Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

#TEams365 #536: 6 #Leadership Questions a Day - Conflict

6/20/2015

Conflict is a normal part of team development, and is inherent in collaboration and also innovation. Many leaders struggle with supporting and navigating conflict with their team. Today's post includes six questions to keep in mind as you move through conflict - whether it is between two individuals, or within a team. At some point int he conversation it may be useful to ask these questions

1. What's really important about this issue? - for me? The other party?
2. What's important to the other person and how is that similar to my vantage point?
3. What is common about our outcomes?
4. What is my style of conflict (competing, collaborating, avoiding, accommodating or compromising)?
5. What is at stake if we can't resolve it?
6. What do I/can I "reframe" * about the situation?
7. What are our next steps around this issue?

* Reframing is a skill in which we look at the issue for a different vantage point.

What other questions would be useful to ask around this issue?

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or learning support for your most pressing team or leadership issue
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #535: Leadership Toolkit - Virtual Teams

6/19/2015

it is time for another Leadership Toolkit column, this week looking at Virtual Teams, a theme I have been exploring in recent weeks here at the blog. Whether your virtual team is national in scope or global, virtual team leaders often find that they can benefit from additional resources. here are five you may want to consider looking into:

1. Virtual Team Success by Richard Lepsinger and Dorothy DeRosa - Check out the description here.

2. Leading Virtual Teams - Pocket Mentor from Harvard Business Press

3. A Manager's Guide to Virtual Teams - Yael Zofi

4. Virtual Teams - Mastering Communication and Collaboration in the Digital Age - Terri R. Kurtzberg

5. An Article in Forbes on Managing Virtual Teams: 10 Tips by Sebastian Reiche

What other resources do you find useful for your virtual team?

Have a great Friday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or learning support for your most pressing team or leadership issue
(416)996-8326

#TEams365 #534: Team Building Tip # 41: Beliefs Driving the Team

6/18/2015

Today's Team Building Tip gets you to think about the beliefs your team holds. Beliefs are key to each of our team culture and shape "who we are". Consider how beliefs such as these will influence the results and relationships of any team:

If we work harder we will succeed....
We can't learn from....
It always works this way.....

What beliefs do your team hold?
How do they support the team? Hinder the team?

This week have a discussion about the beliefs which your team works and operates by.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or learning support for your most pressing team or leadership issue
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #533: Difficult meeting/Facilitation Participants Encore - Teams365

6/17/2015

Today's post is an encore of last summer's Teas365 #208 post on Various Participants you may find in meetings and other facilitated events. For each of us it may be more challenging to support different styles and types of personalities which may show up in the room or in our meetings. Ranging from the quiet one, to the dominator, the verbose and the side-bar conversation, the mix of personalities and types of people can keep our meetings and facilitation very interesting! View the original post here.

This past fall I published an article at the Coaching Tools Company website entitled 12 Types of Difficult Participants in Group and Team Coaching and How to Deal with them. While there is not "one way" to support each person, the article explores a variety of approaches/strategies you can utilize in support of the different personalities. You can read it here.

What personality types do you find the most challenging? What strategies can you use to deal with them.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or learning support for your most pressing team or leadership issue
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #532: Systems to Support Your Work as A Leader

6/16/2015

As a leader it is important to have a variety of supports to help you and you team run and soar in your work. Systems support you in streamlining and not having to reinvent the wheel all the time. Consider these common areas leaders usually have in place"

Communication systems - Consider how the team communicates with each other - email, text,, face to face. Ask yourself:
- What's working?
- What's not?
- What are the shared agreements you want to have about how and when to communicate?
- What's the accepted norm, what's not?

Meeting systems - How are your meetings facilitated? Face to face? Where could your meetings get a tweak? Review Tems365 #211: Meeting Management Faux Pas to avoid these traps - Click here to read

Email systems - Consider how you will use email, boundaries around this and also how you want to track and file your email. Email management can take up to 40% of a leaders' time

Performance Management systems - What is the culture of performance management? Hopefully it is not once a year but it is an ongoing process and conversation with each of your team members?

Reward and Recognition systems - What do you do to reward and recognize your team members? How does each person want to be recognized and rewarded?

What other systems support you in getting the results you are getting, or are seeking? As always, please feel free to comment below.

Have a great Tuesday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or learning support for your most pressing team or leadership issue
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #531 Three Keys to Focus

6/15/2015

It is the start of a new week and for some of us only a few more school days until children are our for the summer. This can create some urgency for getting things done, and also getting some of the big tasks off our list before holidays start within our team. Today's blog post focuses on three keys to focus as you get the big tasks off your plate.

