exchange
Official publication of ARMA Metro NYC
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September/October 2020
SCROLL THE COLUMN President’s Message Dear ARMA Metro NYC Members and Friends, I hope this message finds you and your family safe and well. This year has certainly been an interesting time for the Chapter and ARMA as a whole. We are all experiencing life much differently than how it started in 2020. I want you all to know, with my highest sincerity, that the ARMA Metro NYC Chapter Board of Directors is dedicated and committed to continue providing the educational content, opportunities and social engagement that you have all come to expect over the years. As we have all experienced in the industry, change is to be expected and when change happens, we learn to adapt. That being said, for the time being ARMA Metro NYC will be offering virtual programing until it is safe, once again, for us all to come together. The board has been busy meeting virtually and has a great year of educational programming lined up. This includes our annual March conference CONFIRM.NYC which will also be virtual in 2021. Looking forward, I’m very excited to share that in October we plan on having a live Roundtable Panel Discussion on IG/RIM Programs -Where Do We Go From Here? and for November we will host RMS demonstrations to allow for content comparison. To end the year, our very own ASPIRE team will be providing professional development skills training. Please keep an eye out on our social media feeds and events page on the ARMA Metro NYC Chapter website for more updates! Please don’t hesitate to contact myself or any of our Board Members of you have questions, suggestions or need assistance with anything. Be well and stay safe! Glenn Fischer, IGP President, ARMA Metro NYC Chapter
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Dedicated to providing RIM and IG Professionals with opportunities to advance their professional development

Inside This Issue Inside the Industry Pg 3 Professional Development Opportunities Pg 6 Featured Article - Different Professionals Coping Together Pg 7 Articles - Pg 13 Tips for Communicating Fear of Public Speaking Secure Collaboration Into Our History Pg 17 Board of Directors Pg 20 
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Habits: Staying Productive During COVID-19 By Matthew Estrada, John Jay College (CUNY) Master of Public Administration 2020 and Leslie Smith, John Jay College (CUNY) International Criminal Justice BA 2017 Routine is a common theme in most people’s lives. In some form or another, we wake up, clock into work, indulge in a pastime, and then go sleep to repeat the whole process the next day. It becomes a fine-tuned machine, and small deviations can significantly impact a person’s equilibrium. Cue the pandemic and subsequent global shutdown, resulting in millions working remotely and millions more losing their jobs. Thankfully, the information governance field is resilient to a shutdown of onsite work activity and allows us to work remotely. Unfortunately, with this change, many people have lost a sense of routine in their work and personal lives.
Joy and Pain By Teddy Casimir Senior Associate, Information Management A strange sort of survivor’s guilt seeps in when your life is on an upswing while the world around you seems to fall apart. In February, I obtained my dream job as a Senior Associate in Information Management at a company and with a team for which I am proud to work. In the preceding weeks, it was hard to ignore the news headlines about COVID but I’d placed all of my focus on nabbing my position and felt certain that people were making a mountain out of a molehill with the virus. Of course, now that we’re still in the thick of a pandemic more than half a year on, it’s hard not to wince at my earlier naïveté and also at the fact that I have found navigating this entire year surprisingly easier than would be expected. Working in our line of work means that we’re accustomed to processing information and cat-
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Inside the Industry
It’s the End of the World as We Know it, but We’ll Be Fine By Andrew Corridore Information Governance Compliance Specialist – Proskauer Rose LLP No matter who you are or what career you were in, the global shutdown abruptly changed everything, from how to get your groceries to what the “new normal†for working looks like. If you were fortunate enough to keep your job, you were relegated to a world of remote work from which you might have had little exposure and needed to rapidly adjust to. With furloughs and layoffs happening left and right, the pressure to maintain or exceed standard operating capacity has invariably led to extended work hours and a pressure to be “always on.†Additionally, traditional face-to-face interactions ranging from formal trainings to water cooler small talks have now taken on a relatively impersonal tone when done via email, instant message, or, at best, video call.
