Since it’s launch on October 1st of 2021, I’ve continued to hear how much leaders, teams and coaches enjoy the 90-Day Guide for Success. It’s being used in organizations including public sector, health care and also tech. 
I thought it would be useful to reach back to the introductory post around the 90-Day Guide for Success in Fall of 2021. Here’s how I introduced it back then, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, do take a look at the recent video I did around it.

I’m very excited to announce book #2 in the Reconnecting Workspaces series. My vision with this body of work is that there will be a series of a dozen books in the series, over the next several years. The pandemic has made it apparent that remote work, and the need for connecting workplaces everywhere, is multi-layered. With that in mind, I am very pleased to announce the release of the 90-Day Guide. Here’s what it’s all about, according to the back-cover:

While 3 Billion people went digital overnight, few know how to work and thrive in the evolving workspace. While many felt they had the tools to work in an office, what’s needed in today’s virtual, remote and hybrid space?

What if you had tools and practices to help you thrive? What if you had a coach in your corner every day?

The 90 Day Guide to Success provides you with one 15-minute focus a day you can engage with, gaining clarity around what’s possible.

From delegation, to teamwork practices, getting organized, to navigating key relationships, work styles and conflict, this resource will be a go-to companion and touchpoint as you navigate your remote and hybrid work adventures.
This is an essential survival guide for the ongoing evolution of today’s virtual, remote and hybrid workspace. It’s delivered in daily bite-sized pieces to support you with the Daily Steps + Consistent Action which will create the Momentum you need.
*****

Here’s what Pegotty Cooper indicated about it:
“I was so drawn in by the range of potential development that Jennifer Britton structures in such an easy-to-implement way.  From laying the foundation with so many provocative questions to ask yourself about the beliefs and habits that make up your work – work that has been dramatically impacted by globalization and technology; to the challenge of integrating all of that into our basic human needs of trust and connection.  And from that bigger picture to the nitty-gritty of how I do it, whether it is getting to know others in our virtual world to how do I measure what’s actually  getting done or having those difficult conversations to restore that trust between us. I can’t wait to see for myself how the next 90 days go!!!”

Pegotty Cooper, President, Specialty Coach Training Inc, and co-founder of the CDC Certified Divorce Coach Program

Pegotty has spent many years training coaches around the world  to support individuals and families  through the most difficult times in their lives to have a voice and retain their dignity in the process.     
 
I hope that you will enjoy the book and join us for the daily 730 am ET calls. Whether you join us on Zoom, YouTube or ClubHouse, it’s always about “daily focus + consistent action” to create momentum for you!
 
This week, we’re going to be exploring more of Chapter 7 of Reconnecting Workspaces, and you can follow along with some of these upcoming posts:

Enjoy your conversation!
Jennifer
 
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials 
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326
 
Check out my TEDx talk

 ​Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

Yesterday’s video of the week brough to life Teams365 #1188 – 6 Ingredients Teams Need to Excel in a VUCA world. How many of these do you focus on as a team, formally or informally?

Let’s go back to the basics and take a look at the original blog post that inspired the video:
#Teams365 #1188: Half A Dozen Ingredients For Today's Teams
4/12/2017
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Only a few short years ago ongoing uncertainty and change was more the blip than an every day reality. Today teams operate in a context of ongoing change - in what we commonly refer to VUCA - Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Take a look at past Teams365 posts which have expanded on this notion of VUCA.

With this ongoing change, some of our core team ingredients become even more enhanced. Here are half a dozen elements, or ingredients, I think any team can benefit from today.

While our end results or actual goals may change more rapidly than before, these factors help us with alignment and the ability to move together:

• Clarity around values and what is important to us.
• Our behavioral norms and how we do things;
• How we have each other's backs, or our level of commitment to each other, our work and/or results;

Teams which excel in today's VUCA world are also:
Knowledgeable about each other -Teams that can thrive in this context are knowledgeable about each other. They know their preferences (how they work together) and their strengths. They also are attuned to work styles - so knowing who on the team might be better working with details or the big picture.

Able to adapt, experiment and iterate -  With change being the new norm, our ability as teams collectively and as individual professionals, to adapt, experiment, and iterate takes on new meaning. what are you noticing about these qualities in your work and/or industry?

Comfortable with the unknown or new - given the amount of change which is occurring in some contexts, we are having to experiment and iterate on a daily, or sometimes hourly basis. Being comfortable with not having an answer, or knowing that you will have to experiment is a very different way of working that many have been trained.

What do see as essential ingredients for successful teamwork in your context?

Best
Jennifer
 
Haven’t seen the video yet? Check it out and share it with your team to spark a discussion on how you are focusing on these:  6 Ingredients for Teams in VUCA 
​

Change is everywhere right now. From major shifts in the workspace to economics and geo-political events. Being able to adapt and be resilient are key skills. For today’s Flashback Friday I thought it would be valuable to take a look at an older post on being a change catalyst – as relevant today as it was when I wrote it:
As we continue our journey through the Emotional Intelligence sub-competencies of relationship management, change catalyst is another key skill in leadership today.  Today the norm for most leaders is working in ever changing contexts, and needing to adapt "on the fly". 

According to Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, leaders high in this competency "are able to recognize the need for change, challenge the status quot, and champion the new order. They can be strong advocates for the change even int he face of opposition, making the argument for it compellingly. They also find practical barriers to change".

As you think about your skills, where do they reside in this area of being a change catalyst?

Part of being a change catalyst is also recognizing how people go through change. Roger's change model identified six different stages or ways people may approach the change process:. You may have members on your team who are innovators (those that are eager to create change), early adopters (those who embrace the change early on), early majority (those who get on the bus relatively early), late majority (those who slowly adapt/get on the bus with change) and the laggards (those who resist change). Being aware of who will be advocates for change on the team is just as important as recognizing those who might need more support, conversation/attention throughout any change process.

