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Mentor Teleconference - October 2017

Mentor Teleconference - October 2017

Wed, Oct 11, 2017
12:00pm to 1:00pm CT

Description

Oct 11 we held our second Mentor & Moderator Teleconference
Topics discussed
1. Introductions Round Robin - 10 minutes
Tell us your name and primary group, and then answer these 2 questions in 30 seconds or less.
  • What aspect of your personality or skill set do you feel adds the most value to Mayo Clinic Connect?
  • What is your favorite past time or activity that helps you re-energize and reconnect with you? (feel free to upload pictures to show us 🙂
2. Creating the Kitchen Table Talk - 10 minutes
How to successfully move conversations from one-on-one to include everyone at the table.
Open discussion about what's working well in your groups and what you'd like to see improve. Let's focus on the social interactions for this discussion and the technology as secondary.
3. Working Better Together - 10 minutes
Shifting roles and responsibilities of the Moderators. What does this mean to Mentors?
What resource, tool or support would like to have to help you in your role as a Mentor?
4. New stuff and ideas: Show and tell - 10 minutes
What's new on Connect? What's coming?
Member Spotlight - a new feature, looking for writers
5. Final Thoughts - 10 minutes
Open discussion
Any of the topics above could take the full hour to discuss. I encourage you to start the conversation here to help us focus our discussion during the teleconference. As always, these are ongoing discussions. I welcome your thoughts.
Mentor
Teresa, Volunteer Mentor | @hopeful33250 | Oct 7, 2017

Hi All: As I will not be able to join in the conference call on Wednesday, I asked Colleen if I could contribute some of my thoughts through a post, so here goes:

Hi, my name is Teresa, @hopeful33250, and my primary groups are Parkinson’s and Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs).

What aspect of your personality or skill set do you feel adds the most value to Mayo Clinic Connect?
I feel that my curiosity, search for knowledge and persistence to find answers are strengths that I bring into my mentor position. I’m not afraid to talk to doctors when they are not clear or when I question their ideas. As a result, I have caught diagnoses when doctors did not think there was anything wrong. As a result, I seek out doctors who are willing to listen and work with me (I’ve dropped a few doctors along the way and developed some new medical relationships). I always encourage my group to seek 2nd opinions when they are in doubt. Encouraging others to be proactive is important to me.

My favorite pastimes are spending time with friends, family, music, movies and books. I’m also part of a Parkinson’s Dance Class – great fun! As far as music, I am a volunteer with Therapy Choirs of Michigan, http://www.therapychoirs.org, which helps people heal from traumatic brain injuries and neurological problems through music. Maybe at our next May meet-up meeting in Rochester a few of us can get together and sing at a Karaoke place! Wouldn’t that be fun?

As far as “creating the kitchen table talk” I try to maintain a list of the folks in my 2 groups (keep them in a word document) and when we have a new member, I post all of their user names (with the @ sign) and invite them to welcome the new member or perhaps share some of their experiences. Some members will do it, and some won’t, but I keep trying (persistence is the name of the game). I also look for articles from websites that I feel might be educational and helpful and I’ll post it as a “new discussion” and invite everyone to read and comment. That has worked beautifully in many cases.

I hope

REPLY
15 replies
Mentor
Teresa, Volunteer Mentor | @hopeful33250 | Oct 7, 2017

Hi again,

Two hours ago a Member posted a question about how to talk with doctors during an appointment. I created the "kitchen table talk" by inviting everyone in the group to discuss what they do before an appointment. One reply has already posted. Take a look at it if you would like to see how it can work. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/things-to-monitor-what-to-tell-your-doctor/.

Teresa

REPLY
6 replies
Moderator
Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Oct 7, 2017
In reply to @hopeful33250 "Hi again, Two hours ago a Member posted a question about how to talk with doctors..." + (show)
@hopeful33250

Hi again,

Two hours ago a Member posted a question about how to talk with doctors during an appointment. I created the "kitchen table talk" by inviting everyone in the group to discuss what they do before an appointment. One reply has already posted. Take a look at it if you would like to see how it can work. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/things-to-monitor-what-to-tell-your-doctor/.

Teresa

Jump to this post

Nice job on this, Teresa @hopeful33250! Seems to be working out well!

