Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

Facilitation Skills Intensive: December 15-16: toronto

11/30/2014

I am looking forward to working with a number of you in downtown Toronto in two weeks time at the two day Facilitation Skills Intensive program on Monday December 15 and Tuesday December 16. There are still a few spots open and registration will close later this week.

The program is designed for leaders who are looking to enhance their facilitation skills at meetings, facilitating other group events (workshops, strategic planning), or with their teams. The program provides professionals with the essentials around facilitation - what facilitation is, and skills and tools they can incorporate into meetings and dialogue with teams, stakeholders and others. The program also includes a Facilitation Skills Self-Assessment to support you identifying your strengths in facilitation as well as areas which require development.

Over the two days we will be looking at the following topics - giving you ample opportunity for practice and feedback:

Cost for the two day program is $795 plus HST. Registration includes the program binder, two days of training and a group follow-up call.

Registration closes December 4th. Register with a colleague and save 15% off each registration. Reserve your spot here . Looking for more information? Please contact me, Jennifer Britton, directly at (416)996-8326.

I hope that you will join us in a few weeks!

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Eager to focus on your development as a leader during 2015? Consider joining me for a group coaching program or Teams365 Team Leader Foundations course.

#Teams365 #334: Sunday Audio: Gratitude, Recognition and Month end Reflection

11/30/2014

Welcome back to another Sunday audio. With US Thanksgiving just behind us and the holiday season starting to kick into full gear, this week's audio focuses on gratitude, recognition and month end reflection questions. I've got a nine minute audio for you this week which you can listen to here.

Questions to consider this week:
1. What practices will work well for you, and your team, around gratitude?
2. What, who, and how do you want to recognize team members in the upcoming month?

Given that it is the of November, as I've encouraged at the end of every month this year, take ten minutes to make some notes around
1. Your major achievements this month
2. Lessons you've learned
3. Any feeedback (positive and constructive) you want to share with your team

A quick reminder too that I will be hosting the December Team Leader Breakfast Cafe call this Wednesday December 3rd at 7:15 am Eastern/Toronto. You can join me live by dialing in at 1-857-232-0155, access 503003, or listen in later. (Callers are responsible for any long distance charges). The call later this week is going to be about reflecting on the year that was, and planning for the year ahead.

Enjoy your Sunday! What are you grateful for today?

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Eager to focus on your development as a leader during 2015? Consider joining me for a group coaching program or Teams365 Team Leader Foundations course.

#Teams365 #333: Essential Leadership Read #15: Fierce Conversations

11/29/2014

The ability to have difficult conversations is critical for teams today. The ability to work constructively, and respectfully, across differences is part of the business context today. Difficult Conversations is an area many teams struggle in.

The book that I usually wind up recommending is Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott. It is a solid read, and when teams are able to approach a difficult conversation from a similar framework it helps to reduce the emotional sting, and keeps the conversation focused.

This week consider what difficult conversations you need to have. How long have you been putting these conversations off? Would it be useful to take a look at this book before having the conversation? How could your team benefit from having a framework for difficult conversations?

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized - Leadership and Team Development, Coaching, Retreats
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Email us to find out how we can support you and your team in enhancing your collaboration through coaching, training or a retreat program

#TEams365 #332: Check It off Tip:Make Your Goals Visible

11/28/2014

As we move into the last few weeks of the year, many of you will be speeding towards goals which are almost near completion. Keeping your goals visible can be an important part of focus, which science is increasingly reminding us is important for peak performance.

Depending on your own style, you may benefit from keeping your goals visible on a white board, or post it note. others may prefer to log this in their phone. If you are not visually inclined you might opt for a short audio note which plays at a certain time of day, reminding you of the focus area.

You can refer to other blog posts this year which have covered goals here.

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Everything DiSC® Authorized Partner
Contact us and let us know how we can support you in helping your team reach its' full potential: (416)996-TEAM (8326)

#Teams365 #331: Fostering Gratitude

11/27/2014

Many readers will be celebrating Thanksgiving today. Even if we aren't it is a great opportunity to pause for a few minutes and think about what we are grateful for. I wanted to share a recent blog post from my group coaching blog for coaches on why gratitude is important. In it I include three practices you can share with your team to foster more gratitude. You can read the blog post here.

Flowing from gratitude are a number of health and psychological benefits which include higher levels of optimism, increased positivity, more pro-social relationships , happier relationships, and also lower levels of toxic thoughts. As you will read, one practice which has been shown to increase gratitude and the benefits is keeping a gratitude journal, which is as simple as writing down on a weekly basis five things you are grateful for that week.

You can read more ab0ut what science has found about the importance of gratitude and how to incorporate more of this at this link from the Center for Greater Good from the University of Berkeley.

Enjoy!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Eager to focus on your development as a leader during 2015? Consider joining me for a group coaching program or Teams365 Team Leader Foundations course.

#Teams365 #330: Leadership a-z: K is for Kick-off

11/26/2014

We tend to remember the start and end of things. This is called the latency and recency effect of the brain. Our first impressions are critical and when things get off to a wrong foot a lot of time can be spent bringing things back on course. One of the most important meetings team leaders will need to prepare for are kick-off meetings for new projects or initiatives.

