Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #2056 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 63

8/17/2019

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt asks you to consider the question: I so appreciate these people in my life.

Consider the people which surround you or are part of your life.

Who are you thankful for?
What do your relationships bring to you?
What do you want to say thank you for?
Take some time this week to focus in on your relationships.

Enjoy your writing!
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.

#TEAMS365 #2055 – Flashback Friday: Focus, Distraction

8/16/2019

One of this week’s focuses has been about creating more focus in today’s digitally distracted world. For our Friday Flashback, I thought it would be interesting to reach back to a post from earlier this year where I highlighted Digital Distractions. Take a look at it here:

From open office spaces to a focus on collaboration, there can also be a pendulum swing in organizations where sometimes things go too far.

As I mentioned over the weekend, there are a number of studies exploring this topic of distraction including Udemy In Depth’s 2018 Workplace Distraction Survey. You can read it here.

The report asserts that distractions have an impact on productivity. Some of the distractions noted in that study are talkative co-workers, email and others.
Many of the distractions I hear of in the work of my clients are:
Unscheduled meetings
Co-workers dropping by to chat
Email
Social media which takes you “down the rabbit hole”
Materials and information which are not readily accessible and have not been stored in the locations you thought they would be in

What are you doing to minimize the distractions? What do you find distracting?

What conversations are important to have?

Here are some other articles of interest:

Check out this article from Financial Times – “Digital Distractions are Making Us Dumb and Twitchy” which also includes some great tips from Professor Cal Newport.

Suresh Subamdam’s article on Is Your Work's Communication Channel Turning Your Team Into a Bunch of 'Slack'-ers?

Take a look at Digital Responsibility’s website and ideas on Digital Distraction.

Wishing you all the 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.

#TEAMS365 #2054 – Team Building Tip 249: What are you putting your attention around?

8/15/2019

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to think about what you are putting your attention around. What we measure gets done. What we focus on, may improve.

Creating intentional focus is critical for success in a disrupted business context. It’s often the consistent action that gets things going.

In contrast to the question you, as a team, will want to consider – what are you NOT putting attention around? What does need some attention?

As we step into the early part of September, it’s likely that things are going to ramp up again. Having a discussion this week with your team who is in the office around what you are and are not focusing on, and changes you want to make, can help set you up for success this fall.

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.

#TEAMS365 #2053 – Teamwork Foundations - Meetings and Other Team Practices

8/14/2019

As I have written in other Teams366 blog posts, shared team practices are critical for high performance. Shared team practices are the ways teams communicate with each other and share information and build trust and connection.

Shared team practices could include:

Weekly team meetings
A monthly pot-luck meal (virtual or in person)
Getting together monthly to share information about programming and focus areas
Informal and/formal peer learning events

One of the main vehicles teams use for communication is meetings. As many find, meetings may not be held most efficiently or effectively. Next week I’ll share more on meeting pitfalls.

In today’s post, I wanted to remind you of the 8 Essential Meeting Questions I share in Effective Virtual Conversations. These are questions you will want to get in the practice of asking before each conversation you have:

What’s the purpose?
What takeaways do we want?
Who needs to be on the calls?
What preparation is needed for us to be most effective in the meeting?
What pace do we want in order to keep it engaging?
What will help keep the focus?
What is absolutely essential (versus what will be a nice to cover) where people can go for more information?
What follow-up might be required?

(Source: Britton, Effective Virtual Conversations, page 304)

As you consider your meetings and/or team practices, what is important to note? To adjust as you step into September?

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.

#TEAMS365 #2052 – Teamwork Foundations – Alignment

8/13/2019

This week’s Teamwork Foundation post gets you, as a team, to consider how you are as a team with respect to alignment. Teamwork today is dependent on alignment.

Alignment around purpose.

Alignment around values.

Alignment around goals.

When a team is not aligned, it’s likely we’ll see these types of behaviors:

Duplication
Gaps
Performance issues and lack of clarity around goals
Weaker team culture – no one is sure what they are working on or what’s important

In order to boost alignment, we want to:

Help team members see the bigger picture
Help teams prioritize so they can focus on what’s important
Build connection across the team
Understand who does what
Clarity and strengthen team culture

What is important to note around alignment within your team right now?

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.

#TEAMS365 #2051 – Effective Virtual Conversations 106: Minimizing Digital Distractions and Creating More Focus

8/12/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations post takes me to one of the areas I hear about the most from professionals of all kinds today – “How can I minimize my digital distractions and create more focus in the virtual space?”
Digital distractions are created by a variety of things. Consider:

The bing of your email
An “urgent” email which isn’t an urgent email as you are bcced in
An instant message that comes through via Slack
Having to toggle back and forth through different screens instead of being able to lay things out in one way
Having different people on your team using different frameworks/platforms for reporting

The cost of digital distractions is multi-fold:

Work doesn’t get done
Projects are not completed
People are frustrated because they are not able to finish tasks
Motivation suffers in the short term
Engagement levels drop
Turnover occurs much more quickly

There are significant human and business costs for both.

So, what are some ways to reduce digital distractions? Consider these items AS a TEAM. They need to be team based so everyone is doing them.

