Work-life tension focus of Gallagher’s SAC assembly talk; University Times, 5/26/16

Marty Levine, University Times; Work-life tension focus of Gallagher’s SAC assembly talk:

"“Technology has actually disrupted how we live and how we work,” Chancellor Patrick Gallagher told a packed William Pitt Union Assembly Room for the keynote address at the Staff Association Council’s May 10 spring assembly. “We all need to make the tension explicit. There needs to be a very open discussion between you and your supervisor, you and your colleagues,” he said, “because it’s not reasonable to assume that any time that phone pings you should be ready to drop one role … and be ready to respond to this at any time.

“We’ve all been involved in email threads at ridiculous hours that we wish we weren’t involved in,” Gallagher acknowledged. “I’m not going to tell you never to send me something — but just know that unless I feel like I have to respond to you, I’m not going to” — at least not until the morning...

Before smartphones, time management was easier, he allowed: “You punched in, you worked, you punched out, you went home. It’s become a lot more confusing to handle the boundary between the two” realms of work and home today, with messages arriving from home, friends and other organizations during normal work hours and work intruding on home and community life...

“There’re no real easy answers here,” Gallagher said, but he encouraged people to maintain a vibrant home life “because it enriches the community as well.

“When we’re at the beck and call of the institution we work for … we do run the risk of making a major mistake”: ignoring our own needs and well-being. “A healthy, happy, fulfilled and engaged person — the University wants that,” he said, adding: “It’s not in anyone’s interest for you to be sick.” For those suffering from extremes of stress, repetitive motion injuries or other injuries at work, or illness from the flu and other serious physical ailments or mental health issues, “all the other roles have to stop” while you get better, he said."