SCROLL THE COLUMN -egorizing it. However, it was at first hard to compartmentalize the massive amount of just-plain-bad news that have, all of 2020, been painting a picture of a bleak future in total contrast to the one I was planning for myself. I felt selfish since I still had a stable job that meant I was not experiencing any financial distress (plus not ordering take-out for lunch every day). My years of introversion meant that I was mentally well equipped to deal with the solitude of quarantine. What’s more, I had latched on to a myriad of little things and hobbies that helped me cocoon happiness with me in my quarantine bubble (books, music, a gym-replacing FitBit for early morning walks, movies, a new VR headset). That I could be content while it felt like the world was burning quickly induced a sense of guilt. It took George Floyd’s death and an increased visibility for the Black Lives Matter movement midway through the year for me to once again fall in step with the world; for me to realize that I am still a black man in America who has for once found himself in a place of privilege. And so, I got myself out of this self-centered, self-pitying outlook and learned to support the movements and causes dear to my heart while also, guilt-free, making time to nourish my heart with things that simply made me happy. In any situations of isolation, you only have yourself to run into and nowhere to run to escape any negative thoughts that surface. Whether this year’s left you virtually (pun intended) untouched or whether you’ve had to surmount several hurdles to be able to carry on up to this point, I hope you’re taking the increased time you’ve had to spend with yourself in carving out hobbies that bring you joy. It may mean looking to your past and infusing your life with nostalgic media that reminds you of better days (thanks, Britney!) or it could mean continuing to map out the future you want for yourself despite this year’s setbacks. Since Maze is one of my favorite nostalgic throwbacks of the year, their song Joy & Pain and in particular its lyrics, “there will be sorrow but you will endure, where there's a flower there's the sun and the rain,†continue to be emblematic of my outlook. Keep finding hope in the little things that help you feel alive because it is necessary to latch on to them as a buoy to navigate the minefield that has been 2020.
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SCROLL THE COLUMN Finding creative ways to maintain these fundamental routines has aided in fostering a positive environment that is conducive to a productive workday. Having a routine has not just helped us stay productive during these uncertain times at work, it has also helped us get back some sense of normalcy in our personal lives. Breaking up our days into parts proved helpful. For example, we scheduled conference calls with friends to exercise after work. The start of the workout sessions signaled the end of our workday and the shift to our personal time. Additionally, we both focused on activities that we enjoyed pre-COVID and adapted them to our circumstances. For instance, one of us is working on executing a crow pose from the comfort of her apartment, while the other is running intending to achieve a sub-7-minute mile average. That’s not to say that all sports or hobbies are suited to COVID life — we had to give up on hot yoga rooms and rock climbing all together — but the ones that we could incorporate, we did. It is important for us to create sustainable practices tailored to our environment and goals. Incorporating routines into our daily life bolstered our productivity, and eventually, developed into positive habits. Tasks that once required intention and awareness became automatic, like waking up or brushing our teeth. These habits are now part of our schedule, which has helped us maintain a healthy state of mind during a tumultuous year.
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Continued from Page 3 Habits... Re-cultivating some semblance of a productive routine in our lives can be difficult during a shutdown, but we have found it to be incredibly important. The normalcy it creates helps us not only stay on top of our work but also maintain our sanity while studying for our master’s and law school prep classes. For many, being trapped in your homes adds daunting variables to a schedule, such as finding the best place for meetings or having to navigate inconsiderate roommates. The key is to find parallels between a work setting and a home setting. For example, like any other day, we start it by deciding what to wear (one of us traded in the suit for a handsome assortment of Hawaiian shirts). Then, where we used to pick up coffee on the way to work, we now brew a fresh cup at home. Where we used to take breaks to go to the pantry, we now shift our work location throughout the day.
