Category: Decisions

#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

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May 18th, 2018

5/18/2018

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Today’s Flashback Friday returns us to one of the Sunday audio posts I did a few years ago.

This month we are exploring teamwork in complex times. One thing that is changing is our time window for making decisions. We may be needing to make them quicker, faster, and with less information.

Also, team members, not just the leader, may also need to make decisions.

With this in mind, I hope that you will check back to the short recording which made up Teams365 #495 where I share several decision making tools. These are tools that I think you will find useful as both a team leader and a team member.

Click on over and listen into Teams365 #495:

Last week's post looked at Three Tools for Problem Solving (Teams365 #488: Three Tools for Problem Solving). You can listen into it here.

In today's audio I cover two tools you can use in facilitating decision making, whether you are facilitating discussion in person, or virtually. I cover one of my favorites Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats. Please enjoy listening into this short 10 minute audio: Click on over to Teams365 #495: Two Decision Making Tools

What other tools do you use in making decisions?

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

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#Teams365 #1576: Productivity Tool - Is/Is Not

4/25/2018

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Doing more with less is critical for any team today, and the more we can support our teams with tools they can use and apply right away in their work the better.

There are dozens of different productivity tools which can help to facilitate focus, and action, on the part of team members. One that is really simple in sharing, and is likely to have immediate use in helping people get even more focused, is the IS/IS NOT tool. Straightforward in its' structure (which usually is the sign of a great productivity tool), this asks us to consider the question what is it and what is it not?

First, think about a current task or project you have this quarter. Maybe you are responsible for designing a new presentation or report for stakeholders. On one side of your page write out everything this presentation is, or is aiming to be. That might include, "the presentation is:
Aimed for fellow team members
Focused on the 5 things to....
Geared to get listeners up to speed with the project
Intended to create alignment
ETC.

On the next side of the page, list out "the presentation/report IS NOT..."
Longer than 10 minutes
A replacement for the other resources people need to review
Meant as a comprehensive briefing on the topic
ETC

This productivity tool is really useful when we delegate and hold a 1-1 to talk about the task, in terms of creating clear and shared expectations. It's also an invaluable tool for virtual team members or project members who are working through their own thinking on a project. Finally, this can be a great coaching tool, helping people work through/think through what the initiative IS and IS NOT to gain clarity, focus and alignment.

Let us know how you use the IS/IS NOT framework by sharing comments below.

Warm regards
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.

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#Teams365 #1140: Listening for Different Styles on Your Team

2/13/2017

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Some of the most effective teams bring complimentary styles. There is great strength in diversity and in working collaboratively it is important to provide time and space for all team members to become more aware of the unique contributions they make to the team. Part of this involves helping the team develop a better understanding of their strengths, as well as their skills and their unique styles.
Our styles shape how we communicate (and appreciate communication), how we make decisions, and also how we interpret information. For example, as someone who values the big picture I will listen for that rather than details. In making decisions, I may think of the big picture or strategic issues first, then the minute details of what needs to be done. If I am a leader with that style, I may have a bias for painting the big picture and the “WHY”, AND need to recognize that many team leaders may also need communication, and support, around the more granular details.
Whether you are using an Everything DiSC or an MBTI or other style assessments, an enhanced understanding of our styles can be of benefit to know:
·         What our own preferences are
·         How our preferences and styles can become augmented when we are under stress or pressure
·         How we need to adjust our style for those on the team that have a different preference and style
This week during your team meeting, get people to notice the type of language of different team members. What does that signal about how they interpret information, like to be supported, or how they make decisions?
For more on how to bring the Everything DiSC into your workplace, please contact me.

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#Teams365 #1067: Team Development A-Z - D is for Decision Making

12/2/2016

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Today we are at D in the Teams365 Team Development A-z Activities. I chose the topic of 5 minutes and I walk you through one way to create more alignment around decisions you and the team are facing.

Keep visiting us this fall for more ideas around team development as we move through the A-Z series.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized - Leadership and Team Development, Coaching, Retreats
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Email us to find out how we can support you and your team in getting your best results through coaching, training or a retreat program
(416)996-TEAM (8326)

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#TEams365 #952: New TEam LEader Tip #19: Decisions

8/9/2016

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Today's new team leader tip gets you thinking about how clear you are with decisions. Being clear on decisions not only means what is the end result, it's also being clear, and clearly communicating what's the process in different instances of how decisions are being made.

Being clear with decision making process
Being clear about the decision making process can be important in building and enhancing trust, and also in taking on the appropriate level of responsibility for leadership, while also involving the team where appropriate.
Questions to consider when you are thinking about the decision making process:
What amount of input is possible?
How was the decision made?
How and when will the decision be communicated?

Questions to consider around clearly communicating decisions:
Who needs to be informed?
When do they need to be informed?
What information is important to pass on?
Why is this decision important?
How does it connect with the work of each person you are talking to?
What implications will this decision have for individuals?

What lese is important for you to keep in mind around decisions?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Looking for more tips and ideas to support you in your work as a leader? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, full of tips, resources and hacks for leaders and team members looking to realize their potential. Sign up at http://bit.ly/teams365news

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Teams365 Blog

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

May 18th, 2018

#Teams365 #1576: Productivity Tool - Is/Is Not

#Teams365 #1140: Listening for Different Styles on Your Team

#Teams365 #1067: Team Development A-Z - D is for Decision Making

#TEams365 #952: New TEam LEader Tip #19: Decisions

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