Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

#teams365 #3030 Principle

4/20/2022

As we explore Chapter 15 of Reconnecting Workspaces it’s important to point to the principle underpinning both development approaches we explore in the chapter – coaching and mentoring.
As I share at the start of Chapter 15 of Reconnecting Workspaces, “Growth and development occur over time. Growth is a process of change, and coaching is not just a one-off conversation.”

In today’s world it’s likely that people want change to occur NOW. Delayed gratification is often under valued, and fast fixes are usually sought after. The reality of our learning and development as professionals is that it is going to take time.
What’s important to note about your key professional development goals?
Who can support you?
What will it take to learn that new skill, or improve in that area?

Enjoy the journey with us over the next 3 weeks as we explore coaching and mentoring.

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#teams365 #3029 Reconnecting the Workspace Tip

4/19/2022

Supporting others to do their best work in the virtual, remote, and hybrid workspace is an integral part of keeping organizations moving. Professionals at all levels of an organization can benefit from enhanced coaching skills in goal setting, questioning, listening, and accountability. What type of support will work best for you—coaching or mentoring?

What are the conversations you want to initiate? What can you do to connect team members with their vision, values, beliefs, and assumptions? How can the iceberg model support you to do your best work?

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#Teams365 #3028 Quote

4/19/2022

Welcome back to a focus on Chapter 15 of Reconnecting Workspaces which focuses on Coaching and Mentoring. Conversations are a critical piece in today’s workspace to support teams and individuals in doing their best work. What type of development opportunities exist in your organization.

As Plutarch indicated millennia ago,
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”

What opportunities exist in your organization to foster the growth of others

Chapter 15 explores both coaching and mentoring, which in some organizations are seen as the same thing. As someone who provides both coaching and mentoring support for organizations through train-the-trainer initiatives as well as direct service provision, it’s important to note the difference.

Coaching is a conversational modality geared to support others to achieve their best work. It’s about supporting others to identify the options available in achieving their most important work. Coaching can be invaluable in terms of providing an opportunity to have a pause in looking at what’s most important.

Mentoring is also important in today’s workspace as it provides the opportunity for a more seasoned person to share their wisdom. This could include providing insights around how things work in an organization, or technical know-how. Mentors usually share their experience with others.
Mentoring is a low-cost opportunity to cultivate relationships and insights in an organization.

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#teams365 #3027 Now What? Integration

4/17/2022

What’s important to note around around conflict and your world of work right now? This has been a focus here at the Teams365 blog as we have dug into Chapter 14 of Reconnecting Workspaces over the last three weeks.

This past week we explored:

Saturday – The Weekly Journaling Prompt around “What’s at Stake?”
Friday’s flashback to what’s important – results or relationships – when it comes to conflict?
Thursday’s Six Questions for Teams to Discuss around Conflict
Wednesday’s Focus on Hybrid Hot Spots – 6 areas to consider
Tuesday’s Brain Tip from Chapter 14 – the Amygdala Hijack
Monday’s Reading of pages 5-7 of Reconnecting Workspaces, a short 8-minute audio to hear me set up the book. This will be a new weekly series so stay tuned!

I hope that you enjoyed Chapter 14. What was your biggest takeway? I look forward to turning our attention to Chapter 15 and a focus on Coaching and Mentoring in today’s hybrid world.

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#teams365 #3025 Weekly Journaling Prompt: What’s at stake?

4/16/2022

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt is “What’s at stake?”. What are the elements which are important in your outcome around conflict, or even results in general. WE’re often faced with multiple paths in decisions, and with that it can be useful to ultimately think about what’s at stake if you follow an activity or not.

What’s at stake?

Enjoy the conversation and reflection!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#teams365 #3025 Flashback – Conflict and what’s more important – Results or Relationships?

4/15/2022

It’s Friday which means that it’s time for another Flashback Frday. What’s important as you approach conflict – the result/outcome, or the relationship you are in?

This week we head back to Teams365 #510 and the post from 2015. Here’s what I wrote:

Our ability to work through differences and conflict is a key skill for leaders and team members. What we know from research is that complimentary skill sets often make a team strong. In saying this, it may mean that we have different styles which exist, which means that what we value and how we interrelate with the world is different.

What is your natural style in navigating conflict? Different conflict models may have different names for these but we may demonstrate one of many styles including:

Accommodate - often when the relationship is important but the results are not we will accommodate to enable the other party to have their preferred outcome. In accommodation the other party wins, at our loss.

Compromise – compromise may be importnat when the outcome is important for both of us, as is the relationship. In compromise, I win some and you win some, but neither party really win.

Avoid – There are instances where it makes sense to avoid conflict and sweep things under the rug. The challenge and danger with this over time is that the issue can fester, and the small minuscule issue can grow into an elephant. Where is may be appropriate to avoid conflict is when the issue is not important and the relationship is not important. IN avoiding I lose and you lose.

