Category: Articles

TEAMS365 #2550 – 10 Posts You Will Want to Check Out from 2020 on Remote Teams and Leadership

12/23/2020

Yesterday I spotlighted posts on effective virtual conversations. Today I wanted to share ten posts from 2020 about remote work, teams and leadership. These were definitely popular posts from 2020:

Check out these three articles I published over on Thrive Global as well:

What are you going to continue to focus on as you move forward with your work?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

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TEAMS365 #2441 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 115

9/5/2020

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This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to think about the question “Key learning for me this year has been…."

As we step into what is often referred to as the second new year (Labor Day), it can be a great time to take stock of the year. While 2020 is likely not to have been anything like we anticipated, what have you learned this year? What has helped you? What are the elements which are key?

Enjoy your weekend reflections.

If you are interested in learning more about journaling and why it can be a valuable strategy, check out this recent article “ How Journaling Can Help You in Hard Times” from Kira M Newman, posted at the Greater Good Science Center. You can read it here.

Wishing you the best,
Jennifer

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TEAMS365 #2300 Flashback Friday: Teams365 #1533 - Empathy and Building Connection with Virtual Teams

4/17/2020

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One of the skills which is important to develop in the virtual world today is empathy. One of the challenges is that we don't get to see beyond the screen. What are some ways we can be building more empathy and understanding with other virtual team members?

What comes to mind in terms of ways you can boost more connection and understanding amongst team members?

Empathy is a skill set critical for teamwork and leadership. In fact, I probably could do a series of posts on this topic. In today's post, I want to zoom into the question of "what are some practical ways to build more empathy across virtual teams, while also boosting connection?".

There have been some great writings by others on the topic of empathy. Consider these articles - Empathy in Leadership - 10 Reasons Why It Matters by Tanveer Naseer. Read it here.
Matthew Taylor's Empathy in Leadership: Coaching Leaders to Manage Their Stories. Read it here.
Center for Creative Leadership: Empathy in the Workplace. Find this here.

As virtual teams, what are some ways we can build our skills in empathy while building connection?

1. Provide opportunities for team members to get to know each other - online and offline. While some virtual teams will never meet, building in time for "getting to know" each other is critical. This could entail dedicating some time to sharing "What's outside your window?" or" on your desk?" as I describe in Chapter 7 of my new book Effective Virtual Conversations.

2. Create formal learning partnerships with others on the team. Many virtual teams benefit from having peer partners to meet with on a regular basis. This helps us to learn more about each other, what projects we are working on. As we listen and learn more trust, connection and understanding are created.

3. Be present and listen. We continue to see how important the ability to focus on virtual conversations is. Nothing will destroy trust and connection faster than hearing the other person on the end of the phone or streaming typing away -doing an email while you are speaking together. What will it take to be present, focus, and deeply listen in your virtual conversations?

4. Listen for the deeper layers. Typically, in listening we may be staying at the surface. Hearing with one ear and thinking about what we are going to say back to the other person. In the deeper listening needed by virtual teams today, listen to what the person is saying. Notice the pace, pitch of the conversation. Notice what is the emotion behind the words? What is being said?

5. Take time to share more about your world, your work, your priorities. An important part of empathy is understanding. It's a two-way street - being open to share and being receptive to listening. how much are you sharing about your world, your work and your priorities?

There are multiple ways we can be focusing on the skills of empathy as we build connection on teams. What are some approaches you as a team want to focus on?

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

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TEAMS365 #2269 – Remote Work White Paper Now Available to Help You Get Up To Speed Quickly

3/17/2020

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As many of you know, remote work has been the context of my professional life for the last thirty years, even before the Internet. Throughout the last three decades I’ve seen, and supported, thousands of professionals and teams in making the shift to remote work. With this in mind, I created a new whitepaper called the Remote Working Whitepaper – When You Need To Get Up To Speed Quickly.

Little did I know a few weeks ago when I finished writing this, and actually scheduled the post, that we'd be in a moment like this, where people all over the world are having to work remote.

It’s a very practical guide to support you and other team members in getting moving effectively in the remote space. The Guide covers these sections:

Context and Benefits of Remote Work
Pitfalls to Remote Work
Remote, Virtual or Mobile?
Who’s working in the remote space? The Digital Dozen
What’s different in the remote space?
7 Remote Work Enablers
What’s needed for success in the remote space?
Making the Shift To Working Remote
Making Remote Work, Work for You
What Organizations Can Do to Support the Shift To Remote Work
Five Digital Tools for Remote Workers
Core Skills for Any Remote Worker
In the Spotlight: Communication In the Remote Space
Remote Work Myths

Teams and individual remote workers like solopreneurs will find the white paper of interest.

Pick up a copy here.

Many past organizational clients have been reaching out to me in the last few days looking for support around their shift to remote work.
Different supports we offer for remote work includes:

Virtual Team Sessions
Virtual Planning sessions
Virtual Strategic Planning Sessions for organizations
Virtual facilitation skills training - gain skills in leading virtual conversations
Leading virtual sessions for their organizations and teams to help with the transition to working remote.

