NEWS AND EVENTS
Farewell from Monica Norby
Since her official retirement on Dec. 31, 2019, Monica Norby, our former assistant vice chancellor for research, has continued in her federal relations role in a part-time capacity. She wrapped that work up in June and is now saying her official good-bye to ORED. She submitted the following letter bidding farewell to colleagues. Thanks for all you’ve contributed to ORED and the university, Monica!
Dear ORED Colleagues and Friends,
When I first came to the Office of Research in 1998 it resembled a startup, small and determined to do big things. The entire operation was housed on parts of the west and east sides of third floor Canfield, and Priscilla Grew was the vice chancellor.
So much has happened since then. ORED has made astounding progress, helping grow UNL research to record levels and growing into a large, complex and highly professional organization along with it.
We have had great success but most importantly, we have kept the ORED spirit. We have worked hard, had fun and accomplished great things together. I have been so fortunate to work with talented people who believed in the importance of their work and loved doing it.
I want to thank all of you for your support and friendship through the years and for making ORED such a wonderful place to work. I wish I could visit you in your offices and say goodbye. Stay safe, be well and take care of each other.
Smart Start Session: Tips on being a virtual team member, July 8 and 9
As we continue to work off campus, we may find that working as a team has a different feel or process. And while there are a number of articles on how to lead a virtual team, very little attention is given to how to be a virtual team member.
The upcoming training sessions will explore tips to being an effective team member when we only convene online. We’ll talk about improving communication skills, building trust and rapport, and coping with isolation.
One session already took place on June 30; two more are available:
- July 8, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
- July 9, 2-3 p.m.
Click here to register for the session of your choice. You will receive a calendar invitation that includes a link to the Zoom session. If you have questions, contact Laurie Sampson.
Summer Wellness Challenge: To the Beach!
ORED staff “stepped up” and met the goal of the Spring Wellness Challenge, visiting all of the Big Ten campuses. Because many of us don’t have a typical summer vacation planned this year, our Summer Wellness Challenge will take us to the beach – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to be exact. It’s 1,337 miles from UNL to the Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach.
All ORED colleagues are invited to submit your activities of the previous week on Mondays to Laurie Sampson, who is mapping out our progress. Each mile walked, ran, cycled or swam is added to activity minutes to calculate a total number of miles (20 minutes of activity is converted to one mile for those activities where distance isn’t measured).
COACH’S CORNER
Tips to Avoid Zoning Out in Zoom Meetings
You join a video conference call. You’re one of nine faces on the screen. About 10 minutes into the call, your mind starts to wander and you realize you have no idea what the last person just said. You pretend to keep listening while also checking your inbox. By the end of the meeting, you’ve caught up on some email but ultimately feel like it was another waste of time.
How can you give more to (and get more from) virtual meetings? It’s not through more or louder participation. Rather, the secret to effective participation involves thoughtful and targeted listening. Especially in a virtual context, listening needs to be active, participatory and helpful. Here are five strategies to listen more effectively in your next virtual meeting:
1. Define your value beforehand.
Take a few moments before the meeting starts to distill the purpose of the meeting and what your value could be. What is the most critical information you have? What is it you want to contribute? Be ready with those points.
2. Acknowledge previous statements.
Before you raise a new topic, reiterate what you just heard or the previous point you plan to riff on — even ask the speaker whether you’ve characterized their point correctly. Not only does this help the conversation, but it makes it more likely that others will hear what you have to say. People are more likely to listen if they first feel heard.
3. Connect the dots.
Listen carefully to participants’ contributions and then see how you can reflect on what you’ve heard to help move the conversation. By listening first and then connecting the dots, you can help the other participants understand the larger dynamic and guide the conversation in a productive direction.
4. Bring your attention back.
Despite your best efforts to listen, it’s natural for your mind to wander during the call. It happens to even the best listeners. It helps to have a pad of paper next to you. This act of writing down wandering thoughts allows you to put the thought “somewhere” so that you can return to it later, after the meeting has ended.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask a question.
Sometimes when you get distracted and then return your focus to the meeting, you may find that you are lost, as the conversation has moved in a new direction, and you missed the transition. Give yourself a few minutes to get back on track, and don’t be afraid to ask a clarifying question.
Ironically, one of the best ways to be heard is to be a good listener. Thoughtful, active listening raises your status in the conversation and makes it more likely that others will want to sit up and listen to you.
Thanks to Laurie Sampson for submitting these tips, which were adapted from the article Stop Zoning Out in Zoom Meetings by Sarah Gershman.
THE MONTH IN PICTURES
On June 9, the Lincoln Journal Star’s PhotoFiles section featured a set of photographs from our very own Whittier, back when it was a junior high school. Built in 1923, the building was the nation’s first to be constructed exclusively for junior high use. After the school closed in 1977, the University of Nebraska Foundation purchased the building in 1983. In 2007, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved a $24 million project to renovate Whittier into space dedicated to research. ORED staff moved into the building in February 2014, and the rest is history. Check out the Journal Star’s photos here.
Thanks to all who contributed to this month’s OPEN Book. If you have an item you’d like included next month, email Tiffany Lee.
