CWJJ Episode 2: Matt Green

Episode Transcript:

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[0:00] : James Cross: [0:11] Well, good morning, everyone.

[0:00] : Jim Schauer: [0:13] Good morning.

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James:  [0:14] Welcome to “Episode 2” of “Coffee with Jim & James.” The good news is we haven’t been cancelled yet. So that’s positive in this quarantine. I hope quarantine life’s treating everyone.

[0:25] Well, I don’t know if I can speak for everyone. But personally I am busier than I’ve ever been before.

[0:34] I don’t have a clue how I’m going to transition back to an office space with the normal distractions and social behavior that we’re used to but we’ll figure it out. It’s a good thing to be busy.

[0:46] I’m excited about today’s guest. We’re we are going to talk about really the way the pandemic have shaped some of the things we’re doing in our businesses and really propelled us forward into the future.

[1:00] Sometimes we really need someone to force our hand a bit into that uncomfortable area so we can see where the magic happens and I think that’s some of what we’re saying even today.

[1:10] So in an attempt not to really steal the thunder of our guest or anyone else. I’m going to go ahead and pivot to Jim and Jim if you want to go ahead and do introductions we’ll get started.

[0:00] : Jim: [1:21] My pleasure. It is with my honor that I get to introduce. Mr. Matt Green vice president of technical services for ClockSpring|NRI. I’ve known Matt just for a few years what I normally look at my friends in the industry its measured in decades.

[1:37] Matt, and I met at a Christmas party an NRI Christmas party two years ago at Singer Island and have become friends since then and we have a lot of mutual friends.

[1:46] So I know their company and their industry well have a lot of respect for them. A lot of things that they’ve been doing lately with the virtual world. So I was excited to have Matt on.

[1:55] So with that with no further. Let me hand it over to Matt.

[0:00] : Matt Green: [2:00] I appreciate it guys and you know, thank you for having me. It’s an honor. It’s such an honor to have been asked to participate.

[2:08] We have been doing a lot of new things a lot of more virtual and remote‑based activities just you know with everything that’s happening. It’s really changing the way everyone kind of works on a business‑to‑business and even you know straight to client relationships.

[2:25] Everything is different than how it used to be so I’m happy to be here to have a chance to talk about some of the things that we’ve been doing and some of the things we’ve been building and focusing on.

[2:35] And the first one really is kind of on our safety moments all of our meetings kick off [inaudible] moment, you know, it’s one of our core core focuses our core values at the company.

[2:49] But one of the things that we’ve really been doing especially within my group is kind of shifting what we would typically see within the safety moments to more of a emotional and personal well‑being than more of like a job site safety hazard type of activity.

[3:05] You know, we’re seeing a lot of difficulty a lot of changes a lot of big things happening in the world that have really changed the way we have to look at and address the things that we do.

[3:14] And everyone’s having a very difficult time and the additional stress burnout’s a real thing. All these other things can really take tolls on people emotionally and physically as well.

[3:26] As you know, the you know higher stress leads to lower immunity people get sick. And then that’s one of things we’re trying to avoid with with all these changes to start with.

[0:00] : Jim: [3:33] Good point. Good point.

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Matt:  [3:35] So we’re really trying to pay attention within our teams.

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James:  [3:40] That’s a good point Matt. I know Jim and I, we kind of joke. Sometimes we’re each other’s therapists at times during this and I feel like other people as well. We really have to band together like never before and really focus in on those things like emotional well‑being.

[4:02] We just had a webinar a couple of weeks ago really focused on on some of that and it’s very real.

[4:10] I think having that personal missing that personal touch and then adding all those elements that we’re all dealing with now that aren’t our normal elements and variables has really really affected a lot of people so kudos on that.

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Matt:  [4:25] Yeah, so it’s a you know, it’s a big thing. We try to focus on it. You know, people are what makes the world turn and we got to take care of our people so and I we really want to shift focus on.

[4:40] You know, obviously the other thing is kind of what we’re doing now more of the digital and remote type of communication activities the way we get information out to the industry. We can’t go to trade shows right now. We can’t have a lot of face‑to‑face client meetings.

[4:55] There’s a lot of things that have changed and you know, and trying to catch up with how we can now address that has been a big push and we’ve been doing a lot of things behind the scenes, you know.

[5:02] And as you mentioned we’ve been doing a lot of what we’re calling tech talks to really get information to continue to educate the industry, which is one of my primary responsibilities in my role is to educate on what we do and the solutions that we can provide.

[5:22] So setting those types of things up have been key and we’ve had a very good reception for what we’ve done so far. We’ve kind of toyed with them in the past. We’ve given a few here and there.

[5:33] But just with the way everything has changed, you know, obviously people are more open to it, you know, they’re they’re not getting to to have those same type of events and having the ability to now kind of push out to the industry has been big.

[5:45] And you know, I think a lot of the things we’re doing some of the things obviously will go back to normal but a lot of them I think are building a new foundation for how it can work. As we come out of this.

[0:00] : Jim: [5:57] Yeah, and Matt I got to join in on one of the tech talks and it was a great episode live interaction able to type in questions. I learned something which these days it’s really great to do it.

[6:10] And I will just say, too, for the folks out there watching this you might hear some of the connection pop in and out and that’s reality that we have this day.

[6:18] Every day we’re on video conferences, you know, we have connections people are all over the country from rural to inner city. And so just wanted to you know, you know point that out and that’s I guess reality these days and it’s OK.

