teleworking – Subject Matter Minute Blog

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #47 – Weather Closure Policy

The below post is taken from the Video Blog, the Subject Matter Minute. If it’s a little hard to read, it’s because it’s taken from the spoken word. You can view the episode on YouTube if you would like. Find it here: Episode #47 -Weather Closure Policy.

If YouTube is blocked for you or your agency, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to view it from Google Drive. (I would prefer you view on YouTube, so I know how many people have watched)

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to our little State of Wyoming variety show, the Subject Matter Minute. Where you come to get information and find yourself cringing at my humor. Speaking of, one of my favorite lines from a song is by the Gin Blossoms… “If you don’t expect too much from me, you might not be let down.” I tell my wife that all the time. She doesn’t think it’s very funny.

Alright… let’s get to the task at hand. Last month we covered the effects of Human Resources consolidation on all of us. And what was the one takeaway?

Today I’m going to cover Weather Closures.

We all love a good snow day, right? Everyone hopes that there is just enough snow to shut things down so you can stay cuddled up in bed, or have an extra cup of coffee, or cross country ski to lunch. And while it almost never happens, we always hope. I remember growing up in Lander and turning on the radio to find out if we had to go to school. Fingers crossed! This was before email, websites, etc… we had to find out via the radio. But it was the best day ever when we heard those words. “School cancelled!”

Well, every once in a while the State gets shut down due to snow. The recent “snowmageddon” event definitely shut things down. Especially in Cheyenne.

There was some confusion during that time. A ton of us were teleworking for the first time and people just weren’t sure what that meant for a snow day. Well, sadly, for those that telework full time or are scheduled to telework on a weather closure, the snow day is no longer. And worse yet… if you are unable to telework due to taking care of snowbound children or something similar, you MAY BE expected to use annual leave. This depends on the expectations provided by your management. Many of these situations are circumstantial so it would be best, if you can, to clarify as much as possible in the telework agreement beforehand.

One of the stated reasons that the state expanded the opportunity to telework is that the government can stay open on inclement weather days. Honestly, the reason for snow days was to keep employees safe and off the roads, and since you can safely work from home, this doesn’t come into play.

There’s more to say, but I’ve got to pause for a second and thank Jenny Wacker who helped me out with this information. She is the telework queen as she was tasked with running the show on creating the new policy. But please don’t blame Jenny for ruining the snow day. It was not her fault.

I think that for those that are teleworking full-time, it’s pretty straightforward. However, if you are teleworking part-time, intermittently, or temporarily, you need to be sure of your supervisors expectations. The setup should work for both the employee and the state. There are scenarios where this could become unfair, and this is not ok. This is one of the reasons why all teleworkers are required to have a signed telework agreement. Expectations can be set up in the agreement, so there are no surprises and no confusion. If you expect to get a snow day when it snows on a day that you would normally work in the office, then work that out with your supervisor and get it in the agreement.

The bottom line is that this should be common sense. If the state closes on a day that you are supposed to be in the office, then you should get a snow day. If you are scheduled to telework on that day, you should work. However, everyone’s supervisors are different, and, like usual, these things are at the discretion of the agency and/or director, so find out what his or her expectations are.

Since there are some shades of grey here, we have put together an FAQ to try to cover most questions. Go to the “Telework Wyoming” webpage and scroll to the bottom. I also included the link in the show notes.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u4h7izpftIAz0MCuvkU7JHwG15qM3Lhn/view

While it sucks to not get a snow day, I think the best way to think about it is as a bit of a trade-off. Right? Telework allows for flexibility. No commute, eating your own food, do a load of laundry, heck, wear pajama bottoms… and still get in a day of work. I think that because we “get” to do that, we also “get” to work on snow days. And whether you agree with me or not doesn’t matter, ’cause them’s the rules!

Ok… so what happens if there is a power outage? Good question! If a power outage or loss of internet occurs at your telework location and extends past two hours, then you/we MAY be required to return to our primary work location. If the primary work location or your onsite office is closed due to inclement weather, we MAY be expected to use annual leave. We have to coordinate with our supervisors for direction on how to proceed in these situations. … I say MAY because, as ALWAYS, these decisions are at the discretion of the agency and/or director.

