Each Thursday I provide a question for you as a team to explore and have a short conversation around. Typically, these are questions which may provoke new discussions you are not having or prompt a sharing of information that is not naturally available.

This week’s team building question might fall into the category of “provocative” for some teams.

The question is “What is not being spoken about?”.

We know from research that teams which excel are teams which are able to surface difficult issues for exploration, without fear of retribution. This is not easy and requires high levels of TRUST and connection with other group members.

When we don’t surface issues, or address issues which need to be raised, it’s likely that they will grow in magnitude and possibly FESTER, creating more toxicity for the team. Rather than being an issue which could be addressed quickly it may become an issue that gets charged with emotional and resentment.

When we are surrounded by an elephant in the room it can be refreshing to finally name it, even if we can’t address it right away.

As a team this week, how might it be useful to surface the issues which are not being spoken about? What do you want to do to capture these and address them in the medium- to long-term? When we open what might be perceived as a Pandora’s Box it can be useful to have shared clarity around what will happen with these issues. Are you looking to spark conversation and problem solving or provide a “release valve” on issues which need to be surfaced but may not change? Consider how you want to set this question up as a team.

Enjoy your conversations!
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

Working remote usually involves having a number of balls in the air at any given time. With that in mind, brevity is really important, as is keeping projects moving along. Prioritization and communication around these priorities are crucial.

This week’s myth for remote work is “It needs to take longer”. As you go about your work consider what you can do to create more focus, brevity and conciseness.

Areas to explore are: meetings, paperwork, communication touch-points.

Less is more in the world of the remote worker. What can be distilled down or made clearer?

Too much information may lead to a lack of understanding or different interpretations.

What are the sound-bytes you want to make sure you communicate?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

This week’s Tuesday blog post continues along the pathway of working productively in the remote space. Today’s topic is about getting organized in remote space.

Working remote may mean a smaller office footprint than you might have been used to, or a more open workspace which is shared with friends and loved ones.

Keeping focused, keeping things secure, and keeping things organized are key for success. In today’s post, I’ll cover five areas you might want to consider as it relates to getting and keeping organized:

#1 – Files – From our paper-based files, to electronic ways, we file and access information, keeping files in check is critical.

#2 – Version Control – When working with other team members in collaborative documents being able to access and work on the most up-to-date documents is key.

#3 – Build in time for planning – Planning often falls to the bottom of the list for remote work. When boundaries are fluid by us working odd hours with our stakeholders across the world, the ability to build in time for planning is important.

#4 – Consider Batching – Remote workers are often pulled from task to task, especially if we become reactive around key tasks coming in via email.  A challenge for the remote team today is ensuring that we do make headway on all the different tasks involved such as the more focused, deeper work required for tasks.

#5 – Keep on top of rote tasks – Reporting, finances, filing etc. Dedicating 15 minutes to more rote tasks regularly can help to keep the clutter (physical and mental at play). Physically also filing things in an orderly fashion -i.e. a box for receipts – can also help to diminish the mental clutter created by the open loop of invoices which have not been entered.

One final thing to keep in mind in terms of getting more organized = systems. In PlanDoTrack, I point to the importance of five main areas of systems for entrepreneurs and other remote workers. Consider these areas:

1. Financial systems – Invoicing, Accounts Payable, Cash Flow, Accounts Receivable etc.
2. Client and Stakeholder systems – Connecting with and sharing information with others – this might include things such as email templates, contact lists, meeting notes, past reports on collaboration.
3. Marketing – Websites, Social Media Feeds, Frequently Asked Questions
4. Content – Do you know what you have created? Do you have an accessible listing of what there is?
5. Sales – What do you notice about sales? What can generate more? What follow-up do you have with those you have sold to?

I'm adding on the other area you may find useful which is Project Management - What can you do to make your project flow and communication work for effectively? Are thre apps or programs which will help you like Asana or Trello? These are two that we use here to manage our projects.

​What are the systems which are going to help you streamline and keep on top of your work?

IF you are a coach -  be sure to check out my recent article for the Coaching Tools Company newsletter which was just published on coaching business systems. You can read it here.

