Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

TEAMS365 #2212 – 20 for 2020 – Day 20 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 128

1/20/2020

Creating connection across the team quickly is an important part of building the capacity of a remote team, especially when they only get to see each other infrequently.

Today’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip invites you to consider using the question “What’s on your desk?”, to provide a wider perspective for the team to explore what is important and a priority for each team member. In the remote space, we may only see the backdrop to people’s workspace. What would it be like to have people pan real time their workspace, or share a photo of what’s physically on their desk? It might also be interesting to have people share the top 3 priorities for their week. This can help the team gain a new, and wider, appreciation of what’s important and happening in each person’s world. It can also help the team to make connections between their work and others that they may not have “SEEN” (no pun intended!) before.

What’s on your desk?

What would a picture of your desk convey to others? ….here’s a shot of mine right now…

All the best,
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 start 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.

Winter 2019 programs start this week including the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual focus on coaching business development), GroupCoachingEssentials (8.75 CCEs), the Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs) and the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (8.5 CCEs) - geared to support you in creating more exceptional virtual conversations. Finally the Mentor Coaching Group for Winter 2020 will begin - aimed at coaches who are working towards their ACC, PCC or renewing.

TEAMS365 #2205 – 20 for 2020 – Day 13: Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 127 : Remote Team Culture

1/13/2020

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip explores the topic of building team culture. Creating a strong team culture as a remote team is of benefit in many ways. First, it helps boost a sense of identify and belonging. Many remote workers today feel isolated or disconnected. A strong team culture can be one element in helping people feel connected to others and to a bigger purpose.
Team culture consists of several elements including HOW we do things. Our team culture includes our agreements, our norms – what’s acceptable and what’s not, our values (which help with decision making, prioritizing, as well as the more visible elements of culture – the way we sign our emails, how we hold meetings, plus any other team differentiators.

In addition to boosting a sense of belonging, team culture is critical when remote team members may be part of multiple teams. For example, if I am part of a Central North America Team, as well as being part of the learning team. The learning team may have values around communication, expedience, learning and experimentation. This may translate to agreements around how fast we communicate, how we share alternative points of view, and how much autonomy we have in getting things done. A strong team culture will help us understand these elements as well.

Given that my learning team culture is distinct from the North American team culture, I can differentiate in the different relationships, meetings and tasks what’s important. In contrast, the NA team may value metrics, efficiency (different than expedience), business cases, and brevity. What is prioritized and what is expected will be different.

Culture in a remote space can be invisible unless we make a point of making it visible and tangible. It can be seen in our processes, our communication, our language and even branding. Making it as explicit as possible, and naming it is also an important part of remote team success.

What can you be doing to make your remote team or organizational culture more visible and intentional?

For more on culture, check out the past posts I have written on Team Culture.

Enjoy!
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 start 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.

Winter 2019 programs start this week including the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual focus on coaching business development), GroupCoachingEssentials (8.75 CCEs), the Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs) and the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (8.5 CCEs) - geared to support you in creating more exceptional virtual conversations. Finally the Mentor Coaching Group for Winter 2020 will begin - aimed at coaches who are working towards their ACC, PCC or renewing.

TEAMS365 #2198 – 20 Ideas for 2020 – Day 6 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 126: #RemoteTeam Tip

1/6/2020

It’s Monday which means that we are back to the Effective Virtual Conversations tip day. It’s 126 in the series, and today’s tip is “Learn about each other”.

Successful teams aren’t simply CLEAR about the results they need, they are also knowledgeable about, and connected with, each other. This week’s Remote Team Tip is all about taking some time in your upcoming meetings to learn about each other.

While some teams will choose to make a strategic investment in structured team development activities throughout the year, many teams may choose to incorporate something into their weekly meetings. Either approach can work well, if it’s done consistently.

As someone who is often brought in to facilitate Team Days, I know how valued the connection piece is by other team members. Feelings of isolation and working alone are prevalent in the remote working space, and helping team members learn about WHO is WHO, and what people do, is an essential component to team development.

In the 20 Activities for Remote Teams, there are a number of structured activities you can facilitate with your team.

Some other ideas include:

Dedicating time each team meeting to having one person’s role “in the spotlight”. They may have the floor for 5-15 minutes during a meeting to share what they do, their priorities and possibly a little bit about what’s unique about their context.
Having team members work together in smaller pairs around team building activities or real-time team problem solving.
Having people share what’s outside their screen or window – see chapter 7 of Effective Virtual Conversations around this.

Also check out Teams365 2097 – Remote Team Activities – for more info.

Want to learn more about how a team day could support your team’s results and relationships? Let’s talk. Email me to set up a conversation to learn more about the Team Days I facilitate (virtually of course!).

All the best,
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 start 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.

Winter 2019 programs start this week including the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual focus on coaching business development), GroupCoachingEssentials (8.75 CCEs), the Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs) and the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (8.5 CCEs) - geared to support you in creating more exceptional virtual conversations. Finally the Mentor Coaching Group for Winter 2020 will begin - aimed at coaches who are working towards their ACC, PCC or renewing.