IG/RIM Programs - Where Do We Go From Here? (Panel Discussion) Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2020 Time: 12:30 - 1:30 PM Location: Virtual
ASPIRE - Professional Development Skills Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2020 Time: 12:30 - 1:30 PM Location: Virtual
Three RMS Demonstrations over 2 weeks Date: November 2020 Time: TBD Location: Virtual
Networking/Social Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 Time: 5:00 - 6:00 PM Location: Virtual
Welcome New Members! Mike Norris
Professional Development Opportunities
Featured Article
Different Professionals Coping Together By Linda Thai, Editor of Exchange
These are individuals with different experience levels. They have different areas of expertise. They all have different incomes. Some are fortunate enough to still be employed. Others are learning to navigate the unemployment system. No matter what stage of the profession that they are at, they all share the same concern. Will they survive and overcome this? The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed their daily lives. I had the opportunity to speak with four individuals from different professions in the field of information governance and records management about their experience during this dire time. Frederic J. Grevin (FG) is a consultant/contractor. Marvin Kabakoff (MK) is a retired professor of library science. Natalie Milbrodt (NM) is a Coordinator of Metadata Services. Bonnie Marie Sauer (BMS) is the Director of Archives and Records Management. To keep their professions running, everyone has adapted to immediate change, while hoping for a better future.
BMS – I work as the Director of Archives and Records Management for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which is a not-for-profit performing arts organization located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. 2) In your position, what are your responsibilities? BMS – In this position, I lead the Information Resources Office, which has responsibility for the LCPA Archives and Records Management program. FG – Originally, I was brought as a consultant on to bootstrap the agency’s records and information management program. I succeeded in convincing the agency to hire a full-time permanent records manager, so, in effect, I worked myself out of a job (IMO, that’s what consultants are SUPPOSED to do). But the agency then needed an additional hand to write detailed procedures and other documents for their migration to a new pension management system, so that’s what I do now. It’s fun!
1) What organization do you work at? If you don't work for an organization, what is your area of expertise or industry? For example: academics, finance, entertainment, legal, vendor services, etc. What is your title or position? FG – I work for a government agency which manages a large pension system. Areas of expertise include document conversion (several types), records and information management (mostly in government agencies), digital preservation (in the context of archives, not legal), and teaching. MK – I'm retired, so all my "work" is volunteer. I'm on the board of the local LGBTQ archives. I'm also on the board of my temple, at which I serve on the history/archives committee and chair the Rainbow Committee. Prior to my retirement, I taught a graduate course in a library school and worked in the records management field. NM – I am the Coordinator of Metadata Services for the Queens Public Library and the Director of the Queens Memory Project, which is a community archiving initiative co-administered by Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY.
SCROLL THE COLUMN through photography, digitization and sound recordings, as well as hosting live local history events such as story sharing circles, panel discussions, workshops and scanning days. 3) Prior to the pandemic, what was your work environment? Did you work with people or by yourself? Did you eat lunch in your office? NM – I, and the other folks in my division all worked 100% in the office, most of us 9-5pm. We have a digitization lab where four staff have their desks, and a larger, open office area with cubicles where about 25 people work. We all eat in the cafeteria and at our desks. In terms of changed work environments, the biggest shift has been for our Queens Memory team. Pre-pandemic, we liked to emphasize oral history practice as an opportunity for everyone to put their phones down and have a meaningful, in-person exchange with someone whose life they want to document. “Visit your grandma! Sit down with her and talk for an hour or two about her life!†When this advice became exactly the wrong thing to do, we had to make a big shift. I had always been resistant to recording oral history interviews remotely, but when it became clear that we would miss out entirely on recording the lived experiences of Queens residents through an extraordinary time if we didn’t figure out some remote interviewing tools, there was no question that it was time to make some changes. Thanks to our Community Coordinator, Meral Agish, we’ve adapted our training for interviewers and thanks to the New York Community Trust, we have some emergency grant funds to support new technologies that support our team to record and process interviews remotely. We have made Instagram our primary outreach tool and mobilized dozens of new volunteers – many of whom are more available to help us now than they were pre-pandemic. FG – Before the pandemic, I worked exclusively on-site (the normal working environment in that agency), commuting more than four hours (r/t) from my home. I was part of a team and I did eat lunch at the office. MK – Worked with people, either in meeting with them to discuss a donation, or when giving presentations. Of course our board meetings and other board activities were in person. BMS – Prior to the pandemic, I shared workspace with our Records Manager and an intern. There was a lot of activity in the office. Because the room was also used to work with archival records, we did not eat lunch in the office. I worked at jobs where I ate at my desk, which means I never truly turned off during the day. Taking a break and stepping away from your desk during the day is really important, both for being able to come back refreshed and, when you supervise others, modeling that the individual needs to be balanced with work. That said, I make a point of engaging with colleagues both within my organization and my counterparts at constituent organizations on the Lincoln Center campus. I often eat lunch with others to learn more about others are working on, exchange ideas, or just chat.
