Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2353 – Building Trust and Connection in the Virtual Space

6/9/2020

As most teams move into an extended working relationship virtually, making sure that you are regularly focusing on trust and connection in the team is paramount. Without it, it’s likely that teams will not be able to get the traction that they really need.

The topic of building trust and connection in the virtual space is a focus of chapter 2 in my 2017 book Effective Virtual Conversations. In it I discuss the varied ways to build trust and connection virtually. Whether it’s being CONSISTENT, or communicating regularly with consistent messaging, trust and connection is key.

This was also the focus of the mid-May Community Call I co-host with my podcast partner in crime Michelle Mullins.

I’d invite you to check out the call – 30 minutes (and mark down Thursday June 4th at 7 am ET as our next call – held in zoom room 270-302-0415. Scroll ahead to about minute 15 as we talk about the duality of trust which I first shared here at the Teams365 blog in Teams365 #413 – view it here.)

What are the actions you want to undertake consistently to build trust and connection?

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 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.

TEAMS365 #2333 - Conflict in the Remote Space

5/20/2020

The most recent episode of the Remote Pathways podcast focuses on Conflict in the Remote Space. This is probably one of the most challenging topics for teams today as often it’s easier to pretend that conflict is not happening – avert our gaze, push it under the rug, or even hope that it will just go away – than address it.

In Episode 12 we are joined by Conflict Specialist Gayle Oudeh who is also the author of Conflict is for the Birds. She brings a wonderful metaphor to us in her writing of the different types of approaches to conflict.

Gayle also joined us for the May 7th Remote Pathways Community Call which I am embedding below.

If you weren't able to make the call live, catch up on the recording!
It's now available on YouTube.

Gayle is the author of Conflict is for the Birds: Understanding Your Conflict Management Styles.

As you’ll see in our call Gayle’s writing explores the varying ways we may approach conflict through the metaphor of birds. Listen into the call as she shares more about the different types of birds. What types are you?

Conflict is an inevitable part of change, innovation and disruption – three things which are characterizing business right now.

Our approaches to conflict are shaped by our socialization, experience and also knowledge of ourselves.

How do you approach conflict?

What do you notice about how others on the team approach conflict?
What’s important to take note of as a team right now?
What are the conversations you want to have?

Be sure to check out episode 12 of the Remote Pathways podcast as Gayle shares even more about conflict in the remote space. You can find it at your favorite podcast player or here.

Enjoy!
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.

#TEAMS365 #1938 – Interesting Resources – Organizing and Minimizing

4/21/2019

One of the themes this month has been about getting organized and minimizing. With this in mind, here are three resources you might find useful:

1. Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin – Having been a podcast listener of Gretchen’s Happier podcast for a couple of years now, I was so excited to hear about her recent release of Outer Order, Inner Calm. It’s a quick read, chock full of practical tips and strategies you can implement right away. True to her work and philosophy that there’s not a one size fits all, consider how your own tendency might impact the way you organize. If you haven’t explored the work and writing of Gretchen Rubin, check her out, including the Four Tendencies.

2. Cal Newport – Digital Minimalism. As someone heavily enmeshed in the digital ecosystem in my work as a virtual educator, coach and solopreneur, I appreciated this new book. It speaks to the challenge of the digital world we live within. While the ability to switch on and off has been part of my own work over the last 3 decades, the book offers practical approaches to minimizing what you have and what you are connected to in order to create more space for what’s important. Like many other books on the topic of minimalism, what it means and looks like for each of us might be different.

Personally, I am looking forward to taking some quieter time this July and August when I work out of the cottage to further cull my digital landscape. Letting go of TV and streaming almost 2 years ago has made a big difference in my time available for things I love, creative pursuits and time spent with loved ones. I can feel the pressure of emails creeping up however and will be focusing on that first this summer when I have earmarked my annual “return to basics” six weeks.

3. I also have appreciated the resources of Organizing365’s Lisa Woodrow in the last few weeks. This year she hosted a Decluttering Blitz. Her podcast series is also a great tone to follow if organizing is important for you on a personal or professional level. You can follow it up here.

What resources are you finding useful in your work and world right now around this topic?

Warm regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (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).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.

#TEAMS365 #1800 – Productivity Hack #1

12/4/2018

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.

#TEAMS365 #1791 Sunday Audios

11/25/2018

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

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
Join Jennifer for a year-end virtual planning retreat in the PlanDoTrack Series!
Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
YouTube – Teams365 Leadership Channel
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #1285: 3 Audios for your Weekend Enjoyment - Collaboration, Virtual Meetings and Problem Solving

7/8/2017

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

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Everything DiSC® Authorized Partner
Contact us and let us know how we can support you in helping your team reach its' full potential: (416)996-TEAM (8326)

#Teams365 #1271: Effective Virtual Conversations Pre-Launch Call

6/24/2017

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!

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Connect with us to be the first to know more about launch events around my newest book - Effective Virtual Conversations - coming out later this summer.

#teams365 #1215: Saturday Audio in Review: 3 Problem Solving Tools

4/29/2017

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

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized - Coaching, Training and Consulting Services for Teams and Team Leaders - specializing in virtual and global team issues
Recipient of the 2016 Prism Award for Excellence in Coaching (ICF Toronto)
Contact us to discuss how we can support your team
(416)996-8326
Email: info(at)potentialsrealized(dot)com

#Teams365 #1195: Sunday Audio: Trust: The Glue That Binds Teams Together

4/9/2017

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

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching Skills Training | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching(Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)

#Teams365 #1159: Team Leader Audio - Five Barriers to Collaborative LEadership Styles

3/4/2017

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)!

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching(Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Contact us and let us know how we can support you in helping your team reach its' full potenial - (416)996-8326