Be intentional as a team (and possibly as an organization) as to what the expectations are in terms of being “on” and when people can be off. It’s not uncommon for some organizations to have a block of global working hours where everyone needs to be available and meetings can be called.

Experiment with “offline” blocks of hours where people can engage in their deeper work projects. Deeper work projects might include proposals, new projects, addressing strategic issues, working on systems to ensure process and people flow.
Turn off the technology or close it off at certain times of the day (this will need to be discussed as a team/organization in terms of what is realistic and appropriate.)
Think twice with subject lines, ccing and bccing (which really shouldn’t be used widely, if at all).
Consider when having an analog copy of paper/hard copy might make a task move faster or be completed at a greater depth of synthesis. Deeper thinking of work cannot be completed with just cut and paste.
Provide workspaces and/or flex arrangements so people can work with less distraction.
Consider the best platform for the work.

What can you do as an organization or team to create more focus in the digital space?

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.

#TEAMS365 #2050 – Weekly Roundup

8/11/2019

This week we’ve taken a look at virtual team culture, stretch, accountability, minimizing distractions. These all seem to be key themes for teams today.
If you missed any of the posts this week, be sure to check them out:
2049 – Saturday August 10 - Weekly Journaling Prompt 62
2048 – Friday August 9 - Flashback Friday: Articulating your virtual team culture
2047 – Thursday August 8 – Team Building Tip 248
2046 – Wednesday August 7 - Teamwork Fundamentals: Minimizing Distractions
2045 – Tuesday August 6 - Remote Teamwork Fundamentals: Five Things to Keep in Mind
2044 – Monday August 5 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #105: Accountability in Focus

What’s going to help you this month as a remote team?

If you aren’t in a remote team, what can you translate to your context?

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.

#TEAMS365 #2049 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 62

8/10/2019

Today’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to think about the question – “The comfort zone I have stretched this year is….”

Learning, change and growth usually happen within or just outside the comfort zone. What are the things you have done to grow? Change? Stretch? What benefit have they had?

Enjoy your journaling this weekend and be sure to catch up on past posts.

If you want another way to look at these, check out the Quarterly Volumes of the Weekly Journaling Prompts available in a quarterly format at our store.

All the 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.

#TEAMS365 #2048 – Flashback Friday: Articulating Your Virtual Team Culture

8/9/2019

One of the themes this week has been about building team culture in your remote or virtual team. As part of this week’s FlashBack Friday, let’s look back to a post from this March.

Here’s what I wrote in March:

Yesterday’s Teams365 post #1905 focused on virtual team culture. Be sure to check it out if you haven't done so.

Today I wanted to explore three different ways you might support your team in identifying their own virtual team culture.

As a reminder, team culture usually points to three things - who we are, how do we do things and what is important to us.

Here’s a quick listing of different activities you might consider incorporating:

Who we are:
Virtual teams which excel know each other. They have strong relationships across the team, which allows them to call on others, and “have each others’ backs”. To strengthen your connection, consider these activities:

Have the team create a list of words/adjectives which describe who you are. Shape these into a word cloud which can be visible to the team.
Discuss the question “Who are we when we are at our best?”. Again, use the words to create a graphic about who you are.

At your next team meeting, have each person share one thing others may not know about them.

At your next team meeting, have each person share something that is unique to their location (this works especially well if you have a global team).

In your next meeting, share your screen which includes a variety of photos or icons. Have each person select the photo or icon which represents what they bring to the team.

How we do things:
Each team will have its own unique practices and ways of doing things. This will vary from team to team. Spending time discussing how you do things, and what the expectations are, creates clarity and builds trust, boosting both performance and results.

To explore this topic further consider:
Discussing “how we do things” (communicate, make decisions, work across differences, address conflict) can be a series of different discussions and activities. It might include a Rules of the Road which everyone has signed off on.

What makes you unique and distinct in terms of how you do things?

Another tool is to look at the IS/IS NOT table. This can include it is, it is not…

What is important to us:
Clarity around priorities and goals for the entire team helps with alignment, prioritization and decision making. Spending time on a regular basis discussing what is important to us may also involve:

A list visible to the entire team (ie. Think Intranet or other post on)

Top 5 Goals for the month
Top 5 Priorities for the week
Top 5 Priorities for the quarter
Enshrining your Team Agreements or Ways of Working into something that is visible. Some teams have enshrined this into a plaque, a screen saver or other.

For more on these topics, and a demonstration of what some of these can look like (photos), take a look at my January 2019 Virtual Team Builders call which I did as part of the Effective Virtual Conversations series. You can check it out here.

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.

#TEAMS365 #2047 – Team Building Tip 248

8/8/2019

Exceptional results usually don’t “just happen”, they require practice. For teams this holds true. Teamwork practice can include skill development in areas including conflict, communication (listening, questioning, working across differences). It can also include scenario-based learning (what would we do if x happened?).

While some teams might think that practice is not for them, others may recognize that practice is essential for exceptional performance. When stakes are high, lives may be impacted by failure, it’s key to get it right.

Practice also helps us with alignment, and development shared mental models. It’s these shared mental models that help us move in similar directions when faced with a situation, even if we are in different continents, or in different roles.

As a team, where could practice benefit you?

What do you as a team need to do practice more?

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.