Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for succeeding in the
Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to just
Speaker 1: try it out. Lots of us are attempting to do
Speaker 1: life in different ways right now. Not everything will work.
Speaker 1: That's fine. Having an experimental mindset serves us well now
Speaker 1: and when life is more normal too. Like many people
Speaker 1: listening to this podcast, I've spent the past few weeks
Speaker 1: becoming more familiar with Zoom than I ever thought possible.
Speaker 1: Since I run my own business out of a home office,
Speaker 1: I've long had a Zoom Pro account, but I used
Speaker 1: it once or twice a week, and only on my
Speaker 1: main laptop and only for work. But over the past
Speaker 1: few weeks, I've been amazed at how many types of
Speaker 1: virtual inner action people have attempted. The first creative option
Speaker 1: we tried was a virtual music lesson. My kids music
Speaker 1: teacher had me set up the laptop right behind the
Speaker 1: piano so we could watch the keys and the music.
Speaker 1: We tried virtual karate, with the instructors showing moves and
Speaker 1: the kids repeating them. My kids are all doing morning
Speaker 1: meetings with their teachers, and my five year old sits
Speaker 1: on my lap to have preschool virtual circle time. He
Speaker 1: tried movement and music class this way, and my choir
Speaker 1: has even been meeting together virtually. Now. For people familiar
Speaker 1: with zoom, you might recognize a potential problem with the
Speaker 1: last one. It's hard to listen to more than one
Speaker 1: voice at a time. When we try singing songs at
Speaker 1: preschool circle time, we sound disjointed, but no one expects
Speaker 1: anything else from preschool circle time. With a choir, well
Speaker 1: that's a different matter. But our conductor sends us sheet music,
Speaker 1: meets us all and plays the piano while we each
Speaker 1: sang our own parts. We can't hear each other, but
Speaker 1: we're still singing together. I've loved seeing pictures on social
Speaker 1: media of virtual happy hours. Some personal trainers have told
Speaker 1: me they're doing a brisk business virtually. A wardrobe consultant
Speaker 1: I follow on social media has been doing virtual styling sessions,
Speaker 1: and of course, the telemedicine world has exploded. Some things
Speaker 1: are best done in a medical office, but when people
Speaker 1: have to we just try stuff out, and not all
Speaker 1: of it works. My five year old, for instance, can't
Speaker 1: pay attention long enough to do much virtually, so karate
Speaker 1: and music aren't really happening right now. Oh well, we
Speaker 1: focus on doing one thing a day that we can
Speaker 1: try with an adult present, and then we let the
Speaker 1: rest go. There are a few ways of making the
Speaker 1: try it out mindset work. First, approach anything in the
Speaker 1: spirit of assuming that people are doing their best. Whether
Speaker 1: this is true or not, we're better off believing it,
Speaker 1: which goes for life in general. Second, build in a
Speaker 1: value time into all events. At the end, talk about
Speaker 1: what didn't work, but be sure to talk about what
Speaker 1: did work too, Ask for suggestions on how things can improve,
Speaker 1: and if you're managing people, actually try out whatever crazy
Speaker 1: suggestions people have. Don't just say that won't work because
Speaker 1: of X, Y or Z. Yes, in fact, it may
Speaker 1: be true that it won't work because of X, Y
Speaker 1: or Z. Still, you're better off having a less than
Speaker 1: immediately productive thirty minutes. If the upside is making sure
Speaker 1: your people know that you want them to share ideas
Speaker 1: and you never know you may stumble on something brilliant.
Speaker 1: You won't know unless you commit to just trying it out.
Speaker 1: If you've experimented in your new working style and have
Speaker 1: found something intriguing that works. I'd love to hear about it.
Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's the succeeding in the new quarter office. The New
Speaker 1: Corner Office is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.