How are routines helping you make decisions? What are you simplifying in your work from home experience so that things are becoming routine and don’t need to take as much energy?

There have been several studies which have explored the role of routine in creative and high performance in leadership. Consider Steve Jobs who wore the same clothing each day. Consider others who eat similar meals.

Making decisions takes energy, and especially in times of complexity, making things simpler (see Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip), can be a key strategy for flow and ease.

What are the things you might create a routine around? Consider these elements:

• How you structure meetings or rote tasks
• Meals
• What you wear
• Your daily routine

 
There is also a cost of not making decisions. Consider what happens when you “sit on the fence” rather than trusting your journey down a particular path.

Today, consider what you can create more routine around. 

Best,
​Jennifer

We’re returning back to pitfalls this week, building onto what I discussed last week, given that many are concerned with what pitfalls can look like.

This week, sound the alarm! It’s all about taking a moment as a team to STOP. PAUSE. And consider what pitfalls you are experiencing. What are the pitfalls which are present in your work right now?

Consider pitfalls for the team like:

• Lack of communication
• Meetings for the sake of meetings
• Not involving the right people in decision making
• Assumptions which go unsurfaced

What are the pitfalls the team is facing right now?

Likewise, what are the pitfalls present for the organization?
Consider pitfalls like:

• No planning process in place
• Reactivity
• A strategic plan that hasn’t been updated since the pandemic

What are the pitfalls for the organization?

Finally, what about pitfalls due to technology?

Consider:

• People not feeling connected to others and the work they do, or the organization
• People not feeling like they have a voice or an input channel
• People not feeling heard

​Each of these pitfalls has a significant business cost which can get magnified quickly in the remote space. What’s important to note about these pitfalls and what do you want to do about it?

Enjoy the conversations!
Jennifer

The remote workspace is varied, and we don’t always see the context of our colleagues. For any of you who have a copy of my remote working whitepaper, you will know that in it I explore the 7 Enablers of Remote Work. You can read more about these 7 essential elements here.

Recently I have started sharing more about the layered nuances of remote work. Some of these are skills, some components that are standalone.

In today’s article I wanted to dig deeper into the 8 Layers of Remote Work, which interestingly turn out to be the 8 Ds.

Let’s look at each one of them in turn:

1. Digital
2. Decisions
3. Delegation
4. Distractions
5. Design
6. Dialogue
7. Do
8. Depth

The digital economy has existed for several decades, having been jettisoned into exponential growth this year as part of the 2020 pandemic. I recently came across an old edition of a book by Dan Tapscott who wrote the book Digital Economy back in 1995. I’m thinking I must have picked up the copy when I was a grad student. In one of next week’s blog posts, I’ll be going into the 12 hallmarks of a digital economy. The digital space is one of the important layers which is impacting business, teamwork and leadership. Whether all work is virtual, or some components have reverted to face-to-face, how are things different than at the start of the year (or decade)?

Decisions are the second layer of remote work. There is a cost to making decisions, and as we discussed earlier this week in the September Remote Pathways podcast community call (link to https://youtu.be/Fb_FQdR3Ifk ), decisions are a critical part of getting things done in the remote space. Given that we usually don’t operate in isolation, making decisions remotely may take more time.

Another significant shift that we’ve been seeing happen is people’s comfort in making decisions without having as full, or complete, information as they might have had in a face-to-face context.

Delegation is another critical component of remote work. The nuance with remote work is that we may need to be more proactive in delegating and may need to be more strategic in getting people to focus. For the foundations of Delegation check out this Linked In Pulse post I wrote a few years ago on delegation here.

Distractions is another key layer of remote work. In fact, distractions have the potential to really derail professionals of all kinds in the remote space, particularly if our motivation levels are low, or we are not motivated. What are the distractions you want to take note of? For more on digital distractions check out this recent Teams365 blog post - #1480 on Minimizing Distractions here. 

Tomorrow’s post is going to pick up with the last four of the 8 Layers of Remote Work. From these first four, what’s important to note?

All the best,
​Jennifer

It’s Monday which means that it’s another Effective Virtual Conversations Tip day. This week the invitation is for you to build your toolkit. If you joined me last week for the Stand Out Virtually 5 day Challenge, it’s likely that you spent time building your toolkit.

We covered visuals (and you got to built up some of your visual library). We also talked about backgrounds, along with engagement toolkits.

A quick note that I’ll be hosting the next one-day Virtual Facilitation Essentials program tomorrow, Tuesday August 25th from 9-4:30pm ET. The day is geared to get you building out your toolkit.

What do you notice about your toolkit for exceptional virtual conversations?

Whether you are an individual leading calls or an organization, it’s important that we build out our tools and practices. Consider building tools in these areas:

• Planning
• Opening a Program
• Decision Making
• Problem Solving
• Consensus Generation

I’ve been spending even more time this year than usual working with organizations to build out their repertoire of virtual tools and practices. If you, or your organization, could benefit from some support and focus in this area, give me a call.

Be sure to take a look at the 163 Effective Virtual Conversations Tips I’ve written here at the blog. 

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Welcome back to another Teams365 Team Building question. This week’s team question is “What needs more discernment?”.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines discernment as “the ability to judge people and things well.”

Discernment is always a term that we used to use a lot when leading in highly variable and complex contexts (for example, when there are a lot of competing demands, or things are changing quickly.)

Discernment may be a key skill to foster within your teams.

Here are some questions to consider this week:

• What are the things that need to be looked at more closely?
• What are the things that can be focused on more? What needs clarification (think in terms of information, purpose, process, other…)?
• What needs discernment in terms of priorities?

Enjoy the focus!
Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip is a matrix working tip, getting you as a team, or partnership to explore the question “What’s the priority?”.

