Networking

COVID is fearful and dreaded. Select groups are more fearful than others. Pockets of susceptible bodies to disease and disability take more care. So we masked, washed and distanced. For months now. And we moan about the isolation, loss of income, and restricted movement.

On the other hand, we now see and appreciate networking among valued partners in our interests, family life, communities and career activities. We are busy. We are engaged in many things and accomplishing things unimagined. We have come to rely on our networks for many things.

And that’s good. Networking relies, too, on connectivity. Technology is masterful for that. Emails, Zoom meetings (or Skype, Google Meets, etc.), are at hand to bring us together. We are learning how to act in these meetings. We are also learning how to learn, share and create together in team.

An observation: listening to a workshop presentation, church service, or deep technical meeting, I discovered being ‘off camera’ but still connected and listening while I’m perusing a shared file image, has focused my listening abilities. Suddenly I am paying more attention to what is being said and less on surface images.

That acuity allows fresh ideas to emerge. A burst of new ideas occurs.

I wonder if others have experienced this?

When I was a kid TV had not been invented yet. We listened to network radio shows including dramas. Our imaginations were keenly focused on what we heard. Closing my eyes I was immersed in the action and the reality of the show formed in my imagination.

I think the same may be true in Zoom, Skype, Google Meets sessions.

Sometimes I create a Word.doc during a meeting and write ideas and impressions for later review and development. I’ve even written nearly complete minutes of entire meetings and been able to release those minutes within an hour of the meeting’s adjourning. Now that’s productivity. It comes from paying attention to the ear and connecting it to the mind.

COVID may prove to be a blessing. Network’s are valuable, but using them dynamically has a fresh future.

August 16, 2020