What do you recognize in yourself about how you respond to, and initiate, change?

Originally published at:
​https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-504-emotional-intelligence-change-catalyst 

I thought it would be interesting today to take a look back at a short 5 minute video which was part of the A-Z of Team Development series from 2017. It actually hasn’t dated so enjoy today’s flashback and video – 

We are at S in our A-Z journey of different team development activities. S brings us to strengths. There is a huge business case for creating environments where strengths are leveraged within teams. From my many years as a team developer I have found that having dialogue and doing work around helping team members understand their unique contributions and strengths can go a long way. It can help a team understand where their collective strengths are as well as gaps. It can also help a team understand where they may be overcompensating or overfocusing because of their natural abilities.

There are many great resources to look at Strengths including StrengthsFinder 2.0, as well as the VIA Strengths Survey which focuses more on Signature Strengths.

Listen in as I share  a little more about strengths in this short 5 minute video: 

What can you do to focus more on strengths?

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Article by Jennifer Britton, Potentials Realized | Mentor Roadmap

©Jennifer Britton 2014, All Rights Reserved

Mentoring plays a key role in the development of talent within organizations, and is often overlooked or underutilized. Increasingly organizations are viewing it as an important part of their succession and talent management process, in addition to being a useful approach during onboarding. While many mentoring programs focus on growing the next generation of leaders, mentoring programs can also support career transition across industries and diversity initiatives within organization. Mentoring plays an important role in building relationships across and organization and/or industry.

Throughout the mentoring relationship mentors provide opportunities for the protégé to learn based on real life experiences. A powerful tool for understanding organizational culture. Mentors also help protégés understand really how things get done, and the politics in an organization. Mentors can be a powerful, and positive, person in your network.  How might mentoring benefit your organization?

As you start to establish mentoring within your organization and formalize a mentoring process, there are several areas you will want to consider. These include:

Clarify the roles and responsibilities of mentors and mentees/protégés - In successful mentoring relationships expectations are clear. The roles and responsibilities of both the mentor and mentee are discussed at the start of the mentoring conversation. Pairings know who will be initiating meetings, and what type of support each party wants and can provide to the other. Mentoring can benefit from a clearly defined start and end to the process. Early on create expectations round how frequently partners should meet for. As part of the process of mentoring it can be useful to hold a short kick-off session, which may also involve some training and expectation setting for the wider group of mentors and protégés.

Have mentees set the goals - Having two or three specific goal areas in focus helps to structure the mentoring conversation. Mentees should spend time at the start of the process to identify and share with the mentor key areas they would like support in. It will also be useful to have the portage set the agenda each conversation. Some mentors may ask protégés to email focus areas few days before the session, whereas others may be more comfortable addressing the mentees needs in the moment.

The life cycle of the mentoring relationship has several distinct phases. In the first meeting, mentors and mentees will want to share more about their background, and their expectations for mentoring process. At this time is also very useful to identify together when, where and how you will meet. Be clear with each other on what’s going to work best for both of you. Some compromise and flexibility may be required on both of your parts. Another alternative may be to schedule some of your meetings by phone or skype, particularly if you are situated in different offices or geographic locations.  Discussion around topics such as confidentiality is also important as the mentor will likely be sharing real examples based on their experience.

As you get to know each other and connections progress, check in around what’s working well with the mentoring relationship and what is not. It is important to be honest and frank with each other, particularly if expectations are not aligned.

As the mentoring relationship comes to a close, build in time to have the mentee identify their learning from the process. We often say that mentoring is a two-way street and hopefully mentors will learn as much from their experience as well. As a mentor, consider what your greatest learning has been throughout your conversations. At the end of a mentoring process in your organization it can be useful to bring mentors and mentees together, even virtually, for the sharing of lessons learned, best practices and other evaluation feedback. This can feed forward into the next cohort of mentoring conversations. Several of the protégés may opt to become a mentor in future program rounds.

Core Skills in the Mentoring Process

There are several skill sets which enhance the mentoring process. As a mentor, lead with core skills such as listening and powerful questions. Mentoring is not just about sharing your experience, it is also about supporting the mentee with new insights and perspectives around their work. Listen closely for what they need. Do not assume you know.

Mentoring is a conversation to support the mentee in also identifying what they know and where they want to go.  In asking questions it is often useful to lead with a WHAT? For example, “What’s another perspective around that ?”OR “What did you learn from that experience?”. WHAT questions invite conversation and dialogue, whereas WHY questions may put people on the defensive, and HOW questions often lead us into process and thinking about how things are done.

Other core skills which mentors may use include sharing observations and providing feedback. Sometimes mentees may also want you to be an accountability partner.  Others may want to be acknowledged. Ask what they would like from the mentoring process and what role they would like you to play. Finally inquire about the approaches they would like you to incorporate - providing stories, leading you to resources, providing links to best practices.

In closing, successful mentoring partnerships benefit both the mentor and mentee. It is an underutilized approach for growth and development. Consider how you can expand mentoring within your organization or industry.

Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

About the Author

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT is the founder of Potentials Realized, a performance improvement company focusing on leadership development, teamwork, and coaching skills training. We have designed award winning mentor programs, and provide Mentor Program Support and Training through the Mentor RoadMap ™ . Jennifer  is the author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2009) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013). For more information about mentoring skills training and support contact Jennifer Britton at (416)996-8326. You can visit us online at Potentials Realized.com which includes the Teams365 blog for Leaders, and the MentorRoadMap.com.  You can email us at info@potentialsrealized.com.