MicroSoft Teams – Walk Into the Future

Inspiration Man—Florida Association of Colleges and Employers (FloridaACE) Keynote

Keynote

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”.

(Winston Churchill)

To keynote or not?

This was a question I faced back in October 2021 when one of my friends asked me to consider being the keynote speaker for a virtual Drive-In conference.

The Florida Association of Colleges and Employers (FloridaACE) members come from college/university Career Services and employers who maintain active on-campus recruiting programs.

I have been a member of FloridaACE for over 10 years and have made some great contacts throughout the state of Florida.

Fun fact, I was selected as the keynote for the inaugural Drive-In Conference back in 2016. I gave my keynote address at the University of Central Florida in the building I used to work in prior to moving to FSU. Who says you can’t come home again? 😊

The Drive-In Conference is designed to be shorter than a regular conference—a day and a half instead of a full week. The concept of the Drive-in Conference is to make it accessible to a large population of attendees who can physically drive to the location and not need hotel accommodations.

COVID-19 made the concept of virtual conferences come to life and this Drive-In Conference was switched to a virtual format.

I love to spread the Inspiration Man message to any group that will sit and listen. I hesitated to accept this request because it was via Zoom, and I did not know how my message would translate on a virtual platform. I love in-person audiences and feed off the crowd when I present. A virtual keynote was a challenge to me but one I am happy I accepted—things went well from start to finish.

The 2021 FloridaACE Virtual Drive-In Conference was titled: Gulf-to-Coast Connections.

I reached out to my friend to get a better understanding of the conference title and how significant it was to attendees. Turns out the term gulf was picked so people in western Florida would not feel left out. I decided to focus on the conference in terms of how people on both coasts (Gulf and Atlantic) could connect to build Authentic Connections. Yes, I put authentic in most things I do these days. 😊

Happy to report I accepted the Keynote invitation and was able to move the crowd on a virtual platform.

I researched the term Authentic Connections to build my knowledge base as I worked to create a presentation to inspire others. There is a ton of research available, and my new task was to filter this data in a way to build the presentation.

The key to any form of connection is RELATIONSHIPS. My goal during the keynote was to highlight to the attendees how technology (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, etc.) allow us to reach a larger audience than before. There was always a mindset to catch-up with colleagues during the annual in-person conference or workshop. This was an effective way to connect back in the day, but COVID created new options/ways to connect.

We can reach out to potential mentors and colleagues by utilizing the technology we have. My keynote centered on how FloridaACE members could leverage technology and build authentic connections.

Authentic Connections should be genuine, direct, and focused. My point for the group was to highlight relationships can be built virtually, in-person or a combination of both platforms. You must want to make a connection for it to happen. Networking with an intentional mindset helps build connections too.

I would have been remiss if I did not talk about some of the challenges we face when attempting to make new connections:

COVID-19
No in-person events
Zoom fatigue
Multiple platform (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, etc.)

Simply figuring out how and when to connect with others has been a challenge even for me.

Some folks prefer a phone call, others are all about Zoom and then you have a set who want in-person connections because they want to feel normal again. I shared with my audience it is okay to identify a preferred platform and stick with that. I prefer Microsoft Teams now when connecting with anyone not on-campus with me. The key to this I have found is to state the preference up-front and then provide a Microsoft Teams calendar invite to eliminate confusion on how/when we will connect.

The concept of recalibrate was addressed to ensure attendees understand they must adjust thought processes in today’s world. We are not going back to pre-COVID networking so finding authentic connections should be prioritized for them to happen. Following up after making a request is an outstanding way to continue to build the connections needed to make a difference in the world.

Being a keynote speaker during a virtual conference was a new experience for me but I was able to make several authentic connections during and after the event. Will see how many attendees follow-up with me and leverage the wisdom I dropped on them.

How do you make/ensure authentic connections in your world? Thanks!

“Speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners”.

(Dale Carnegie)

One year in Fort Pierce

Fort Pierce

“Your life is a story of transition. You are always leaving one chapter behind while moving to the next”.

(Anonymous)

2020 brought us a year of uncertainty and change. Not the most prophetic thing I have ever written for the Walk into the Future blog but felt the need to drop that nugget.

I celebrated the one-year mark of my move to Fort Pierce on April 13^th and decided to look back. I am sure I was not the ONLY person to move to a new city during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but have not met anyone in my current circle. Turns out I was the last employee hired by Indian River State College before a hiring freeze was imposed due to COVID-19 uncertainty and the onset of remote work for all college employees.

I remember when I was preparing to move from Tallahassee to Fort Pierce the thought kept coming up that maybe my opportunity to work at Indian River State College would be pulled due to the pandemic. I called a few times to make sure I was still hired, and Human Resources kept saying yes. Packed up the U-Haul, pointed it south and the rest is history—arrived in Fort Pierce without knowing the pandemic was about to get a whole lot worse than we expected. It did not help the government kept telling people there was nothing to worry about—that dang U.S. government, they have never lied before, right? 😊

I never had a remote work schedule when I arrived—being new to the area, going into the office was my only interaction with other people. The limited staff in the buildings all wore masks and practiced physical distancing but going to work was a welcomed part of my day. I could not imagine moving to a new city and then sitting at home all day without seeing anyone.

True story—my entire staff was working remotely so I met my 11-person team on my laptop via a Zoom meeting. Never thought this would be possible but 2020 made us find creative ways to get things done. My initial staff meetings were all done via a virtual platform (Zoom, Black Board Collaborate or Microsoft Teams). I love the functionality of Microsoft Teams and continue to conduct staff meetings with this platform. Most of the staff are fully vaccinated but we still have a few stragglers—hope to be able to get everyone together with physical distancing in the fall—fingers crossed.

