Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

#TEAMS365 #1673 – Month End Reflections and Planning for August

7/31/2018

Where did July go? Here we are at the end of the month and it’s time for another month end stock taking a reflection.

Here are some questions to consider:
1. As you reflect on July, what have been your successes and accomplishments?
2. What tasks earmarked for the second half of 2018 have you been able to take action on?
3. What are you most proud of?
4. What successes this month do you want to duplicate? What has been some of your key learnings?
5. What key relationships have helped you so far this year? Which ones need more attention?
6 What has helped your successes? What has hindered?
7. What does your team need to be acknowledged for?

As you look to August, consider these questions:
1. What are your key priorities for August?
2. What are the key goals?
3. What are the major priorities?
4. What will you need to place attention on?
5. What changes do you want to make in August?
6. What resources do you want to tap into?
7. What will you do to renew next month?
8. What are the things which will allow you to step into flow in August?

I hope that you enjoy your reflections! If you are a coach and you have pre-ordered a copy of the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner, you may want to take some notes on these questions using your July or August monthly planning pages, found towards the back of the planner. Be sure to pick up a copy of the CBB Planner and Workbook at Amazon. Enjoy!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1672 – EVC Tip 55 – Virtual Facilitation Faux Pas #2 – Not Starting and Ending on Time

7/30/2018

It’s Monday and time for another Effective Virtual Conversation tip. This is the second of a series of five focusing on common mistakes or faux-pas with virtual facilitation. What type of events might you facilitate virtually? A webinar, conference call or group coaching session.

It’s a common practice that some leaders and facilitators may wait until everyone is on a call before starting. Think about this and the ripple effect it may have created.

Virtual facilitation faux pas number two is not starting and ending on time. This becomes even more critical in the virtual space for several reasons:

Technical and access problems may exist that are out of your control, barring people from joining the call on time, or ever.
Callers may be calling in from different parts of their day – from the start to the end, depending on what location they are in;

A best practice to start as scheduled, given that a late start can throw everything out of whack – your schedule and others!

If you are concerned with the impact of starting on time and that people will be upset that you’ve started without them, it’s a great cue to consider creating an agreement so everyone knows that START really means START.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1671 - Videos in Review

7/29/2018

This month I’ve been doing a review of some of the most popular posts here at the Teams365 blog. For many Sunday’s this year I’ve shared a new video which you are invited to also pass on to your team.

Here are a few you may want to check out:

Project Check Points – Teams365 #553

Delegation – Teams365 #335

Summer Planning and Quarterly Reflection – Teams365 #1629

Teamwork in Complexity – Teams365 #1611

These are several of the topics we are exploring here at the Teams365 blog. Please feel free to share these with your colleagues and your team.

Enjoy and have a great weekend,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1670 - Weekly Journaling Prompt #9

7/28/2018

Welcome back to another weekend journaling prompt. I started these a few months ago with the hope that they would provide you with a nudge towards creating a pause point for journaling. Whether you carve out 5 minutes a day or 5 minutes a week or month to journal, this reflective time can be invaluable in today’s busy work environment.

This week’s journaling prompt gets you to think, and write about, the question “What’s possible this year for….”.

Have you stopped to think about the biggest opportunity you are facing this year, or one of the goals you have set for yourself? There’s still 5 months left of the year, so what’s possible?

I hope that this inspires you to set your timer and happy writing!

Enjoy,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1669 – Flashback Friday: What are you doing to renew?

7/27/2018

As I wrap up my fourth week of working remote from my summer office up in Muskoka I think about how working from this location over the last month has been instrumental in slowing things down, resting and renewing. It’s also been key in moving some significant projects ahead , including the launch of a new book and planner which comes out in a few days (the Coaching Business Builder: Workbook and Planner), and spending time on edits for a book for virtual leaders an team members (stay tuned for a 2019 launch on this one!)

As we move into the heart of the summer it’s a great time to build in time for family, friends and renewal for yourself. Here’s what I wrote back in Teams365 #157 in June of 2014:

“Renewal is such an important process for us as leaders. Without regular attention to renewal it is very easy to move towards burnout, and depletion (mental, physical).

What do you do to renew? What energizes you and allows you to "turn off" even for a short while.