With matrix work and membership of multiple teams become the norm in today’s workspace, it can be important to focus on WHAT’S the PRIORITY?

Are you taking time as a team to discuss what your priorities are?

Are you holding three-way meetings so that team members can learn more about the bigger picture and landscape of the multiple teams they are part of?

As a leader, are you communicating the WHY, or what’s important about the bigger picture of work?

Prioritization is a critical skill set for most remote workers. It may also involve some negotiation when multiple priorities show up on our desk (think – almost every day!).

The challenge is that balancing multiple priorities for two parties who don’t usually connect. This is where getting into the practice of holding quarterly or regular meetings with the matrix teams or leaders can be of benefit. Widening the understanding of what people are working on, can help sensitize thinking, as well as help with weighing in on priorities.

A reminder of the different prioritization tools we might leverage –

• Covey’s Urgent/Important Matrix
• To Do and Not To Do List
• Strategic Issues Mapping

I’ve covered many of these tools in past Teams365 blog posts. Many of these tools can also be found in Section 4 of PlanDoTrack.

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you thinking about the notion of CALIBRATE.

The Oxford Dictionary defines calibrate as “adjust (experimental results) to take external factors into account or to allow comparison with other data.”

As you look across your team, work or processes right now, what are the things that might need to be calibrated or adjusted, given changes in the context?

What are the things you need to dial up and dial down?

Doing a regular scan of the context in which you operate is a key skill set. This is all part of strategic thinking, which is an important skill set for leaders today. As the University of Florida’s Training writes, “To think strategically means to see and understand the bigger picture of what the organization is, where it needs to go, and how it will get there. It means anticipating opportunities and challenges and utilizing that knowledge to guide the organization.” (http://training.hr.ufl.edu/resources/LeadershipToolkit/job_aids/strategic_thinking.pdf)

What is important about developing strategic thinking skills as a team?

What are the things you want to pay attention to as a team?

For more on the topic of strategic thinking, please check out these posts:

• 4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills
• 5 Areas CMOE Suggests You Focus On To Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills 
• Check out the questions you might use as part of the reflective cycle of strategic thinking in this article from Terina Allen here.

As you think strategically, you may start to notice those items you need to CALIBRATE. What needs an adjustment?

Have a great day!
​Jennifer

From the time we get out of bed to the time we turn off the light, we are faced with a slew of decisions which need to be made every day.

Creating enhanced focus in the last six weeks of the year (what is often referred to as the “last mile”) can help a team, and organization, soar through the last part of the year, rather than frantically work to the end. This has been a focus of three of the annual coaching groups I host - The Learning Lab and Design Studio, the Coaching Biz Growth Lab, and the Teams365 Leadership Lab

Today’s post gets you thinking about several areas you may have some level of control over:

#1 – Decide and communicate what the key priorities are for the end of the year. What is an absolute MUST complete? What can be let go of (if anything) in order to make sure this can be completed.

#2 – Weed out the elements of work which are distractions and/or not adding value. This may be part of a wider discussion and review of your results for the year/decade. In the bigger picture, what could be let go of, in service to the work that really needs to get done?

#3 – Consider who is best tasked to do the work. There is often a fallacy that “everyone needs to be involved” or everyone needs to collaborate. We don’t want to collaborate for collaborations sake. Who is best suited to run with which tasks? Does everyone involved understand the timelines and contingencies (i.e. what needs to get completed first, next etc.?).

#4 – Consider questions around AMPLIFICATION and/or x ing your work (as in 10xing). What’s going to help to ensure success? What will that take?

#5 – Where has scope creep occurred? It’s inevitable that projects expand during their life cycle. Sometimes they expand too much. Where has scope creep occurred and what needs to be brought back into focus? Is there need for an extension or a part 2 of the projects you are working on?

#6 – Where can digital distractions be minimized? Recently, I shared a post on digital distractions – Teams365 #1933.  Read it here. What are those distractions and where can these be minimized?

What’s going to help you thrive through the last part of the year?

Wishing you the best,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success focusing on the Remote Space
Author of 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.
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. ​
Coming soon - the Remote Pathways™ Podcast

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to think about the question “Where do you want to get more grounded?”. In today’s volatile, ever-changing environment, it can be very important to be grounded. Grounding ourselves helps us feel anchored, even if things are ever-changing. Our foundation usually consists of our values, beliefs and ways of working.

These foundations help us with decision making, prioritizing, and communicating what’s important, even if everything else is changing.

In PlanDoTrack, I provide several exercises for professionals to explore their values and belief systems. If you have a copy of the book, be sure to check out Section’s 1 and 4 exercises including the Iceberg, Values Ecosystem and some of the Values check list.

When we are able to work and lead from our values things become aligned, and usually flow more freely.

What are you noticing about your foundations and grounding?

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. ​

​This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to discuss the question “What do you want to say NO TO?”. Discernment is critical in today’s business context. Take a look at this past post. If you work within a matrix environment, it can be very easy to get overloaded with new work and responsibilities. Taking a big picture of what’s going on and being clear on competing priorities can be essential. Saying NO or NOT RIGHT NOW as much as YES can be critical for productivity.

Saying NO needs to be done in a tactful way. In the remote space this may involve:

• Helping people understand the context of your work. This might involve things like having everyone share a status update or adding a “priorities section” to your team meetings.
• Problem solving together with the person you are having to say “no” to. Language might be along the lines of “If I focus on this task right now, then that task may not be completed until next week? What would you prefer me to focus on?” or “Is there anyone else who might be able to take on this task?”

Saying “no” is important so you can FOCUS in on what’s most important.

What are the things you want to be focusing on this month? This quarter?

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. ​