Over the last few months, we have all had to get used to a lot of new things. One that we are hearing a lot about is the change to working from home. For those of us lucky enough to be working, and to have jobs where it’s possible, working from home has become our new normal.

Over the last 3 months, many of us have found ourselves in a totally new situation where we are managing teams from a distance. In Human Services this has been pretty rare, especially in the public sector. So we decided to reach out to someone who has been doing this for a long time to get some tips and thoughts on how to be an effective manager from a distance. In this episode, Maureen Leif (President and Executive Producer) has a conversation with Tara Risser. In her role with Equinix, Tara has been managing teams around the globe for many years.

We are All Ostriches Now: A News from the Peak interview with Brett St. Clair

By David Ramm, Senior Consultant, Grays Peak Strategies

The first full-length podcast in our recently launched News from the Peak series focuses on crisis communication during the time of COVID-19.

To get an expert’s view of how to handle both this specific situation and other crises that could arrive at any time, I interviewed Brett St. Clair, an accredited public relations expert with more than 25 years of experience in the field and the leader of Western Skyline Marketing & Communication.

We are excited to announce the release of our new Podcast, News from the Peak. It’s currently available on Spotify, and in a few days will be available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and more. As of today - Friday April 17, we have just released our Preview Episode. We have three more episodes recorded, and being edited and we will start releasing new content very soon.

Here at Grays Peak Strategies (GPS) working remotely is no stranger to us, but it is strange when the whole family is now working from home. So many people and companies are now adjusting to a new normal of being “socially distant” and working from home; so how do we manage to work from home, create a team bond, and produce top tier work while being across time zones? Here are a few of the best tips and tricks:

The coronavirus pandemic presents a very real and disruptive change that affects our lives in comprehensive and penetrating ways.

The relevance of change management in these days of ongoing change and seemingly endless bad news brings us to key change adages:

· Change occurs, whether we want it or plan for it.

· We can choose how we respond to the change, but we can’t control all aspects of the change.

· We can plan and prepare for change and even embrace change.

Across the nation (and the world) both governments and private and public sector organizations are scrambling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the request of Maureen Leif, a board member of the Western Intergovernmental Child Support Engagement Council, I recently led an online workshop for WICSEC members on crisis communication strategy in an effort to help them in their response to the coronavirus pandemic.

As background, I am an accredited public relations practitioner with more than 25 years of experience working with clients in a broad range of industries including private sector, government and nonprofit organizations. I’ve helped my clients develop crisis plans and respond effectively to crises, and I’ve taught crisis communication management as part of my professional association’s accreditation program.

This holiday season feels a little different for me. I have been reminded of how fragile life is and how this season isn’t joyous and happy for everyone. My beautiful young cousin contacted me on January 7th last year. I was in a ski lodge drinking a hot cocoa. She had news and not good news. She was diagnosed with stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer. From the beginning of her diagnosis, she was positive, determined, and a warrior. She was given a couple of months to live if she did nothing, but true to her nature, she fought. She fought hard.

For most of my life I have been a list maker. Even as a very young student I would keep a list of my assignments, lists of activities, lists of things to remember, or even lists of things I wanted. I can remember at age 12 having a list of all the cars I wanted to own. I need to find that list… But other than my wish lists, my list making has mostly been about keeping track of things that I need to do.

As the temperature gets warmer and the days get longer, it is easy to fall into a pattern of dreaming that you’re sipping a Pina Colada on a beach instead of sitting in an office. We are trained from a young age that summer is for fun and relaxation and a break from the many months of hard work. Now that we are adults we have to face the fact that this is not true anymore, well not necessarily. As a result of this pre-programming, we tend to face a decline in productivity during the warmer months causing Summer Slump Syndrome. Don’t beat yourself up, it’s something we all fall victim to. While I can’t magically transport you to Bora Bora, I can give you a few tips on how to make the day a bit more constructive. Here are some ways to overcome that slump and still be as motivated to do your work during the summer season as you are the rest of the year:

Some people dread going into work, they complain about presentation deadlines, back to back conference calls, and worst of all a boss breathing down their neck. You may have a similar experience, or you may not relate at all and be feeling lucky. Perhaps, you have similar deadlines, but you do not feel the same pressure. It generally has nothing to do with your luck and everything to do with the environment you work in.