Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

Teams365 #3223: Month in Review and November Planning Questions

10/31/2022

Happy Halloween! Where did October go?

I hope that you have an amazing Halloween today and have had the chance to dip into the shadow side of things!

Today we are taking a pause to look at the month in review and explore some questions for the month of November. I hope you will get 10-15 minutes today to take stock of where eyou are with these questions:

Reflecting on the month of October:
What were my major achievements this month?
What do I want to celebrate?
As I consider my goals (and resolutions) I made at the start of the year, how am I doing with these on a scale of 1-10? Which ones are becoming new habits or something I can check off?
Which ones need to be let go of?
As a leader, what have I noticed about my team this month?
As a leader, what notes should I make about performance issues (if I haven't done it already!)
The thing that has helped me be most productive this month has been ______
The thing that has helped me be most successful this month has been ______
The thing that has helped me be happiest this month has been ________
The thing that has helped me be most healthy has been _______
What have I noticed about my work/productivity/results and/or relationships during the winter months (if you are in the northern hemisphere) or summer (if you are in the southern hemisphere)?

Looking ahead to November :
The project I most want to wrap up is...
My priorities are:
Our team priorities are:
My goals are
My teams goals are:
I want to......
I'll be really happy at the end of November when....

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Coaches, join us this month for one of our Tuesday at 12 noon ET community calls.

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 #3222: Week in Review

10/30/2022

Welcome back to another Sunday in Review. This week we dove into the heart of the TRIAD of Trust, Safety and Connection, three essential ingredients for today’s evolving workspace, whether we are working virtually, in-person or remotely.

Let’s take a look at what we covered this week

Monday – Introduction to the TRIAD of Trust, Safety and Connection – Part 1 – Trust

Tuesday - the TRIAD of Trust, Safety and Connection – Part 2 – Safety

Wednesday - the TRIAD of Trust, Safety and Connection – Part 3 – Connection

Thursday – Back to Basics – Team Agreements

Friday – Friday Flashback – Teams365 #195 – Powerful Questions

Saturday – Weekly Journaling Prompt –What’s your shadow side?

Enjoy your weekend!
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 #3221: Weekly Journaling Prompt- What is Your Shadow Side?

10/29/2022

In honor of Monday’s Halloween, this week’s journaling prompt invites you to consider what is your shadow side?

The Halloween season invites us to explore our dark corners, and what’s in the shadows.

What do you notice about what’s in the shadows? What’s important to note about what’s lurking in the dark and what you are perhaps scared of?

Enjoy your reflection and be sure to check out other Weekly Journaling Prompts
.
Enjoy!
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 #3220: Flashback Friday– Powerful Questions for Leaders

10/28/2022

Today we are going to head back to Teams365 #195 post on powerful questions for leaders. Last week I delivered a number of speaking engagements to leaders, and we spent a lot of time in each conversation around what makes for a powerful conversation with teams.

In our conversation we wound up discussing several of the powerful questions people like to use to stimulate dialogue (from the Greek words dia + logos – or “through speech”). It is through conversation that many create meaning and make sense of the world.

With this in mind, it’s even more important in today’s ever changing world to create new meaning.

Take a look at what I wrote in Teams365 #195:

As leaders we are often trained to make decisions quickly, to advise and provide our interpretation. When we coach others, we want to elicit the insights and knowledge of those we are working with, helping them to make better decisions and take more effective action

“As I write in From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching- Questions form the backbone of any coaching conversation”.

Coaching questions are typically open-ended questions. As illustrated in this week’s Teams365 cartoon, questions may be useful to stimulate thinking, to support action and also to build onto what team members may already know. Questions can also prompt new perspectives around approaches and solutions.

Sometimes known as socratic questions, the best questions may often be:

- Short in length - sometimes only 5-6 words

- In language that is resonant to the person being coached. The language you use when coaching team member on the shop floor may be different than the language you use with your admin support person.

- Provocative - encouraging discovery, new perspectives, challenge

Think of one of the best coaches you have had in your career. How have they used questions? What are the questions they used which really had an impact?

Now think of your experience. Which questions have you asked your staff which had significant impact?

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

For a few more tips around powerful questions, check out this short YouTube Video I share on 20 of my favorite coaching questions.

