Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #1877 – Productivity Tips in Review

2/19/2019

Starting in December 2018 I turned attention to sharing 19 productivity tips for 2019. Each one is relatively short in nature, but applied, has the potential to make a significant impact on your work. We wrapped up with the series last week, and in today’s post I wanted to include a link to all 19 so you can get the bird’s eye view of the tips. Take note of which ones could support you the most in terms of your work and priorities at this time.

Here are links to all 19 of the posts in this series:

1. Have a clear vision. Without a clear vision it is hard to know where to go.

2. Know where you are getting results

3. Know where you are getting your results – 80/20

4. Know Where Your Time Goes. Be ruthless with your time.

5. Systems

6. Chunk it!

7. Make it Visual

8. Tame the inbox!

9. 8 Essential Meeting Questions

10. Support Action & Clarity with 3 Bullet Points

11. Circadian Rhythm – when are you at your best

12. Build in regular time for review

13. Get the important stuff out of the way

14. Content Creation: Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle

15. Avoid analysis/paralysis – Get into action

16. Build relationships

17. Set a Start and an End - Parkinson’s Rule

18. What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done – Build it in advance

19. Track it!

Which ones would be useful to revisit?

Which one could you apply more fully?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

PS - If you have enjoyed these tips, do be sure to check out the new on-demand, video based course I have created around these. The program can be taken at your own pace, You can stretch the tips out daily, weekly or monthly. Join me this year for bi-weekly calls as part of your registration. Cost: $129 US. Learn more and register here.

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where we explore topics related to productivity, teamwork, coaching, business development and leadership.

#TEAMS365 #1870 – Productivity Tip 18 – What Doesn’t Get Scheduled, Doesn’t Get Done

2/12/2019

PS - Tip #18 – What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done

“The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.”- Oswald Chambers

Scheduling and tracking are key parts of business productivity. Time management in a virtual business includes:

Discernment – Knowing what is, and what is not important. In the big picture, in the immediate. For you. For the business.
Prioritizing – Being clear on your Top 3-5 activities. Today, this month, this quarter.
Scheduling it in- Making sure the big tasks and smaller tasks are scheduled in, particularly those things which are important to you and the business (review time, planning time, renewal time, maintenance, systems etc). Some research has also started pointing to the need for significant enough blocks of time being required to help you focus. For some this may be 90 minutes, others 3 hours.
Saying NO - tactfully! Given that we are usually operating in isolation, negotiation skills are key. Being able to say “I can help you with this, however, that may not be feasible…”, being able to delegate, defer or even say no, are all key skills. It’s not surprising that training I deliver on Communicating and Negotiating for Impact is popular!
Being ruthless with your time. Time is non-renewable. How do you choose to spend it?

Activity
Consider the questions listed above. What do you notice about Discernment? Priorities, Scheduling, saying no, being ruthless with time. What is important for you in staying the course?
Take 15 minutes to make sure your schedule is up to date and includes time for the important activities in the short, medium and long term.
Add an additional 10% of time to projects or tasks which are not yet visible but need to get done.
Consider what your line in the sand is around tasks and new requests. Are you operating at 100%? If you had a new request come in, what would you do? How could you defer other tasks?

What your successes have been?
Where your focus has been?
What products or services have you been focusing on offering?

Schedule it in. If you have not left space now, it’s unlikely it will emerge on its own!

Conversation Sparkers

What projects, tasks or activities are important to schedule this month?
What is your line in the sand around what more you can take on?
What are the Top 3-5 priorities for you today? This week? This month? This quarter?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

PS - If you have enjoyed these tips, do be sure to check out the new on-demand, video based course I have created around these. The program can be taken at your own pace, You can stretch the tips out daily, weekly or monthly. Join me this year for bi-weekly calls as part of your registration. Cost: $129 US. Learn more and register here.

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).