I had to find new running routes over the past year. Discovered Fort Pierce is not as runner friendly as Tallahassee or Oviedo so finding places to run safely continues to be a challenge. I have two good running areas but would like more routes for a change of scenery. I love running but still get bored if I do not have variety on my routes. Will keep searching for new places to run because I need to extend my long runs with my focus on becoming a running tourist again. I have race entries for the following:

2021 Rock n Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon / September 5, 2021
2021 Orlando Utility Commission (OUC) Half Marathon / December 4, 2021
2022 Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon / February 6, 2022

Would like to add more races but need to build my long runs back up to 12+ miles again.

My initial workouts in Fort Pierce were done strictly at home. Most of the gyms closed due to COVID-19 protocols and I would not have ventured in even if they were open. I stopped going to the gym before leaving Tallahassee because the gym environment is a prime place for close contact with others. This close contact led to people spreading the virus so I invested in workout equipment so I could maintain my fitness levels from home. Surprisingly, I stayed in great physical shape with home workouts. I have slowly returned to the gym but only go two days a week now when I am in town. I do body weight workouts (pushups, crunches, squats, etc.) in the mornings before I head to work. I am happy with my results and will keep this up since it is working and a lot cheaper than having a gym membership. 😊

The beaches on the Treasure Coast provide me with great places to sit, relax and catch up on my reading. Funny, I live about 10 minutes from a beach but find I must schedule my beach outings. I run close to the water and stop to enjoy the views but need to do a better job of just making beach days. I am heading to Melbourne tomorrow for an air show and will get an early start so I can stake my claim to a prime beach location to relax and enjoy the Blue Angels as they put on their show. I plan to get to the beach more this year and keep taking beautiful sunset shots.

Time continues to move forward. It feels like I just got here yesterday but it has been a year. Most days seemed to be the same due to COVID-19 protocols but a year it has been. Looking forward to new adventures in 2021 and you know I am going to highlight a few in the Walk into the Future blog! 😊

Irie!

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly”.

(Henri Bergson)

Leading from a distance

(Image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay)

“Leading remotely makes the complex role of leading even more complex”.

(Kevin Eikenberry)

The year 2020 started with a bang for us all and the promise of a fantastic year.

The term 2020 Vision was used to highlight the promise this was going to be the year where vision became reality and positive things were coming.

2020 has been a lot tougher than most of us would like but there have been positive things to be thankful for. We must remember tough times now can lead to positive outcomes in the future.

One area of my Walk into the Future where I really needed 2020 Vision was after accepting my role in Fort Pierce and discovering my entire team was working remotely. Imagine moving to a new city during a pandemic, taking over a work environment and meeting your entire team on your laptop. Strange times but quickly discovered all my leadership training, speaking, and consulting experience were needed for me to make positive things happen.

I have read a lot of leadership books and written multiple articles on authentic leadership. There is not a manual on how to come in on day one and begin to lead a remote team. Trust me, I searched for that book for days!

You always want to make a great first impression, but it is tough to gauge your direct reports via a laptop screen. Things are progressing but I continue to learn new tools and techniques daily. 2020 Vision has morphed into a new mantra to remain focused and control the controllable.

Teambuilding

A first step to build a great team is to ensure teambuilding is a central focus to get everyone on the same page and moving in the correct direction. I have written about several teambuilding exercises we have completed (MBTI, The Energy Bus) and the need to help each team member grow professionally. We completed these activities in a complete physical distancing environment where staff members engaged each other via computers from separate offices. Let’s repeat that…we were together via a Zoom like application (Blackboard Collaborate), in different locations, and working on our teambuilding activities. Not ideal but it can be done.

Never imagined this was possible but got the 2020 Vision to try this and tweak as needed. We have been able to enhance team dynamics and maintain our physical distance from each other. I continue to look for interactive ways to engage the team using computer technology and ensure we have fun with the process.

Work schedules

2020 Vision allows me to understand the traditional concept of work schedules went out the window earlier this year. Not saying people do not have to work but the COVID-19 pandemic created a huge work from home dynamic. Jobs traditionally done within the office environment were rapidly transformed to work from home. This was a major change for everyone, and work schedules had to change as well. Gone were the typical 8 am – 5 pm work schedules since people had to juggle work, childcare, home schooling and a myriad of other tasks daily.

I learned quickly when staff needed time to take care of their home life. Also learned the work from home mindset is not the same for everyone. Some folks are just as motivated working from home as they were in the office. I came to understand that some are not as motivated working from home—human nature kicks in for these folks.

My role has evolved to ensure everyone can use the technology we have available to complete work assignments. We needed to create communication channels to check in without being overly connected daily. I am still learning and evolving in this area, but we are getting things done.

Mental well-being

My initial thoughts for this section was to write about helping my staff with their mental well-being. We do that daily but one aspect I continue to focus on is my mental well-being. My workouts and running program are great escapes for me from the daily grind of leading a team from a distance. This new world of work seems to always have someone trying to schedule a Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Blackboard Collaborate meeting—they never stop! ☹😊

Finally had to tell some coworkers to ask before just jamming a virtual meeting on my calendar. This is a constant reminder the world of work has changed—mostly for the good but there can be a bad side to always being connected. I work to connect with my staff daily to make sure they are doing well. I do not email, call, or text them after work hours to model behavior that honors a true work and life balance. Small steps!

I am still learning how to operate in this new world of work.

What techniques do you use to not be connected all the time? How has your 2020 vision changed from earlier in the year?

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something”.

(Plato)

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