President’s Report – September 2020
Hello September! It is my absolute favorite time of the year with warm summer air turning crisp and falling into autumn. As we have navigated through this pandemic, I look back on how effective we’ve been during this worldwide crisis. Many of us confuse effectiveness with efficiency and I want to be efficient while being effective. I’ve been reading a book by Michael LeBoeuf, Working Smart to see if there are applicable strategies that I can implement to be more effective AND efficient. Being effective is choosing the right goals from a set of alternatives and reaching them. Efficiency, on the other hand, assumes the goals as given and proceeds to find the best means of achieving them. They are valuable concepts, where efficiency is doing the job right and effectiveness is doing the right job. In this modern, virtual world, where most companies still have employees working from home (WFH) 50% of the time, we need to be efficient, effective, and manage WFH burnout.
We were all there, working around the clock on the onset of the pandemic. My anxiety levels were thru the roof, managing and making sure that Chamber members had every resource available to them. I would log on for every ZOOM call with the governor, area Chamber presidents, the County Executive and other area leaders every chance I got. I would be on calls with Chamber members, making sure they were okay, answering questions, and mostly, just listening as they told me their fears and worries for their health and their businesses. I was on overdrive, constant angst while I listened to the news and worried, if indeed this was the end of the world. After a few months of that, I hit rock bottom with being burnt out. The ZOOM calls got fewer, everyone could only talk about bad news for so long before it became monotonous and mind-numbing. Our Chamber weekly networking went from a robust 30-40 participants to a handful of faithful members, still eager to see each other albeit virtually. So how can we manage WFH burnout for our staff? For ourselves? For the sake of our families and self-preservation? Here are 3 steps that will help you be effective and efficient and help with the WFH burnout:
- Set “business” hours – While technology may have eroded those boundaries with constant emails and high-speed internet, discipline yourself with set “business” hours. Create a schedule for when you’re working and what you’re not.
- After work schedule – You may want to create a ritual to signaling that it’s the end of the day. Clear your mailbox, or turn off your laptop/computer/work phone. Take it out of eye-sight, out of reach, out of temptation. Make sure that everyone on your team knows your business hours and you know all of their schedules so that you can respect their time also.
- Get outside – take a walk, during your lunch break, or after you’ve “closed” for the day. It doesn’t have to be a marathon or a 5-mile jaunt, a walk around the block. It’s incredible what nature can do for your mind, body, and soul.
Working from home makes it easy for work to engulf your life. We’ve all fallen to that temptation, but a back to basics structure will help with your effectiveness, efficiency and keep the WFH burnout at bay.
Here are some upcoming Chamber events that you can take part of:
Ladies! Reserve your calendar for Friday, October 16th for the Chamber’s Annual Women’s Empowerment Seminar: Virtual Edition! Sponsorships available! Please reach out to the Chamber office at 314-831-3500.
We are also looking to fill 5 new board seats. You must be a Chamber member in good standing (Associate members and members that are less than a year are not eligible). The five new directors will take their seat in January 2021 and serve a 3-year term. A nominating committee will select the new board members, if you are interested, please fax/e-mail/drop off your nomination form.
Sign up now for our Membership Meeting on September 16th via ZOOM! We will have Attorney, Rick Dorsey speak to us on the Court systems and what to expect during this pandemic.
Please join us for September’s Business After Hours on Thursday, September 10th via ZOOM at 5 PM. We will have a fun game of virtual BINGO!
Be sure to sign up for our upcoming Social Media Seminar on Thursday, September 3rd at 9:30 a.m. via ZOOM. Vivial will go through best practices for your business in this virtual world.
As the change of season begins, I leave you with this quote said best by Albert Einstein, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
Venus Martz