#TEAMS365 #1864 – Productivity Tip 17- Set a Start and an End Date

2/6/2019

Tip #17 – Set a start & an end date: Parkinson’s Rule

“To the person who does not know where (S)he wants to go there is no favorable wind” – Seneca

There’s an old project management adage, known as Parkinson’s Rule, that tasks expand to the amount of time we give them. In other words, if we set a deadline of getting something done by end of day tomorrow, we’ll get it done. Conversely, we could have fixed another deadline of early next week, and the task might have stretched out to then as well.

Considering our start and end dates is critical in juggling multiple projects. From program and product design, to administration and finances, to actually coaching, there are a lot of varied tasks which make up a successful coaching business.

What are the tasks and activities which could benefit from a more fixed start and end date?

Related to this concept is that of time estimation.

Activity
Consider the major activities, tasks and projects which are a priority this month. Where are they scheduled?
Ask yourself:

What is the start date for this project or task?
What is the end date I have set?
Could the end date be a bit more aggressive so that the task could be completed in a more condensed manner? If not, why not?
What is important to notice about start and end dates? How my tasks are expanding to the time I give them?
What’s currently not getting done, which I wish it was?
If it’s not about changing time windows, WHO can help me get it done? WHAT other resources do I need to allocate?
What changes would I like to make?

Conversation Sparkers

How do tasks expand to the amount of time I give them?
Where could I be more aggressive or lenient with my scheduling?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1863 – Tuesday February 5 – Productivity Tip 16 – Build Relationships

2/5/2019

Tip #16 – Build Relationships

“No person is an island.” – Old Adage (in more gender inclusive language!)

As solopreneurs (one-person businesses), it can feel like we are always on our own. Relationships play a critical role in growing and maintaining a successful coaching business. Whether we are building relationships with new clients or alumni, peers, joint venture partners or coaches we can co-coach with, and partner organizations, relationship building is critical for success.

This tip gets you to think about building relationships – who you interface with regularly, who you’d like to connect with, and who are your connectors. [Connectors are individuals who are connected with those you want to reach. They can be a valuable link to your target market and/or other partners).

A first step in building relationships is to consider what you have to offer to others.

What are the skills, strengths and talents you bring to the table? What do you have to offer others?

As a second step, consider who you want to connect with and who is in your network.

How can you support others in their work? How can you support others to achieve their mandate and vision?

An ongoing focus on building solid relationships with a variety of others is important across the entire life cycle of a business.

Activity

Map out 20 people in your network. Write out their names. Consider how you interface. What do you offer them? What do they offer you?
What other people would be useful to have in your network? Consider financial, legal and administrative support. Collaborators.
How do you support their work?
How can others support you?
What could collaboration look like?

Conversation Sparkers

What key relationships are you able to lean into with your work?
What do you have to offer others in terms of your skills, talents and strengths? How can you help them magnify what they do, and who they serve?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1857 – Productivity Tip 15: Avoid Analysis Paralysis

1/30/2019

Tip #15 – Avoid analysis/paralysis: get into action

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” – Neal Donald Walsch

When starting or launching new initiatives it can be valuable to just get into action. It’s easy, and can be alluring, to spend time doing more research. I continue to meet a lot of coaches who fail to move into execution stage because they are just not “sure”. They need to do a “bit more research”. The more data we have, the easier it may be to slip into “analysis/paralysis”. This can be a place of overwhelm or “STUCK” for many business owners. There usually is a place where you have “enough” information and can get started.
The tagline for the Coaching Business Builder, and PlanDoTrack, is:

“Consistent Action + Daily Steps = Momentum”

Key to business success is to Get into Action!
As Nike says, “Just do it”.

Consistent action is key for building business in today’s ever-changing world. We often do not know what’s going to have impact until we get it out into the world.

Even in creating group coaching processes, it’s key to get things into action, rather than fall into the analysis-paralysis trap. We don’t need to know everything, or even anything. We need to trust our clients. Things will change right up to the moment we meet our clients.

