Future of Work Roundup: August 26

This week’s Future of Work Roundup looks at what the kids are calling “quiet quitting,” plus some stats on how too many meetings are bumming us out.

Let’s talk about quiet quitting.

Gen Z and Millennials have latched onto the buzzword “quiet quitting” to cope with burnout, lack of motivation, and general disengagement with their jobs.

It’s giving disassociation. 

• It’s also giving boundaries. When people stay at jobs where they are burned out and don’t feel valued, they might quiet quit: aka, doing the bare minimum to just get through the day. That is until they find a new job that is more aligned with what they need, like flexible work situations and equitable pay.
• HR experts say to combat quiet quitting, leadership should encourage employees to take breaks and use their PTO – and to also do these, ala leading by example. They also suggest creating opportunities for novel work experiences that’ll harness new skills and encourage feelings of accomplishment. 

The bottom line: We all have to work, but we don’t have to be miserable while doing it. That means employers need to make their workplaces enjoyable so employees (and the business) can be effective and successful.

Source: The Washington Post

Having too many meetings is messing with us.

Burnout starts to creep in when you’re overworked – and that feeling of burnout is compounded when the overwhelm is from a bunch of pointless meetings.

It could’ve been an email.

• Research shows that over 70% of workers believe their work time is wasted because of unnecessary meetings. Even just waiting for meetings to start is wasteful – to the tune of 11 minutes per meeting, which ends up being three days per year. On top of all of this, 42% say they contribute nothing to these meetings. Savage.
• And all of this time twiddling our thumbs is making us stressed with digital fatigue. How so? The same data suggests that staring at a screen (aka yourself) for long periods of time increases self-awareness and anxiety. And when you aren’t in a physical room with people, nonverbal comms are lost, meaning that it’s harder to decipher tone which adds to misunderstandings and anxiety.

The bottom line: Businesses can help their employees’ physical and mental health by being more intentional about their time and having options for asynchronous calls so folks can tune-in when it works for them (or, skim through the meetings that don’t concern them).

Source: Small Business Trends