Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #1876 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #82

2/18/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip is very similar to last week’s statement of “Consider the right modality for the right conversation”, but slightly different.

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip gets you to “Consider the right platform, for the right modality”. In today’s virtual space, there can be multiple channels we hold conversations on. From conference call lines, to Skype, to zoom, to WebEx. Some channels allow us to stream and see each other, while others only allow us to share our screen.

Consider these questions as you go to select the appropriate channel for your next conversation:

How important is it that we see each other?
How important is it for me to be able to share a PowerPoint deck or some slides?
How important is it for us to be able to chat with each other? And also save the chat log?
How important is it for us to be able to use annotation, where group members can make notation on the screen?
How important is it for us to be able to record the conversation and share it at a later date with those who could not attend?
How important is it for us NOT to be able to see each other?
How important is it for us to have the ability to break out into smaller conversation pods or breakouts (just like we would in the in-person environment for small group discussion).
What are connectivity and bandwidth issues like for the participants

The bulk of the coaching conversations and learning events I have hosted over the last fifteen years has been virtual. Every day I get to work with clients all over the world, not just in my city. With that in mind, each platform has its own pros and cons. Do some research into the different options.

Some of the ones I continue to use regularly are:

FreeConferenceCalling.com – for when clients want phone only service but one that also allows us to do breakouts
Zoom – My every day go-to where I host 95% of the programs I offer. The pro account offers breakouts, polls, recording, annotation and pretty much everything I could ever need to create engaging virtual sessions!
WebEx – usually the preferred platform of my corporate clients. Given that it often signals a more corporate conversation, people may not be as open to dialogue and interaction.

What are your favorite go-tos? I hope you’ll take a few minutes to share your experience in the comments below.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Join us for a conversation - connect at the Conversation Sparker Zone
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1869 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #81

2/11/2019

o There are many, many different types of conversations we can be having in the virtual space today – from virtual team meetings, to mentoring conversations, to coaching conversations.

In Effective Virtual Conversations I introduce 9 different parts of the virtual eco-system. These include:

Educational Events - Instructor/Facilitator led synchronous or asynchronous training through webinars, e-learning, webcasts
Peer to Peer Learning – Masterminds, Breakouts
Goal Setting
Informal Learning: Coaching/Training/Facilitating/Mentoring
Micro-Learning
Virtual Team Development
Video-Based Learning

Check out chapter 4 of Effective Virtual Conversations for more information about each of these different modalities.

What are the different types of conversations you are having? What makes them different from each other. As I write in EVC there can be a variety of individual versus peer-led conversations, formal approaches versus informal approaches.

It’s important to consider the right type of conversation which will be most impactful for the situation. For example, if someone wants to learn how to do something – i.e. replace a fan belt, a short video-based learning series might be most effective in demonstrating the replacement in action. This may be even more effective than pairing them with a mentor.

In contrast, if a team is looking to boost their connection and strengthen their goals, consider a live virtual facilitated team development session where they are meeting face to face, rather than putting them through a series of micro-learning modules delivered via your Learning Management System.

What are the best vehicles for upcoming conversations you have planned?
Also check out the Community Call I hosted on the different platforms for Effective Virtual Conversations. View it here.

Next week’s EVC tip will explore the related question of What’s the Best Platform for my conversation? Stay Tuned!

Best,
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
Join the conversation at our Conversation Sparker Zone - a community where you can connect and explore topics related to virtual conversations, virtual team issues, coaching and more!

#TEAMS365 #1862 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #80: one Platform

2/4/2019

It’s Monday and time for another Effective Virtual Conversations Tip. This week’s tip explores the tip of bringing everyone onto one virtual platform if possible.

With firewalls and varying connection from different locations, it can be common for virtual teams to have different team members connecting from different locations on different platforms. One person may only be able to call in while others may only be able to stream in.

While some of the barriers to connection may be out of our control, we want to try to bring everyone onto one virtual platform if possible.

There may be resistance on the part of team members to upgrade or try things different out, if there is too much of a learning curve, so you will want to make it worth everyone’s while.

At the same time, it is probable that you will have people connecting from different platforms due to their connection options, make sure you consider the needs of those that may be able to see, and those that may only be able to hear. Design for this. Also, be sure to consider if you can do some smaller group work, using breakouts bringing people of the same platform together. Check out this call for more!

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 #1855 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 79

1/28/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversation Tip is number 79 in the series.