REPLY
Mentor
Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Oct 9, 2017
In reply to @hopeful33250 "Hi All: As I will not be able to join in the conference call on Wednesday,..." + (show)
@hopeful33250

Hi All: As I will not be able to join in the conference call on Wednesday, I asked Colleen if I could contribute some of my thoughts through a post, so here goes:

Hi, my name is Teresa, @hopeful33250, and my primary groups are Parkinson’s and Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs).

What aspect of your personality or skill set do you feel adds the most value to Mayo Clinic Connect?
I feel that my curiosity, search for knowledge and persistence to find answers are strengths that I bring into my mentor position. I’m not afraid to talk to doctors when they are not clear or when I question their ideas. As a result, I have caught diagnoses when doctors did not think there was anything wrong. As a result, I seek out doctors who are willing to listen and work with me (I’ve dropped a few doctors along the way and developed some new medical relationships). I always encourage my group to seek 2nd opinions when they are in doubt. Encouraging others to be proactive is important to me.

My favorite pastimes are spending time with friends, family, music, movies and books. I’m also part of a Parkinson’s Dance Class – great fun! As far as music, I am a volunteer with Therapy Choirs of Michigan, http://www.therapychoirs.org, which helps people heal from traumatic brain injuries and neurological problems through music. Maybe at our next May meet-up meeting in Rochester a few of us can get together and sing at a Karaoke place! Wouldn’t that be fun?

As far as “creating the kitchen table talk” I try to maintain a list of the folks in my 2 groups (keep them in a word document) and when we have a new member, I post all of their user names (with the @ sign) and invite them to welcome the new member or perhaps share some of their experiences. Some members will do it, and some won’t, but I keep trying (persistence is the name of the game). I also look for articles from websites that I feel might be educational and helpful and I’ll post it as a “new discussion” and invite everyone to read and comment. That has worked beautifully in many cases.

I hope

Jump to this post

@hopeful33250 Teresa, I am a firm believer in the arts. Here is a slogan that I love 'ArT sAvEs LiVeS'. I think it is wonderful that you volunteer for the Therapy Choirs. I am an artist and jewelry designer. I feel that having creative juices running through the brain is a good thing for the spirit. I like your "kitchen table talk" idea. I will try to implement that more in my postings.

REPLY
Mentor
Teresa, Volunteer Mentor | @hopeful33250 | Oct 9, 2017
In reply to @hopeful33250 "Hi All: As I will not be able to join in the conference call on Wednesday,..." + (show)
@hopeful33250

Hi All: As I will not be able to join in the conference call on Wednesday, I asked Colleen if I could contribute some of my thoughts through a post, so here goes:

Hi, my name is Teresa, @hopeful33250, and my primary groups are Parkinson’s and Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs).

What aspect of your personality or skill set do you feel adds the most value to Mayo Clinic Connect?
I feel that my curiosity, search for knowledge and persistence to find answers are strengths that I bring into my mentor position. I’m not afraid to talk to doctors when they are not clear or when I question their ideas. As a result, I have caught diagnoses when doctors did not think there was anything wrong. As a result, I seek out doctors who are willing to listen and work with me (I’ve dropped a few doctors along the way and developed some new medical relationships). I always encourage my group to seek 2nd opinions when they are in doubt. Encouraging others to be proactive is important to me.

My favorite pastimes are spending time with friends, family, music, movies and books. I’m also part of a Parkinson’s Dance Class – great fun! As far as music, I am a volunteer with Therapy Choirs of Michigan, http://www.therapychoirs.org, which helps people heal from traumatic brain injuries and neurological problems through music. Maybe at our next May meet-up meeting in Rochester a few of us can get together and sing at a Karaoke place! Wouldn’t that be fun?

As far as “creating the kitchen table talk” I try to maintain a list of the folks in my 2 groups (keep them in a word document) and when we have a new member, I post all of their user names (with the @ sign) and invite them to welcome the new member or perhaps share some of their experiences. Some members will do it, and some won’t, but I keep trying (persistence is the name of the game). I also look for articles from websites that I feel might be educational and helpful and I’ll post it as a “new discussion” and invite everyone to read and comment. That has worked beautifully in many cases.

I hope

Jump to this post

Hi Terri, @windwalker

Yes, I agree with Art sAvEs LiVeS! I love music, dance. I'd love to see some of your artwork and jewelry designs. Maybe you could post a picture sometime?

