Bots, burnout and blame: How to use IT to build better organisations

Wednesday 5th September 2018, 6:30 pm.

Speaker: Matthew Bellringer MBCS BSc (Hons)

Venue: Room 4.31, University of Edinburgh Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh.

This event is free of charge and open to all, though please register via Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/2MmiT19

Refreshments and networking from 6:00 pm.

Synopsis

In our working lives we have tools that would seem magical to employees a hundred years ago. Our hand-held devices connect us immediately to most of the combined knowledge of humanity. Our working conditions have improved immeasurably. So why are levels of anxiety and depression so high? Poor workplaces cause their staff to feel this way. This leads to poor decision-making and organisational failure.

We will consider key personal and organisational factors which give rise to workplace stress, and what can be done about them. We'll look at research which suggests that the most effective organisations are not the most stressful, and that high performance is not the result of over-work. We'll look at the way AI and machine learning can contribute to transforming organisations into the kind of places people really want to work. This talk will help you both as an employee and a manager to build an environment which allows for greater wellbeing and higher performance.

There will be a talk followed by a discussion.

About the speaker

Matthew Bellringer is founder of Meaningbit LTD, a startup which helps organisations and their people grow and innovate together. He is shortly finishing his role as Microsoft Services Manager at the University of Sussex to concentrate on the startup full-time. He has worked in IT for over fifteen years, largely in education and the third sector.