Digital detoxing is becoming more mainstream, with companies encouraging leaders to "turn off" during holiday time. Many studies over the past few years have shown that upwards of 50% of people don't shut off during holidays and continue to work through their vacation.

As you think about the upcoming summer months (for those in the northern hemisphere), what are your plans for renewal?

Given that the pace of change and information is not slowing down, what can you do to digitally detox this summer as well as renew?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1668 – Team Building Tip 192

7/26/2018

As Robin Sharma writes “Clarity precedes success”.

This week’s team building question gets you to explore the question “What is clear for you right now?”. Taking time to stop and pause and ask what’s clear helps with focus, alignment and role clarity. In asking the question, it may also take us to the flipside of this – What is not clear?

As you consider your work right now, what’s clear for you as a team? What could use some further shaping?7

Enjoy your Thursday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1667 – Team Development Q through T

7/25/2018

We are continuing our journey of taking a look back at many of the different areas you can be building skills and capabilities in with your team. Today brings us to Q through T.

Q stands for questions, and queries. As I continue to write, questions are one of the most important tools a leader can have in their toolbox. They are a conversation starter and enabler.
Q is for questions: Read here.

Team Development around Questions: Read here.

Six Leadership Questions a day – Q -Check them out here.

R is for Results, Relationships, Recognition:
R is for recognition: Read here.

Six Leadership Questions a day around R - Check them out here.

R is for results and relationships: Read here.

S is for strategic:
Check out this post for virtual and remote team leadership on strategic support for virtual team members here.

and Finally T for time management. Check out this post - Teams365 #352 which takes you to a post which directs you to some of my most popular time management posts.

Enjoy the reading and I hope you are getting a chance this month to catch up on other backlogs as well.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1666 – Team Development M through P

7/24/2018

M is for motivation, malaise, meaning, momentum.
Check out this Teams365 post #337 on Motivation and other M ways to focus on team development here.

N is for new hire orientation:
Check out this post suggested areas to include in new hire orientation here.

Check out these six leadership questions on nimble, networking, norms and new here.

Check out What’s Your Nature – where I discuss more about styles and strengths, and the impact of this here.

O is for opportunities, optimism:
Read more about this here.

Reflect on 6 leadership questions a day around opportunities and options here.

Continue the thought process around Remote and Virtual Team Leadership here.

P is for performance, process, priorities:
Check out the blog here.

Leadership Myth – Priorities change all the time:
Read more here.

Enjoy today’s selection of looking back at some of the many varied posts I’ve covered here at the Teams365 blog.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1665 – Effective Virtual Conversation Tip 54: Virtual Facilitation Faux Pas #1 – Not having an agenda

7/23/2018

This week’s Monday Effective Virtual Conversation post starts exploring five different virtual facilitation “faux pas” or mistakes. Each one of these is something which you have control over and can change.
Virtual facilitation ranges from meetings to conference calls to virtual team development sessions.

One of the more common mistakes in the virtual space is not having an agenda. Unlike the in-person world, once a call starts, it’s hard to pull someone into the room. Process often plays a key role, keeping things flowing and moving, in a structured way.

As I write in Effective Virtual Conversations: “Process is king in the virtual realm. It is important to have a plan which you share with others (so they can input into it before the meeting), and one that you refer to throughout the call so people know where you are and where you are going.” (Britton, 2017)

Creating an agenda in advance of the call which goes out to people and is also shaped by participants, ensures that you:
Have all the appropriate agenda items on the list.
Have done any pre-work or had any pre-discussions necessary prior to the meeting
Have the necessary people around the table who need to make a decision.

What meeting agendas do you create? What could use some attention or adjustment?

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1664 – Team Development Videos – Incorporate One into Your Next Meeting!

7/22/2018

Over the last year I have created more than 30 short videos which I would invite you to bring into your upcoming conversations with your team. We know that the video channel is extremely powerful and captivating for most team members. It’s also a little out of the norm and therefore may be more memorable. You can view the past Teams365 video here at our site, or also check out our two YouTube Channels – Teams365 Leadership Channel, or the EffectiveGroupCoach YouTube Channel I also manage (which hosts calls on Effective Virtual Conversations).

Check out 14 of the videos here:

Some of my favorite Teams365 videos which I have shared in team development sessions for the year have included:

20 Coaching Questions

Mentoring: 5 Reasons Why Mentoring is Important

Goal Setting – SMART-E Goals

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326