1. Schedule - As the old adeage goes "What doesn't get scheduled, doesn't get done". As you start your work week consider what needs to get scheduled in before it gets lost. Consider how much time is needed, who is needed and block it in!

2. Focus on the harder things first - It is often the harder and sometimes bigger things that get left last on the list. Today consider tackling something that is harder or needing some new energy first.

3. Say no - diplomatically - Many of us operate in a culture of saying yes, to the expense of getting the most important things done. While we may not have control over everything, saying no "diplomatically" is key in creating space for what is really important. In order for you to accomplish the top three things on your list, what might you need to say no to?

As you step into your week this week what will success at the end of Friday look like for you? What will it be like to get some of these bigger , or hanging, projects off your list?

Have a great start to the week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized | Teams365
Growing Team Leaders One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #530 Sunday Audio - The First 90 Days

6/14/2015

Welcome back to another Teams365 Sunday audio. Today's focus is on the first 90 days and what you can do to support a new team member joining your team, as well as what you can focus on if you are stepping into a new role.

Today's audio is a short 7 min piece and covers at least half a dozen areas for you to consider as you step into a new role, or support others joining your team.

What other tips do you have for others regarding onboarding and the first 90 days?

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized | Teams365
Growing Team Leaders One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
(416)996-8326

Join us for an upcoming public offering of the Teams365 Team Leader Foundations program - online learning modules geared to sharpen your skills as a team leader.
Also coming up this summer: the 5th Annual Team and Group Coaching Intensive - a two day coaching skiills training program for those working with groups and teams. More info at GroupCoachingIntensive.com

#Teams365 #529: 6 #Leadership Questions a day: #Virtual #Teams

6/13/2015

It is Saturday and time for our 6 #Leadership Questions a Day. This week I've focused on Virtual Team issues as well as feedback and onboarding.

In the spotlight today are some questions to be asking your virtual team. Consider the impact of asking these questions with each of your virtual team members:
What is unique or different about your location and priorities

What should we know about what you bring to the team?

How do you want to be supported by me? By others?

How frequently would you like to meet?

What time of day works best for you?

What is unique about the customers and clients in your location?

One on one time is even more valuable for virtual team leaders. For more posts on Virtual Team issues, please check out

Teams365 #524: Working Across Differences with Your Virtual Team - Click here to read

#Teams365 #99: Virtual Team Success - Click here to read

Have a great week,

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized | Teams365
Growing Team Leaders One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
(416)996-8326

Join us for an upcoming public offering of the Teams365 Team Leader Foundations program - online learning modules geared to sharpen your skills as a team leader OR
Join us in Huntsville, Muskoka, Canada for the 5th Annual Group and Team Coaching Intensive - two days of coaching skills training for those working with groups and teams. The program is approved by the International Coach Federation for 19 CCEs.

#Teams365 #528: #Leadership Toolkit - the First #90days

6/12/2015

This week's Leadership Toolkit explores fie essential resources for team leaders to be able to top into doing the first 90 days of their post. As we know, the first 90 Days of any post or new role are critical. If you are in your first 90 days of role, you may find these resources useful:

1. The first 90 Days - Michael Watkins book

2. My Teams365 First 90 Days cartoon - click to a link to the blog post from last October and related items you can use over at Google plus here or check out Teams365 #305 post from October 21

3. Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams - Roger Schwartz.

4. New Manager Checklist - Five tips for First-time Managers - Click here to read the Newsweek article

What resources did you find useful as you started your role as a team leader. Please comment below and help others accelerate their new role!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized | Teams365
Growing Team Leaders One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
(416)996-8326

Join us for an upcoming public offering of the Teams365 Team Leader Foundations program - online learning modules geared to sharpen your skills as a team leader.
Also coming up this summer: the 5th Annual Team and Group Coaching Intensive - a two day coaching skiills training program for those working with groups and teams. More info at GroupCoachingIntensive.com

#Teams365 #527: Team Building Tip#40: Team Procrastination

6/11/2015

We all do it at some level - put things off. Today's blog post gets you to think about procrastination on the team level. Just as we can avoid doing things at the individual level, team procrastination happens when we:
Avoid tackling important issues
Don't work to deadlines
Are unclear on what the goals are
Are unclear on the steps needed to move towards the goals
Don't know what roles are required or how they overlap
Don't have the necessary resources to complete a job
Don't have the necessary authority to get things done

What's the cost of your team's procrastination? What do you need to do in order to move the needle forward on topics which are important to you?

Have a great rest of the week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Read more about our Coaching Skills Training for Leaders
Set up a conversation about how we can support you and your team best
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