Teresa

REPLY
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Oct 9, 2017

Teresa, I'm so glad that you set the ball in motion here to get the teleconference discussions started before Wednesday. I invite others to share their thoughts on my questions above, especially those of you who cannot make the call: @johnbishop, @vdouglas and @llwortman.

Kitchen Table Talk
I like Teresa's example of kitchen table talk (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/things-to-monitor-what-to-tell-your-doctor/).
@mentioning everyone in your group works well for small burgeoning groups. However as groups get larger, this may no longer tenable. But you can @mention a subset of members. Inviting multiple people to discussions gives everyone the confidence (even lurkers) to contribute. It recognizes that everyone has something valuable to add. This also eliminates any one person being the sole person responding to every post.

I call this kitchen table talk. I often use analogies of in-person situations when referring to online communities. A large group sitting around the dining room table or kitchen table offers a great visual. Around a table everyone jumps into the fray. You might start a one-on-one conversation with the person next to you. Then someone across the table joins in, making it a 3-way conversation. Naturally as more people join in, you also listen and jump in only where and when you have something to contribute. The onus is not on you to respond to each person after they have spoken. That would be weird at a kitchen table wouldn't it? I look forward to discussion the inherent risks in that behavior and how to encourage healthy kitchen table talk.

What is working well in your groups?

REPLY
51 replies
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Oct 9, 2017
In reply to @colleenyoung "Teresa, I'm so glad that you set the ball in motion here to get the teleconference..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Teresa, I'm so glad that you set the ball in motion here to get the teleconference discussions started before Wednesday. I invite others to share their thoughts on my questions above, especially those of you who cannot make the call: @johnbishop, @vdouglas and @llwortman.

Kitchen Table Talk
I like Teresa's example of kitchen table talk (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/things-to-monitor-what-to-tell-your-doctor/).
@mentioning everyone in your group works well for small burgeoning groups. However as groups get larger, this may no longer tenable. But you can @mention a subset of members. Inviting multiple people to discussions gives everyone the confidence (even lurkers) to contribute. It recognizes that everyone has something valuable to add. This also eliminates any one person being the sole person responding to every post.

I call this kitchen table talk. I often use analogies of in-person situations when referring to online communities. A large group sitting around the dining room table or kitchen table offers a great visual. Around a table everyone jumps into the fray. You might start a one-on-one conversation with the person next to you. Then someone across the table joins in, making it a 3-way conversation. Naturally as more people join in, you also listen and jump in only where and when you have something to contribute. The onus is not on you to respond to each person after they have spoken. That would be weird at a kitchen table wouldn't it? I look forward to discussion the inherent risks in that behavior and how to encourage healthy kitchen table talk.

What is working well in your groups?

Jump to this post

Here’s my story and probably more than you want...

1. Introductions Round Robin

John Bishop - Autoimmune diseases, Neuropathy...and watching for first posts by new Connect members.
-- What aspect of your personality or skill set do you feel adds the most value to Mayo Clinic Connect?
Jeepers, what a question for an introvert hiding in an extroverts body. Empathy for folks in pain or scared - because I sometimes are one. People skills from years of working with different customer sets.

-- What is your favorite past time or activity that helps you re-energize and reconnect with you? (feel free to upload pictures to show us
In a prioritized order - taking photos of critters outside of my computer room window, listening to my beard grow, and checking my eyelids for pinholes. Photos attached.

2. Creating the Kitchen Table Talk

-- How to successfully move conversations from one-on-one to include everyone at the table.
Tag relevent Connect members if possible for comments, ask a few questions and hopefully step out of the way when the conversation starts. Wishful thinking?

-- Open discussion about what's working well in your groups and what you'd like to see improve. Let's focus on the social interactions for this discussion and the technology as secondary.
Moderators and mentors tagging others for input and information re-use (OK, maybe some blatant plagiarism on my part! But on my defense, you are all so good with words and it is helpful to me.)

3. Working Better Together

-- Shifting roles and responsibilities of the Moderators. What does this mean to Mentors?
I would like to think "Yellow Submarine". All crew members on a sub have to learn all of the jobs so when one goes down another one can step up and do the job.

-- What resource, tool or support would like to have to help you in your role as a Mentor?
Better search capability - specifically the ability to do an advanced search of the posts like word or phrase + word or phrase OR "specific phrase" in quotes. Searching is my favorite pastime.

