Your Local Information Microportal

1. How three myths can kill strategic planning. Strategic thinking is a process that defines the manner in which people think about, assess, view, and create the future for themselves and others. But strategic thinking often boils down to choosing what not to do. Yet three myths continue to plague it. READ MORE

2. Study reveals Covid ignorance. Just half of people in the UK are able to correctly identify the main symptoms of Covid-19, a major study has found. Researchers from Public Health England and King’s College London also found that fewer than one in five people (18%) in the UK get tested if they have Covid symptoms, while only 43% stuck to self-isolation rules. The researchers also concluded that “the current form of the UK’s test, trace, and isolate system is limited”. The Observer

3. Gender equality will take 135 years. Amid a pandemic that has an outsized impact on female workers, the time it will take to close the global gender gap has increased from 99 years to 135 years, according to the global gender report produced by the World Economic Forum. Women around the world lost their jobs at a higher rate than men, 5% vs 3.9% among men, and sectors where job opportunities are growing are significantly underrepresented by women. In cloud computing, women make up just 14% of the workforce and in engineering they comprise 20% of workers. The WEF has two major recommendations to reverse these trends: [1] Focus on long-term solutions, such as expanding the availability of childcare to all workers. [2] Put structures in place so tech-intensive roles that are growing in the economy need to be filled by more female talent. Metro

4. Report suggests scrapping BAME. The term BAME should no longer be used by public bodies and companies, the government’s disparities commission has recommended. A report by the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities is expected to say BAME has become “unhelpful and redundant”. The label is an acronym for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. The report will also include research suggesting that the term “ethnic minority” is more popular with people from ethnic minorities than “BAME”. Daily Mail

5. Reset work-life boundary when WFH. With the home now the office for so many workers, the elusive work-life balance is becoming even more unattainable. Experts say the best way to avoid being "always on" is to shift the focus away from balance and establish work-life boundaries instead. Here are three ways leaders can lead by example. [1] Declare your intention: All workplaces have different expectations, so make sure your team knows they don’t have to work around the clock and that it’s OK to unplug. [2] Define ‘urgent’: Set specific expectations for the level of urgency of any request. [3] Show you mean it: Don’t send emails outside business hours as your team will think they have to follow suit. Editor

6. Hey, you. Yes, you. Stop overworking. It’s not just you. The workday from home feels a lot longer during the pandemic, and that’s likely because people can’t stop working. Work-life boundaries haven’t just blurred, they’ve vanished, with many working nonstop to cope with the crisis and because “burning out beats being unemployed.” But experts say it’s unsustainable, and employees and companies are trying various strategies to combat burnout. Some workers are setting alarms to signal the workday has ended, while employers are encouraging breaks, establishing "Zoom-free Fridays" and scheduling companywide days off. The Wall Street Journal

7.  Time to embrace four-day week. British companies could join their counterparts in Spain, New Zealand and Germany in trialling a four-day working week. nearly 300,000 businesses, including Unilever, are experimenting with the concept, with campaigners stating: “The Covid pandemic has effectively killed off the 9 to 5, five-day working week.” The UK currently works longer hours than any country in the EU except Greece and Austria, clocking in at an average 42.5 hours per week. Four-day working weeks would bring that number down to around 32 hours. The Times

8. To feel happy, study happiness. If you want to feel happy – or at least, achieve a state of contentment – it might be a good idea to study happiness. Students at Bristol University who completed a “science of happiness” course not only learnt something new; they were also found to be more upbeat at the end of it than their peers who had not taken the course. The three-month module had two strands: one academic; the other, practical. The former covered the psychology and neuroscience of happiness. The latter involved performing acts of kindness. The Guardian

9. Best and worst service stations named. It may be one of the smallest service stations on the motorway network but Bridgwater has been named the pits by a consumer watchdog. It was awarded just one star out of five for all categories analysed by consumer group Which?, including cleanliness, range of facilities and prices. At the other end of the scale, Gloucester services - an hour's drive up the M5 - was ranked number one. It received four of five stars for all categories, with a customer score of 86%. Daily Mirror

10. The bottom line. Reports of possible furlough fraud have doubled since October to more than 26,000. The scheme, which has cost taxpayers £57bn since it launched a year ago, has protected around 11.4m jobs. There have also been 24,000 reports of potential misuse of the £46bn “bounce back” loan scheme. The Times.