​As we round out 2018 and get set up for 2019, I’m dedicating Tuesday and Wednesday posts to a series I’m entitling 19 Productivity Hacks for 2019.

As some of you may know, support around performance improvement – on the individual, team and organizational level – has been a significant part of my work and our focus here at Potentials Realized since 2004. This takes us into a range of conversations from a focus on team effectiveness to discussion around work-life issues to support to project management.

In these 19 posts over the Tuesdays and Wednesdays in December 2018 and January 2019 I will be lasering into 19 discrete focus areas which can be looked at step-by-step or independently. Depending on how you work and what your style is, you may want to look at each one of these daily or on a weekly basis.

1. Have a clear vision.
The starting point for our 19 productivity hacks for 2019 starts with the big picture. What’s your vision? As Seneca wrote during the times of Ancient Greece,
“To the person who does not know where (S)he wants to go there is no favorable wind”

In other words, without a clear vision it’s hard to get where you want to go.
Creating a vision at this time of year is not just a nice-to-do activity, it is an essential productivity measure as it gets us clear on where we want to go.

Visioning work doesn’t have to take a long time, in fact, you might only dedicate 10 -15 minutes to the activity. Since 2014 I’ve offered up a short 10 minute vision audio for leaders, entrepreneurs and other professionals to listen to. Grab a pen and you can listen in here.

If you prefer to free-style it, set your timer to write and complete the statement
It’s December 31 2019 and……

Provide details about what you are doing this year, what you are focusing on, what’s working and what’s not.

You might also want to use these questions as a prompt.  Consider these questions

It is December 31, 2019 and you are reflecting back on the year that was.
Note:

• What your successes have been?
• Where your focus has been?
• What products or services have you been focusing on offering?
• Who have you have been working with?
• What’s been happening?
• What have you taken a stand for?
• What have you become known for?
• What have been the major milestones?
• What goals have you achieved?
• What’s your vision for the new year? If you haven’t had time to think about it, now’s the time?

I hope that you will find a few minutes in the coming days to reflect on what your vision is for 2019, WRITING it down and possibly posting elements of it around you. Some of my clients have been creating visual reminders on their phone, through vision boards and other elements.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
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 
Coming December 14, 2019 – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner 
Join us for a year-end virtual planning retreat!
Pre-order a copy of the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner for Virtual and Remote Professionals on Amazon (Available December 14). Check it out here.

This week’s Sunday post takes us back to some of the varied Sunday audios I recorded for the Teams365 blog. Many of these posts are “Evergreen” and haven’t dated too much. I’ve selected a few to spotlight as I think they are a good reminder for us at this time of year. Let’s take a listen back into them again:

Four Tips to Overcoming Procrastination 
Three Key Facilitation Skills 
Gratitude, Recognition and Month-End Reflection
Your Vision and Goals – while this post was for 2015, it still works for 2019. Listen into this if you are now turning attention to your vision for 2019…You might also want to join me for a year end PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreat. Here’s the link to the Vision and Goals session.
Ten Questions Team Leaders Should Be Asking 

As we move into the end of the fifth year of the Teams365 blog, I wanted to thank you for joining us. Whether you’ve only read a few posts, or followed along with many, it’s been a pleasure to join you on a daily basis for 2014 -2018. I look forward to continuing to provide regular sparks here at the Teams365 blog.

Best,
Jennifer

Today's Saturday post takes us back to some of the many short audios I've covered over the past few years on a range of leadership and teamwork topics. I wanted to highlight 3 different ones today which I hope you might click on over to listen to:

​#Teams365 #1152:  5 Ingredients for Successful Collaboration (5 min). Listen to it here

#Teams365 #390: Hosting Effective Virtual Meetings (10 min)  Listen to it here. This is a pre-cursor to the topic of virtual meetings and other virtual conversations I will be highlighting in my upcoming book, Effective Virtual Conversations.

​#Teams365 #488: Three Problem Solving Tools (9 min). Three essential tools for project teams, agile teams or other teams who need quick identification of issues and subsequent action. Listen to it here.

