Today's Sunday teamwork quote comes from Jin Kwon who writes:

​"One piece of log creates a small fire, adequate to warm you up, add just a few more pieces to blast an immense bonfire, large enough to warm up your entire circle of friends; needless to say that individuality counts but team work dynamites." ~Jin Kwon

​This quote is powerful in reminding us of the exponential factor created by teamwork, where our efforts become additive.

​What tweaks will help your teamwork accelerate?
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​Enjoy your Sunday
Jennifer

This week at the Teams365 blog we have been focusing on different tools to support teams with teamwork. Today's post takes us back to an audio post from early 2015 on three different problem solving tools. It's very common for team leaders to be ewanting more resources and tools to support their conversations with the team. Listen into Teams365 #488 to this 9 minute audio on three tools you might bring into your nex problem solving. Consider how you can share these as well with your team, particularly if you are a virtual team leader.

​Click on over to Teams365 #488 to listen in.

​The three tools we look at include the Fishbone, as well as the Force Field Analysis tool.

​Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

Our most recent Team Building Tips series has a focus on Getting to Know our fellow team members. We know that teams which excel focus on having both good relationships as well as results.

​This week the question for you to explore together is "what's important for you?". Build in some time h aving each person share what their current priorities are at work, or what's important to their/their values as a team member.

​Helping the team create a set of shared values helps to support alignment as well as support for decision-making more autonomously. If we know we value speed, we will prioritize certain activities, approaches or items. If we know we value quality, we may prioritize something else.

​What are the things you value? What's important for you?

​Have a great Thursday!
​Jennifer

In yesterday's post, Teams365 #1211, I shared 10 of my favorite team development activities. increasingly team leaders are being tasked in developing their team. This skill set may not naturally reside in their initial skill sets but they can be developed with time, I usually find that virtual team leaders are hungry for more things to do with their team, so today's post is geared for them.

​in addition to all of the ten activities I mentioned yesterday - which ranged from working with vision to modelling, there are some tweaks which need to be made in the virtual world of team development. First, use breakouts liberally. From sending a materials list prior to a call so people can have things ready on their end, to putting materials together electronically in a PDF and having for real-time use, set people up for success in the virtual domain. This is a key message in my upcoming book, Effective Virtual Conversations, where I go into many more strategies and approaches.

​Three more favorites for virtual team leaders, some which I have mentioned before are:
​What's outside my window - Have team members take a photo of what they look at every day from their office. These snapshots provide a wider lens to everyone's world than we can see on the screen alone. Have people take a photo prior to the call. They can use the photo to check in.

​Team Bingo - Doing a virtual iteration of team bingo (mentioned in Teams365 #1211) is a fun way to help people get to know each other. Have team members submit their iteas prior to the session.

Using visual cards - In the virtual realm we benefit from visual anchor points. Leveraging the power of video streaming, we want to make things as "visual as possible"  to overcome "Death by Conference Call" mindsets. I continue to love bringing different types of visuals into the session. While I usually use my own Conversation Sparker Cards, there are many other visual cards you can explore digital licensing to including CCLs Visual Explorer, the JICT Deck, or Points of View - The Coaching Gam. or At My Best strengths cards.

What are some of your favorite activities for team development in the virtual space?

​Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer

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Spring is a popular time of year for team building initiatives. Whether it's an offsite team retreat, or a strategic planning session, or a one day team building session, teams benefit from  focused time together, time spent in getting to know each other and also focusing in on goals and results.

​The following list includes ten areas you may want to explore together as a team during your upcoming team development sessions:

​1. What's your vision? As we've seen in other posts, having a shared vision is critical in creating alignment and supporting team members to work more autonomously. As Seneca wrote, "If one does not know to which port is sailing, no wind is favorable."
​What's your vision as a team?

​2. What do you have going for you? Doing work around strengths can be a powerful way to help team members get to know each other, and understand what they uniquely bring to the team. Whether you explore StrengthsFinder 2.0 or undertake an Everything DiSC profile, learning more about ourselves helps us understand our natural inclinations as well as where we tend to go when under stress or pressure (which can be a daily reality for some teams today!).

​3. Fun initiative tasks - It's important to have fun and websites like Wilderdom.com provide you with dozens (if not hundreds of fun ideas of things to do).

​4. Tower Building - There are many iterations of tower building. in essence it's about providing micro-teams or smaller groups with asset of materials to build the tallest tower they can in the time provided. It's a great activity to bring out new learning around roles, planning and communication!

​5. Moving from point a to b - My roots in the late 1980s in experiential education come out when I get to incorporate the "old school" initiative tasks of getting people to "Cross the divide" and move from point a to b with the resources provided. This can be a great activity to reinforce innovation and practice.

​6. Scavenger Hunts - Although these take some time to plan, scavenger hunts in a "bounded" area can be extremely fun and great for those that like to compete!

​7. Work with Visual Cards - sparking conversations is a huge part of the work I do with teams, and photographs and other visual cards are a different way to invite exploration around topics like perspectives, innovation and strategy. Check out our Conversation Sparker Cards for more info.

​8. Team Bingo - It's always good to return to the basics and even if you have worked together for a while, it's likely that you don't know everything about each other. the organizer can ask each team member to submit one or two interesting factoids about themselves and these statements can be put in a bingo format (5 x 5 layout). The first person to capture all the right signatures wins! A fun way to learn a little more about your team.

​9. Team Storyboard - using scrapbooking materials, photos and other materials, have the team create a storyboard of your greatest adventures!

