Corporate Contractors - Summer 2020 Newsletter

The Patient Mother A woman walked in the grocery store with a three-year-old girl in the seat of her shopping cart. As they passed the cookie section, the little girl asked for cookies, and her mother told her no. The little girl immediately began to whine and fuss. The mother said quietly, “Now, Monica, we just have half of the aisles left to go through; don’t be upset. It won’t be long.” Soon they came to the candy aisle, and the little girl began to beg for candy. When her mother said she couldn’t have any, the little girl began to cry. The mother said, “There, there, Monica—only two more aisles to go, and then we’ll be checking out.” When they got to the checkout, the little girl immediately started clamoring for gum, and she threw a loud tantrum when her mother refused. The mother patiently said, “Monica, we’ll be through this checkout lane in five minutes, and then you can go home and have a nice nap.” A man followed them out to the parking lot and stopped the woman. “I couldn’t help noticing how patient you were with little Monica,” he said. The mother laughed. “My little girl’s name is Tammy. I’m Monica.” True or False? 1) You’ve heard the saying, “blind as a bat.” Are bats really blind. 2) A baby bird’s mother will reject it if you pick it up. 3) NASA spent more than $165 million on a space pen. 4) A chicken once lived for 18 months without a head. 5) The name “Jessica” was invented by William Shakespeare. 6) You only use 10% of your brain. 7) Humans share 95% of their DNA with bananas. 8) Chewing gum takes seven years to digest. 9) All red wine gets better with age. 10) There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way galaxy. —Buzzfeed Answers : 1) False; 2) False; 3) False; 4) True; 5) True; 6) False; 7) False; 8) False; 9) False; 10) True True or False? A baby bird’s mother will reject it if you pick it up. “Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.” —Zig Ziglar Videoconference Etiquette As more and more people shift to working from home, videoconferencing via Skype, Zoom, and other platforms has become essential to staying in touch with co-workers and managers. But you have to behave appropriately. The Owl Labs website offers these video conferencing etiquette tips: • Be on time. Like any meeting, videoconferencing calls for punctuality. Dialing in late is a distraction to your punctual colleagues. Make sure you know how to connect more than two minutes before the meeting begins. • Mute yourself when you’re not speaking . Your microphone can easily pick up stray noises in the background—chewing, phones ringing, dogs barking, kids shouting, etc. Do everyone a favor and stay on mute until you have something to say. • Check your technology . Do a few test runs so you can be sure you know what you’re doing. You don’t want a sudden glitch to take you out of the meeting unexpectedly or disrupt it. • Dress appropriately. You may spend your current workday in your pajamas, but dress up before logging on. You may not have to wear a suit and a necktie, but you want to project a professional image online. • Get in the right position. Make sure your face is visible, and avoid angles that show people just your ears or nostrils. Face the camera directly, not from above or below. A stable stack of books can elevate your computer as needed. Look directly into the camera when speaking, not at others in the conference. • Check your lighting. Don’t place bright lights directly behind you, or you’ll blind other participants. Make sure the light is adequate so you don’t appear to be speaking from darkness or shadows. • Pay attention. Don’t multitask by checking emails or doing other work during the conference. It’s disrespectful to others. Plus, you might miss something important or delay in answering a question directed to you.