2021年经济学人 如何高效管理远程办公的团队(2)

Mr Citrin and Ms Derosa also warn of the dangers of virtual meetings.

西特林和德罗萨还警告了虚拟会议的危险性。

Just because it is possible to schedule one does not mean it is necessary or wise to do so.

仅仅因为时间上可以安排，并不意味着这样做是必要的或明智的。

Poorly run meetings do not just waste time, they jeopardise the ability to meet deadlines, adding to workers’ stress.

会议开得不好不仅浪费时间，还会影响员工按时完成任务的能力，增加员工的压力。

Long meetings should have breaks, which the manager should take responsibility for enforcing.

长时间的会议应该有休息时间，管理者应该负责执行。

And any meeting should be 20 or 50 minutes long, rather than 30 minutes or an hour, to allow for a gap between sessions in an hourly schedule.

任何会议的长度都应该是20或50分钟，而不是30分钟或一个小时，以便在以小时为单位的会议安排间留出间隙。

At times, the authors’ advice becomes a little generic¹.

有时，作者的建议比较笼统。

Virtual meetings should have one of four objectives, they argue: to solve problems, make decisions, to gain support or build relationships.

他们认为，虚拟会议应该有以下四个目标之一：解决问题、做出决定、获得支持或建立关系。

Sadly, in Bartleby’s experience, an inventive manager could describe almost all meetings as conforming to at least one of these criteria².

遗憾的是，根据巴特比的经验，一个有创造力的经理可以将几乎所有的会议描述为至少符合其中一个标准。

Later in the book, they describe the most important characteristics for virtual leaders as including “strong communications and interpersonal skills, initiative, flexibility³ and the ability to learn and adapt”.

在这本书的后面，他们描述了虚拟领导者最重要的特征，包括“强大的沟通和人际关系技巧、主动性、灵活性以及学习和适应的能力”。

Surely these are useful attributes for all leaders, whether operating remotely or not?

当然，这些特质对所有领导者来说都是有用的，无论是否远程操作对吧?

And some of the suggestions seem distinctly offbeat⁴.

其中一些建议似乎非常不寻常。

As part of team-building, the authors propose that colleagues display pictures on their bookshelves or give a tour of the kitchen and tell the stories behind the items within it.

作为团队建设的一部分，作者建议同事们在书架上展示照片，或者带大家参观一下厨房，讲述里面物品背后的故事。

Much as Bartleby would love to hear about Bagehot’s egg whisk or Schumpeter’s salad spinner, he hopes this idea does not catch on at The Economist⁵.

尽管巴托比很想听听关于白芝浩的鸡蛋打蛋器或熊彼特的沙拉旋转器的事，但他希望这个想法不会在《经济学人》流行起来。

The same goes for the suggestion that virtual festive⁶ parties would be enlivened by having staff dress up, with a vote on the best outfit⁷, or for colleagues to submit videos of their children or pets.

同样，有人建议，通过让员工盛装打扮、投票选出最佳着装，或让同事提交自己孩子或宠物的视频，使虚拟节日派对变得活跃起来。

Pet videos should be confined to YouTube.

宠物视频应该上传到油管上。

A few things must change when people work remotely.

当人们远程办公时，有些事情必须改变。

But not everything does.

但并不是所有事情都是如此。

Managers will need to make a more determined⁸ effort to keep in contact with their staff but those who are good at listening, and who can empathise with how their team members are coping, should still be able to flourish.

管理者需要更加坚定地努力与员工保持联系，但那些善于倾听、能够同步理解团队成员所做的事情的人，仍然能够茁壮成长。

If, as most people expect, a hybrid⁹ model emerges with remote working a couple of days a week, there will be plenty of scope for interaction when managers and team members are both present.

如果像大多数人所期望的那样，出现一种一周远程工作几天的混合模式，那么当管理者和团队成员都在场时，将会有大量的互动空间。

What office life doesn’t need is gimmicks¹⁰.

办公室生活不需要花招。

Work colleagues do not need to be treated like game-show contestants¹¹.

工作伙伴不需要被当作游戏节目的参赛者对待。

1 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

4 offbeat   

adj.不平常的，离奇的

参考例句：

• She adores old,offbeat antiques.她非常喜欢那些稀奇古怪的老古董。
• His style is offbeat but highly creative.他的风格很不寻常但非常有创造力。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

7 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

10 gimmicks   

n.花招，诡计，骗人的玩意儿( gimmick的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Financial institutions are also often expected yield of gimmicks. 金融机构也往往以预期收益率为噱头。 来自互联网
• However these are just marketing gimmicks that propagate the myth. 然而这些只是噱头的营销传播的神话。 来自互联网

11 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》