Smiles as a Service

Not many people are familiar with the concept of Emotional Labor, despite it being a huge part of their jobs.

Let's take a look at what Emotional Labor is, how an organization such as Pivotal supports this well, and how it could support it better.

Transcript

1. Smiles as a Service Christopher Hendrix @materialdesignr A Play in Three Acts
2. Intro
5. Software Engineer
6. Product Designer
7. Product Manager
8. Hmm…
9. “I help people write the 
 software they need now,
 and teach them how 
 to write it better 
 in the future.”
13. – Rob Mee “Pivots teach and learn from each other, demonstrating empathy, trust, respect, communication, feedback, and collaboration at every turn.”
14. “I help people write the 
 software they need now,
 and teach them how 
 to write it better 
 in the future.”
15. Reflection Questions • Do we consider our work as only technical? • Do we consider feelings actual work?
16. Intermission
17. Emotional Labor • Arlie Russell Hochschild • 1979 - The Managed Heart • Delta Flight Attendants • Delta Bill Collectors
18. Physical Labor Cognitive Emotional
19. rules Organization displays Peers emotions Personal
21. Emotional Dissonance Emotional Harmony
22. Reflection Questions • Have you experienced moments of emotional harmony?
 What were those conditions? • Have you experienced moments of emotional dissonance?
 What were those conditions? What we just learned Emotional Labor (Arlie Hochschild)
 organizational rules, public displays, inner emotions
 
 Emotional Harmony - match
 Emotional Dissonance - don’t match

23. “Fake it” “Make it” vs Surface Acting Deep Acting
24. Reflection Questions • When was the last time you performed surface acting? • When was the last time you performed deep acting? What we just learned • Surface Acting - Changing just your outward displays • Deep Acting - Attempting to change your inner emotions
26. White Man Current State Effort Display Rule White Woman False Baseline Black Man Perceived Actual Extra Effort “Kindness”
27. Reflection Questions • Have you ever had a different set of standards for how
 a coworker should act? • Have you been judged on a different standard from 
 your peers? What we just learned • False Baseline • Extra Effort
28. Intersectionality • Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (1989)
29. Reflection Questions • What is your personal intersection? • Which of these are public? • Which of these are hidden? What we just learned • Intersectionality (Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw)
 Overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination Gender Gender Expression Sexuality Race Ethnicity National Origin Religion Ability Class
30. Intermission
31. emotions rules displays Organization Peers Personal
32. Organization Peers Personal • Retro • Hiring for empathy • Breaks • Cognitive bias training • D&I Efforts • Pivotal Pulse Survey • Kitten/Puppy gifs • Forced break software • Team Outings • Really long bathroom breaks • Mental Health Days
33. “It's very normal at Pivotal to encourage breaks…
 That's not necessarily viewed as productive in more traditional enterprise settings." –Ashok Sivanand
34. Reflection Questions • Are there other examples of what we do well? • How does this relate to other organizations you’ve 
 worked in? What we just learned
35. Organization Peers Personal • Vulnerability Training • In-house therapy • More Vacation • More Vacation flexibility • Hire clients based on empathy • ✔ Learn about Emotional Labor • “I wish you told me that” • Feelings @ Standup • Discernment Training • Deep Acting Training
36. Reflection Questions • What is something you can personally take action on
 to help support your peers? What we just learned
37. Outro
38. Questions?