Building Remote Relationships

Written By: Sandi MacCalla ~ 6/13/2022

Cultivating remote relationships can be as natural as in-person meetings where we all automatically kick in gear our six senses reading full body language, tonality and words. I am thinking the shift to remote teams is sharpening up our listening/observation skills and thoughtful questioning.

Virtual Meetings:

• Meeting Hosts – please open the meeting link 10-15 minutes early to minimize tech challenges and greet/visit with early arrivals.)
  
  
• Attendees:
  • Arrive 5-10 minutes early
  • Visit with others that are early
  • Observe Levels of conversation & trust building (each level opens to the next when exchanges hit trust thresholds):
    • Small talk on neutral topics
    • Fact Exchange – build connection sharing your facts.
    • Opinions – reveal your experiences and beliefs.
    • Feelings – as trust builds, friendship deepens allowing vulnerability.
  • Learn something new about another attendee at each meeting.
    • It’s totally fine to keep it to one person … the days of loading up your pocket with business cards are gone. Thank goodness!
  • Notice and comment on one interesting observation of another person at each meeting.
    • Listen for cues on activities of others and be curious about their interests.
    • Share your involvement with the same activity, but reserve full details to let them ask you questions. No need to overshadow their interests with yours.
    • Even light comments can warm up connections: “I think my wife would love those earrings you’re wearing!”
  • Compliment another person’s insightful comments in Chat to the whole group.
  • Notice your internal conversation which may instigate another line of questions/dialogue.
  • After a meeting, be alert to any social media/news that correlates to an earlier conversation. If appropriate, share a relevant item with a quick email note that may go like:
    • “Great to chat with/meet you last week … “
    • “Noticed this article and thinking back to our conversation, thought you may be interested in…”

For more relationship building, University of Washington Medicine has published information that is easy to try with related health benefits: 4 Tips for Making Friends - Right as Rain by UW Medicine

Next, we’ll discuss well-tested ways to boost all ‘front-liners’ serving and helping others. Many of us are “tough customers” when navigating our lives through traffic, foodservice, shopping, medical care, and all other venues. All of our social savviness can be put to the test. We’ll chart some new ways to co-exist while minimizing rough exchanges.

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Written By: Chip Rudolph ~ 6/20/2022

THANKFUL THURSDAYS show ways to be thankful throughout the year. This month, the focus is on graduations.

Graduations arrive at numerous intervals in life:

• Preschool
• Elementary School
• Middle School
• High School
• College
• Specialized Achievement

Each accomplished level has meaning for students. They experience many feelings:

• Worthy
• Proud
• Satisfied
• Included

Parents also have emotions overflowing at these times. They experience the occasion from a different perspective.

• Joy
• Relief
• Thankful
• Grateful

From an early age, any celebrated milestone or accomplishment helps a child with self-esteem, confidence, a sense of teamwork, positivity, and a will to do more or keep going.

We all are instruments of learning and influence. Celebrate your children, nieces and nephews, neighbors, friends, and any in your life that cross one of these milestones. Cheer them on. Let them know the world is paying attention. Let them know that they make a difference and are not invisible. They are tomorrow’s leaders. How we communicate with them will resonate for decades to come. In effect, we are influencing the future by how we interact with youth today.

CELEBRATE ANY AND ALL GRADUATIONS, GREAT AND SMALL.

On the fourth Thursday of November, we gather together to give thanks for our blessings. With all that is going on in our world today, it is important to find the positive parts of life.

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Written By: Sandi MacCalla ~ 6/13/2022

Working online brings on equality and focus. These two attributes are critical to engaging your super-powers and serving others.

As a new vehicle of conducting business, users receive immediate feedback on what is successful in ‘live’ relationships. It does require perception, reflection, and skilled listening. Consider these like muscles – they need exercise to develop.

To reverse engineer any upcoming remote meeting (identify your goal first and work backwards):

• Allow yourself to envision the BEST OUTCOME:
  • If helpful, jot down key results you seek. Thanks Pexels – Polina Zimmerman
• Online meeting platforms allow individuals to speak, query and contribute:
  • Through Chat
  • Raise your hand to speak
  • Start with your objective first
  • Next, fill in key details and answer questions
  • Save the “best for last” – the “WHY” behind your comments.

Equality:

• Remote meetings equally engage all to contribute:
  • We’re all the same height online.
  • We’re all on the beach somewhere.
• Informational sharing (links, resources, etc.) can easily be posted in Chat and shared with all.

Focus:

• Only one person can speak (and be heard) at a time.
  • When you’re in the spotlight, respect yourself and others by speaking clearly, focusing your comments on the topic under discussion. Or, in the alternative, suggest and get buy-in to shift the line of discussion to a new direction.
• Honor others by reducing sight and sound on your side of the screen:
  • Blur your background or green-screen a static image that communicates your “WHO” to others.
    • Background motion draws listeners to involuntarily follow the action:
      !SQUIRREL! (Thank you Pexels-Ralph)
  • Mute your mic when you are not speaking and press the space bar to speak.
    • Background sounds can distort your message for some listeners.

Join in this topic with your “live – you can’t make this stuff up” stories. We gladly share (anonymously, if requested) all anecdotal wisdom to “master your game of life!”

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