Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

TEAMS365 #2152 – Team Building Tip #262: What's Getting in the Way?

11/21/2019

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to consider the question – “What’s getting in the way?” As a team, what are the things which have obstructed you from what’s really important?

It’s at this time of year that we may become really clear about the SHINY RED OBJECTS which have become an alluring focus but may not have translated to business results. OR WAIT? Have they?

It can be important to think about activities not only from an immediate impact, but also in terms of the longer-term activities and seed-planting work which needs to go into bigger projects. For those reading the Teams 365 blog who are solopreneurs you will probably know what I mean. Many times, we take on creative projects which may not be revenue generating but actually are key in moving the business forward. The challenge is to make sure that there is a good balance between those activities which need to happen NOW and generate revenue, as well as those activities which are key to business growth but may only pay off in the long run.

This week consider the question – What’s getting in the way? Is it a closed road, or an important detour?

What do you need to say YES to? NO to?

Best wishes,
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.

TEAMS365 #2138 – Team Building Tip #261

11/7/2019

This week’s Team Building Tip is a systems check. Systems are key in the remote and virtual workspace. They are the things that keep us doing things in a consistent manner, creating a seamless experience for our team members and customers. Consider a team that is spread across Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris and Shanghai. We want to ensure that a customer will have a similar experience across the different areas.

In my PlanDoTrack Workbook Planner and the Coaching Business Builder Workbook Planner, I explore five systems which can help remote workers and solopreneurs.

They are:

Financial systems - Invoicing, Accounts Payable, Cash Flow, Accounts Receivable etc
Client systems - Welcome Kits, other supports
Onboarding systems - Questionnaires, Agreements, Welcome Letters
Marketing - Websites, Social Media Feeds, Frequently Asked Questions
Content - Do you know what you have created? Do you have an accessible listing of what there is?
Sales - What do you notice about sales? What can generate more? What follow-up do you have with those you have sold to?

What is the current state of these five areas? What could use attention?
What systems do you as a team have in place? What needs focus?
What new systems could benefit the team?

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.
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.

#TEAMS365 #2119 - Weekly Journaling Prompt 72

10/19/2019

It’s Saturday which means that it’s time for another Weekly Journaling Prompt. This week’s question gets you to consider the question “I want to celebrate”.

As we step into the last part of the year, and this decade, I hope that you’ll find this week’s WJP a great opportunity to take stock of what your achievements have been this year, as well a some of the past years. It can be easy for our memories to fade so as we step into a new decade would it be useful to explore your achievements each year.

Here are some questions to consider:

What major projects have you been engaged with this year/decade?
What were the major accomplishments during these initiatives?
What are you able to do toady that you could not do at the start of the year? At the start of this decade?
What are the key lessons learned or “Ahas” you have had as you have progressed with your career?

Enjoy your reflections 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.

#TEAMS365 #2113 – Weekly Round Up

10/13/2019

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.

#TEAMS365 #2106 - Sunday Weekly Round Up

10/6/2019

Welcome back to the Sunday Weekly Round Up. As we step into the final quarter of the year, I wanted to include a couple of posts that also get you thinking about what is still outstanding for you to complete this year.

Be sure to check out the following posts:

Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompt 70 – What do you want to make sure you complete by year end? Read it here.
Friday’s Flashback post which explores Empathy and Connection in Remote Teams. Read it here.
Thursday’s Team Building Tip – What will keep you grounded? Is it time to revisit your values and beliefs to see how they can help you through all the changes? Read this week’s TBT here.
Wednesday’s post on Remote Work Pathways. Read it here.
Tuesday’s post continuing the remote work conversation. Read it here.
Monday's Effective Virtual Conversation Tip #113 on distractions. Read it here.

Enjoy the rest of the 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.

#TEAMS365 #2099 – Weekly Round Up and Preparing for Q4 Planning

9/29/2019

It’s Sunday which means that it’s time for a weekly roundup. A quick reminder of this week’s posts –

We are just about to step into Q4 with Quarter 3 just behind us. Given that it is a Sunday, it is a great opportunity to do a quick review and roundup of quarterly planning.

Questions you will want to reflect on are:

What were your key goals for Q3?
What did you achieve?
What needs to be wrapped up in the next few days?
What goals/projects/tasks need to be carried forward?
What do you want to focus on for Q4?

If you have not seen the quarterly planning session I recorded earlier this year, grab a pen and about 30 minutes to work through the video and related prompts here.

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.