MK – For the gay archives, I work a lot on bringing new collections into our holdings, working with folks to convince them their records are worth preserving. I also give talks on various aspects of queer history, weaving in the importance of records for documenting our past. For the Rainbow Committee, I mostly work at finding speakers for twice a year programs. NM – I oversee the activities of the Metadata Services division, which is part of the Technical Services Department, responsible for cataloging and digitization for all 65 locations of the Queens Public Library. This includes maintaining an accurate catalog of the library’s physical and electronic collections. We are responsible for digitizing and cataloging the library’s archival collections. Besides working with our existing collections, we lead library’s acquisition and processing of digitized and born-digital local history collections and web archiving activities for the library. In my role as the Director of the Queens Memory Project, I oversee the activities of dozens of staff and volunteers across the borough who are conducting oral history interviews, documenting Queens history
SCROLL THE COLUMN 4) Now that we are in a new normal, can you describe your current work environment or situation? Do you work in your kitchen? MK – Most everything is done on Zoom, so I work in my home office. (On hot days, I move my computer to the dining room, which has a ceiling fan.) I have gone and picked up some materials for donations, which are now piled in my dining room, since our office is pretty much closed. NM – I have a desk in my living room and I plug my laptop via HDMI cable into my TV so I have two screens. In the first two weeks of the pandemic, I threw out my back. After buying a better chair and working some stretches into my routine, I’ve been much better. It’s pretty easy to work way too many hours and not have good boundaries between work time and non-work time. It’s something I have to actively manage. Each morning at 9am, we have an all-team meeting over Webex. We don’t turn our cameras on and many days, we don’t even speak, but we are all together and work out logistics and tackle issues right away instead of getting stuck in endless email threads. It provides some nice structure for the day and creates opportunities for informal check-ins that keep us feeling connected. My days are usually quite full of video meetings, often five a day, which is about the same number of meetings I had pre-pandemic. We have started using slack for the Queens Memory team, which has been an excellent way to work with a broad network of volunteers – we have about 90 people on our slack channel. BMS – Over the last few months, I have changed my office set-up periodically. In the winter, I set up a table by the window to maximize exposure to sunlight and stay productive. As spring transitioned to summer, I increased using the standing desk in my kitchen. Almost invariably, I take meetings from my sofa, mostly because the accent wall behind it creates an excellent backdrop. FG – Now, my “commute†takes 30 seconds: from my bedroom to my basement office. Saves 239 minutes and 30 seconds of commuting time, which I confess is an improvement, though I deeply regret it took a pandemic to bring that about. 5) Many of us are facing a variety of challenges. Some of us are caretakers, while others have to learn to share home space. Some might simply have router and connectivity issues. Comparing your pre-pandemic work environment and your current situation, what challenges did you face and how did you overcome it? MK – Since I was not "working", there have not been that many differences. Phone and Zoom have replace in person meetings. FG – First, I fell sick (COVID-19) after starting work from home, so that was really the challenge. Luckily, mine was a “mild†case, so I actually kept working a few hours a day. Second, my whole family got sick, so we were all taking care of each other. Finally, the sheer newness of working from home (I had never done that before). I can’t really identify any particular way that helped me overcome these challenges; it was just a case of getting through every day, one day at a time. I guess you could call it stubbornness. BMS – I learned better time management and to really keep myself on a schedule personally and professionally. NM – I, personally, prefer working remotely and feel really happy with how productive our team has become in these new circumstances. The same folks who gave it their all in the office are the ones making it work from home. We are fortunate to have excellent technology support from our library. Anyone who has needed a laptop has gotten one and our VPN connection back to the computers at our desks in the office is fast and reliable. Just like our experiences outside of work, the pandemic is impacting each of us differently. I think the challenge is in accepting that any simplified notion of what is “fair†needs to be gently set aside. The productivity varies greatly across our team of roughly 30 people because we all have different family obligations, comfort with technology, and job duties that are even possible to do remotely. We have to give each other the benefit of the doubt and dig in to do as much as we can, individually.