I wanted to share five areas to consider as you go about prepping for your next kick off meeting, based on an earlier blog post from my BizToolkit blog :
"1. Who needs to be at the table or involved in the kick-off? Make a list. The RACI framework of stakeholder analysis can provide us with a useful framework to think through the multitude of potential players, partners and stakeholders. What happens if they are not represented from the start?

The RACI framework stands for:
R - Responsible: Who is responsible for executing the project?
A - Accountable: Who is accountable for results?
C - Consulted: Who needs to be consulted, and perhaps involved through the provision of knowledge, information, expertise?
I - Informed: Who needs to be informed - about the project, outcomes and results?

How are you involving a representation of these different players? What's the most effective channel for communication.

2. What needs to be communicated at kick-off?

3. What roles and responsibilities need to be identified or clarified? What other expectations need to be clarified?

4. Communication, Reporting and Evaluation - What ongoing communication, reporting and evaluation processes will you create? Who needs to be involved and when? What are the major milestones going to be?

5. Checking in on accountabilities - Accountability in today's business environment has become a Pandora's Box at times. What are the specific accountabilities each person/party has and how will this be measured? Who are they accountable to? What's expected in terms of reporting? What happens if things go off course? Failure to discuss this from the start can set a slippery slope for any project or initiative."

You can read the original post here.
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Teams365 #329: LeaderShip a-Z: J is for Just-in-time

11/25/2014

We are at the J in the Leadership A through Z. For leaders and business today Just-in-time approaches are critical in navigating an ever changing environment. Planning cycles have shortened and the ability to create, or draw on, just-in-time solutions are key for learning, performance and development.

Just-in-tme strategies emerged out of the production field, where inventory was created just as needed. just-in-time production aims to eliminate waste. Companies such as Toyota, Canadian Tire and Walmart have all practiced just-in-time production strategies.

On the performance realm, mentors can be one of the most important just-in-time resources for professionals of all levels to draw on. Throughout the year I've focused a number of posts on mentoring, and also provide additional resources through the Mentor Roadmap(TM) programs and resources.

Another important just-in-time approach are one-on-ones with staff. Daily or regular one-on-ones provide a pulse of where each team member is. These meetings also provide the opportunity for real-time feedback and opportunities for team members to correct performance issues right away

What does just-in-time mean in your context?

Here's a link to an article which explores how "just-in-time" education is become both possible and necessary.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized - Leadership | Teamwork | Coaching
Coaching for Team Leaders
(416) 996-8326

#Teams365 #328: #Leadership a-z is for Initiative, Influence, Impact..

11/24/2014

We are at the start of a new week and we are at I for impact, influence, ignite, initiate, and initiative.

The team leader's role has direct impact, and the tangible returns you see can have significant motivation. The skill of influence is one that team leaders need to master early on given the upward and downward communication to their own boss and team members. Influence has been defined as " the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.".

Influence becomes a critical skill set when you are not in the driver's seat. So using the skill of influence to ensure a project roll out continues as smooth as it should may involve strong relationships with your stakeholders, team members and boss.

Influence is grounded in trust, respect and strong relationships. Without these it is not possible to influence. For those interested in the topic, a great read is Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson et al.

Part of the team leader role is to support team members to connect with what ignites them, so that they can bring their best self to work every day. Supporting team members to connect with strengths, passions and what they are great at, is an important focus in 1-1s as well as other team development activities. I've blogged regularly on these topics this year and I hope that you have a range of ideas that you might be able to pull from.

Finally, I is for initiate and initiative. Great teams get things done. Cultivating initiative on each team member's part requires that we don't micro-manage, rather we let people get their work done. How are you encouraging team members to initiate work, changes and evolutions?

What else related to the word I comes to mind when you think of the team leader role? As always, please feel free to comment below.

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Coaching
Email me to schedule a time to talk about your 2015 team and leadership needs
The next Teams365 Coaching Group will start on January 12th from 12 - 1 pm ET by phone and will meet the 2nd and 4th week of every month for 6 months. 8 spots open.

#Teams365 #326: Essential Leadership Read #14: The power of Habit

11/22/2014

As we move into the final month of the year many of us start thinking about changes and new resolutions for the new year. In a couple of recent posts I've looked at the concept of habits (Teams365 #161, and our recent Check it off tip #15), so it is fitting that this week's Essential Leadership Read is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Packed with lots of different examples, this book provides you with the opportunity to explore what is so important about habits, and their impact, in your work and your life.

Enjoy!

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Coaching
(416)996-8326
Email us to set up a time to discuss how we can support you or your team in 2015 through coaching, retreats or the Everything DisC.

#Teams365 #325: Check It Off Tip: Schedule It In

11/21/2014

Today's check it off tip is a reminder of the fact that what doesn't get scheduled, often doesn't get done. We have approximately six weeks left in the year. Consider what major, and minor, tasks need to get done before the end of the year. When are you going to schedule them in? When do you want to get them completed?

Here's a challenge - Actually pull out your calendar right now and assign time for completion of the top 3 tasks on your list. Set aside time for each task, reserve it and label it. If you do complete the task earlier, you can share that "reserved time" with others.

Is there anyone else on your team that you want to share this with?

Have a great end of the week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT
Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Coaching
(416)996-8326