Susan Bartlett

Read lots, think about what makes a workplace great, chase kiddos, play sports, send handwritten notes, futz with tech, plan adventures. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

Hey! I started a Substack. Maybe you would like to read too many words about zoom fatigue? Or even subscribe to get too many words delivered straight to your inbox every month?

[Workomics @workomics]

In the September Workomics newsletter, we dive into the multivariate causes of zoom fatigue.
https://t.co/WEyjxCLumZ

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

In the May Workomics newsletter, I wrote about the mechanics of something I'm calling no-drama feedback.

[Workomics @workomics]

https://t.co/2QeOTGjg6c

[Megan McArdle @asymmetricinfo]

So this weekend, I suggested that new graduates should start out by going into an office. This inspired a surprising amount of passion, from both those who agree and those who don't.

https://t.co/RgsgvROeVQ

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

In April's newsletter, some thoughts on customer experience, new research in virtual communication from @Nature, and an epic fail by me.
https://t.co/cifetKeWgH

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

Some of my longest-standing and most cherished friendships began in the workplace. Without them, I would be bereft.
We all need to chart our own paths to happiness. Friends-at-work is just one possible path, but it would be sad if that path was closed off because of hybrid work.

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

"Workplaces will never be the social hubs they once were. On the most basic level, the new normal of hybrid work means that we’ll be spending less time with our colleagues."

https://t.co/eCPSuGeyD1

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

"Perceived belonging to a community is often what encourages people to do more than is required of them" is framed as a negative to be avoided. Boundaries are important, but by my lights, doing more than is required of you, in service of others, is kinda the whole point.

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

“For me, it’s the right thing to do anyway…the employees generate all of the profits that we make. I’ve never frankly understood why capital gets all the excess profits.”

https://t.co/xzTqJNZsUM

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

"People are stretched too thin, missions are not clearly defined, and communication and cooperation break down. Meetings become a substitute for actual work getting done. Nobody is happy."

Loved this from Black Glass — it plagues everyone, not just CMOs.
https://t.co/P4YqwBKEsJ

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

“…everyone, before they ever go to work, has an inherent dignity that employers are bound to respect. That idea has rarely prevailed in the era of paid employment.”
@JonMalesic on precarity of so many jobs:
https://t.co/3X3EBpqYmH

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

Writing extraneous HR policies is my idea of a good time. In this month’s newsletter I share the @workomics policy on disconnecting from work. And cake!
https://t.co/adZ8KAWPbU

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

"Make it okay for employees to not be in a hyper-responsive state and schedule uninterrupted time to get into a state of flow. Similarly, make it not okay to be interrupting people on a whim."

A pre-pandemic perspective on shorter work days from HBR: https://t.co/s1HW8mkhad

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

"Though often forced into rigid, standardized routines, we are biological beings whose productivity ebbs and flows not only over the course of a single day but also when weeks of intense labor create the need to recharge."

@NYTimes questions 9-to-5:
https://t.co/ci7Vy2ElyQ

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

In which I publish my February newsletter just under the wire: on rewards and different types of motivation.
https://t.co/W5x6oTZnKf

[Ethan Mollick @emollick]

In virtual work, we lose the chance to engage in small talk, which, it turns out, really does matter. Chitchat fosters connection & increases well-being at work, even if it is distracting as well. Also interesting is the advice from the authors, one if whom hates small talk.

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

"the monastic principles of constraining work and subordinating it to moral and spiritual well-being might help us keep our demons at bay and recover the dignity in our labor and in ourselves."

How Benedictine monks approach work and spirituality:
https://t.co/qEPXoHRxuy

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

I assume it’s very much like Groundhog Day, except if the groundhog sees his shadow we have two more years of Covid.

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

In the words of my five year-old, “Happy hog ground day!”

[Susan Bartlett @sebartlett]

"Burnout is characteristic of our age because the gap between our shared ideals about work and the reality of our jobs is greater now than it was in the past."
@JonMalesic writes about burnout in the Guardian:
https://t.co/AjbR4fBqmB