For those of you who do not telework, and are NOT emergency personnel, you still get to sleep in on those rare snow days. Enjoy!

Alright, that’s it for today! Everyone have a fabulous week, and I’ll see you next month on the next Subject Matter Minute.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #38 – Covid-19 Episode – Video Conferencing Accessibility

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello and welcome to another (loosely) covid inspired episode of the subject matter minute. I say loosely because this is actually a crucial subject regardless of what’s going on. But it IS covid inspired because so many more people are using video conferencing due to the pandemic.

After my last episode on best practices for video conferencing, I got an email from the person that has become this month’s subject matter expert, Jo Otterholt. Jo is a deaf Resource Specialist, with Outreach Library Services in Casper and she gently and kindly pointed out something that I think is overlooked far too often. I am guilty of this. I think I do really well with my videos, but I also design websites, e-learning, and do lots of video conferencing where I, honestly, am sometimes lazy or uninformed. I shouldn’t be uninformed, and in the back of my mind, I know what I should be doing, but it’s easier to just plow ahead and get it done. Right? Well, I’m not going to talk about websites or e-learning today, but I am going to share with you best practices for video conferencing accessibility. (music)

Before I go on, I want to mention that I actually have two subject matter experts today. I also received input and resources about accessibility for the visually impaired from Laurel Henry, a vision outreach consultant with the Dept. of Education. Thank you Jo and Laurel… I appreciate it.

First I want to say that all of these things will actually make the experience better for everyone involved. Also, once you know what to do, it’s not difficult to implement. In talking with Jo, I also learned a bunch about accessibility in face to face meetings, training, and such. But today I’m only going to cover accessibility for video conferencing.

Ok, first thing… please find out from the people who need accommodation, what they want. There is a wide range of abilities out there and you won’t know what they need until you ask.

Next… if there are going to be presenters that have prepared presentations, and if documents such as PowerPoint, Excel, and MS Word are going to be used in the presentation, these should be sent out to participants in advance of the meeting. Send your participants Plaintext versions of presentation documents in advance. This is especially important for heavily graphic documents such as PowerPoint. This will allow a participant who has low vision or is blind the ability to follow along with the electronic format or prepare a Braille version of the Plaintext in advance of the meeting so that they may listen to the speaker at the same time as they “read” the Braille with their fingers. If the conference is a meeting that won’t have prepared presentations, then an agenda will help a deaf individual follow what’s happening.

While the country, and honestly my household, has been a bit Zoom crazy since the pandemic started, Zoom is actually not what we should be using at the state right now. Google Meet has incorporated live captioning into their system. Zoom has not. There are ways to make it work for Zoom, but they are somewhat complicated and not something that I’m going to go into here. And there may be other systems that do this, but we have enterprise access to Meets, so that should be our go-to at the state. Live captioning is not only essential for the deaf/hard of hearing employees of the state, but could be very useful for those for whom English is not their native language or someone who is in a noisy environment. To turn on live captioning, click the three dots in the lower right-hand corner and select “turn on captions.”

One oversight on Google’s part is that if you record the session, the captions don’t show in the recording. Maybe they will figure that out someday. If you need captions in the recording, I would suggest uploading the video to YouTube which will create captions automatically for you. You can also download the captions from YouTube for the full script of the meeting afterward.

Next… a deaf person needs to see the speaker well and that speaker needs to be creating good audio. This means that the speaker should be close to both the camera and the microphone. Some deaf people will read lips and the audio quality needs to be good so the captioning works. So, if you have prepared presentations, please either have a designated seat for them or pass around a laptop. If this is more of a meeting, especially where there is a group of people in a room, then it’s helpful to have a moderator that can announce who is speaking and summarize what they said or repeat their questions/comments.

When considering the visually impaired, remember to describe things that you are showing in your presentation. So, instead of just saying look at the graph, you should describe the graph. In 2010 the total was 400, while in 2020 the total was 900.