4. New stuff and ideas: Show and tell

-- What's new on Connect? What's coming?
Wooo hooo! Can't wait to find out. 🙂

-- Member Spotlight - a new feature, looking for writers
Rats! I always wanted to be a creative writer when I wore a tech writer hat for IBM but they made me write to the 8th grade vocabulary for customer engineer documentation as if they would hire an 8th grader. I know you can't see me but I did take one step forward just in case I can help.

5. Final Thoughts
I do not like that word "Final". It reminds me of, well, Final - like in no more, kaput, finished, done, it's all over... I'm still thinking there's always tomorrow!
REPLY
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Oct 9, 2017
In reply to @colleenyoung "Teresa, I'm so glad that you set the ball in motion here to get the teleconference..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Teresa, I'm so glad that you set the ball in motion here to get the teleconference discussions started before Wednesday. I invite others to share their thoughts on my questions above, especially those of you who cannot make the call: @johnbishop, @vdouglas and @llwortman.

Kitchen Table Talk
I like Teresa's example of kitchen table talk (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/things-to-monitor-what-to-tell-your-doctor/).
@mentioning everyone in your group works well for small burgeoning groups. However as groups get larger, this may no longer tenable. But you can @mention a subset of members. Inviting multiple people to discussions gives everyone the confidence (even lurkers) to contribute. It recognizes that everyone has something valuable to add. This also eliminates any one person being the sole person responding to every post.

I call this kitchen table talk. I often use analogies of in-person situations when referring to online communities. A large group sitting around the dining room table or kitchen table offers a great visual. Around a table everyone jumps into the fray. You might start a one-on-one conversation with the person next to you. Then someone across the table joins in, making it a 3-way conversation. Naturally as more people join in, you also listen and jump in only where and when you have something to contribute. The onus is not on you to respond to each person after they have spoken. That would be weird at a kitchen table wouldn't it? I look forward to discussion the inherent risks in that behavior and how to encourage healthy kitchen table talk.

What is working well in your groups?

Jump to this post

John, Great input and insights. I look forward to integrating these comments into our discussion on Wednesday.

2. Table Talk - "stepping out of the way" is a great skill and allows the room to open up. Nicely said. Anyone have tips or examples on how to do this?

3. Search functionality - we recently upgraded the search functionality, so it is better than it was. Still room for improvement. I agree. Here's some documentation from CareHubs on the search weight/relevancy ranking that you and other searchers might find interesting. https://docs.carehubs.com/components/fulltext-search/ Would be thrilled to work with you for further improvements to the search capabilities.

5. Noted about Final Thoughts. It shall never be used again for agendas. 😉

Now tell me, did that divine blue feathered friend really come to your backyard feeder in Minnesota? What type of bird is he?

REPLY
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Oct 9, 2017
In reply to @colleenyoung "Teresa, I'm so glad that you set the ball in motion here to get the teleconference..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Teresa, I'm so glad that you set the ball in motion here to get the teleconference discussions started before Wednesday. I invite others to share their thoughts on my questions above, especially those of you who cannot make the call: @johnbishop, @vdouglas and @llwortman.

Kitchen Table Talk
I like Teresa's example of kitchen table talk (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/things-to-monitor-what-to-tell-your-doctor/).
@mentioning everyone in your group works well for small burgeoning groups. However as groups get larger, this may no longer tenable. But you can @mention a subset of members. Inviting multiple people to discussions gives everyone the confidence (even lurkers) to contribute. It recognizes that everyone has something valuable to add. This also eliminates any one person being the sole person responding to every post.

I call this kitchen table talk. I often use analogies of in-person situations when referring to online communities. A large group sitting around the dining room table or kitchen table offers a great visual. Around a table everyone jumps into the fray. You might start a one-on-one conversation with the person next to you. Then someone across the table joins in, making it a 3-way conversation. Naturally as more people join in, you also listen and jump in only where and when you have something to contribute. The onus is not on you to respond to each person after they have spoken. That would be weird at a kitchen table wouldn't it? I look forward to discussion the inherent risks in that behavior and how to encourage healthy kitchen table talk.

What is working well in your groups?

Jump to this post

Yes it did...have seen 2 or 3 of them this Spring and Summer. I think they are Mountain Bluebirds. They are definitely one of my favorites although I really like the cardinals. My favorite is the Pileated Woodpecker but they are really skittish and any movement in the window where I snap the photos spooks them.

REPLY
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