Last week, I shared some of the Virginia Western ingenuity and teamwork that we’ve witnessed during the pandemic. I continue to welcome more of your emails! Pam Woody, an advisor in the School of Health Professions, shared the following: “I would like to recognize everyone on the Help Desk team — especially during the last two weeks where we were allowed to be on campus. They took time with each person checking their laptops to make sure all was installed correctly and ready to go from home. They all have extreme patience and the grace not to become frustrated as their work load increased greatly prior to March 20 and had to work with so many people in a short amount of time. They are a great team and all members work well together and are ready to pitch in where ever needed — great teamwork!” When I shared Pam’s message with Shivaji Samanta, Director of Information and Educational Technologies (IET), he added: “Glad to hear that the Help Desk is stepping up to the challenges of the new reality we are in now. I do have one comment to add to that. The Help Desk staff are in the… Continue Reading Thank you, Team IET!Read More
Last week, I shared how my family and I were coping with the pandemic … and I asked the college how the Campus Engagement workgroup might help. The engagement team’s purpose is to help enhance internal communication and knowledge sharing across Virginia Western. Becky Kraemer, VWCC’s Assistant Recruitment Coordinator (who also serves on the engagement team), quickly emailed me some examples of the positive — the joy! — happening in the midst of the crisis. Becky wanted to spotlight three coworkers (and all of them said it was OK to publish before this post went public). She wrote: Ray Wickersty (New Student Advisor): He made an awesome YouTube video demo-ing how to work Google voice so all the advisors and people in Chapman could get a hold of students during this time but protecting their real cell phone numbers. (Ray added that this allows anyone at the college to have a spare phone number to interact with students, thus protecting their personal phone numbers. He is setting up a Zoom meeting room at 9 a.m. weekly. If anyone would like to Zoom in and get some assistance or pose questions, he will be available. You can find Ray at: https://vccs.zoom.us/j/3723698837.)… Continue Reading Look at this ingenuity and teamwork!Read More
Last week, I tuned into a free webinar by IDEO U called “Remote Collaboration.” Sacha Connor, Founder of Virtual Work Insider, shared strategies for staying collaborative and creative while working from home (and none are about improving your Zoom background!) Here are my top three takeaways : 1. Spend some time thinking about new communication norms. How will your team primarily communicate? Does it make sense to have a regular (weekly or daily?) Zoom chat to touch base? And if so, what hours would be best to schedule? Maybe have a rule about no Zooms before 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m.? This all depends on individual team members and their circumstances, especially if they are juggling childcare responsibilities, etc. (And if you’re struggling with all of your responsibilities at home, be empowered to ask your supervisor for accommodations, like moving a Zoom time.) One idea shared … if frequent communication is essential to your team, maybe have a standing 9-9:30 a.m. “coffee chat,” where everyone just touches base while they get their coffee ready? 2. Preparation for Zoom meetings is really important! Are you facilitating meetings for your team? Sacha says sending a thorough agenda at least 24 hours… Continue Reading 3 tips for remote collaborationRead More
About Shelley
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.
Recent Posts
- Have you heard? October 28, 2024
- The Game of Life – Innovation Edition! August 29, 2024
- Why Try An LOI? May 10, 2024
- Grant Nerds Unite! March 12, 2024
- The Power of Collaboration November 17, 2023