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James:  [6:33] And Jim. I’m fully prepared for my dog to roll in here.

[0:00] : [Jim: [6:37] laughs]

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James:  [6:38] She makes a guest appearance in pretty much every meeting that I have. So I’m waiting for that door to open. You’ll hear a large creak and she’ll slide in and look out the window. So…

[0:00] : Jim: [6:49] I’m waiting. I’m waiting for the door to open, too, it happened last time.

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James:  [6:52] laughs] No doubt.

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Matt:  [6:57] [laughs] Hey, being, you know I think that’s pretty well expected. And I think everyone has been experiencing that which kind of adds a little bit of lightness to to how we’re we’re taking the things that we do every day.

[7:09] Which kind of kind of leads me into the other thing. I wanted to talk about was how working remotely and the activities we do and the things that we have to accomplish within our jobs has really changed us.

[7:23] You know, I’ve kind of in preparation for this. I talked to a few of my colleagues both in my company and within other companies that I know.

[7:31] And you know, I’ve kind of got that feedback from everyone is you know, there’s definitely a shift definitely a change in attitude and how we all approach our day‑to‑day jobs.

[7:40] One of the big ones was a comment that you know before coming home from work you kind of shut that off and you put that wall up and it’s like OK, you know work is work home is home. I’m not bringing it home.

[7:53] Well now work is home for a lot of people, you know. For the honestly for the lucky people. A lot of people don’t have that option.

[8:00] But it’s changed how they’ve how they’ve done that and they know they’ve really kind of opened up [inaudible] that fact that you know now things that they might not discuss, you know with their family now, they’re discussing. And they’re getting a different perspective on things.

[8:14] And you know, everyone has their opinions and it’s easy to have your opinion. If you’re only seeing one one section, but a lot of times that outside input can can affect how you view things so it’s nice to have that perspective.

[8:27] And then I’ve talked to other people that work for companies that were really have never embraced the the remote or you know out‑of‑the‑office working and you know obviously that’s having to change.

[8:37] And the feedback. I’m getting from them. As you know, their companies are now embracing it and you know finding finding the value and the usefulness and finding new ways to do things. They probably wouldn’t have looked for.

[8:49] So it was a lot of things a lot of difficulty that we’re facing right now, but I think a lot of this is a lot of learning that the industry and you know individuals are doing.

[8:59] And I think you know, I’m optimistic that we’ll come out with a lot more better understanding of how we can do things and have more doors open to us.

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James:  [9:09] Matt, you said something about blurring that line. I think my wife thought I was lying about how many meetings I have every day. And now now she’s probably sitting 12 foot away from me…

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Matt:  [9:21] laughs]

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James:  [9:21] and can hear it and she’s like wow, you really do sit on meetings all day who really does all the work? But…

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Matt:  [9:29] laughs]

[9:29]

James:  …but it’s true. Right? And in the same regard she’ll come in and sit down in my office and we’ll have conversations where I didn’t have that opportunity, you know when I was at work.

[9:40] And so it is blurred but in a very positive and realistic way, I think that’s sustainable right that we get we did we never really had to factor in before and it’s definitely pretty good.

[0:00] : Jim: [9:55] Yeah, and I just want to jump in and say that you know, echoing what both Matt and James was saying that it we’re learning we’re evolving. We’re you know, we’re changing sometimes change is very hard. It can be, you know easy for some and very hard for others.

[10:10] And this is a process and I think Matt really hit on a couple things that are very close to the EWN family too that, you know, take a look at your people take a look at their mental health take a look at their emotional health health.

[10:22] Where PPE in the past was glasses hard hats steel toes. Now we’re looking at are you stretching a couple times a day? Are you going for a walk to clear the mind? Are you getting out of the house? If you can. All those things really, you know really pull into it.

[10:39] And so I think Matt really hit it close to home and again the virtual world which to me literally three months ago was a foreign world to me and now it’s become a daily occurrence and my comfort level is to the point of hey, you want to do a video call? I’ll call you right now. Boom.

[10:57] And I’m still a little got some tech challenges, but you know, that’s you know, that’s where we are.

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James:  [11:06] Well, I don’t want to beat a dead horse on that topic. I think we all agree that that this is unprecedented times and the value coming out of it is really exponential.

[11:19] Matt. Are there any final thoughts before we sign off today?

[0:00] :

Matt:  [11:24] Yeah, I think you know kind of circling back to that that point just you know, everyone’s going through something different and it’s you know, it’s different for everyone. Everyone’s in a different situation.

[11:35] And I think you know overall just in general try to have more grace more compassion, you know, as we’re all going through this together and I think we’re going to get there.

[0:00] :

James:  [11:44] Amen.

[0:00] : Jim: [11:46] Good final thought we appreciate that. Let me wrap this up.

[11:49] It’s been another great episode with Coffee with Jim & James. We appreciate you listening. Please like it. Please comment on a please share it if you want to pass it on to your network, the more people that see it.

[12:01] If we could have one person learn one thing from today and make themselves better. Our time has been well invested.

[12:08] So with that I want to say sign off. Thank you from the team here and we appreciate you everybody stay safe. Stay healthy keep the positive attitude going and the light’s at the end of the tunnel, and we will see you next week.

[0:00] :

Matt:  [12:21] Have a great day, you guys.

[0:00] :

James:  [12:23] Thank you, everyone.

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