If you play a video during a conference, play it for yourself beforehand with your eyes closed and make sure the information is descriptive enough with the audio. If not, You may need to add some commentary during the presentation.

If you are offering the video and materials after the fact, take some time to make sure everything is accessible. Transcribe the video… again, YouTube does a pretty good job of that. And get out any materials that you promised.

These suggestions will help you provide accessible video conferences. There are many more suggestions that I don’t have the time to go through. Please check out the show notes below the video, where you can find some more helpful pointers. Remember, the most important thing is to communicate with the person or people that need accommodations for specific things that would help them. However, even if no one needs it, we need to all be incorporating accessibility features into all of our video conferences.

Thanks for watching the subject matter minute. Stay safe out there!!

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #37 – Covid-19 Episode – Video Conferencing Best Practices

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello Everyone! Welcome to another Covid-19 inspired episode of the Subject Matter Minute. And… welcome to a new era in video conferencing. Am I right? Even my parents are all hopped up on Zoom! We are doing a weekly family zoom get together, they are doing church through it. And they seem to actually have figured out the technology. This definitely means it’s a new era!

So, when I started thinking about what to talk about in this episode, I started heading in a predictable direction. All of us are probably getting all the same free stuff from companies out there. Videos, articles, podcasts an more that are about covid related topics such as teleworking, stress management, things to do at home, etc. Or maybe just I get that stuff since I’m in training, but it seems like there is a flood of info. So, while I was leaning toward doing an episode on staying sane while stuck at home, I’ve decided to do one on something that I know much more about.

Today I want to talk about video conferencing best practices. (music)

Everybody’s doing it! You might as well quit fighting it and join in. The Nagy’s have been doing virtual happy hours, virtual happy hours with trivia, virtual happy hours with “would you rather,” and virtual get togethers with the family without the happy hour.

I’ve also done a few more hangouts with co-workers now that they are finally getting on board.

So, while attitudes are changing, the technology and the best practices have not. For those of us that have been doing this for a while, the tech is pretty straightforward, and they have definitely made it easier and more functional over the years.

Having said that, I’m not going to go through the platforms that exist, like the aforementioned, Zoom, or Hangouts, Facetime, Adobe Connect. One reason is that these things change quickly and I don’t want this video to be useless in a year. The other reason is that there are so many and it would take forever. I want to talk about the things that don’t change… or don’t change as quickly. Video and thus, video conferencing best practices have been the same for a while. I’m going to mostly talk about work related conferences. These are a bit more formal.

First of all. The video camera. Most laptops that state employees get have a camera. They are usually pretty crappy, but they exist. If not, the little ones that clip to the top of the screen are inexpensive and much better. In fact, if you can pull it off, get one. Not just because of the camera, either… the microphone is usually much better as well. (show mine)

First of all, create good lighting. Lighting best practice tip one. NEVER sit in front of a window or light. This is the most annoying thing you can do in a conference. I’m sure I don’t need to say why? Tip 2, add some light in front of you. These cameras will work in low light, but they work well with good light. I showed you my lights last episode. I don’t expect people to have my setup, but it’s pretty easy to put a desk lamp in front of you, or find a well lit spot on the dining room table. Decent light is crucial!

Next, audio. This is where so many laptops really fail. At the very least, try to figure out where your microphone is. Then make sure you aren’t talking to the other side of the computer. Better yet… grab your white Apple headphones and use those. They have a great microphone and having them in your ears will prevent feedback in the conference. Of course there are headsets make for this sort of thing, and if you have those, definitely use them. Next best thing… or really better than your built in mic, is a microphone in an external webcam.

It’s very important that you figure out how to select the mic you want within the conferencing software that you are using. It’s very simple in Zoom as there is a Mic selector in the bottom left corner.

Ok, technical stuff out of the way. Well, actually, one more thing. If you are presenting or the moderator for this, you should probably try to maximize your internet speed. Turn off other devices that are accessing it. Tell your family to hold off on the Netflix show, etc.

Next. Frame yourself up. While we aren’t all trained in video, we all know what looks right. This does not look right, while this does. 🙂

Use a good angle. Have the camera at eye level or slightly above. Looking down at the camera tends to bunch up our neck flesh. Ya know… kinda like the infamous “lean back.”

