Faculty Burnout Blazes
Between the pandemic, childcare issues, increased workload, and heightened expectations, faculty members are not in good shape. The risk for burnout is always high in academia, but now that risk is higher than ever. Instructors have had to move courses to a new platform, learn new technologies, avoid becoming ill—all while dealing with their personal lives.
Burnout, which includes mental health issues and disillusionment with work, occurs when people feel they have no control over their outcomes. The pressures of being on-call to students, caring for and teaching their own children, and high expectations from institutions combine to make this period especially challenging for all faculty.
Experts advise coping skills to ward off burnout:
- Don’t compare yourself to others.
- Know you are not alone.
- Recognize more work does not always equal productive work.
- Find space to recharge.
- Focus on teaching instead of research.
From InsideHigherEd
Ta-Ta, Open Offices
Another fallout from the pandemic may be the beloved open office format tech companies have embraced for several decades. In its place is the “dynamic workplace.”
With many workers toiling at home, open offices have become akin to ghost towns, and managers have been forced to rethink where their workers work. Organizations are talking about a “dynamic workplace,” in which fewer people come into the office on a given day and rotate being on-site with working remotely. These changes have obliterated the need for huge open spaces as a way to engender spontaneous interaction.
This new dynamic workspace will include moveable, soundproofed pods instead of fixed desks and café-style seating with outlets and wireless charging. To foster social distancing, workplaces will install sensors to track the number of people in an area and no-contact employee sign-in stations.
Whether companies even need the huge office spaces they currently use is up for grabs. Once the pandemic is over, it’s likely that a central location with workers huddled together will be no more.
LinkedIn Offers New Tool
In addition to a new look, LinkedIn has added a tool that allows users to post minute-by-minute updates that disappear in 24 hours, called Stories.
Created to share “lightweight conversations” related to an individual’s worklife, the feature allows people to casually discuss their careers. This leads to providing career coaches a way to share spontaneous advice for job seekers.
But experts warn that the new feature looks and acts a lot like Snapchat or Instagram and users should not be tempted to post pictures of meals or overshare. Neither should Stories be used to denigrate a boss or an organization. Instead, users should use the platform to post questions to their network, provide insights on breaking news, and offer tips for developing new skills.
From Business Insider
