Lifeisdriven by purpose

Samantha Berg

Grand Forks, N.D.

We are a small and ambitious team of four full-time professionals, providing community and economic development services throughout Grand Forks, Nelson, Pembina and Walsh counties in northeastern North Dakota. We manage and coordinate several internal and external Board of Directors or groups as well as numerous funding programs. We have biweekly Monday morning staff meetings as well as periodic. The meetings are scheduled out for a couple months in advance and agendas provided. We use this time for project/program updates, deadlines, upcoming meeting and travel coordination, and other goings-on in the region that may be pertinent as issues or opportunities.

We strive to continually leverage each other’s strengths and collaborate as a team, and having regular meetings keeps us on track. We also take time to recognize recent project or staff successes as well as a standing “festivus” or “airing of grievances” agenda item to address any prickly topics proactively. In addition to our team meetings, we regularly use meeting requests and have access to each other’s calendars to schedule internal meetings. We typically have prepared materials or discussion points for these meetings to focus our time and energy efficiently.

Dawn Mandt Executive Director Red River Regional Council Grafton, N.D.

Essentia Health’s Process Excellence team, led by Jessica Block, shares her team’s top five recommendations for effective and efficient virtual meetings. First, the meeting planner should create a well-planned agenda with various presenters to provide variation and keep the team’s attention. Second, engage the team. Encourage everyone to turn their cameras on! Consider an ice-breaker question to start off your meetings if team members are unfamiliar with each other. During the meeting, make sure you allow enough time when asking questions so people can unmute and provide their input. If no one speaks up, call out to people you think should have input. Third, define the meeting objectives at the start so the team knows what outcomes are needed before the meeting ends. Fourth, refine the attendee list so all members can be active participants. This allows an “around the table” opportunity for everyone to provide thoughts and feedback. Lastly, hold informal conversations prior to gathering so expectations are set to keep momentum and progress during the meeting. And, don’t forget that virtual meeting fatigue is a real thing. Our minds and bodies become tired from sitting in the same spot, staring at tiny boxes of people on our screens.

U.S. import prices increased 0.9% in August following a 1.2% advance in July, the latest numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices for U.S. exports rose 0.5% in August, after increasing 0.9% the previous month. Over the past 12 months, import prices fell 1.4% and export prices declined 2.8%.

In August, the unemployment rate declined by 1.8 percentage points to 8.4%, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 2.8 million to 13.6 million. Both measures have declined for four consecutive months but are higher than in February, by 4.9 percentage points and 7.8 million, respectively. Source:

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines reported a second-quarter 2020 after-tax net loss of $11 billion and a pre-tax operating loss of $16.2 billion. These secondquarter losses are the second consecutive quarterly losses following 27 consecutive quarterly after-tax net profits and 35 consecutive quarterly pre-tax operating profits. The financial reports are filed quarterly with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

2Q 2020 Net Loss: -$11 Billion

15.8 Billion From 2Q 2019

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, rose 0.3% in July from June, rising for the third consecutive month, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. From July 2019 to July 2020, the index fell 7.8% compared to a rise of 2.9% from July 2018 to July 2019 and a rise of 5.8% from July 2017 to July 2018.

From previous month: 0.3%

From same month of previous year: -7.8%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics