December 17, 2019
Every Third Friday
Our last Every Third Friday discussion of the year will be held via Zoom this Friday, December 20, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. This session will be a “Let’s Talk Extension” discussion, which means that participants can bring up anything they would like to discuss about K-State Research and Extension to me or any participating member of the Extension Administration Team. There is another article below that shares more about the discussion’s connection information.
The Every Third Friday concept evolved as a follow up to our popular Team Building: Harmony at Work professional development workshops. Team building had been identified in our 2017-2018 Listening Sessions as a very important issue to address. We wanted to further reinforce the importance of team building following the Harmony at Work sessions. By “borrowing” (AKA stealing) Nancy Daniel’s First Friday e-Call model, the Every Third Friday series was born. We decided to rotate between team building topics and “Let’s Talk Extension” on a monthly basis. We gave the series one year to determine whether we should continue with it.
It has been one year since we started the Every Third Friday series. The team behind the series – Laurie Chandler, John Forshee, Sarah Maass, Carla Nemecek, Mary Sullivan, Jennifer Wilson, and me – met last Friday to discuss its future. The team decided that Every Third Friday met its goals and should continue.
The team also decided that we would change the topics the series would address during this coming year. Based on the discussions from the Listening Sessions, JCEP-Extension Administration meetings, and this year’s annual conference – we decided that Every Third Friday will rotate between three topics on a monthly basis.
The first topic will build upon our annual conference’s innovation theme and will be called “Celebrate Innovate!” We will share ways in which our colleagues have been innovative in Extension. Celebrate Innovate! will be the Every Third Friday topic for our January 17, April 17, July 17, and October 16 discussions.
The second topic concerns Extension professional wellness and will be coordinated by JCEP. We have very rewarding careers that can be stressful at times. This part of the Every Third Friday series will take a holistic look at improving our wellbeing as Extension professionals. Topics may include, among others, how to enhance our behavior and physical health, the importance of saying no, and mindfulness. Extension professional wellness will be the Every Third Friday topic for our February 21, May 15, August 21, and November 20 discussions.
The third topic type will be chosen by a team (to be named soon) of local unit, regional, and state level support staff: office professionals, administrative assistants, program assistants, accountants, and all others whose duties help facilitate the great work of our agents, facilitators and administrators and keep K-State Research and Extension functioning at peak efficiency. While these topics will be chosen by support staff, I am sure that they will be of interest to all of our Extension professionals and all are invited to participate in the discussions. The dates for these Every Third Friday discussions will be March 20, June 19, September 18, and December 18.
Thanks to all of you that engaged in our Every Third Friday discussions and made it a success this past year. I look forward to this Friday’s discussion, and every Every Third Friday discussion in 2020.