SCROLL THE COLUMN 6) If you have spoken to your fellow professionals in your industry (academics, finance, entertainment, legal, vendor services, etc.), has anything slowed down? Were there any disruptions, loss of business or poor cash flow that affected the business model? FG –  Lots of disruption for sure, as organizations of every nature had to adapt to the new ways: working from home, organizing projects, scheduling meetings online. There’s lots of talk about “increased efficiency†but less about the inefficiency of working from home:  never seeing your colleagues face-to-face, having to set up an online meeting just to answer a question that could have been answered in five minutes face-to-face, over scheduling the number of online meetings, etc. MK – Everyone is working from home. We had been doing monthly programs in our space on queer issues and archives. Those are now being done on Zoom, either weekly or bi-weekly. Our cash flow is down in terms of donations, since we use to ask for them at our public events. Our main fundraiser will be done by Zoom in segments, rather than one big evening event. NM – Colleagues in the private sector have gotten notice of so many more months of remote work than we have. As a public library, we need to think of the public we serve and how we can get our services safely back to normal as quickly as possible. About 25 locations are now open for pick up and drop off service. We have about half of our team in Metadata Services back in the office two days a week. It’s not clear when that will increase, but for now, it’s working out okay. My colleagues in academic institutions are seeing continued enrollment and focusing on developing their remote instruction skills. BMS – Throughout the pandemic, I hosted a bi-weekly Zoom call among allied professionals in the performing arts in the New York City area. It has been mutually beneficial to hear one another’s experiences and share how we are continuing services in a remote capacity. It has served as a tremendous sense of community as we each navigated our own waves. 7) Since we are all affected by the pandemic, many of us are probably worried about their personal life line. Such as how do I pay for the next bill? However, don't industries have their own life line? In your opinion, how has the pandemic affected the longevity of records management or information governance EMPLOYEES in YOUR INDUSTRY? NM – Public Libraries are more important than ever. In an economic downturn, New Yorkers turn to their libraries to help them improve their job skills and find employment. Our online public programs are seeing increased attendance from the same program offered in-person before the pandemic. Our circulation numbers for electronic collections are higher than ever. And the historic records (photos, interviews, etc) coming through our submission forms continue to increase, keeping us busy now and creating a processing backlog that will keep us busy for years. Happily traffic to our programs and online platforms is also increasing; people are using our content. This gives me hope that the public will see our relevance and offer their support in the hard economic times ahead. MK – I'm on a pension, and so doing okay. For records management, it's hard to examine records over the phone or by Zoom to appraise their value. It is certainly impossible with paper records, but even with electronic records, it becomes more difficult to discuss with staff how records are used, what their purpose is. Doing this by phone with some employees while having the records on screen is just not the best way of appraising the value of records. BMS – The focus in the performing arts is generally on the stage. The activities in the offices far away from backstage, let alone the stage, are not what get attention. In the pandemic, organizations quickly realized the importance of knowing where their information and media assets live and how to access them in order to keep in touch with their audiences. While I and my colleagues may have been messaging that in our organizations, the pandemic illustrated the need in a tremendous way.   FG – I think that, of necessity, records and information management has taken a back seat to (1) keeping essential operations going whilst adapting to the pandemic, (2) management trying to keep up employee morale and effectiveness, (3) teams trying to do as much as they can for their projects, (4) everyone trying to deal with the fear of getting sick, themselves and their families and friends. One conclusion in my mind is that, if you had a good RIM program going BEFORE the pandemic, it will likely survive, even if it’s on the back burner for now. I really cannot imagine starting a RIM program from scratch at a time like this!
SCROLL THE COLUMN 8) Reflecting back on your work experience, what did you learn about yourself and your work that you didn't think about? FG – That my family and I can survive and carry on, reasonably well, professionally as well as personally, despite a world-wide catastrophe. Of course, a full-scale nuclear war would be worse… BMS – Prior to the pandemic, I did not enjoy working from home. In learning to manage my time and tasks better, I appreciate that I am able to continue working and in some respects be more productive! This summer I did miss office air conditioning. MK – The importance of human contact and face-to-face discussion. Also, teaching over Zoom is not as fun, nor is it as productive as actually being with folks for a discussion. NM – I have realized how important and helpful it is to be engaged in work that feels socially relevant. The work we are doing on the Queens Memory COVID-19 Project gets me up and to my desk each morning, and I know it does the same for my team, who are engaged and passionate about the underlying reasons we preserve the lived histories of our neighbors. I always knew I cared about my work, but never realized how much it could help to provide structure and a sense of purpose in my life at a time when it would be dangerously easy to feel adrift and anxious.