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 #3219: Back to Basics for Teams – Team Agreements

10/27/2022

I’m starting a new series today called the Back to Basics for Teams. We’re going to start with one of the most important building blocks that of team agreements. It’s our team norms that create safety, understanding and connection with each other.

Let’s take a look back at Teams365 #202 where I first started talking about Team Agreements.

“One of the things that I hear from teams and leaders that I work with, that has the biggest impact, both short term and longer term, is the work that we do around creating shared team agreements. You will recall back in January, that shared behavioral norms are one of the six factors of high performing teams (LINK). Great teams have co-defined what behaviors are acceptable and what are not. When unacceptable behaviors emerge, we move into the terrain of Toxicity, as illustrated in some of this year’s Teams365 Cartoons.

In creating team agreements you may lead from the question “What are the behaviors that are going to support us to do our best work?”

Which of these are ones we can all agree to - through thick and thin? 24/7?

As you identify what the behaviors are - trust, respect - have people further define what the behaviors look like. These are more accurate, and measurable, than the larger catchments.

Each team agreement set will look different. How can you keep these visible?

One hospital team I worked with created a large poster which they hung in the hallway en route to their office. It was a reminder for them everyday, as well as a conversation starter for others who came to visit them. Over time, this team became one of the key leaders at their site. Many of them attributed their success to these common team agreements which helped them re-calibrate when they got off the mark, and helped them run together in alignment.”
Since I first published this back in 2014, we’ve seen a lot of research further reinforcing the need for team agreements, from Google’s Project Aristotle to countless other studies in both the physical and in-person domains.
What are you doing to create, or revisit, your team agreements?

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

Enjoy your 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 #3218: The Triad of Trust, Safety and Connection: Part 3 Connection

10/26/2022

This week we’ve been exploring the Triad of Trust, Safety and Connection, which is referenced in my TEDx talk, Virtual, Remote and Hybrid Checklist

Reference: Reconnecting Workspaces, © Jennifer Britton, 2017-2021. All Rights Reserved.

Earlier this week we explored trust, yesterday safety, and today connection?
Today I am reaching back to an article I wrote on Linked In to share several ways Connection can be fostered, including:

In addition to trust, teams need to feel connected with each other. When teams or forming, or teams are virtual, there may be more of an emphasis on “getting to know each other”. Many of these activities do not take a lot of time and can be scheduled as part of your regular team meetings.

Quick Team Presentations—On a rotational basis have each team member provide a short (and informal) presentation about their work/role, priorities and what connections they see between their work and others on the team. This might only take 10-15 minutes of the meeting, and can be invaluable in helping each team member get to know each other, as well as understand the myriad of priorities which exist on the team.

Use Visuals—Ask each team member select a photo of what their vision is for either their work or the team. Use the same question for each team member. Enabling people to choose from photos often makes the sharing feel less risky than leaving the question hanging wide open. CoachingToys.com has a variety of decks to choose from. I've also spotlighted the Conversation Sparker Deck we have created which includes both photos and questions team leaders can select from.

“Brag Time”—Ask each team member to share one thing about their past experience that they are really proud of. We know that allowing people to lead from strengths boosts productivity and also positivity within a team. Another way to phrase this question is, "What is one strength you bring to the team?" See past Teams365 posts on strengths here.

Create a Logo—Have people create a logo which represents what they uniquely bring to the team. I call this the personal logo activity and expand on it in my book Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010).

What other ways can you help team members feel connected with each other?

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 #3217: The Triad of Trust, Safety and Connection: Part 2: Safety

10/25/2022

Welcome back! This week we are exploring the Triad of Trust, Safety, and Connection, which is at the heart of exceptional work in any workspace – in- person, virtual or remote.

Yesterday we explored the first of the three – building trust. Today we’ll look at Safety and Wednesday at Connection. This triad is at the heart of my 2021 TEDx talk, Virtual, Remote and Hybrid Checklist.

Reference: Reconnecting Workspaces, © Jennifer Britton, 2017-2021. All Rights Reserved.

What can we do to create safety? First, of all what is safety in today’s workplace?

Amy Edmondson defines it as: “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.”

