​It’s the end of the month and time for another Team Building tip. Today’s question is Let’s Celebrate. What do you have to celebrate from this month? What were your major milestones?

I hope that you will take a few minutes today to take stock of the month. Each month I host a month end review and month ahead planning session for one hour.  These calls are beneficial in that they provide a pause for reflection, learning and capturing your ideas. Check out the schedule of upcoming month end planning hacks here.

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Connect on Instagram for the 90DaysPlanDoTrack Posts
Phone: (416)996-8326
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.
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​Today’s post is around Virtual Team Tools. In January I hosted a call for the Effective Virtual Conversations book on 5 Virtual Team Builders. What are the things you are doing to build your virtual team? What are the things you want to focus on as a team? Be sure to take some time focusing on virtual team development.

As I wrote in yesterday’s post – Teams365 #1884 -having an intentional focus on virtual team development can be important for virtual and remote teams who are less apt to have a focus on team development.

Some examples of virtual team practices are:

• Weekly coffee breaks which the entire team attend. You could incorporate one of the weekly Thursday Team Building Tip Questions I share to spark dialogue across the team. View them here.
• Virtual Co-working times – for example, quarterly I host a Virtual Get Things Done afternoon. People are invited to bring their list of things to do and join us for a 4-hour co-working block. We meet at the top of every hour to check in. Benefiting from peer accountability and a focused support, hourly check ins also serve to keep the focus and push people through work which might not be as focused.
• Structured team meetings to build connection and focus on work.

What other types of virtual team practices will support the team in maintaining and building relationships, keeping the team moving, and getting things done?

Best,
​Jennifer

​Today’s post focuses on tips for boosting collaboration in the virtual space:

1. Be proactive in terms of what relationships are important to build. Are you taking time for regular outreach with a purpose?
2. Be systematic in discussing key elements of collaboration – what is the end result you are aiming towards, what will success look like? Who is in charge of doing what? When will you meet to review how things are going and make adjustments?
3. Agree on regular feedback loops. Feedback can be a challenge when you don’t know each other too well. What are the touchpoints you are dedicating to feedback? Creating formalized quarterly or mid-point check-ins can be valuable to earmark. Take a look at some of the mid-point or evaluation questions I have pointed to in the past.
   
4. Be clear on what you are each bringing to the relationship. What are the things that are going to help your next collaboration thrive?

Best of luck!
Jennifer

​This week’s Effective Virtual Conversation tip gets you thinking about the statement “Virtual teams need attention too”. It is often thought that “out of sight = out of mind”. Virtual teams receive a lot less attention and focus than intact, face to face teams. A 2016 study by Culture Wizard (insert link) found that approximately 22-23% of virtual and remote teams surveyed actually benefited from virtual team support.

Virtual teams need just as much attention, and perhaps even more focused space for dialogue and greating shared agreements and norms. Discussion around “how we do things” ensures consistency across a team, and a focus on what’s important.
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What are the conversations important for the team to have? What things need to be clarified or agreed upon?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

We are back at week 11 of the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series of video posts. These weekly montage videos are a compilation of the different weeks of the Instagram series I have hosted over at the CoachingBizBuilder feed.

Daily posts are geared to get you thinking about, and taking action on, your business. As I write in PlanDoTrack – Daily Steps + Consistent Action = Momentum.

Take a look at this week’s compilation video and see what questions are important for you to note. What's important to take action on?

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

This week’s journaling prompt is:
My focus on ___ is going to help me because…
 
Each week I offer a different journaling prompt, geared to get you thinking about and reflecting on your work and/or business. I hope that you will carve out time regularly to give yourself the gift of journaling. Here are 3 resources you might also find interesting as you consider what you might want to journal about.

Best,
Jennifer

This month our focus is on relationships and team work. What are the things we can do to help build relationships? Here’s what I shared in the 2016 post entitled “Four Keys to Building Stronger Relationships at Work” in Teams365 #771.

In light of this week's focus on relationships, today's post focuses on Four Keys to Building Stronger Relationships at Work. Even if we work virtually it is key to have a strong network of people around us, to collaborate with, and who have our back.

Four keys to building stronger relationships at work include:

1. Put a focus on it - In today's busy world what doesn't get focused on, often doesn't get done. It is important to put a focus on relationship building and dedicate time towards it. What does building relationships mean for you right now? Getting to know your team members better? Widening your network? Getting to know a person's role you are collaborating with?
Consider what your goal is in building stronger relationships at work and focus on it - schedule in some time this week around it.