SCROLL THE COLUMN 9) As a professional, what do you hope ALL industries that are involved with records management or information governance will learn from this pandemic? BMS – I hope all industries will continue to invest resources in protecting their information assets and developing programs that will enable them to maximize their use and return on investment of their creation. FG – Don’t wait to set up your RIM program until “another day†- and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. MK – Hope they documented this experience and how they handled it, and what mistake they made, so they will be better prepared if it happens again, as well as for the historical record of this strange time. NM – We need to remember that human memory is just awful. None of us have the capacity to accurately remember the sequence or details of events that happen in our lives, nevermind how we really felt about them when they were happening. That’s why we, as a profession, have the critically important job of documentation, preservation and access. We won’t be able to learn from our past, if there isn’t a clear, compelling (and findable) record of what happened. In this time of high-speed news cycles and rapidly changing health, social and environmental conditions, our role is even more important.
If you have time, consider who might benefit from your labor. And the real challenge, let’s be kind and generous like never before. That’s what we need most. BMS – This too shall pass. And realize that you are not alone! The past six months have been such a cycle of ups and downs. Someone in your network has probably experienced whatever part of it you are going through now. Don’t be afraid to reach out and talk. Also know that your experience might be the beacon that someone else needs right now, so don’t hesitate to share. FG – Keep heart that the need for RIM is not going away, pandemic or no (imagine RIM in the health care and pharma context!). Oh, and keep on taking all those health-safety precautions:  as a COVID-19 “survivorâ€, I can tell you that you and yours REALLY DON’T want to get close to it, so wearing a mask, washing your hands, etc., is not too much to ask for. Don’t assume that being “young and healthy†will protect you from the disease; it won’t.
10) Even though times are rough and the future is genuinely unknown, some of us have it more difficult than others. However, we all have to take things day by day. What words of encouragement would you give to your fellow professionals so they can continue to keep their heads up or at least keep them going? MK – Think of all the commuting time you're saving, as well as laundry and dry-cleaning, since you don't have to dress up. Also, get a cat because they provide entertainment and someone to talk with. And remember to document what you are doing, so there is a record being created of how we handled this. NM – Now is the time for mutual aid. We must check in on one another and find purpose and meaning from the ties we have to one another. Each of us face unforeseen challenges and many of us find ourselves with a different set of resources and needs than we had before the pandemic. If you are lucky enough to have an income, donate to worthy causes.
Articles
Tips for Communicating Virtually with each DiSC Style By Mike Monar, President of Monar Consulting, Inc. Communication can be difficult in any situation; however, the pandemic has made it more difficult because most of our interactions are now remote. One way to increase your effectiveness is to determine what the DiSC Profile of the individual you’re “Zooming†with might be. If the person is….. 1) OUTGOING/DIRECT -Faster Pace -More Telling -Louder Speech And…. MORE COMPETITIVE & DIRECTING Closed posture; unexpressive; formal; priority on goal and results
Their style may be Dominant: -Make communication brief and to the point without a lot of social chatter -Check at the end of discussion to confirm everything was heard -Stick to the topic and focus on results -Eliminate time wasters 2) OUTGOING/DIRECT And…. MORE TALKATIVE & INTERACTIVE Open posture; animated/warm face; casual; priority on people and approval Their style may be Influence: -Approach them informally -Keep the conversation light and friendly -Follow-up with written details -Provide opportunity to share stories, ideas, thoughts and feelings
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Fear of Public Speaking By Jeffrey Roach, Partner and President of Encoretech and Glenn Hoxie , Project Manager at Paul Hastings Does the idea of talking in front of an audience send your heart racing? If so, you are not alone. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or are just getting started in your career, public speaking can trigger some of our most deeply rooted fears of being rejected, embarrassed or judged. For most of us it isn’t about the quality of the speech, but about the way speaking in public makes us feel. At the same time, there are clear benefits, both professional and personal, to conquering that fear. So, how do you do it? Studies have identified four factors that contribute to the fear of public speaking: physiology, thoughts, situations and skills. While these four factors often overlap, there are specific things you can do to address them individually.