Interpersonal risk taking can look like several things – it can mean:
Being able to bring alternative perspectives to the table, without fear of being made fun of, ostracized

Being able to debate as a team.

These elements are critical if we want to create a safe environment for all. If people don’t feel safe it is unlikely that they will lean into bringing their best work, and will give it their all.

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Enjoy your 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 #3216: The Triad of Trust, Safety and Connection: Part 1

10/24/2022

In the last few weeks we have been exploring the topic of coaching, a modality which is critical for exceptional performance today. Key to supporting individuals, groups and teams to drop into the coaching conversation is that of engaging the Triad of Trust, Safety and Connection.

Reference: Reconnecting Workspaces, © Jennifer Britton, 2017-2021. All Rights Reserved.

This triad is at the heart of my 2021 TEDx talk, The Virtual, Remote and Hybrid Checklist.

For individuals, groups and teams to thrive in the evolving workspace, and a place of ongoing change, creating trust, safety and connection in our relationships and organizations is critical.

What can we do to create this? I explored it in my 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, and revisited it in my 2021 book, Reconnecting Workspaces.

Let’s take a look at what we can practically do to build Trust, Safety and Connection in today’s workspaces – whether we are back to in-person work, or enjoying work that is hybrid or remote.

Now we’ll explore the first of the three – building trust. Tomorrow we’ll look at Safety and Wednesday at Connection. This triad is at the heart of my 2021 TEDx talk, Virtual, Remote and Hybrid Checklist.

Trust is built through behavior, those things that can be observed. . It’s critical to think about what we are doing to build trust in today’s workspace.

As I shared in an article years ago, building trust can be done these four ways –
Trust is a foundation for successful teams. In order to trust each other, people need to know each other within a team. Today's article includes four keys to enhancing trust in your team and four quick activities you can use to create connection and trust within your team. You may want to bring one of these into an upcoming team meeting, or use at an annual retreat session.
Four keys to building trust in your team.

Trust doesn’t just happen – it builds with time. Other factors such as connection, clarity, communication as well as knowledge and skills also help facilitate trust within teams. Let’s take a look at each one of these:

Connection—We feel supported when we feel valued, known and heard. Connection is a critical factor for high performing teams. Teams who feel connected with each other have often invested time in getting to know one another, and schedule time for regular connections. Perhaps a 2 pm daily meeting is the norm, or a Monday morning huddle kicks off your week. Consider what will boost connection amongst your team members.

2. Clarity—Clarity is key in creating trust. When we know what is expected of us, it is easier to follow-through and know how we are doing. Creating shared, and clear expectations of each other is important, as is having clarity around roles.

3. Communication—Communication is the foundation of connection and clarity. Consider how the team wants to communicate with each other, and what in fact is most effective.

4. Knowledge/Competence— Many trust models talk about the importance of skills and knowledge, or what they call competence, in building trust. IF we know that others have the skills and knowledge to have our backs, we can rest easier that things will get done.

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 #3215: Week in Review

10/23/2022

This week we’ve continued taking a deeper dive into the topic of coaching, a critical modality for all professionals (not just leaders) to have in an ever-changing, complex environment. Let’s take a look at what we explored this week:

Saturday – Weekly Journaling Prompt – What’s another way of looking at this?

Friday – Flashback to Teams365 #777 – Four Foundations for Any Coaching Conversation

Thursday – Teams in Focus: Video – 4 Ways to Build Trust

Wednesday - Team and Group Coaching Superpowers in Focus

Tuesday – Coaching In Focus: Powerful Questions and Video

Monday - Why Coaching is More Important?

Enjoy your weekend!
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 #3214: Weekly Journaling Prompt- What’s Another Way of Looking At It

10/22/2022

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt invites you to consider the question “What’s another way of looking at it….”

Exploring different perspectives is a key part of business, personal and professional success in an environment which is ever changing.

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to explore the question “What’s another way of looking at it…”

You might consider getting really creative in this week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt by adding on the layer of the Six Thinking Hats from Edward De Bono (as I covered in This teams365 post)

Or simply by asking yourself questions such as:

What’s the opposite of this?
What’s the flipside?
What’s the low hanging fruit?
What’s the most sustainable option?
If I moved ahead one year, and looked back, what would I notice?

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.