Collaboration - Collaboration takes time and may be the preferred solution when relationships and results are both important. Not every situation warrants collaboration, and as Morten Hanson writes in his books, Don’t collaborate just for collaboration’s sake. While collaboration often takes more time, it can be the best outcome. In collaboration I win and you win.

Compete – We may choose to compete to achieve an important outcome when the results are key and the relationship is not as important. When competing we need to be aware of when it becomes too aggressive. In competition I win and you lose

As you consider these five different styles, what are examples of each one and how you and others would benefit from adopting that approach? When might the approach be beneficial?

For those interested in learning about their own style or supporting team members in this area, one interesting online resource I found was Conflict 911.com/resources.

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#teams365 #3024 Six Questions to Consider around Conflict

4/14/2022

For the last three weeks we’ve been exploring the topic of conflict. What do you notice about conflict in the teams and organizations you have been working with?

Today’s focus is on the topic of questions around conflict.

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#teams365 #3023 Hybrid Hotspots in Today’s Workspace

4/13/2022

Over the last few week’s we’ve been exploring the topic of conflict in today’s hybrid and remote world. Today I wanted to take a look at some of the areas that are creating some “hotspots” for organizations and teams which have gone hybrid. Here’s a quick list of 6 areas which are often flashpoints for the hybrid workspace. Consider how important these are for you:

#1 – What does hybrid really mean? Hybrid can mean a lot of different things – from meaning working in person 2 or 3 days a week, to working 2-3 days a month at the office. What does hybrid mean for you?

#2 – Staying Connected when we aren’t all together – a second area which is a challenge is how the team is going to stay connected when we aren’t all together. What changes are needed to processes and practices?

#3 – Ensuring that communication flow is happening for everyone. Communication, and lack of communication, is a challenge for hybrid teams. What are you doing to ensure that everyone is receiving the same messages, at the same time? If this does not happen, it can lead to sentiments of “being left out”, not being in the loop, favoritism, and issues can get dropped.

#4 – The effectiveness of hybrid meetings – Meetings continue to be a pain point for organizations. What are you doing to ensure that meetings are most effective for those in the room, and those on the screen?

#5 – Challenges with feedback. Over the last few years, feedback has been based more on output, given that people can’t be seen in the remote space. Now that some people are in the office, and some are not, how are you measuring results? What kind of feedback are people getting? What’s working and what’s not?

#6 – Ensuring that the team can get together for some periods of time. Pre-pandemic remote professionals understood how important it was to prioritize time for the team to come together for periods of time. What are you doing to ensure that there is time for the team to come together, whether it’s quarterly, or more frequently? The value of having everyone being on the same page is huge!

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#Teams 365 #3022 Brain tip: AMYGDALA HIJACK

4/12/2022

One of my favorite parts about writing Reconnecting Workspaces was including the Brain Tips, which are grounded in some of the evolutionary research coming from the field of neuroscience.

These past few weeks we’ve been exploring the topic of conflict, and so I thought it would be appropriate to explore Chapter 14’s Brain Tip on the Amygdala Hijack. I’m curious, when did you last experience an amygdala hijack? Here’s what I wrote in Reconnecting Workspaces,

“There is a whole brain science behind conflict, and to take us into this arena, let’s look at the concept of the Amygdala Hijack. When we get angry or triggered (as we might in a conflict situation), we experience emotional flooding. This cocktail of neurotransmitters floods our bodies, literally sending our higher brain processes “offline for a short while.” Our Amygdala kicks in, encouraging us to fight, flee, or freeze.

Even educators have explored what is possible to support children who get triggered. Here are the results of an interesting project which has incorporated puppets to help children understand what happens when they get triggered.

Puppets are used to help children understand that the “prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for thinking and executive function—goes offline when kids get angry and their amygdala—the part of the brain responsible for responding to threats and danger—takes over and begins making decisions for them.”

Understanding this helps us do better with self-regulation and getting our emotions in check. Rather than trying to “push through,” it can help people understand what they may need in order to regain their center, which may mean going for a walk or engaging in some mindfulness practices. “

End of Excerpt from Reconnecting Workspaces. Pick up a copy of the book at Amazon.

Enjoy the reflection!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

#TEAMS365 #3021: Author Reading – Reconnecting Workspaces

4/11/2022

Two years ago I did a series of readings from my book, Effective Virtual Conversations. It was well received. With that in mind, I thought I would start a new series of recordings from the Reconnecting Workspaces series, to bring to life practical ideas and implementable tips around hybrid and remote work.

As I share on pages 5-7 of Reconnecting Workspaces we are in a time of unprecedented change in today’s workforce, requiring new skills and approaches, not only for leaders, but for all kinds of professionals.
In this first reading I share a little bit about the background of the changes we are experiencing, as well as leave you with some questions for you to consider with your work.

Enjoy this first “day 1” reading of pages 5-7 of Reconnecting Workspaces: Pathways to Thrive in the Virtual, Remote and Hybrid World and consider picking up a copy of the book at Amazon.

Enjoy the conversation, and reflection!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.