Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #1937 – Saturday April 20 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 46

4/20/2019

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you thinking about the question “My biggest opportunity is….”.

I hope that this week’s question will provide you with a pause the reflect on what is happening around you. When we get in the flow of work, we may not take notice of what opportunities do abound.

What is your biggest opportunity right now?

Enjoy your reflections!
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 #1931 – PlanDoTrack Video Montage 16

4/14/2019

It’s Sunday, which means that it’s time for another Video Montage from the #90DaysPlanDoTrack. If you have not seen these Instagram gems before, they are short questions I pose on a regular basis to encourage some consistent action in your work or business, to create more momentum towards your most important goals.

Take a look at the Video Montage #16 here.

If you haven’t viewed the earlier ones, take a look at those posts here.

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 #1923 Weekly Journaling Prompt 44

4/6/2019

Welcome back to our forty-fourth Weekly Journaling Prompt. I hope that you have been enjoying these quick prompts as part of your regular journaling practice.

Today’s prompt is “Things I Am Happy About….”

In my late teens and early twenties, I was fortunate enough to spend the bulk of my summers working in the beauty of Algonquin Park, about 3 hours north of Toronto, at a summer camp. When I wasn’t on the swim dock where I spent several summers leading a team, or with campers, I was hanging out with an amazing group of young women. In those days we had no access to TV, internet or a phone (yes, it was the late 80s and early 90s!). Evening entertainment came in the form of journaling, music and hanging out.

One book which was very popular in those days was a good book called “14,000 things to be happy about.” I remember how one summer it inspired a majority of the staff to start their own happy journals. This was something I carried around the world with me for years and still have on my bookshelf…..Take a look closely at today’s graphic -that’s my happy book! Once in a while (i.e. once or twice a year) I take a look back at it and am amazed how short sentences can bring forward an amazing flood of memories.

What would you add to your happy book?

Enjoy!
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
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).

#TEAMS365 #1903 – Weekly Video Montage 14

3/17/2019

Welcome back to this week’s Video Montage for the PlanDoTrack series. If you are on Instagram, be sure to follow-along at the Coaching Biz Builder.

This series is geared for professionals of all kinds to grab a micro-pause each day. To note what’s important about their work and/or business, and then to take action on ONE Step A Day. As I write in both PlanDoTrack and Coaching Business Builder – One Step a Day + Consistent Action = Momentum.

Momentum is key for generating new ideas, getting started on new projects, or sustaining old ones. Be sure to check out this week’s Video Montage and take a look at past ones here.

Enjoy!
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 #1902 – Weekly Journaling prompt #41

3/16/2019

This weeks’ weekly journaling prompt invites you to consider the question “My note to self is…..”

This may be an opportunity to:

Capture key learning
Identify things you “don’t want to forget”
Create a bucket list of things you’d love to complete by _____
Reflect on recent successes and lessons learned
Signal key life lessons

As with anything in journaling, part of the joy can be simply seeing where your pen leads you without too much censure.

I hope that you have found these Saturday Journaling prompts valuable in providing a starting place for your writing.

In the spirit of mid-month musings – here’s also a highlight of several of the past Saturday posts you’ve seen in the last few months:

Weekly Journaling prompt #37 – Mid-February

Weekly Journaling prompt – Mid-December

Weekly Journaling prompt #31 – Early January

Wishing you the 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 #1856 – Productivity Tip 14

1/29/2019

3 Rs to Content Creation
Tip #14 – content creation: Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle

“Recycling turns things into other things. Which is like magic.”
– Anonymous

Do you have to start from scratch? Part of the challenge of moving so quickly in today’s workplace is that we may not be harvesting what we have already created, as well as leveraging learning and results regularly.

If you’ve gotten good results from something (for example, an email campaign, an article, or a social media post), what it the next iteration of that?
In magnifying our content, we can:

Repurpose
Reuse
Recycle

Let’s look at an example. Perhaps you led a speaking engagement on Emotional Intelligence. Chances are you did a lot of research into the topic and there are things that can be REPURPOSED. Are there some resources you can point your clients to as an extended resource to them? A new offshoot be a one-page resource list (TED Talks, books list) OR a checklist for them to complete?
What are the things that can be quickly repurposed into other formats?

At the same time, there may be many ways we can re-use, and leverage things already created in our business. From reusing processes so that we avoid pitfalls, to reusing a proven checklist we have created and is road-tested in another program, reusing is key.

A third way is to recycle. In content creation, recycling is key. A very popular way to design programs is to build it through small packets or modules. You might have a one-hour module on Emotional Intelligence (EI) in general, another on building EI in your team, and a separate one around “Self-management”. These could be recombined, or recycled, for future programs, creating a whole new resource!