If I, or my company, can be of service to you at this time, please reach out and contact me - phone # is below or please reach out by email. Don't feel like you need to go it alone.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.
Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

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TEAMS365 #2236 – Team Building Tip 274: Calibration

2/13/2020

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This week’s Team Building Tip gets you thinking about the notion of CALIBRATE.

The Oxford Dictionary defines calibrate as “adjust (experimental results) to take external factors into account or to allow comparison with other data.”

As you look across your team, work or processes right now, what are the things that might need to be calibrated or adjusted, given changes in the context?

What are the things you need to dial up and dial down?

Doing a regular scan of the context in which you operate is a key skill set. This is all part of strategic thinking, which is an important skill set for leaders today. As the University of Florida’s Training writes, “To think strategically means to see and understand the bigger picture of what the organization is, where it needs to go, and how it will get there. It means anticipating opportunities and challenges and utilizing that knowledge to guide the organization.” (http://training.hr.ufl.edu/resources/LeadershipToolkit/job_aids/strategic_thinking.pdf)

What is important about developing strategic thinking skills as a team?

What are the things you want to pay attention to as a team?

For more on the topic of strategic thinking, please check out these posts:

4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills
5 Areas CMOE Suggests You Focus On To Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills
Check out the questions you might use as part of the reflective cycle of strategic thinking in this article from Terina Allen here.

As you think strategically, you may start to notice those items you need to CALIBRATE. What needs an adjustment?

Have a great day!
Jennifer

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TEAMS365 #2231 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 86

2/8/2020

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“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” - Winston Churchill

Happy Saturday! I hope that you are finding these weekly journaling prompts to be a valuable resource and reflection point for you.

Each Saturday I share a short prompt and invite you to take 10-15 minutes to write and reflect on them.

This week’s prompt gets you to reflect and write on the question: “I take a stand for….”

What are the things you take a stand for? Go to bat for? Speak up around?

These can be signals for things that are important for you. If you are a business owner, they may be a signal that these are part of what makes you unique as a business.

For more on this topic, check out these articles:

Enjoy your reflections,
Jennifer

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TEAMS365 #2221 – Team Essential – Speaking Up

1/29/2020

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As we wind up with our last team essential of the month, I wanted to take us into an area which is critical for team success – the ability to speak up.

When a team feels connected and safe, they are more likely to speak up. The foundation of teamwork is that the fusion of many perspectives, insights and talents is better than one person thinking alone. With this philosophy in mind, it’s very likely that there will be divergent perspectives and insights that emerge from across the team. How do you create a context in which people feel that they can share what might be perceived as oppositional insights, without being shut down?

The ability to speak up was identified as a core component for helping teams excel by Amy Edmonson from Harvard. I regularly recommend her 2011 book on Teaming to Organizations, and she has recently followed up with a new book called The Fearless Organization. Take a look at this article.

From large to small invitations there can be many different ways we foster conversation across a team. This might include:

Dedicating time to brainstorming solutions/perspectives and alternatives to your most pressing opportunities and /or challenges. In the truest sense of brainstorming, we are welcoming ALL different ideas without shutting them down.
Ensuring that all voices are being heard. This can be done through participatory facilitation techniques. Rather than just going around a table to verbally share ideas, consider giving everyone a set of index cards or post it notes to share their top ideas. Gather these and post them or go through them one at a time.
Talk about why it’s important to bring alternative perspectives to the table.
Watch your language – how is language shaping an “invitation” to connect and collaborate. Is more ME/YOU language being used or WE?

What other barriers are being created around inviting everyone’s voice to the table?

For more on this topic check out Glenn Llopis’ article from Forbes.

You might also be interested in these articles as well:

John Rampton’s article on 12 Ways to Encourage Your Team to Speak Up
From Teams of Distinction

All the best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing
Phone (416)996-8326

Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

As we step into the start of the year, get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.

Winter 2019 programs start this week including the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual focus on coaching business development), GroupCoachingEssentials (8.75 CCEs), the Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs) and the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (8.5 CCEs) - geared to support you in creating more exceptional virtual conversations. Finally the Mentor Coaching Group for Winter 2020 will begin - aimed at coaches who are working towards their ACC, PCC or renewing.

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TEAMS365 #2158 – Saying Thanks!

11/27/2019

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Tomorrow many readers will be celebrating Thanksgiving and it’s an important time of year to pause and say thanks. As I’ve shared in other blog posts, getting into the habit of gratitude can have multiple health impacts. There are a few articles which do a great job referencing the many benefits of gratitude including:

7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude by Amy Morin. In this article Amy references that gratitude plays a role in improving Self Esteem. A 2014 study published in Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that gratitude “Enhanced athlete’s self-esteem”.
Releasing dopamine, one of the feel-good chemicals. When we undertake acts of kindness, and practice gratitude, dopamine is released. (from the Health Benefits of Gratitude: 6 Scientifically Proven Ways of Being Grateful Rewires Your Brain + Body for Health)
Check out Happier Human’s post on the 31 Benefits of Gratitude. It’s a great read.

What are the things you are grateful for this year?