Have a great weekend,
​Jennifer

In about a month's time, my newest book will be released. Entitled, Effective Virtual Conversations, Geared for leaders, coaches, trainers and team members, this book is about sparking more effective virtual conversations. From webinars, to virtual team meetings, we live in an increasingly digital world, where for many of us we build and leverage virtual relationships all the time.
Here's a brief description of some of the elements of the book:
Step by step, you’ll develop not only the necessary skills to communicate and lead across a constantly changing range of platforms, but the confidence you need to build interpersonal connections, facilitate events and successfully translate almost any activity to the virtual realm. You’ll learn:

• Essential elements and core skills of virtual conversations
• Understanding – and avoiding – the “Death by Conference Call” mindset
• Safety, Connection and Trust – the Triad of Virtual Learning
• The importance of understanding cultural differences
• How to design a successful virtual event from start to finish
• Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
• Creating exceptional virtual and remote teams, and developing resourceful virtual team leaders
  

“Effective Virtual Conversations is a valuable resource for virtual team leaders. It is generous with useful knowledge that can be used for day to day management and includes a variety of references for further reading. I particularly like the practical activities which can be used for virtual team development.” -- Jocelin Caldwell, BA ACC RRP CCDP, Vice President Operations

Featuring a wide range of simple and practical toolkits, worksheets, activities and more,  Effective Virtual Conversations will give you the tools you need to boost the connection, trust and engagement of your virtual events, setting everyone up for success in the virtual space whether you are a team leader, project manager, coach or trainer.

A week ago, I did a second pre-launch call, this one focusing on the Triad of Essential Elements for any Virtual Conversation. The call ran for 30 minutes and you can view it here. Enjoy!


 

This week at the Teams365 blog we have been focusing on different tools to support teams with teamwork. Today's post takes us back to an audio post from early 2015 on three different problem solving tools. It's very common for team leaders to be ewanting more resources and tools to support their conversations with the team. Listen into Teams365 #488 to this 9 minute audio on three tools you might bring into your nex problem solving. Consider how you can share these as well with your team, particularly if you are a virtual team leader.

​Click on over to Teams365 #488 to listen in.

​The three tools we look at include the Fishbone, as well as the Force Field Analysis tool.

​Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

It's Sunday, and time for an audio post. Aligned with our theme this month on teamwork skills, I wanted to draw your attention over to the concept of Trust and how important it is for teamwork today.

​I'm taking you back today to an audio posts from 2015 on Trust: The Glue that Binds Teams Together. Please check it out at #Teams365 #404. As you listen, what are the concrete action steps you can undertake with your team around boosting trust? What is trust like in the team right now?

​Have a great Sunday
​Jennifer

It is the weekend and time for another audio post. Today's post looks at 5 Barriers to Collaborative Leadership Styles, or things that get in the way in terms of our approach to leadership. A great resource on this topic is Morten Henson's book, Collaboration, which goes much deeper into the topic of good and bad collaboration.

Enjoy this weekend's quick audio (6 min 30 sec)!

It's the weekend and time for another short leadership audio. This month I've been speaking to a couple of different audiences on making collaboration work. Whether we look at collaboration from the lens of the team, or from the perspective of partnering more effectively with our team, there are several elements or factors which support more effective collaboration. These include: Trust, Complimentary Skills, Planning,  being Intentional and Leveraging Strengths. Listen in to this short 5 min audio on five factors for making collaboration work.

It's a holiday Monday for many of us, which might mean you may have a bit more time to listen into a short audio today. Today's post is a short 7 min audio post on teamwork skills. Over the last seven weeks we've explored a variety of teamwork skills including Listening, Flexibility and Adaptability and Goals.

As you start your week, what teamwork skills could use a shift or attention?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

It is that time of year when our attention turns to creating a vision for the new year. Today's quote comes from Jack Welch who talked about vision in the context of leadership.

As individuals it can be important to create a compelling vision for our future. This is part of the work I have been undertaking in recent weeks during the virtual retreat programs I have been running. If you weren't able to join me I hope that you will listen into a past vision activity I did in audio a few years ago. Listen in here. It's part of the Inner Biz Leader Virtual Business Planning retreat which you can undertake at your own pace. A great treat for yourself over the holidays!

Enjoy your weekend!

Jennifer

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