So, how much mental energy are you spending in trying to figure out what your clients really want? Holding ideas and thoughts in our head takes up a lot of space. How much mental energy are you spending just thinking about things, considering best and worst-case scenarios without getting into action?

Conversation Sparkers

What is the consistent action you want to take daily in your business?
Who can support you in determining when “enough is enough” and you need action?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1856 – Productivity Tip 14

1/29/2019

3 Rs to Content Creation
Tip #14 – content creation: Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle

“Recycling turns things into other things. Which is like magic.”
– Anonymous

Do you have to start from scratch? Part of the challenge of moving so quickly in today’s workplace is that we may not be harvesting what we have already created, as well as leveraging learning and results regularly.

If you’ve gotten good results from something (for example, an email campaign, an article, or a social media post), what it the next iteration of that?
In magnifying our content, we can:

Repurpose
Reuse
Recycle

Let’s look at an example. Perhaps you led a speaking engagement on Emotional Intelligence. Chances are you did a lot of research into the topic and there are things that can be REPURPOSED. Are there some resources you can point your clients to as an extended resource to them? A new offshoot be a one-page resource list (TED Talks, books list) OR a checklist for them to complete?
What are the things that can be quickly repurposed into other formats?

At the same time, there may be many ways we can re-use, and leverage things already created in our business. From reusing processes so that we avoid pitfalls, to reusing a proven checklist we have created and is road-tested in another program, reusing is key.

A third way is to recycle. In content creation, recycling is key. A very popular way to design programs is to build it through small packets or modules. You might have a one-hour module on Emotional Intelligence (EI) in general, another on building EI in your team, and a separate one around “Self-management”. These could be recombined, or recycled, for future programs, creating a whole new resource!

Activity
Take a look at all the content you have created. Note it down. This could include blog posts, Instagram stories, Facebook Lives, etc.
As you look at what you have created already, consider:

What are the things your clients are looking for related to your already created content?
What are the vehicles they would like that in? (Think blog post, Instagram post, video, e-book, other)?
What would the 3Rs look like – repurpose, reuse, recycle?

Conversation Sparkers

What can be repurposed into a new format?
What could be reused?
What can be recycled to create something new?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1850 – Productivity Tips #13 – Get the Important Stuff Out of the Way

1/23/2019

Tip #13 – Get the important stuff out of the way

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”
— Jim Watkins

It is likely that even with the best planning, finding time to execute and get things done can be a challenge. Today’s business context of ongoing change and disruption, means that things can change on a regular basis, requiring ongoing learning and iteration.

Against this backdrop, it can also be important to focus in on items that are moving you, and the business, forward.

With this in mind, what are the windows you have available (or can create) to get the important things out of the way? This might mean starting your day early, or working late into the night, to focus on projects that require quiet work spaces.

Activity

Review your monthly or quarterly goals.
Review your Top 3 or 5 Goals.
What activities are not getting completed in a regular way?
What needs to be focused on more?
When will you schedule this in? For example, is this the first thing you want to do every day? Is it worth arriving at work 30 minutes earlier to make sure it gets completed? Could certain activities be delegated to someone else?
Break larger tasks down to smaller chunks if you have not done so already. Consider what smaller milestones exist and put these in your schedule.
What are the regular action steps you will undertake to make it happen? Work backwards noting additional mini-milestones.

Conversation Sparkers

What are the most important tasks that are going to move your work or business forward?
When are you scheduling in these?
What habits are going to help you get the most important things done?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1849 – Productivity Tip #12: Build In Regular Time for Review

1/22/2019

Tip #12 – Build in regular time for review

"Big thinking precedes great achievement."
— Wilferd Peterson

Part of productivity is about building in pause points to reflect and think about what’s working and what’s not.
Building in time for regular review helps to:

Identify where we are getting our results
Observe the patterns that are occurring
Think about where we want to go
Identify what is important to be able to move forward

Some of the pitfalls we may experience in review is number one we don't have the data our memories are not good at remembering and capturing where we were at different points in time.