Activity
Take a look at all the content you have created. Note it down. This could include blog posts, Instagram stories, Facebook Lives, etc.
As you look at what you have created already, consider:

What are the things your clients are looking for related to your already created content?
What are the vehicles they would like that in? (Think blog post, Instagram post, video, e-book, other)?
What would the 3Rs look like – repurpose, reuse, recycle?

Conversation Sparkers

What can be repurposed into a new format?
What could be reused?
What can be recycled to create something new?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
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
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1832 –– Weekly Journaling Prompt 31

1/5/2019

The first Weekly Journaling Prompt for the year gets you to think aspiration ally about the question of “Our/My most important contribution is….”. We each leave a unique imprint on work. What is the impact you are having? What’s the contribution that you want to make this year?
Write it down. Start talking about it. Consider the one thing you want to infuse into your actions, relationships and connections this year.

If this is your year to get journaling and you want a bit of inspiration, check out the past 30 Weekly Journaling Prompts here.

Enjoy the writing!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
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
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1722 – 10 things to do with your team #4 – Tips 8 – 9

9/18/2018

Teams like to have fun! When the word team building comes to mind, Fun is often the first thing that does emerge. What are you doing to have fun on your team? Spending time together to get to know each other in a social context can be invaluable in creating stronger bonds. AND, it should be supported by a focus on what needs to get done as well.
Here are a couple of ideas on different team building processes:

Getting creative thinking happening:
Tool #8 - Word Grams – Creative Thinking
Word Grams were a popular approach in 1990s training, and a great energizer for training of all kinds. Research some word grams online and use them to warm up the space for creative thinking in your next team meeting. Here are some examples:

Creative Thinking is important today given the complexities that exist, the need to think “outside of the box” and the need for innovation.

Tool #9 – Working Around Decisions
Team members and leaders face decisions every day.
A 2015 article indicates that we make 35,000 decisions a day, including 227 on food alone. Read it here.
Helping team members make better decisions is critical for team alignment and success.
Across the span of a day, we may be making decisions around resourcing, priorities, relationships, and what gets our attention.
What are the tools and processes you want to build skills in with your team? Consider the Decision Matrix. Steven Covey’s Urgent/Important matrix is probably one of the most familiar, and popular ones that exist. There are many others so do some research around tools you can bring in to help team members make better decisions.
Check out this article from Concordia University on the 7 Steps of the Decision Making Process, which also includes a focus on some of the challenges we can have with decision making. Read it here.

What is important for your team to take action on right now? Let us know using the comments below.

Warm regards,
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 #1694 – Setting Goals for Fall

8/22/2018

Last week I hosted a gearing up for fall planning hack, during which time I led the group through a series of real-time planning activities over the course of a 45 minute window. With the launch of my latest resource the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner, I’ll be hosting more of these real-time virtual planning sessions for coaches and other planners. (On a side note, I’ll be releasing another edition of the Workbook and Planner later this year/early 2019 for Remote professionals and Leaders). I hope you may join me for one of the many upcoming virtual planning sessions.
For today’s post I thought it would be fitting to provide you with some planning prompts to think about the fall and all that you want to create. Here are some questions to guide you:

As you look to fall, what is the environment you want to create in your work?
What are the core goals and priorities?
As you look to you main goals for fall,, how do they fit together?
How do they interlink with others work?
What do you need in order to be successful with these goals?
Who can help you?
What’s going to help you further grow as a professional?
What stretch opportunities do you have to expand your thinking, and skills?
What projects will help you grow?
What collaborative conversations do you want to foster this fall? (Consider peer groups, mentors, time with your boss and team, other…)

I read an interesting article recently from the MIT Sloan Review by Linda Gratton on the Challenge of Scaling Soft Skills You can read it here. In it she mentions four skills which will be important for professionals of all kinds as the workplace continues to change - empathy, context sensing, collaboration, and creative thinking. What are you doing to enhance and grow in these areas?
Throughout my career, and in the work that I continue to do, I work regularly in support of fostering skills in empathy, collaboration and creative thinking. These will be needed by team members of all kinds. Some of the skills we learn in training, but many we learn by doing. What can you do to foster opportunities for team members to grow and expand in these areas?

Enjoy your Tuesday,
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 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #1320: Weekend Quote - Creativity

8/12/2017

Today's weekend quote comes from Issac Bashevis Singer who wrote "Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression". As a writer, I have become more comfortable with being with this gap that is inevitably part of the creative process.

If you and your team are moving through a creative process you may want to reflect on these questions:
1. What is our vision for the end result of this process/project?
2. What is the expression looking like?
3. What's the gap?
4. What is uncomfortable for us?
5. What will help us continue to move and be creative?

Have a great Saturday,
Jennifer

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

My newest book - Effective Virtual Conversations - launched just a few weeks ago.