2. Consider what is the win-win - Many of us don't just build relationships for relationships sake. Consider how your work/roles connect and how a stronger relationship can boost BOTH of your work. What is the common ground of your worlds of work? What would a win-win look like for both of you? Really get to understand how your roles align, overlap and how you can support each other.

3. Be Genuine - Building stronger relationships should not be seen as another "to do" on your list. Be genuine in fostering connection. Be interested in who the other person is. I think we can all think of people who build relationships without being genuine....

4. Consider how the sum is greater than the whole of the parts - In true collaboration and synergy today the sum is greater than the whole of the parts. Key to collaboration is knowing when to collaborate and when you are better doing things yourselves. Get clear on each of your relationships and when it is important to lean into them, and when it's important to go alone. What can you create/accomplish in collaboration? How is this greater than when you go it alone? When is important to go it alone?

What other tips do you have for others around building relationships?

If you prefer, take a look at the short video I created around the same topic in Teams365 #1503 here. 

Best wishes,
Jennifer

​It’s Thursday which means that it’s time for another Team Building Tip. This week’s question gets you thinking about where you were as a team a year ago, and where you are now.
Think about what you were doing this time last year. 
What was the context?
What were you focusing on?
Now, consider where you are. What projects have you completed? How is your work different? What makes it feel different?

We don't always stop to pause and look at what we've done - what we have achieved and what we have learned. This is an important process for teams. If we don't stop and pause along the way we may not tap into the learning available. Running without pause is also not sustainable and can lead to burnout.

What pauses are you creating in your work right now for the team to stop and look at impact?  How can you do more of what is giving you impact?

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

This month’s focus is on building relationships. One type of team which often does not get attention is virtual teams. Today’s post goes into 5 ideas you might incorporate around boosting your virtual team. This could include some of the following activities:

1. Creating a set of peer partners who you are paired with for the course of a year. Peer partners may be invited to connect on a regular basis – i.e. quarterly to share information and resources and generally share best practices.
2. Hosting co-working sessions.
3. Providing the opportunity for part of a quarterly or regular team meeting to focus in on having each person share what they are working on and/or what their portfolio is all about.
4. Hosting a weekly or bi-weekly team huddle to update each other on what you are focusing on. Huddles are generally short and quick in nature (15-30 minutes). Done regularly they benefit from bringing the team together on a regular basis to share their focus, build connection and notice interplay.
5. Another option is to have people share a photo or resource with each other every month via the team’s communication channel – this could include a series of threads in Slack or part of your Leaning Management System or a Community Portal like Mighty Networks.

What are the activities and events which will benefit your team right now?

You might also be interested in checking out the January 2019 Effective Virtual Conversations call I hosted where I cover 5 Virtual Team Builders.

Wishing you the best,
​Jennifer

​Starting in December 2018 I turned attention to sharing 19 productivity tips for 2019. Each one is relatively short in nature, but applied, has the potential to make a significant impact on your work. We wrapped up with the series last week, and in today’s post I wanted to include a link to all 19 so you can get the bird’s eye view of the tips. Take note of which ones could support you the most in terms of your work and priorities at this time.

Here are links to all 19 of the posts in this series: 

1. Have a clear vision. Without a clear vision it is hard to know where to go.

2. Know where you are getting results

3. Know where you are getting your results – 80/20

4. Know Where Your Time Goes. Be ruthless with your time.

5. Systems

6. Chunk it!

7. Make it Visual

8. Tame the inbox!

9. 8 Essential Meeting Questions
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10. Support Action & Clarity with 3 Bullet Points

11. Circadian Rhythm – when are you at your best

12. Build in regular time for review

13. Get the important stuff out of the way

14. Content Creation: Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle

15. Avoid analysis/paralysis – Get into action

16. Build relationships

17. Set a Start and an End - Parkinson’s Rule

18. What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done – Build it in advance

19. Track it!

Which ones would be useful to revisit?
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Which one could you apply more fully?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

PS - If you have enjoyed these tips, do be sure to check out the new on-demand, video based course I have created around these. The program can be taken at your own pace, You can stretch the tips out daily, weekly or monthly. Join me this year for bi-weekly calls as part of your registration. Cost: $129 US. Learn more and register here.