The tip is a reminder of the importance of pacing and interactivity in virtual conversations. Whether it’s keeping the pace moving and making changes every 2 - 5 minutes as in a webinar, or whether it’s mixing things up and making it more interactive in your next team meeting, by structuring in at least 2 or 3 engagement opportunities for everyone, a rule of thumb which may be useful to aim towards is an engagement touchpoint every 5-7 minutes, especially when groups are not as connected or content is heavy.
Engagement touchpoints in these calls might look like:

Asking a question and having people comment via chat
Getting people to annotate on the screen where they are calling in from, or which of the shown items is their favorite
Using polling to capture insights and ideas from the group

If you are working with a virtual or remote team, you might use a variety of engagement strategies to create alignment and/or connection, or more awareness of who the team is. This might include:

Breakouts so different team members with similar or divergent areas share with each other for 5-10 minutes
Using the whiteboard to do real-time planning – for example, if you have a new project which has come on board, can you map it out together using annotation?
Use screenshots to capture key agreements and next steps – rather than going away to type up notes, can you be more strategic about capturing agreements and notes as part of your agreements. Circulate the screenshot (which is often saved as part of the recording) to everyone as the visual reminder.

What can you do to create more engagement in the virtual conversations you are facilitating?

Best,
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 #1848 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 78

1/21/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip # 78 is around video streaming. As I write “Streaming Matters”.
In today’s workplace, streaming where we can see those we are talking to has become more of the norm (although there are still many workplaces not equipped with webcams and other technology which allow streaming).
There are multiple benefits to enabling streaming for workplaces including for virtual and remote teams:

The ability to see each other helps to create an almost exact experience as the face-to-face environment.
We accrue much of our meaning through visual channels, and this helps with creating more aligned communication. We can see when people might not be in alignment with what they are saying, or we may be more attuned to the struggles or excitement they are feeling. Note that in the face to face communication world, we accrue more than 50 % of our message through body language. When we lose the visual stimuli, unless people’s skills in virtual communication are well honed, much of the intended message may get lost, or misconstrued.
We lean into visual cues to create trust. If I can see you, I may be more apt to trust you, agree with you or collaborate with you.
With better and closer relationships marked by higher levels of trust, more crucial conversations may be had in the virtual space. If people disagree, you may see this earlier, or people may feel more confident to share disagreements or alternative points of view, since they can see how the other person is interpreting it.

With technology continuing to improve, it’s much easier and budget friendly to use the technologies available. I continue to share the benefits of using technology such as Zoom for team meetings etc. Free accounts can benefit from 40-minute meetings.

What have you noticed about the benefits of shifting what conversations you can to the streaming or video-rich virtual environment? Please use the comments to share with us!

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 #1841 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 77

1/14/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 77 is “Vary Approaches”. The key to more engaging virtual conversations on webinars, in conference calls and also in virtual team meetings is to vary approaches.

Most technologies today allow for a variety of ways to keep the conversation going. You might choose to:

Use breakouts – and have people pair off or meet in smaller groups.
Use annotation and mark up their thoughts on the screen, circle their responses.
Incorporate a poll. You might integrate an external poll such as Kahoot, or use an internal polling function on platforms like zoom. Polls can be used to incorporate people’s feedback and shape the call, or to get insights and feedback on different ideas.
Use more visuals. Visuals of all kinds can also create a bit more focus and engagement. Whether it’s a provocative image, a mapping of a process flow, a model which, or a photograph which creates a metaphor for a complex issue.

If you have a 30-minute meeting incorporating one or two different approaches can make it more memorable, which in today’s world is important, given that many professionals spend the day moving from meeting to meeting, with each meeting becoming a blur. In terms of next steps “Being Memorable” is key to landing near the top of the to do list!

Enjoy the start to your week,
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 #1838 – FlashbackFriday: Virtual Facilitation – Creating More Engagement

1/11/2019

My 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, takes a deeper dive into creating more engaging virtual conversations. With many meetings shifting into the virtual space, being able to host effective virtual meetings and conference calls is critical. The added complexities of not always seeing each other, or being able to follow up directly, means that meetings are not always effective. Check out this past Wednesday’s prompt on 8 Essential Meeting Questions (Productivity Tip 9 of 19 for 2019), as well as stay tuned to the upcoming post on Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversation Tip.