When you’re talking, look into the camera instead of looking at yourself talking on the computer screen. It will help others on the call feel like you’re 100 percent engaged and present. It feels a little weird at first, but you’ll get used to it.

And speaking of being present… don’t be a distraction. OK? This includes, not typing during the conference. Trying not to fidget. Not eating during the conference. Staying engaged. If you wouldn’t do it at a live meeting, then don’t do it in the virtual meeting. Also, remember, mute is your friend. The more people that are muted, the smoother the conference will be.

On this same note… don’t multitask. First of all, we can’t do it. Secondly, it’s rude. If you have to multitask, maybe you should have said no to the calendar invite. Just saying.

Don’t just take off. You may feel isolated when there are several people in the conference, but people will notice that you are gone. If you must take care of something, let the groupe know. Either say something or type into the chat.

Keep your background professional. This means pick up your mess. Or… at least make sure it isn’t showing in the shot. A simpler background is better. This also means, finding a quiet place away from the family and pets. You may think your pets are adorable, but they can be distracting to others.

If you are the moderator or main speaker, try to include everyone in the conversation. Some people shut down when using this sort of technology, so it’s important to check in with them.

Naturally, all this formal stuff goes out the window if you are having a virtual happy hour with your friends. Well…. Not all of it. I still want to see and hear you. So take care of the technical stuff. 🙂

Ok… that’s it for the video conferencing tips. I have a feeling that this situation could really be a breakthrough moment for both the technology and for people’s comfort level with it. Get on board and just relax, it’s going to be fine.

See you next time on the Subject Matter Minute.

Subject Matter Minute, Episode #36 – Covid-19 Episode – Tips for Teleworking

You can also listen to an audio version.

Hello everybody and welcome to another Covid-19 inspired episode of the Subject Matter Minute.

As I mentioned before, I’m a seasoned teleworker. If you are a long-time viewer, you have experienced this with me, to a certain extent. My home office used to be in the basement. It was a good room… the temperature stayed right for the most part, there was plenty of room, it was quiet and private. I decorated and set up the space for the show and it worked. There were a few things I didn’t like, however. The room had two small windows, the ceiling was very low… which caused problems with lighting, and if I had to do some work in the evening while the family was around, I had to disappear to the basement. Felt out of the loop.

Well, when my oldest daughter started college, it freed up a room on the main floor. I jumped on it immediately. This room. First of all, it has nice wood floors and two big windows. It’s also just to the side of where all the action is… so evening work feels better. The ceilings are high and my lighting is much better. Hopefully, you long time watchers have noticed these things. 🙂 Now… while you have seen the inside of my office, I’m fairly certain that I have never shown you my actual setup. What you have seen is my carefully and meticulously decorated area in front of the camera. Well, for the first time, here is where I actually work. (video of the workstation)

Anyway… I’ve gone on about my home office because that’s part of what this episode is about. Today I want to talk about Tips for Teleworking. (music)

I was lucky enough to already have a home office when I started doing more remote work, and I’m guessing that these days with the proliferation of computers, a lot of you do too. If you don’t, now is the time to claim some space. If you don’t have much space, you may need to get more creative. I found a video that does a nice job of giving ideas along that line. Check it out in the show notes.

The state is doing what it can to get people set up for teleworking. Make sure you have what you need. Everyone’s job is different, so your needs will be different, but make sure you ask. Don’t be a martyr and sit at your coffee table all day. While a bit of time working on the couch can be nice, it starts to hurt after a while.

Ok, I’m going to stop there… I’m starting to get into the “lists” that everyone has been passing around about teleworking. If you haven’t seen the lists, they are in the show notes too. It’s good stuff, so take a look, but I want to talk about what I do.

Here’s what I do. First of all, the beautiful thing about working from home is that you can make it your own. What works will be different for everyone. Personally, I will often start my day with some laptop time on the couch. A much more comfortable place to finish off my days coffee. I’m an early riser… I often get up at 5 and drink coffee while taking care of busy work on the laptop. Then I tend to hit the home gym for an hour. Not always, but again, that’s the beauty of working from home…. Flexibility. After my post-workout shower and a bit of breakfast, I hit the home office.

