Yes. My mind, like the rest of the COVID-19 world’s, is really all over the place and it’s harder to focus on one thing for very long when all is so uncertain. However, there is one thing that never fails to spark my curiosity. The opportunity to learn has offered me reassurance that I do still have the ability to completely immerse myself and leave some of the COVID blues behind if only for a bit. In the true spirit of Working Out Loud, here’s a bit of where my focus has gone as I stay in the thirsty for knowledge game.
I’m in total sponge mode right now about evaluating and reviewing the vast amount that is coming at us about virtual teams and events. I’ve worked in virtual collaborative and remote teams for a really long time. The last two years up until COVID-19, I’d been working entirely virtually due to geography, and have rarely felt too far removed from the on site team based on our use of Slack to stay connected. As a long-time digital collaboration advocate, implementer and curator, the important truths of the good, the bad and the indifferent for these remote knowledge exchange spaces resonate deeply with my own experiences. I’m getting a big kick to learn more about how remote teams are infusing their time together with humor and humanizing to stay engaged.
I’m currently sampling from diverse and compelling resources and see themes emerging from all these disparate channels. Having the freedom to open so many different lenses to view this topic has inspired me to revamp my own virtual event practices and to put my own knowledge exchange and capture stamp on my coming work on the subject. The tools may be in constant beta, but the need to establish a culture of trust, engagement and problem-solving does not.
Hey, cool! My other sponge mode topic comes from the Henry Stewart Managing Metadata in the DAM course. I’m sure many of you are now clicking out of this post, but before you leave, give some thought to using your separation time to keep your own know-how continually relevant especially if you find yourself in some form of unemployment. It’s a real comfort to interact with experts who speak the same language that you do and to hear others’ context for solving challenges in your field. I like the feelings of confidence I get from hearing more about what I do know and really love becoming curious to learn more about what I don’t.
What are you learning, creating or working on out there, remote humans?