Making Time for Professional Development / Meeting Notes November 2020
Location: Virtual
Attendees: Janet, Salma, Cathy, Manda, Tamara R., Janice, Lisa, Carolina, Crystal, Jacquie; Tamara W., Laine (guests)
Announcements
Holiday Social
Our first-ever Virtual Holiday Social will be held on December 15. It is open to members and recent guests and has been posted on the website and in our Facebook group.
You are encouraged to wear something festive, such as a Christmas sweater, hat, or jewellery, as we would like to get a screenshot of all of us in our holiday finery. You don’t have to keep it on for the whole event if you’re not comfortable!
In addition to socializing, we will be playing the Psych game. Please download it to your iOS or Android device ahead of time so you’re ready to play.
I will start the game and give everyone a code to enter to join the game.
Psych will generate questions using the names of the players. Questions could be similar to “In ten years, Tamara has become extremely famous. What is she famous for?” or “If Janice and Salma started a band, what would it be called?”
Each player submits a funny answer to the question, and then everyone sees a list of the anonymous answers. Players choose the answer they like the best, and you win points for players who voted for your answer. At the end of the round, the author of each answer is revealed.
You win by having the most people pick your answers by the end of all the rounds.
Upcoming Meetings
January 19 – Your Goals for 2021 (plus a Member Spotlight on Office Organization from Carolina Gutierrez) – Website link | Facebook link
February 16 – The Best Business Advice You’ve Ever Received – Website link | Facebook link
In the comments, please let us know what topics you’d like to learn about, explore, or present on in the future.
Discussion: Making Time for Professional Development
Lifelong learning is vital for everyone, but especially those of us who own and operate our own businesses. Not only do we need to keep our technical skills up-to-date, but we have to stay abreast of trends and changes in the areas we’ve chosen to work in, whether it be social media, email marketing, bookkeeping, or virtual office administration.
Discussion Questions
Once you’ve identified a learning need, how do you fit it into your schedule?
What works better for you: self-study or scheduled classes?
Once you’ve completed your lessons, how do you make time to put your new skills and knowledge into practice?
Recommendations
To be successful, you need three things:
- Time
- Motivation
- Accountability
A course usually needs to be immediately relevant to hold our attention and make it worthwhile. It’s helpful when the marketing material makes it clear what you will learn and how much time you’ll need to work on assignments as well as reading or listening to the lessons.
Don’t get sidetracked by every shiny thing! Ask your colleagues for recommendations before making a decision.
Most of us find it easier to commit to completing a course when there is some structure. It may be in one or more of the following forms:
- a course that is held at a set time, whether daily or weekly
- scheduling self-study first thing in the morning or at lunch
- commit to working on self-study for 15-30 minutes so it doesn’t feel like you’re too busy to fit it in – if at the end of that time you’re really into it and can spare the time, keep going.
- remove distractions – turn off notifications, close other programs and browser windows while you are studying
- tie it in with a habit, something you are already doing
- don’t miss more than two days in a row
- have an accountability partner and check in regularly
- courses with mandatory homework assignments
Sometimes it’s more practical to listen to a video or audio recording while doing something else, whether walking, driving, or working. Make note of the time when something is said that you want to go back to so you can easily do that without having to listen to the whole thing again.
Recommended Resources
- Gale: instructor-led online courses, available free of charge through many public libraries
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- Stay on top of your professional development with these 4 strategies
- Courses & Training / Meeting Notes June 2019
If you were unable to attend, please feel free to continue the discussion in the comments.