TEAMS365 #2190 – Week in Review: New YEar Planning, Celebration, Pauses

12/29/2019

This week we’ve covered a wide range of topics including:

Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversation Tip #125, taking a look back at the vault to EVC Tip #25. Take a look at that post here.
Tuesdays focus on Traditions. Read it here
Wednesday’s Season’s Greetings pause for the holidays. Read it here.
Thursday’s Team Building Tip of CELEBRATE. Read it here.
Friday’s questions to get you thinking about your vision for the new year and decade - 10 Questions for Creating Your New Years Plan. Read it here.
Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompt getting you to think about what you want to invest in

It's been a great year here at the Teams365 blog. I'll be giving a fuller breakdown next week on what we covered this year here at the blog but some of the core themes for the year were:
January - Productivity
February – Collaboration and Relationships
March –Virtual Team Culture
April – Teamwork and Team Essentials
May- Teamwork in Uncertainty
June – Team Tune up, systems check, and feedback

I hope that you will take a few minutes and check out some of the posts related to the topics which are important for you right now. You can search for specific blog posts by using the search box above.

If you prefer to listen using your device, a reminder that the Remote Pathways podcast I co-host can be found on your favorite podcast player.

Listen into the first three episodes of the Remote Pathways podcast here.

Enjoy the review!
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 #2177 – Monday December 16 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 124

12/16/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip focuses on “Embracing Your Differences”. When we work in the remote space, it’s likely that our conversations are going to take us to a place that may be more diverse and varied than if we were working face-to-face. Time zone differences, role differences, industry differences, geographic and cultural differences, provide the opportunity to learn more about the wider world, and also ourselves.

As someone whose career over the last three decades has spanned countries, cultures and industries (along with the face-to-face and virtual worlds), one thing that is important in creating effective virtual conversations is to “embrace your differences”.

Part of a great virtual conversation is that there is sufficient trust and connection amongst group members. Without this it’s likely that we are all going to disengage. In a virtual conversation we want to provide opportunities for individuals to both celebrate and honor the differences that exist, while also finding the common ground. While some people might think that this is a dichotomy, it really is more of a creative tension.

Practically it will involve you providing a series of different types of focus:

A focus on self, and a focus on the group
A focus on who I am uniquely as a group member, and a focus on what’s common with other group members

When we help group members explore these various layers, they are able to lean into the conversation with each other, creating more trust and connection.

Chapter 7 of Effective Virtual Conversations provides a variety of instructions on different types of exercises you might incorporate across your virtual calls. Most can be adapted to have a focus on these areas for exploration.

Best,
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 #2170 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 123: Remote Teams

12/9/2019

For many years, I have shared the research with teams that they excel when they focus on both relationships and results. The same holds true for remote teams as well.

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip gets you thinking about what you are doing to help remote teams explore both their results and relationships.

A focus on results can include:

Their goals
Their vision
Clarity around communication, tasks and focus
How we measure success
Leadership
Roles

Relationship focus may explore:

How much we know and trust each other
Understanding our connections
Understanding what our styles, and preferences are
How we work across differences, conflict and difficult issues

What are the things you need to focus on as a team?

In the remote space, taking time to build out the relationship focus is essential. We want to make sure that we are exploring who we are, what our strengths are, how we prefer to work, what helps and what hinders our work. No person is an island in any work context today. What opportunities are you creating to ensure that there is a focus on relationships in the team?

Could there be a component that you build into your next team meeting that focuses on having people share what they are working on and/or a little about their work. You might even consider undertaking some work around strengths or other areas.

What are the things you want to focus in around as a team right now?

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 #2163 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 122: Remote Team Tip

12/2/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip brings us to #122 in the series. You can read others here.

This week’s tip also takes us into a Remote Team Tip. As someone who has spent the majority of my career working either leading remote teams, or supporting remote teams, I always know the importance of connecting people. As I often say in the remote space “Remote does not equal disconnected”. While it may seem that people are far away, business is still done via relationships and we need to take time to proactively build relationships. Trust and connection are still key in this work.

Remote team practices are at the heart of communication and relationships. Team practices might mean a consistent Monday morning huddle or a virtual working session every last Thursday afternoon of the month.

What are the practices you have evolved as a team?

What helps you be successful?

What else do you think is important to take note of?

Enjoy your conversations,
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 #2156 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #121: Remote Team Tip: Keep It Consistent

11/25/2019

It’s Monday which means that it’s time for another Effective Virtual Conversations tip. This week’s tip is a remote team tip.

A 2018 survey carried out by Indeed.ca found that 65% of employers surveyed found that their employees were more productive when working remote. While many employees want to work remote for flexibility reasons (less commute time, more focused break, being able to navigate caretaking responsibilities), some remote workers may be concerned that they are less visible.

