By Tony McDowell, Deputy Friend of the Court, 7th Circuit Court (Genesee County)
Looking back at how courts have changed in 2020, it is easy to see the technological changes. Courts have surged forward with amazing advancements. It wasn’t long ago that ‘zoom’ was something your camera did, and being “in a waiting room” meant you were going to have to sit on an uncomfortable chair while looking at an old Sports Illustrated. Now, for those of us in Michigan courts, Zoom video conferencing is how we do much of our work, and we have all gotten used to the virtual waiting room. COVID-19 forced all of us working in the judiciary to evolve and become more comfortable with Zoom and many other remote work technologies. Although for most of us Zoom is simply a computer program we are now required to use to conduct hearings and meetings, for some of us Zoom has become so much more. It has become how we connect to each other and to those we serve.
In the 7th Circuit, we have embraced new technology: e-filing,
digital files, remote work, e-mail and secure chat discussions with litigants, Facebook,
public education online, and much more.
Many courts have leapt years ahead with the technology available. We should all be proud to have evolved to our
communities’ changing needs. As impressive
as our advancements with computer programs have been, technological improvements
were not the greatest advancement we had to offer our court staff and litigants. It was our humanity.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were asked to stay home, to
quarantine, to social distance, and to ultimately be apart from people. To effectively still do our jobs and stay
apart, we turned to technology to solve our problems. Technology was key to keeping the courts
functioning, but it quickly became clear that all of the computer programs in
the world were not going to be enough on their own to get us through the
pandemic. As an office, we at the
Genesee County Friend of the Court (Genesee FOC) were going to need everyone
pushing in the same direction to serve our community. Individually, we were going to need human
interaction to make it through quarantine.
We needed to find ways to support our team members from
afar. We needed to keep reaching for our
office vision and goals. We needed to
continue to build a team environment from 85 different home offices. We needed to connect with our customers
without seeing them face to face. We needed
to do a lot, and all we had were a
few computer programs.
In the Genesee FOC office, we started by keeping the team
connected and informed. We took the sage
advice of Mister Fred Rogers: “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for
each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured
that our questions are just as important as our answers.” In March and April, when everything was
uncertain, we held consistent whole office Zoom meetings. We were honest about our situation. We were vulnerable. We shared what we knew and shared what we
were feeling. We discussed COVID-19,
quarantine, and layoffs, and checked in on each other’s families. We asked tough questions and discussed every
question until the last person logged off.
We supported each other. Instead
of every person going through this traumatic experience alone, we did it
together, using a program we originally purchased for remote hearings.
And we kept checking on each other throughout the
pandemic. We had weekly updates via e-mail
for everyone, no matter how big or small the update. Our annual picnic was moved to Zoom, with
each of us having our own little picnic at home, but together. We had scavenger hunts. We conducted polls through Zoom where we could
all weigh in on everything from our mental health to our favorite season (fall
was the big winner). We had a frank
discussion about racism in our office and our community. We laughed.
We cried. We made real
connections. We did this all from the
safety of our own homes, using Zoom.
These personal connections were reported by staff members to
be some of our greatest achievements throughout the pandemic. Genesee FOC staff said that the things we did
best as an office were “communicating rapid changes” and “keeping us together
in a time when we are all apart.” It
wasn’t our fantastic business process advancements that staff valued most – it
was the human connection and basic communication that was our greatest
achievement.
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| Live question and answer session hosted by Shon Hart of InvolvedDad, a Genesee County nonprofit organization. |
We didn’t stop there.
In addition to supporting our team, it was important to us to remain
connected and part of our community, even if we couldn’t be together in
person. We held live public Zoom sessions
where we explained the impact COVID-19 and the CARES Act would have
on child support and parenting time. The
community asked questions, and we answered.
We also connected with clients one-on-one and in group education
settings – all using Zoom.
Although all we had in the beginning of the pandemic was technology, we took those tools and found every possible way to make a human connection. As the pandemic continues to prevent us from being together in person, it is easy to lose ourselves in our virtual offices, but we don’t have to. We can be more connected. But to do this, we have to remember what allowed us to persevere through this difficult year. We have to be honest, available, and vulnerable, and we have to connect. Essentially: be human.