Physiology. Our bodies are wired to react physically to threats, whether those threats are real or imagined. To counteract this fear, we need to focus on slowing down our breathing and reminding ourselves that we are not in danger. Thoughts. To rein in negative thoughts, focus less on yourself and more on the audience, practice amply, add pre-speech game day rituals, and implement positive anchor thoughts. Situations. There are specific public speaking scenarios that will amplify our anxiety. One we all encounter is when we have to speak to someone who is in a position of authority. In these situations, find a sponsor and borrow their authority. Skills. Technical skills will solidify your confidence. A few include rhetorical devices, vocal variety, gestures and body language, research, and visual aids.
high-pressure, high-focus environment. Coupled with an increase in the volume and complexity of nefarious attacks on firms, trying to exploit the vulnerabilities these gaps exposed (phishing attacks rose 600% rise alone), the burden on IT departments to ensure ‘business as usual’, has been and remains at an all-time high. Many organisations deployed or expanded the use of common collaboration platforms, such as Microsoft Teams in an effort to improve communication. This required strategies around risk management, to ensure an innocent mistake – attaching content from a secure document management system into a chat function for a ‘quick comment on copy’ - did not escalate into a major DLP scare.
Secure Collaboration in the Era of Remote Working By Mr Ian Raine – VP Product Management, iManage (Belfast office) and David Moseley Global Director Product Marketing Security, Risk & Governance, iManage 2020 will be remembered for multiple reasons, but for many legal and professional service firms who deal with highly sensitive, confidential documentation and records, the enforced shift to remote working bought laser focus to how individuals and teams interacted and collaborated together; and how the IT services that facilitated them provided an environment that’s compliant, secure and highly governed. Collaboration is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination, but it has certainly been a hot topic as modern professionals needed to adapt to the challenges that home working bought; effective communication, home office set-ups, and adjusting to working around the distractions of family members or others not involved in a
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At iManage, our priority was to support our customers during these incredibly challenging times not only via our support channels, but with dedicated resources and regular updates on the very subjects we knew they faced, like MS Teams integration. It also allowed us to demonstrate and educate them on the true potential of our integrated platform, not just for effective and secure collaboration, but to enhance productivity and reduce operation overhead by allowing access via mobile, tablet or laptop to the work product - supporting a seamless transition from office to remote environment. “Since ‘Day One’ with iManage Cloud, we’ve been set up to work from anywhere. The pandemic-related lockdown has been nothing more than a change in location from office to home. Our operations have continued seamlessly with no interruption†- CEO financial service firm
A look into the early years of our organization. Notice our former name.
Into Our History
Continued from Page 4 It’s the End of the World... SCROLL THE COLUMN Don’t worry, it isn’t all checking work emails during dinner and burning out – a lot of good quality of life upgrades came along with the shift to remote work. For many of us, the commute to work drastically improved (studies have shown that the average New York City worker’s commute time was 43 minutes!). The dress code also became a lot less strict (what are pants?). Additionally, many workers are reporting that they are exercising more, eating better, and spending an unprecedented amount of time with their hobbies – both old and newly learned. For most, the benefits far outweigh the costs, and given the nature of work typically performed within the Information Governance sector, many are even starting to argue that there’s no need to ever return to the office. The potential pitfall of this argument is that if you prove your job can be done from anywhere, why should your company pay someone a NYC salary when they could be located in a relatively cheaper location? A healthy split of time in the office and at home will allow workers a lot of the benefits they’ve come to enjoy with remote work, while also maintaining a cemented office presence. In the end, the world will never be the same. The pandemic, for better or for worse, has caused the rapid adoption of remote collaborative software that will remain long after the world reopens. Work from home is here to stay and that is both a scary and promising aspect of future work, but, to paraphrase R.E.M., it’s the end of the world as we know it, but we’ll be fine.