I’ve been enjoying working and writing more in this topic area of remote work and if you listen to podcasts, I would invite you to connect in to the new Remote Pathways Podcast I am co-hosting with Michelle Mullins.

In the remote space, consistency is key. When we see things through micro-windows (i.e. the short amount of time we are on the screen) and given the vast balance of time spent working individually and alone, CONSISTENCY can take on a new level of importance.

On a remote team level, consistency can include a focus on consistency as it relates to meetings, process, procedures, systems, and communication.

Consider:

Meetings - How often are you meeting as a team? It can be beneficial to get in the habit of holding meetings consistently. For example, every Tuesday morning at 9 am ET. For those on the west coast it may mean an earlier start time, but people can start to plan their day and schedule around this. Booking in advance can help to anchor and protect those time windows.
Process and systems - Consistency is key for a remote team, spread across multiple levels. Investing time in clear processes and systems ensure a consistent output and standardization across a team. We know that it’s important for team members to have shared goals and performance measures. What do you need to look at as it relates to creating consistency around process?
Procedures - Related to process, there may be procedures which need tightening up, as the team grows and expands. Consider reporting and sharing of information. What are the things that need to be looked at?

Communication is most likely the one that can benefit from the enhanced focus. Consistently communicating messages that are important is key, especially when team members may have different preferences in terms of how they connect in. What do you notice about communication needs and preferences?

All the best,
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 2155: Week In review - Last Mile, Systems, and Black Friday Specials

11/24/2019

It's Sunday which means that it's time for another Week in Review. You'll find the posts listed below.

Before we get there, a couple of exciting announcements:

First, the Remote Pathways Podcast which I am co-hosting with Michelle Mullins is going live this week. The podcast will follow the people, places and pathways of remote work. We're exploring the landscape of 12 types of remote work - from professional coaches, to project managers, sales professionals, to those attached to larger offices working remote several days a month, to remotepreneurs.

My writing around Remote Pathways and the Digital Dozen started this past summer as part of a literacy fundraiser is was part of called the Muskoka Novel Marathon. It's exciting to see how that writing set the seeds for the podcast and also a guide for new remote workers which will be published in 2020. Stay tuned.

You can check out the first episode of Remote Pathways here. more info on how to subscribe coming soon. It's already available via Spotify

The second announcement is that my annual Black Friday sales have started and are on until December 3rd. This year I am offering discounts of several of the digital products including the Conversation Sparker Cards, and 20 AReas to support Remote and Virtual Teams (ebook), as well as a 35% discount on my two annual groups - Learning Lab and Design Studio (geared for coaches, trainers, facilitators and other program designers), and the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (for coaches growing their business). I hope you'll take advantage of these savings over the next week! Check out the savings at the Potentials Realized store!

So now, onto this past week's blog posts:

Saturday's Weekly Journaling Prompt #72 - What path are you on? Read it here

Friday's Flashback - Team Wrap-up Questions - earmark for year-end conversations! Read it here

Thursday's Team Building Tip #262 - What's Getting in the Way? Read it here.

Wednesday's Systems to Scale - Read it here

Tuesday's The Last Mile. Read it here

Monday's Effective Virtual Conversation Tip #120 - Creating More Memorable Virtual Calls. Read it here.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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.

TEAMS 365 #2149 – Effective Virtual Conversations #120: Creating More Memorable Virtual Calls

11/18/2019

This week’s blog post focuses in on the important topic of retention, or memorability of calls.

It’s likely that the call you are hosting today is one of many virtual sessions people are dropping into. What are you going to do to make it memorable?

As I shared in Teams365 15 Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #37 – As Suzuki Writes: “We make things memorable when things are novel, surprizing, emotional and attention grabbing”. What are the things you can be doing to create this?

A couple of things that we can do to make it memorable include:
Jazzing it up – including a video you have created or something a creator has shared on YouTube. (Always be sure to confirm usage rights, and when in doubt, reach out!).

Provide an opportunity for people to talk about their experiences in smaller groups. Check out if breakouts are an option in your platform. If so, could you build in a 5-10 minute section where people share how the topic connects to them and what they can do.

Prime people for the fact that the call is going to be different than usual. Let people know what you can expect. Start your call off differently – perhaps with something more personally involved than others. Note that as people are coming onto a call it may take them a few minutes to get grounded. We may be unfocused based on what we are experiencing.

IN addition to talking about the topic, are there some graphics which can be incorporated into the session? What additional follow up can people engage with? Note that you may want to consider both pre and post work.

As I shared earlier this year in my March 2019 Effective Virtual Conversations calls, Ebbinghaus did initial research on what we retain and what we remember. He created what is now known as the forgetting curve. In essence, as time progresses, as days progressed, we remember even less.

And so how can we boost that? There are several things that he found really made a difference. The meaningfulness of the information, the way it's represented, as well as some physiological factors, stress, sleep, et cetera.
Using some of the techniques I’ve outlined in the first part of the blog post may also help to boost retention. What do you want to incorporate to support enhanced retention?

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.