For more on this topic, be sure to check out section 3 of both PlanDoTrack (a planner workbook for remote professionals) and CoachingBusiness Builder (a planner-workbook for professional coaches)

Best,
​Jennifer

As we kick off this week, we get to explore Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #115 – Virtual Icebreakers. Whether we are leading a webinar or a group coaching call, it can be important to do a number of things in launching a call –

1. Connect people quickly to the topic
2. Connect people quickly to each other
3. Help people see the common ground amongst themselves

A good icebreaker will do all three of these things.

#1 - First, we want to connect people quickly to the topic. This is usually referred to as the WIIFM or WHAT’s In IT For ME? This helps to create focus and avoids the multi-tasking mindset that can slip in.
Questions could involve:

• What’s your biggest opportunity around __ (insert topic)?
• What’s important about ___ (insert topic)?

#2 – Connecting people to each other
Connecting people quickly to each other helps establish trust and safety across the group. Depending on the context it will also be an important part of the process of learning and discussion after the event.
Questions might include:

• What is an example you have around ____ (insert topic)?
• What is one resource you would like to recommend to each other?

#3 – Common Ground
Helping people see the common ground or connections across their work is also important in a virtual setting. Even if we think we are varied, in fact, we may be more similar than we think.

Ways to find common ground:

• Asking the group – What do you notice about the areas of commonality which exist across the group?
• You could put up a photo on the screen and ask to have people share what they see.
• You could have people map themselves along a continuum - for example, on a scale of 1-10, where do you see yourself?
• You could also poll people for their input.

​For more resources on this please check out Chapter 7 of Effective Virtual Conversations OR pick up a copy of the 20 Focus Areas for Virtual and Remote Team Development – pick up a copy here.

Enjoy your exploration!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

This week’s weekly round-up gets us to look back at the blog posts this week.

• On Monday, in Effective Virtual Conversation Tip 114 we explored mentoring. Read it here
• On Tuesday we explored Performance Reviews and Conversations in the remote space. Read it here.
• On Wednesday, we debunked the Remote Myth– “They’ll Understand” – We may need to over communicate in different ways. Read it here.
• Thursday’s Team Building Tip got us to consider the Devil’s Advocate perspective around key issue. Read it here.
• Friday’s Flashback Friday took us back to at Teams365 2017 post on Remote Team Mistakes. Read it here.
• Saturday’s Weekly Journaling post explored the question “____ Is Enough For Me”. Read it here.

What is important for you to note?

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

This week’s Journaling Prompt invites you consider “ ______ is enough for me”. In today’s world of mega-upsizing, and a mantra of “more is better” where do you have enough?

What are the areas where you feel complete or satiated?

As in other weeks, I hope that this week’s post gets you thinking about new perspectives around your work and life.

If you are eager to add on a few more questions, randomly here are some from the past year:

• Weekly Journaling Prompt #2 – What’s important right now? Read it here.
• Weekly Journaling Prompt #14: In the Next 24 hours… Read it here.
• Weekly Journaling Prompt #31 – Our/my most important contribution is.. Read it here.

Enjoy your reflection!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

This week’s Flashback Friday post takes us back to a post from 2017 on Remote Team Mistakes. Our focus these last few months has been on remote team mistakes. Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1163: 
​
This month's focus here at the Teams365 blog has been on virtual and remote teamwork and leadership. Check out our March 2017 posts if you haven't been along on the journey so far.

Today's post covers a range of virtual team faux-pas or mistakes. Things that when overlooked, can lead to missed opportunities, and sometimes a reduction of trust and connection. Consider how you might as a team be able to avoid these and what solutions make most sense for you:

* Not trying to meet regularly - Regular meetings are important in the virtual domain AND an important corollary is that meetings should meet the needs of the group in terms of efficiency. What can be shared before or after the meeting rather than during the meeting. "Out of sight does not always equal out of mind."
* Not thinking that different team members need support - Being on a virtual team can be isolating. While many of us love the autonomy this provides, it does not mean that we don't need support. Be clear with support needs across the team. Regular 1-1s can be important in the virtual/remote world.
* Not considering what type of support different team members need - Given that teams are diverse and complimentary, it is likely that team members will need different types of support. Spend time this week inquiring what type of support is most useful if you don't know.
* Duplication of effort - Watch for how much duplication of effort occurs. This can be a signal that some changes are required around roles and responsibilities, priorities and/or communication.
* Priorities that become competitive - Having a line of sight across the team and priorities can be important in avoiding or minimizing this mistake
* Not having consistent measurement across the team  - What does success look like from each team member's perspective around their current priorities and initiatives. Be careful to note what consistent measurement means and looks like.