Here are some additional questions to get you thinking about gratitude this week:

Who do you want to thank?
What do you want to share with them in terms of what their impact was?

On a personal level, I’d like to thank you for following us here at Potentials Realized. As a virtual business, I appreciate the many comments and shares you provide both virtually and with teams you work with. I’ve enjoyed the daily practice of bringing you content around teamwork and leadership. There is a treasure-trove of content here for you to dig into as we go to wrap up the 6th year of blog posts.

I look forward to continuing the conversation into 2020 – I’m working on a number of ways to help you tap into the body of work that I’ve created here since 2014.

Don’t forget to also check out the new Remote Pathways Podcast I am co-hosting with Michelle Mullins. It's just been going live this week and and focuses on connecting you to the People, Places and Pathways of today’s remote work context. We touch on tips, ideas and resources for a variety of remote workers - from project managers, to remotepreneurs, to virtual team leaders, and those moving to a remote work space. Do check us out at RemotePathways.com.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing
Phone (416)996-8326

As we step into the end of the year, get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.

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TEAMS365 #2140 – Weekly Journaling Prompt #75

11/9/2019

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Each Saturday I offer a Weekly Journaling Prompt. These are an invitation to stop and pause and capture a little bit about your current experience.
This week’s WJP is “I’m proud of…”

Consider the last week, month or quarter. What are you most proud of accomplishing? Of doing? Or NOT doing?

We don’t always stop to pause and take stock of our accomplishments, yet a few minutes spent focusing on gratitude can make a difference.

Here’s a link to a great blog post by Jennifer Stanchfield on “The Importance of Reflection”

I was excited to see this article come up in Google given that I, and the many groups and teams that I have worked with, have benefited from the powerful conversations and reflections created from Jennifer Stanchfield’s Miniature Metaphor tool. Be sure to check it out at her site here.

Enjoy your reflections and your upcoming conversations this week!
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.

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TEAMS365 #2139 Flashback Friday – Working With Strengths

11/8/2019

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Working with strengths is another powerful antidote for teams operating in today’s VUCA context. Helping people bring their strengths to work everyday boosts engagement and can be a powerful motivational factor which we know is a key component for virtual teams today.

In this week’s Flashback Friday I wanted to link back to Teams365 #1240.

Here’s what I wrote about different ways to support a focus on strengths with your team:

Gallup has studied the realm of strengths for many years now and research shows that helping employees and team members leverage their strengths every day leads to significant gains. The Gallup Strengths Center mentions these as some of the benefits of strengths-based management practices in December 2016. 90% of organizations which incorporated strengths-based management practices found:

10% to 19% increase in sales
14% to 29% increase in profit
3% to 7% higher customer engagement
6% to 16% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
26% to 72% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations)
9% to 15% increase in engaged employees
22% to 59% fewer safety incidents

Read Gallup's article here.

So what are some practical and tactical ways team leaders can support their team members in bringing their strengths to work every day?

#1 - Help you team understand what their strengths are - Knowing our strengths is not an intuitive process for many of us. Helping team members understand what their strengths are is an important part of the process. There are several ways to explore strengths including the VIA Character Strengths Survey, and StrengthsFinder. Helping team members consider the question "When are you at your best?" also helps team members become more aware of their strengths.

#2 - Get team members sharing more about their strengths - What they are and how they use them every day at work. This can be a great team meeting conversation touch point. Whether you make it part of a regular team meeting, or a special event, conversations like these lay the foundation for effective team building.

#3 - Pair people with different strengths - Teams which excel usually have complimentary strengths. Pair people on the team together who may have complimentary strengths.

#4 - Pair people who have similar strengths - You may also want to pair people who have similar strengths so they can compare notes and get inspired from each other about how they leverage their strengths.

#5 - Find ways to utilize your strengths more regularly. When we are able to use our strengths more readily engagement goes up as does our satisfaction levels. If using your strengths is not part of your everyday work, have some dialogue with your boss about how you could take on special projects which would leverage your strengths, and/or explore other development opportunities. I can think back to how my participation in many special projects and committees allow myself to bring my best to work, while further building my own skill set and opening up new opportunities where over my career progression I could use my strengths more on a regular basis.

What other ways do you see as possible for people on the team to leverage more of their strengths?

For those interested in learning more about this topic, do check out an excellent article by Courtney Ackerman.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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Teams365 Blog

TEAMS365 #2550 – 10 Posts You Will Want to Check Out from 2020 on Remote Teams and Leadership

TEAMS365 #2441 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 115

TEAMS365 #2300 Flashback Friday: Teams365 #1533 - Empathy and Building Connection with Virtual Teams

TEAMS365 #2269 – Remote Work White Paper Now Available to Help You Get Up To Speed Quickly

TEAMS365 #2236 – Team Building Tip 274: Calibration

TEAMS365 #2231 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 86

TEAMS365 #2221 – Team Essential – Speaking Up

TEAMS365 #2158 – Saying Thanks!

TEAMS365 #2140 – Weekly Journaling Prompt #75

TEAMS365 #2139 Flashback Friday – Working With Strengths

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