#TEAMS365 #2085 – Weekly Round Up

9/15/2019

Happy Sunday! This week we’ve explored a number of key topics of interest to those who are both working remote and also in-person. If you haven’t read this week’s daily posts, be sure to check out:

Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompt # 64 : Read it here
Friday’s Flashback Friday post around habits: read it here
Thursday’s Team Building Tip #253 - Read it here
Wednesday’s post on the remote work myth that “out of sight equals out of mind”. Read it here
Tuesday’s post of Remote Work Pitfalls. Read it here.
Monday’s post around the art of Questioning in Effective Virtual Conversations. Read it here.

Given that it’s mid-month, it’s a great opportunity to take a look at your goals for the month and see how you are coming with them. What are you tracking? What are you noticing? What do you want to focus more on?

A reminder to also check out last Monday's Effective Virtual Conversations call on more effective meetings. Check out this 20 minute video for some quick tips you can implement right away in your next team meeting.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Jennifer

PS - In today's #90DaysPlanDoTrack Instagram Post I included several prompts for you to consider as you do your mid-month planning - be sure to complete your week in Review and the Monthly Daily Trackers in your PlanDoTrack or Coaching Business Builder workbooks.

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.

#TEAMS365 #2078 – Weekly Round-up – Remote Work, Daily Steps, Virtual Facilitation, Why Not?

9/8/2019

As we’ve stepped back to work, this week’s focus here at the blog has started to zoom into the remote workspace. Sundays here include a weekly round-up so you can catch up on posts you might not have read during the week. Here’s what I covered this week:

Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompt 66 – Why Not?
Friday’s Flashback to 7 skills for Virtual Facilitators
Thursday’s Team Building Tip – What needs to go under the microscope?
Wednesday’s post on the tagline of my PlanDoTrack publication – Daily Steps + Consistent Action = Momentum
Tuesday’s focus on Getting Organized for Fall: 4 Areas for Making Remote Work, Work
Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip getting you to explore how your work has changed in the last year

I hope that it’s been a great week for you and that you are already getting back into the routine you want for this last 4 months of the year. If not, what changes do you want to make? What time could you carve out today to get more organized?

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 Season 2 of 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.

#TEAMS365 #2072 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 109

9/2/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip gets you to think about the question “How much has your work changed in the last year?”. The pace of technological change continues to create interesting waves and push backs.

Think about these questions:

What platforms were you using this time last year? Five years ago? Ten years ago?
What was your work characterized by – last year, three years ago, five years ago? A decade ago?
How were you working a year ago? Three years ago? Five years ago?
What type of conversations were you having virtually? Team meetings, team development, educational etc.?
What about digital distractions? Digital minimalism?
What devices were you using a year ago? Three years ago? How has this changed how, when and where you do your work?

In the last year, we have had great writing released including Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism which explores the experience of those who detox digitally.
The last year has also seen a huge wave of the audio-book, the podcast and other audio devices, thanks to the present nature of Apple Car Play, Alexis, and Google Home Minis.

It’s also likely that your work may have become either more global or focused in nature, depending on the industry you are in, and the geographic location you reside in. Technology thankfully is reducing barriers.

What do you note about how your work and ways of working have changed in the last year?

What additional changes do you want to embrace?

What do you want to change?

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 #2060 - Teamwork Foundations – Questions to Consider When Seeking Out a Mentor

8/21/2019

Mentoring is a very popular modality for development. It no longer is considered a one-way conversation with the senior person sharing all the knowledge. In fact, “reverse mentoring” has really taken root, with the more senior person often benefiting as much from the conversation as the more junior person.

In today’s post I wanted to share several questions to consider if you are seeking out a mentor yourself. These can help to gain clarity in terms of what you are looking for, and help you focus the conversations you are going to have.

Mentors serve a variety of roles in today’s workplace, including being able to share insights about the practicalities of business/industry based on their experience. They may also be able to shed light on “how things are really done”, giving you insights you might not normally hear about through other channels.
Just like any other business relationship, supervision or coaching, the mentoring partnership is dependent on a good match and fit. Take some time as you go to seek out a mentor to make sure they are going to be your best fit.
Questions to consider when seeking out a mentor

What is important for me to learn?
Where do I want to grow?
What am I looking for in a mentor?
What are the skills and experiences I hope the mentor will bring?
What can I bring to the mentoring relationship?
What time am I earmarking for this?
What are my goals?
What topics do I want to explore?
When/if things get tough, I will…

As you look to your responses to these questions, what do you notice?

Enjoy the 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.