​10.  Team Model - using aluminum foil, have the team create a model which represents who you are. It's always interesting to see just what can be created out of tinfoil.

​What do you think you might try at your next meeting? I hope that it has sparked some new ideas and possibilities for you.

Have a great Tuesday,
Jennifer

With teamwork as our focus this month, I thought it would be interesting to share with you  four common factoids and associated research about teamwork you may not have known about:

​1. What's the best size of team? Team Genuis authors have found that the best size team is somewhere between 5 and 9. As a team work practitioner I'd agree and usually assert that each person added to a team adds an exponential layer of relationships, conversations, perspectives.

​What do you see as the best size of team for you and your work?

2. 97% of employees and executives believe lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or project (from ClearCompany.com)

How aligned is your team?

3. In his HBR article "The Hard Science of Teamwork" Alex "Sandy" Pentland writes: "The best teams spend about half their time communicating outside of formal meetings or as “asides” during team meetings, and increasing opportunities for informal communication tends to increase team performance."

What are the formal and informal practices you have for team communication?

​4. Virtual Teams can be just as effective as in-person teams!  99u.com's article on 9 Facts Every Creative Needs to Know About Collaborative Teams notes:
"A 2009 survey by Cisco of thousands of teleworkers found 69 percent said their productivity was higher when they worked remotely and 83 percent said their communication with other team members was either unaffected or enhanced by being dispersed. And in 2009, a research team led by Frank Siebdrat assessed the performance of 80 software companies around the world and found that more dispersed teams often outperformed “co-located” teams.
Siebdrat and his colleagues said the most important factor in the success of a remote team was having processes in place to make sure each member contributes fully, including adequate support and communication. Other good practices include scheduling time for virtual camaraderie building, including chatting in an informal context" - Christian Jarrett

​Here are a couple of great posts and articles you will want to check out :\
​1. 10 Surprising Scientific Facts about Teamwork By Geoffrey James at Inc. Read it here.

​2. Check out Catarina Lino's Article: The Psychology of Teamwork: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teams here.

​If you are a virtual team leader, check out these 12 questions you might want to engage in dialogue with your team members (Teams365 #1182).

​Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Today's quote comes from Cicero - "Silence is one of the great arts of conversation". As I write in my upcoming book, Effective Virtual Conversations, what many professionals are craving for is some silence. In my work as a coach, I know that the pause points of silence which are created in the coaching conversation is so valued by so many. In today's busy world, we often do not have many opportunities for silence.

​What do you notice about silence? What impact does silence have?

​Enjoy your Sunday and I hope that you may have a few minutes of silence throughout your day.

​With best wishes,
Jennifer

Our focus this month here at the Teams365 Blog has been on teamwork. One of the core skills team leaders need to leverage in moving to a team based culture is the skills of coaching. I thought it would be fitting to take us back to a #Teams365 #783: Four Ways to Accelerate the Impact of Coaching, to provide you with the opportunity to think about how you might position coaching in your organization.

Let's take a look at #Teams365 #783: Accelerating the Impact of Coaching

As coaching is a widely utilized modality in people development, it is important to consider what are the things we can do to accelerate the impact of coaching – for the individual(s) involved as well as in the organization.

1. Make sure coaching is the right modality. Coaching is not training and a coach is not there as an “advisor”.  If a person needs to develop skills a blend of coaching and training may be the better solution.

2. Consider how coaching can build onto other initiatives in the organization. If there is a current training program round leadership development or change management, how can you follow up the training with several coaching touch points to sustain the conversation, and support those involved in integrating their learning, creating new habits and sustaining these changes in behavior and learning.

3. Encourage three-way conversations between the employee and their supervisor throughout the coaching process.  Coaching engagements should be supported by the supervisor, can can benefit from their input and support. While the coach cannot report the details of coaching (according to the Ethical code of professional coaching), the coach can facilitate a conversation between the person being coached and their supervisor.

4. Set those being coached up for success. It is important to co-design the coaching relationship, have the person being coached set goals for the work which are revisited throughout the coaching engagement.
 
What other things do you  see as critical success factors in maximizing the impact of coaching?
 
Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

Shared frameworks, theories and approaches help teams excel. They provide a common ground, and sometimes set of skills, for the entire team to use together. As I've written in past posts, teams can benefit from skill development in areas such as difficult conversations, working across differences, and conflict. Teams also benefit when they have shared "mental models" (Peter Senge's work). Mental models help form the frameworks upon which we place new ideas and create meaning.
​A fun, and impactful way, to create shared mental models, and explore common frameworks is through TED Talks. In today's post I wanted to share with you five different TED Talks you might find interesting as you create more shared frameworks. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of great TED talks out in the world now - so I am sure to be returning for a part 2 of this listing for you and you team to check out.

​Simon Sinek's How Great Leaders Inspire Action. View it here.

​Jason Fried: Why Work Doesn't Happen at Work: View it here.

​Tom Wujek's Build a Tower, Build a Team. View it here.

​Shawn Anchor - The Happy Secret to Better Work. View it here.

Sheila Heen's How to Use Other's Feedback to Learn and Grow. View it here.

​Consider how you might bring one of these into an upcoming meeting.
Questions you may want to discuss after each viewing are:
What elements did you find interesting or relevant to our team experience?
What ideas could we experiment or incorporate into our work?
What can we as a team do to integrate some of these concepts?

What are some of your favorite TED Talks? What TED Talks would add to a team experience. Please feel free to share it here.

​Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer