further notice”. Many of these employees had never worked remotely before. Most were given no training or guidance on how to work effectively in such a radically new way. Yet, remarkably, these newly formed remote teams […]
This Saturday, October 10th, is World Mental Health Day. If there was ever a moment when we needed to focus on mental health issues, it’s now. Last week, I facilitated a discussion with a group of CHRO’s for CNBC about leading the future of work in their organizations. The near-term mental health of their people […]
It’s happening again. We’re falling into an all or nothing trap. Before COVID-19’s almost overnight shift to remote work, the four-day workweek was the future of work topic du jour. Now, after a six-month collective “work from home” pilot, there’s a myopic focus on remote work as being THE future of work reality. This despite […]
Last week, a Society for Human Resource Management article “Remote Employees Are Working Longer Than Before” referenced a recent Robert Half study that found a majority of remote employees regularly report working weekends and working longer hours since the pandemic started. As I noted in the story, “Managing the boundaries between work and life is […]
In the next two weeks, we will experience the shortest day of the year, the end of 2020 (thank goodness), and the once-in-800 years alignment of Jupiter and Saturn. It reminds me of the anthropological concept of “liminality,” defined as a “transitional period or a phase of a rite of passage.” That’s where we are right now, […]
For millions of children, remote learning is a part of the back to school lesson plan. That means a third of the U.S. workforce faces a historic work and life reckoning. How can parents continue to work, either remotely or on site without a foundation of consistent, reliable childcare and in-school learning? Unless they receive an extra […]
Sign up to receive our latest insights and inspiration to help you reimagine work (and life) for success NOW and in the future.