With this in mind, I've included in number of monthly daily trackers in the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack. They get you to regularly track and capture your key metrics. Perhaps you want to track sales. When did sales and revenue come in for the month? Was it on a Friday or was it on Monday?

Another metric you might want to be tracking is social media. How many followers did you have on July 1st? November 1st?

Building in time for regular review helps us to identify what's working and what's not that then gives us the opportunity to make a change.

Activity

Identify the metrics you want to track in your business. Make note of these and start tracking them. Consider using colors to highlight. As you review them consider these questions

What do you notice about your metrics?
Where are you spending a lot of time?
What is giving you impact? What is not?
What changes do you want to make?

Conversation Sparkers

“What we focus on expands”. What do you want to focus on more?
What does the data say?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1843 – Productivity Tip #11 – Circadian Rhythm

1/16/2019

:TIP #11 – CIRCADIAN RHYTHM : WHEN ARE YOU AT YOUR BEST ?

“Perhaps the main conclusion to be drawn from studies on the effects of time of day on performance is that the best time to perform a particular task depends on the nature of that task”. – Simon Folkard quoted in Daniel Pink’s When, 2018, pp 22.

Are you a night owl or a morning bird? As a school girl in the 1970s, I remember teachers getting us to think about when we were at our best. Flash forward to the late 1980s and early 1990s and discussion around circadian rhythm.

Daniel Pink’s most recent book WHEN further delves into the research. He writes, “Our moods and performance oscillate during the day. For most of us, our mood follows a common pattern: a peak, a trough, and rebound. That helps shape a dual pattern of performance. In the mornings, during the peak…. most of us excel at …analytic work that requires sharpness, vigilance, and focus. Later in the day, during the recovery, most of us do better on…insight work that requires less inhibition and resolve.” – Pink, 2018, pp 26

Activity
Questions to consider:

When are you at your best? Check out the Munich Chronotype Questionaire to learn more.
When are you able to focus most?
When are you able to get the most work done?

Take a look at your schedule and think about the major tasks that could be reschedule to better meet your energy needs.
Make the change now.

Conversation Sparkers

What is important to note about the ebbs and flows of your day, your tasks and your energy?
What tasks could benefit from being scheduled in the times when you are most productive? When you are not as focused?

Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1842 – Productivity Tip #10: Support action with 3 bullet points

1/15/2019

#10 – Support Action and Clarity with 3 Bullet Points

Communicating in business is usually about creating clarity so that people can take action. If our message is lost in transmission, we may have lost an opportunity to support change, missed a sale, or weakened a relationship.
Brevity is key to effective presentations and business communication. It helps us stand out and helps our message be memorable.

The latency and recency effects assert that we remember the start and the end of things. What are the key messages that you want people to remember? Keeping the latency and recency effect in mind, it is best to include the main points at the start and reinforce these again at the end.

Starting and wrapping up your presentation with 3 bullet points can be an effective way to boost retention of your message.

Rather than going into a long description, boil it down to 3 bullet points.

Activity:
Think about your upcoming presentations or marketing messages. What are the key points you want to communicate? What do you want to get across?
Think about the presentation. Write out the three bullet points you want people to remember.
Now think about the audience. What is important to them? What action do you want them to take?
Now rewrite your three bullet points.
As you think about the overarching arc of the presentation, what can you do to reinforce these three bullet points at the start of the presentation, and at the end?
Insert it now!

The 3 bullet point tip is also useful beyond communication, in light of overall productivity. Simpler is better. It helps us focus. As it applies to time management, a the start of the day identify what are the 3 core items that MUST GET Done. If all else fails, what are those 3 things?

Conversation Sparkers:

What is the message you want to communicate?
What do you want people to remember, and take action on?
What are the three bullet points?

Thank you!
Jenn

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon