Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #1927 - Creating a Strong Team Identity

4/10/2019

Team identity and culture is something that we all shape. Team identity is critical in the context of virtual and remote teams. It helps us understand who we are and how we do things. A strong team identity helps me know that as a member of this team, I am expected to:

Raise issues quickly
Rather than complain, seek for solutions
Support others and provide information to others on a regular basis about the work I am undertaking, opportunities I see for collaboration

Ways we can start to form a strong team identity include:

Having the team identity key values. For example, innovation or respect.
For each one of these values, have the team identify the behaviors which illustrate that value. For example, for respect – Consider impact before speaking; take ownership of mistakes; reply to requests in a timely manner (and as a team identify what timely means); when raising issues also offer possible solutions.
Having the team own “How we do things here. What’s acceptable and what’s not”. In owning it, we call out behaviors which are not aligned with our agreements.
Identifying logos, icons or metaphors of what the team is. For example, a team that is about creating a WOW experience might embrace “The Orange Bird” as their mascot.
Creating a drawing or tableaux of what the team is aspiring to. Several years ago, vision boards were very popular. Teams too can have their own team vision board which they can situate in an area of high traffic. If its’ a virtual team, take a photo and include in it any sides you are sharing with your virtual meetings. Review it regularly.

Bad behavior doesn’t just happen. It’s permitted. What are you doing to call it out?

Best wishes,
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 #1926 – Building Trust and Connection as a Team

4/9/2019

A few weeks ago, I was speaking to a large group of professionals active in the area of team development. We found ourselves getting into the heart of a key topic for leaders, team members and team developers alike – Building Trust and Connection as a Team. What are the different ways you are building trust, and also eroding it?

Trust and connection are essential for team success. This is especially true in virtual and remote contexts. When trust levels are low, we may see behaviors such as:

Territorialism – Mine vs. Yours. Us vs. them. Headquarters vs. Remote Workers
Stereotyping
Lack of accountability
Lack of ownership
Blaming

None of these are productive or positive. Over time these behaviors lead to toxicity and conflict, threatening the fabric of your talent.

What are the things we can do to build trust and connection across the team?

A few years ago, I created a short video which I’ve shown to multiple groups. It focuses on 9 behaviors we can practice as a team to boost trust and connection. I originally wrote about them in Teams365.

These behaviors are:

Walk the Talk
Fairness
Build on Strengths
Take Ownership (For What Works and What Doesn't)
Fairness
Transparency
Creating Connections
Clear Expectations and Communication
Regular one-on-ones/communication

As you read through these ask yourself, where are you on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being low and 10 being high):

If this is a topic of importance to you and your team, consider exploring this additional Teams365 post about Trust and Connection:
Teams365 1184: Team Building Tip #129

Best,
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 #1751 – Conflict Management

10/17/2018

Today’s post brings us back to another teamwork skill, that of conflict management. With teams excelling because of their differences, conflict is inevitable. In fact, it’s likely that conflict will be part of a creative, and innovative team environment.

In working through conflict, it is important to think about the following:
How do you approach conflict? Are you a conflict averter? Are you an embracer of conflict? Are you a conflict creator?

How is conflict addressed in your organization? Within your team? Is this the best way to approach conflict?

As you think about the approaches you use around conflict how does it relate to the importance of the relationships which exist? The results you are looking after? If you were to adjust your approach for the benefit of the results and relationships you are looking for, what changes would you make?

On this note, we usually want to adjust our approach to conflict based on how important the end result and relationships are. If the result is important, we may choose to push for that, at the expense of the relationship or making someone angry. If the relationship is important and the result is not, we may choose to compromise. If both the relationship and result is important we may opt to collaborate.

What’s the cost of not addressing conflict?

If you were to make one adjustment around conflict, what would that be?

For more on the topic of teamwork and conflict, check out these past Teams365 posts.

Enjoy your Wednesday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1736 - Teamwork skills in focus – 9 Essential Skills

10/2/2018

It’s the start of a new month, and time for a new focus here at the Teams365 blog. This month we are going to focus on teamwork skills. Whether you work as an intact team, a project team or a remote team, teamwork skills are cross-cutting and help professionals at all stages of their careers do better work.
The context of teamwork has changed. In the past, teams were together for longer windows, with much more stability. Today most teams experience ongoing change and team composition. Researcher Amy Edmonston terms this “Teaming” and writes, “actively building and developing teams even as a project is in process, while realizing that a team's composition may change at any given moment.” (Teaming, Edmonston 2013)
She flags four behaviors as essential in the teaming context:

Speaking Up
Collaboration
Experimentation
Reflection

What are you doing to foster these areas?
The teamwork skills we are going to explore this month are:

Trust
Collaboration
Communication
Working Across Differences
Relationship Management
Conflict Management
Emotional Intelligence
Change Management
Influence

For each of the areas we’ll explore what the skill is about, why it’s important. What some of the differences are in the different types of teams today. I’ll also point you back to some of the many posts I’ve already written on these topics.
Looking forward to starting this journey with you this month.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #1403: #Flashback Friday: Navigating Conflict

11/3/2017

This week's Virtual and Remote Team Development Activity took us into the realm of conflict management. Whether it's having courageous conversations, or navigating conflict, this is a skill set that many team members do not feel comfortable with.

In today's #FlashbackFriday's post, I wanted to take us back to two earlier posts I wrote - one on different approaches to conflict (Teams365 #510) and the other on Four Keys to Navigating Conflict (Teams #512).

In approaching different conflicts, there may be several different stances we can take. Many conflict resolution models focus on taking a different stance according to how important the relationship or results is. Here's what I wrote in Teams365 #510:

"Our ability to work through differences and conflict is a key skill for leaders and team members. What we know from research is that complimentary skill sets often make a team strong. In saying this, it may mean that we have different styles which exist, which means that what we value and how we interrelate with the world is different.

What is your natural style in navigating conflict? Different conflict models may have different names for these but we may demonstrate one of many styles including:

Accommodate - often when the relationship is important but the results are not we will accommodate to enable the other party to have their preferred outcome. In accommodation the other party wins, at our loss.

Compromise – Compromise may be important when the outcome is important for both of us, as is the relationship. In compromise, I win some and you win some, but neither party really win.

Avoid – There are instances where it makes sense to avoid conflict and sweep things under the rug. The challenge and danger with this over time is that the issue can fester, and the small minuscule issue can grow into an elephant. Where is may be appropriate to avoid conflict is when the issue is not important and the relationship is not important. IN avoiding I lose and you lose.

Collaboration - Collaboration takes time and may be the preferred solution when relationships and results are both important. Not every situation warrants collaboration, and as Morten Hanson writes in his books, Don’t collaborate just for collaboration’s sake. While collaboration often takes more time, it can be the best outcome. In collaboration I win and you win.

Compete – We may choose to compete to achieve an important outcome when the results are key and the relationship is not as important. When competing we need to be aware of when it becomes too aggressive. In competition I win and you lose

As you consider these five different styles, what are examples of each one and how you and others would benefit from adopting that approach? When might the approach be beneficial?

For those interested in learning about their own style or supporting team members in this area, one interesting online resource I found was Conflict 911.com/resources

Here is what I wrote in Teams365 #511 - Four Keys to Navigating Conflict:

Yesterday I focused on different approaches to conflict – accommodation, compromise, collaboration, avoiding and n completion when faced with conflict, What else is possible? Today's post focuses on four things you can do every day when thinking and working around conflict.

Be proactive and address conflict early on – While easier said than done, many view navigating conflict as very challenging, in part because issues may have escalated even more than at the start.
Find the common ground – Finding similar vantage points or even “slivers” where you can see “eye to eye” is a starting point in navigating conflict. These mini-windows are opportunities to open dialogue and mutual problem solving, rather than raising walls.
Recognize that conflict can be a healthy thing when we have the tools to navigate it. Where cultures do not recognize that conflict is a normal and natural part of human relationships, it may be minimized and swept under the rug, or it can be seen as “abnormal” and “vilified” where something is wrong. What is the culture at your workplace around conflict.
Invest in your skills in navigating conflict. Conflict management is not always well modelled in our work places and families. If this has been your case it can be useful to invest in some professional development and/or mentoring so you have more phrases and even a model or process to follow. Where is conflict management well modelled? What tools and resources are people using?

Navigating differences is an important skill set for today’s global environment. What actions do you want to take towards building your skills and capacity?

Have a great end of the week,
Jennifer

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

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

#Teams365 #1401: 20 Virtual and Remote Team Activities #11: Conflict Management

11/1/2017

As we continue our journey in the 20 Activities to Use with Your Virtual or Remote team, #11 in this series brings us to the important, and inevitable topic of conflict. Conflict in virtual teams may be below the waterline, and it may be common for virtual team members to try to skirt the conflict until they need to address it.

Conflict in virtual teams can be due to many issues including:

Not feeling like you are understood
Not feeling valued
Conflict around priorities
Disagreement about what’s important
A disconnect with values – what’s important in your work
A divergence in your approaches

There are many different models for conflict resolution, with most pointing to the importance of finding common ground, as well as keeping in mind the importance of your outcome and results.

In a virtual team it is often harder to know about what your co-workers styles are and what they value. Being able to surface the difficult issues (see last week's Teams365 blog post) and having a shared process to do so is very important in addressing conflict.

Activity - A Facilitated Discussion on Conflict
Amount of time: 15-45 minutes
As a virtual team it can be useful to have the discussion about your natural approaches to conflict before you even experience it. One of the approaches which I have found to be useful in warming up to the discussion around conflict is to get people to share their thoughts on these question:
On a scale of 1-10, how difficult is it for you to surface conflict?
This helps the team to start recognizing the range of how people may even approach the topic area of conflict.

Other questions you may want to surface are:
What have been some past examples of conflict you've experienced in your work? How have you successfully resolved them?
How do you react when you face conflict at work? (Do you withdraw? Fight back?)
What are the current "hotspots" or potentials for conflict in your work?
What can we do to support you on this?

There are several different tools and processes you can use to help people explore conflict. Two that we offer to teams are the TKI and the Everything DiSC Predictive Conflict Tool. Contact me to discuss how we could support your team in having these conversations.

Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer

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

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

#Teams365 #1284: #FlashbackFriday: Difficult Conversations

7/7/2017

It's Friday and time for another Flashback Friday. This week I'm taking us back to #Teams365 #626, a post from September 2016. Even though things continue to change dramatically in some industries, one area which I continue to see leaders struggle with it Difficult Conversations. My post from 2016 highlighted several resources which leaders will find useful in their difficult conversations. Here's what I wrote in Teams365 #626:

If I were to identify one area earmarked as a "must have more of" from leaders it is resources and practice in holding difficult conversations. Consider your work right now, what difficult conversations are needed this week? Next week?

Newer leaders, and sometimes even very seasoned leaders, are uncomfortable and not confident in raising the issues that need to be raised. For those that are looking for more resources on this topic, I would encourage you to check out:

Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Grenney, McMillian and Switzler

Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott

Thanks for the Feedback - the Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well - Douglas Stone and Shelia Heen

Difficult Conversations - How To Discuss What Matters Most - also by Doublas Stone

The Discomfort Zone - How Leaders Trun Difficult Conversations into Breakthroughs - Marcia Reynolds

******************************************************
Whether I am working with new leaders, seasoned leaders or entire teams, it is likely that the topic of difficult conversations will be brought up, and the yearning to become more proficient in having them.

A couple of other resources which I also have been recommending lately are:

Conversational Intelligence by Judith Glaser. Given my own recent professional development in this area, and appreciating the rich resource base Judith has drawn on in creating this work, I am weaving in CI-Q elements into both training and coaching initiatives for leaders and teams. Contact me for more information on how we can bring this into programs at your organization.

I've also been reaching back to Steven Covey's Seminal work in the Seven Habits of Highly Effectivve People and a reminder of his principle of "seek first to understand and then be understood".

What resources do you recommend around Difficult Conversations?

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

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 month.

#Teams365 #1116: #FlashbackFriday: Six Sources of #Conflict with Matrix Management

1/20/2017

It is Friday and time to take a look back at one of our more than 1100 blog posts. Yesterday I focused on matrix management in our weekly team building tip and I thought it would be useful to take a look back at one of our past posts on matrix management, namely - sources of conflict in matrix management teams. With the growth of more virtual teams being able to surface and address conflict in the virtual realm is becoming a well needed skill set. Many times conflict in the virtual domain is easy to ignore, but has the ultimate impact of lower productivity and results. Given the long distance relationship this can lead to significant fails and impact.

So how do we become more proactive in addressing conflict within virtual teams and the matrix management environment? We need to be aware of where conflict may stem from. Consider these sources which I initially mentioned in Teams365 # 601

"Matrix leadership and team arrangements are becoming much ore common place today. Once only relegated to project and global teams, matrix arrangements are much more common-place. It can be important to recognize acknowledge potential sources of conflict, so that you are aware of them and can mitigate.

Here's a list of potential sources of conflict in matrix teams include:
* Conflict between local level priorities and global or project priorities
* Conflict between direction and style of local leader and matrix leader
* Style conflict
* Potential conflict on multiple levels around communication styles - direct versus indirect communication - (refer to Geert Hofstede's Culture scales)
* Conflict created by working across multiple time zones which can impact meeting times, and perceived favoritism
* Conflict around resourcing (perceived and real)
* Conflict around team membership - my "local" team and my "project" team
* Conflict around team culture - how things are done on different teams and what's acceptable and not

These are just a small representation of potential conflicts created in the matrix environment. What is important is to equip team members with enhanced skills in working across differences and recognizing your impact with others.

What do you see as possible conflicts which could emerge in your matrix work?"

If you are a matrix manager this week take the opportunity to discuss with your team members in their one on ones where potential conflicts exist, or could exist, and how together you want to resolve them.

Have a great Thursday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #996: Team Building Tip #102: Conflict

9/22/2016

Creating harmonious teams can feel like a lofty ideal for teams that are not able to work across differences. Sometimes, conflicts can go on for a significant amount of time without being resolved.

Whether it's due to resource issues, perceived lack of compatibility around goals, priorities or personalities, protracted conflict can have serious implications. From lowered productivity to a toxic work environment, it's important to get people thinking about "What's at stake if you don't resolve your conflict?". Could it mean a shift to a toxic team environment? Impact on your customer base? Impact on results?

At the same token, asking "What's the cost of not resolving conflict?" is another key question to be asking.

Conflict is an area which many professionals struggle with in today's workplace. Becoming more aware of our own conflict style and skills to work around and across differences is a core competency for all team members today. T his is especially true for global and virtual teams where we have additional layers of differences - language, priorities, timezones etc.

Take a look at past posts I've written on conflict and working across differences.

Contact me to discuss how we could support your team in becoming more proficient in working across differences, and conflict, starting with becoming more aware of your own styles, strengths and communication practices. Email us here to discuss.

Have a great week,
Jennifer

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

#Teams365 #911: Foundations of Teamwork - Conflict Resolution

6/29/2016

Conflict resolution

The differences which exist in teams – from personalities to priorities, different resources and skills can lead to conflict, both overt and covert. In fact conflict is part the healthy development of teams. What is not always healthy is how we address it
Questions to consider

What conflicts exist on the team right now? What is at the heart of it(resources/priorities etc
How do team members react to conflict?
What shared processes or models do you have for addressing conflicts
What is important to address within the team right now?
What are next steps?

How to support teams during conflict:

Normalize it. Flag and discuss openly potential sources of conflict and how you want to deal with it
Help people understand how they naturally approach conflict. Do they compromise, accommodate, compete? We may have some natural approaches which may or may not be the best solution, For example, competition when collaboration is needed
Have a shared approach for dealing with conflict – for example models such as Susan Scott’s Fierce Conversations or Difficult Conversations
Provide people with the space and tools to work through conflict – this takes time. Prioritize it and provide support when conflict needs to be addressed

Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer

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