Honestly, for me, the biggest problem with working at home is constantly snacking. I am a hungry guy. Always. And it’s just so easy to hit the kitchen. Well, that isn’t a good way to eat and it’s too easy to make bad choices. So, I’ve started drinking a variety of beverages. Start with coffee, maybe have a bubbly drink created by the SodaStream, move on to tea in the afternoon, all the while peppering in some water from my water bottle. The other strategy that I use to stop snacking is to head out for a short walk. It really helps.

That’s a nice segue to another thing that I do. I go outside. A couple of short walks during the day gets me out and clears my head. I also try to get 15 minutes of sun a day. You might be able to tell… actually, I’m Hungarian, so I’m brown no matter what, but it’s important to get some actual sun for vitamin D and sanity. I will often bring my laptop with me for the sun time. Obviously, this is something that all office workers should be doing whether working from home or not.

On that same note of going outside, it’s also nice to work outside the home some. Right now…. During Covid, this isn’t something you should do, but if you should find yourself doing more of this in the future, find yourself a teleworking buddy or two. They are everywhere! Every Wednesday, me and a couple of other teleworkers (they are actually not with the state) get together at a rotating coffee shop for … coffee… and some work together time. It may not be the most productive time, but we chat, we take care of emails, and most importantly, we see and talk to other adults. If you are unable to find another teleworker, then just go to the coffee shop by yourself and enjoy the chatter.

Next, I have a Varidesk. It’s one of those wonderful, lifechanging apparatuses that allows you to raise your desk to standing height whenever you want. They are not cheap, but they are absolutely necessary in my mind. Before I was able to get one, I was coming up with all sorts of plans on how to build something that would do the same thing.

Alright, also, don’t be afraid to have flexible hours. One of the joys of working from home is the ability to run errands when you need to, help your kids when they need it, and adjust your schedule to times that work for your brain and body. Naturally, you will have to overlap hours with co-workers so you can occasionally communicate live, but that’s easy. Some people feel like it has to be 8-5… it doesn’t. Well, unless your boss absolutely mandates it. Of course, this depends on what you do too. My work is absolutely project-based, so while I don’t, I could… work in the middle of the night, or whenever.

Having just said that something else that I think is very important, and is in all the lists, and that I don’t do very well, is to completely unplug for a bit of time every day, and for extended times occasionally. For some reason, working from home makes many of us feel like we need to be available all the time. Whether you know it or not, living this way is a drain on our energy. We need to turn it off each day and do something else, and hopefully take vacations where we are unplugged as well.

Of course, right now, I think we are all hyper plugged in. It’s a crazy time and it feels like things are changing constantly, so we keep checking in. Take care of yourself and get off the devices.

Next, keep in touch with your co-workers. Outside of email. Do it however feels and works the best for you. I tend to use Google chat with mine. I sometimes will have 3 or 4 chats going at the same time. I put the link to a great LinkedIn article in the show notes. One of the things they suggest is to schedule a virtual coffee with a colleague, or a virtual happy hour for your whole team. We have had several happy hours with friends via the app Zoom and it has really been fun. I think that could be a great idea to have some informal time with your co-workers.

Finally, exercise! Personally, I try to exercise most days anyway. We have a workout room in the house and tend to get up nice and early to get in a workout. But, if that’s not your cup of tea, you may find it easier to get it in when you aren’t getting ready and driving to and from work. There is some freed-up time. Whether it’s going for a walk as I mentioned earlier, or hitting the home gym, get your exercise in. There is no doubt that it helps you in so many ways.

Ok… there are other ideas for making the most of teleworking, but these are mine. Please check out the links in the show notes for more. I think all lists say something about dressing for work, but I personally think that’s a silly one. I don’t stay in pajamas, but dressing for work usually means that you are less comfortable than you should be. 🙂 But that’s up to you, if it helps you, then do it.

That’s it for today. Stay sane out there and if you are now teleworking, try to enjoy your new work digs. See ya next time.