I’m reaching back today in this FlashbackFriday post to Teams365 #1015 where I shared these additional tips for creating more engaging conversations:

“Key to creating engaging and interactive virtual events is in pace and interactivity. To avoid the death by conference call mode, consider how you are able to adjust pacing for maximum interactivity.
Different ways to change pace include –

Asking a question
Getting people to annotate using pens, markers
Asking people to comment in the chat box
Creating breakout groups. Just like in person events, many services allow you to use breakout groups. Whether you pair people automatically or manually these can provide for a deeper level of conversation. Consider what opportunities you can leverage with breakouts and also how much time is needed for people to have a good discussion. It can take people several minutes to set themselves up as they arrive in their virtual domain.
Creating a pause where you get people to take notes or complete an activity in silence real time
Introducing a different media – i.e. showing a video you have created, or introducing a cartoon

What approaches do you want to use to introduce different pace changes?”

Enjoy your weekend!
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 #1834: Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 76 – Keep it Simple

1/7/2019

We are back to the Effective Virtual Conversations Tips today, returning back with a quote I say regularly as it relates to virtual work – “Keep it simple, not simplistic”.
When working with groups, or virtually, this is an important mantra to live by. The complexity we face is usually in the group members we work with, or the inevitable glitches that technology can create.

Keeping things simple helps us to:

Focus on what’s important, and what the key message is (think 3 bullet points, rather than 30 pages!)
Focus on process and flow
Provide clear instructions
Connect people early on to their WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) so that they are able to listen for, and connect with, things that are important for them

Keeping things simple does not mean that we oversimplify things. Rather, it means that we leave space for the message to get heard.
Think about what is going to keep it simple for our learners and what they will value.

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 #1827 – Taking a look Back at the Teams365 Blog for 2018

12/31/2018

This year marked the fifth year of daily blog posts for me here at the Teams365 blog which is geared for professionals interested in leadership and teamwork issues. Writing regularly has become a large part of my professional routine.

There’s no doubt that you may not have caught all 365 of the daily posts this year. Here’s a high level overview of the monthly focus areas:
January - Kick off for 2018 – Read them here
February – Relationships, Trust and Connection – Read them here
March – Teams and Team Resources – Read them here
April – Styles in a Team, Productivity Tools – Read them here
May – Complexity, Productivity and Planning Tools – Read them there
June – Feedback and Performance Conversations – Read them here
July 2018 - Team Development in focus – Check out the July posts here
August 2018 – Gearing up for back to work - Read them here
September 2018 - Virtual Work, Things to do with your teams – Check out the posts
October 2018 – Teamwork Skills in focus- Read through October posts here
November 2018 – Turning our attention to year end with posts including 5 things to get in your calendar for 2019, right now!, Planning for Year End Activities for your Team, Bringing Projects to a close – Read through November posts here
December 2018 – the start of the 19 Productivity Tips for 2019. Read through December posts here

These joined our regular series:
Monday – Effective Virtual Conversations Posts
Thursday – Team Building Tip Posts
Weekend Journaling Prompts
And Friday Flashbacks

As I reflect back on the year that was, I am very thankful for the many milestones which included:

The launch of two workbook and planners (Coaching Business Builder, and the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner)
The launch of both the Teams365 Leadership Lab and the Coaching Biz Growth Lab - two annual programs that joined the Learning Lab and Design Studio as year-long group coaching and group learning programming options for professionals and their own virtual development.
Training more than 300 coaches in the areas of Group and Team Coaching via the Group Coaching Essentials and Advanced Practicum programs.
Leading three sets of Virtual Learning Training for professionals to become more proficient and confident leading webinars, virtual coaching and virtual training and team development sessions via the five-week Virtual Facilitation Essentials (approved for 8.5 hours of CCEs).
Supporting a wide variety of teams and leaders this year from health care, education, to financial services, to global leadership, in the areas of team effectiveness, virtual leadership
Continued growth of readership here at the Teams365 blog. Page views most weeks surpassed 10,000 views a week.

I look forward to continuing the conversation with you in 2019!

Happy new year!

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 #1820 – Monday December 24 – Effective Virtual Conversation Tips – A year and a half in review

12/24/2018

For the last year and a half on Mondays I have included a weekly Effective Virtual Conversations Tip. Last July 2018, I published Effective Virtual Conversations, and it’s been well embraced around the world. Jammed with tips on making your virtual conversations more effective, and some resources around holding more effective virtual meetings, and leading virtual teams more effectively, EVC is a great bookshelf resource for those that are having most of their conversations in the virtual space.

Starting next week in 2019, I’ll be shifting my focus to PlanDoTrack Tips, to reflect my latest resource publication. Part workbook, part planner, it’s geared for virtual and remote team members, leaders and virtual businesses.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
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 - Pock Up a copy today on Amazon