What other faux-pas are you aware of or want to take note of for your team?

Enjoy your weekend,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to think about the question “What would the devil’s advocate say?”.

The Devil's Advocate view on a team may be in complete opposition to everyone else. It may also be the unpopular voice in the room.

At the same time, the devil’s advocate voice can point to an area which needs to be addressed or changed. This perspective can be very important when change is ongoing.

Rather than vilifying the voice of the devil’s advocate, it could be useful to invite their perspective around issues of importance. This may tease out alternative viewpoints, unforeseen risks, assumptions the team is making, or unpopular views.

How can the voice of the "Devil's Advocate" be useful to you as a team right now?

Many teams feel that they may remote the voice to the dissenter if he or she leaves the team, but note that it's likely that that voice will re-emerge if changes are not made at the deeper level of the team's system (it's culture, roles, how they do things, norms etc).

What is important to note on your team right now about key issues and the Devil’s Advocate view?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

Many of the skills we employ in the in-person world become augmented when we work remote. For example, let’s explore communication. Communication is always critical in any workplace context. As we shift to remote work, it become even more nuanced, with considerations around:

• What is the best way to communicate an issue which needs to be addressed by my colleague 12 hours ahead in terms of time, but who I will not cross paths with?
• What are my colleagues’ preferences in terms of communication? Consider:
  • Do they like a lot of detail? Context? Just the briefest of information?
  • What is the channel of preference – Phone? Email? IM? Other?
  • If we are using different platforms, like Slack, how can I share more detail, context and background in the message I am addressing?
  • What considerations and adaptations should I make given that English is not all our first working language?

Given the volume of information coming at people it also can be important to reinforce key messages through multiple communication touch-points. Just saying an important message once is not enough. Consider reinforcing messaged in different ways – i.e. via email, talked about in the team meeting, shared via video message etc.

Finally, check for understanding. In one-on-ones, via email and/or chat, what do people understand? What have they heard from the messaging? Have them rephrase or feed back to you what their understanding.

Communication is a cornerstone of high performance. Clear communication across distance, time and culture can be even more complex.

What are you doing to ensure that your communication is the best suited for the context and message? What are you doing to ensure that it's understood as it is intended?

Best,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

This week takes us into the interesting landscape of performance reviews in the remote space. Just as feedback is important in the in-person realm, feedback in the remote space is also important. Perhaps even more so, given the isolation and possibility that things can get off the rails very quickly.

Just as in in-person work, it is important to provide feedback and checkpoints on a regular basis. Usually the pace around everything is faster in the remote space, so consider how you might build in monthly or bi-weekly checkpoints for team members to see how they are doing.

Questions to consider when shifting performance reviews and conversations to the remote space:

HOW do we evaluate? Considering your feedback process is critical for remote workers. We want to be sure that they are getting regular, consistent feedback. No comments, or radio silence, is not enough. Consideration around HOW we evaluate - through written feedback, verbal feedback, review of job products - is a great starting point.

What are the different sources of feedback? Given that people are liaising with lots of different members, WHO is well placed to provide feedback? HOW do we invite them to provide feedback?

Getting really clear on outputs - In the remote space what we see in work is usually the end product. Being super-specific around outputs and what success looks like is very important in any type of performance conversation. Measuring on the process is usually a little trickier as it often is not seen, so consider how you are speaking to success measures and outputs in your performance conversations.

Provide multiple checkpoints - Formal feedback cycles may be much quicker than in-person given that we usually don’t see each other and informally connect with updates. What are the checkpoints you are going to put into place to make sure that people are feeling supported, and that issues are being “caught” in time?

Micro-monitor, don’t micro-manage - Micro-monitoring is a key part of virtual team success. When we have staff who work remote, it’s key that we are monitoring their results and outputs, rather than trying to micro-manage what they do. Micro-management is usually impossible or improbable given distance. Together with members of your team, set up a schedule to track, report and discuss key metrics and milestones.

What is important to put into place for your performance reviews?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​