Continued from Page 13 DiSC Style... SCROLL THE COLUMN 3) RESERVED/INDIRECT -Slower Pace -More Asking -Softer Speech And…. MORE ACCEPTING & DOING Open posture; animated/warm face; casual; priority on cooperation and stability Their style may be Steadiness: -Initiate discussions in a friendly, low-key manner -Let them know how things will be done -Provide written information prior to a conversation -Draw out information about their concerns, worries or conflicts 4) RESERVED/INDIRECT And…. MORE ASSESSING & THINKING Closed posture; unexpressive; formal; priority on quality and analysis Their style may be Conscientiousness: -Minimize socializing, give details, value accuracy -Give clear expectations and deadlines -Be tactful, precise, focused and emotionally reserved -Check for points of disagreement or misunderstanding To effectively communicate, organizations and individuals must design and deliver their messages in a way that can be understood by their desired recipients. If the receiver of a message is confused or misunderstands a message the primary responsibility for that failure, in my opinion, falls on the sender, not the receiver. For example, I would not send an AM (i.e. Dominant) message to an individual that has an FM (i.e. Conscientiousness) receiver if I want to be sure the individual gets my message. Getting a sense of the behavioral style of your audience, whether in one on one or broader communications greatly enhances your ability to have your message understood and acted upon which is the primary purpose of any communication.
Many of these same skills are even more applicable in our largely virtual environment. For example, to rein in your thoughts, our recommendation to practice extensively is even more important as you’ll want to ensure you know the presentation technology well. Also, since many people may minimize your video, the effective use of words and vocal variety is even more key.
Continued from Page 14 Public Speaking...
Continued from Page 15 Secure Collaboration...SCROLL THE COLUMN For information governance and records professionals, who deal with both physical and electronic records, the pandemic presented its own set of compliance challenges; should home printing of documents/records be allowed? How could physical records be viewed securely and how to do this all without imposing additional pressure on already stretched IT resources? To solve these challenges, we looked at the process of how best to provide insights, metrics and reports in a single, unified ‘ pane of glass’ dashboard view. By empowering users to make key decisions and allow them oversight and control to enforce records management and security policies, it reduces the need for IT overhead, or customer service calls. Another example of removing process bottlenecks is the electronic rendering of physical records – so a digital image can be viewed, without the need for files or boxes to be retrieved and replaced. We continue to enhance our ‘user experience’ with feedback from product advisory boards, user groups and the records community to ensure we are delivering solutions that fit how professionals work.
Secretary Jennie Catherine Dubin-Rhodin
Vice President - Treasurer Derick Arthur
Board of Directors
Immediate Past President Gene Stakhov, CRM, CDIA+
Executive Vice President Rishi R. Maharaj, IGP
President Glenn P. Fischer, IGP
Vice President - Events & Special Projects Michelle Dougherty
Vice President - Information Technology Anna Lebedeva
Vice President - Membership Leslie Smith
Vice President - Marketing and Social Media Jennifer Best, CRM
Vice President - Professional Development David Smythe
Vice President - Sponsorship David Prather, CIP, IGP, CAPM
About exchange exchange is a publication of the ARMA Metropolitan New York City Chapter, Inc. (ARMA Metro NYC), P.O. Box 740, Grand Central Station, New York, New York 10163. The publication provides a wide range of content. An annual digital subscription to exchange is included as a benefit of membership. Opinions and suggestions of the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of ARMA Metro NYC or ARMA International. Additionally, acceptance of advertising does not constitute official endorsement of the product or service. Editor-in-Chief is Linda Thai. For more information about exchange, please contact Vice President - Marketing and Social Media Jennifer A. Best at metronycmarketingvp@yahoo.com. About the ARMA Metro NYC Chapter ARMA Metro NYC is a local Chapter of ARMA International, a not-for-profit community of professionals in the information management and information governance industry that provides educational resources and networking opportunities. The Chapter supports its members through educational seminars, events, an annual educational conference, volunteer opportunities and its publication exchange. Its members are RIM and IG Professionals, as well as individuals who work in related fields, such as technology and law.
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