Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2543 – Hybrid Work 101 – Making It Work

12/16/2020

Not so long from now, as a vaccine becomes a reality for many, teams, organizations and businesses are likely to be making the shift back into the office for some. With hybrid work arrangements, it’s important to take a look at the following:

Head back to the basics of teams,

Remember the Remote Work Enablers – these are all still important as we move into hybrid work arrangements, the 7 remote enablers are still critical levers for successful workplace results and relationships. The 7 Remote Work Enablers includes:

Connection
Communication
Clarity
Community
Culture
Collaboration
And Consistency

Which area, or areas, could use more attention?

Revisit your processes - What needs to change when some people are in the office, and others are still working from home, what work processes need to change?

Keep everything simple - One of the mantras of 2020 has been to “keep everything simple”. The complexity is around us when we work remotely, and when we shift to hybrid work arrangements, new layers of complexity emerge – some people working at home/others in the office; a sense that things have returned to how they “once were” when in fact we may be a different business than we were before.

Keeping things simple involves simplifying our practices and processes.

What do you need to simplify?

Related to this is to ensure that there are ways to keep things moving in a way that works for the different styles. Consider bringing things online and moving things forward in a way that works for those who remain virtual and those who are in an office space.

It’s likely to be many more months before a hybrid workplace arrangement exists. What do you want to take note of?

Enjoy!
Jennifer

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

TEAMS365 #2468 - Flashback Friday - #1976 - Teamwork in Uncertainty - Synergy

10/2/2020

Many teams globally are needing to continue to redefine how they operate, and one thing is clear; collaboration is essential. Part of collaboration is learning how to synergize. How to blend skills and fuse them together. How to break things down into different packets and weave them together.

This week, I wanted to reach back to a post I originally shared in 2019 – Teamwork in Uncertainty – Synergy. Let’s take a look at what I wrote then:

When situations are complex and uncertain, it may be difficult to bring all the skills required for success. Therefore, being able to focus in on leveraging the skills that are available to you as a group or team can help maximize your skill base as well as what is available to you.

As I wrote in yesterdays’ post, knowing our strengths is important on the individual and team levels.

In synergy, we are looking at how 1+1 equals more than 2.

If you have completed some strengths-based work, some additional questions to explore as a team are:

What the core strengths we bring as a collective?
What can we harness as a team?
Where might we be over-developed?
What is missing?
Where are the gaps?
When we think about current projects what strengths would benefit them?
Who is best suited to support which project?
What else is important to note?

In situations of uncertainty, it can be important to consider risk, and also contingencies. Given that contexts may be changing rapidly leading from strengths allows us to do things quicker and with less energy expended, freeing up focus and energy for other items.

What is important to note around synergy?

All the best,
Jennifer

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

Join us September 17th for the one-day Stand Out Virtually! STtdio Day Masterclass - Learn more about creating exceptional virtual presentations, meetings and programs, and leave the day with your next one sketched out!

TEAMS365 #2418 – Team Building Tip 258

8/13/2020

This week’s Team Building Question may seem a bit provocative, and in the remote space, it’s critical that we ask it – What’s not being spoken about?

When trust levels are high the question “what’s not being spoken about” can open up the doorway for a great dialogue. When trust levels are low, this question might seem very provocative.

The answer to this question can shine the light on areas you need to explore as a team, or areas to keep in min.

Here are a few other questions to keep in mind this week:

What other areas haven’t you explored, or spoken about?
What is taboo in terms of looking at as a team?
What ideas are never surfaced?
What’s not safe about bringing up an alternative view?

Enjoy your conversation,
Jennifer

PS - Take a minute and be sure to join us over at the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub as well on Facebook. You can join us here.

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

TEAMS365 #2394 – Effective Virtual Conversations 159: Remote Leadership Skill- Working Across Differences

7/20/2020

The skill set of “working across differences” has always been an important skill set for those of us working across distance. From time zone differences, to cultural differences, to technical differences, and language differences, there are so many things which make us all unique as part of a remote team.

In order to work across differences, we will want to:

Help people identify and articulate their own strengths and uniqueness
Support the team to see where common ground resides
Support the team to note where gaps exist
Support the team in understanding people’s preferences
Support the team in establishing shared agreements of how they want to work together. These behavioral norms shape our team culture – who we are and how we do things. It’s an important part of understanding what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable on the team.

With this knowledge in mind, and the tasks at hand, note what elements we each need to magnify and what we may also minimize.

As I wrote in June 2016:

There are a variety of differences which show up in teams every day -
from styles to technical skills.

Different approaches can be a source of strength if people are confident and knowledgeable in working across differences.

Some of these are signals that different styles may be at play:

A look of confusion when one team member is speaking
Conflict
Multiple misunderstandings regarding what is being said or what needs to get done

Tips for working across differences:
* Spend time working on the relationship. Know what you uniquely bring, your
strengths, talents and preferences.
* How does this mesh with the collective? How might it not?
* What do others value?
* What adaptations are needed to your approaches?

Best,
Jennifer

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

TEAMS365 #2388 – Back to the Basics – Feedback

7/14/2020

This week we are heading “back to the basics” again. This week’s focus is feedback. Out of so many areas teams could focus on, feedback doesn’t always make it to the top of the list. We know from research (Gottman’s work and Barbara Frederickson’s work), that teams that excel are good at both giving constructive and positive feedback.

In the work I do, it’s important to help teams build muscles in both areas.

First, constructive feedback is critical, especially if we are in a virtual and remote team and can’t see each other regularly.

When we provide constructive feedback, which helps people explore WHAT they can do differently or better, we want to make sure our feedback is.

Specific - Don’t talk in generalities. Talk about specific examples and behaviors.

Relevant – Make sure it’s relevant to the work they are doing.

Timely – Feedback four months after the fact is not useful. Be sure to provide feedback as close to the time frame as possible.

Two way – Trust is a reciprocal relationship and feedback requires trust. Are you inviting those you are talking with to provide feedback back to you?

Feedback isn’t always an easy place or things to do and we need to make sure we do provide it regularly.

Consider what else is important about feedback. In Effective Virtual Conversations, I share the REVET model of feedback – you can find it in part 3 of the book.

While constructive feedback is needed, positive feedback is also important.

Some research has found that teams which excel give 5 x positive feedback to every constructive piece.

What are you doing to provide feedback opportunities?

What are you doing as a team to give both positive and constructive feedback?

Best,
Jennifer

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

TEAMS365 #2374 – Back to the Basics: Teamwork Skill: Listening

6/30/2020

We’re heading Back to the Basics as today is Tuesday. This week’s teamwork skill in focus is listening. How are your listening skills on your team? Are you doing a good job of listening to each other?

Listening in both the in-person realm and the virtual space can feel like a bit of a lost art form sometimes. Here are a few things to consider as you think about listening:

What are you doing to signal that you are listening?
What are you listening for? Are you listening to really hear what the other person is saying or are you listening to figure out how to phrase your reply?
What are you noticing about the energy of the conversation? Are you listening for how fast they are talking? The words they are using? What’s really important to them?
What is not being said in the context of this conversation?
What are the elements which are not being talked about?
What do you notice about the tone and energy of the conversation?

As a team, it may be interesting to share what you each notice about listening. My guess is that everyone will be listening in different ways.

What’s important to note as a team around this?

And so, this wraps up our June posts. This month I brought in the new Tuesday series around going Back to the Basics. This joins the Thursday Team Building Questions and Friday’s Flashback Friday series. This month continued a focus on teamwork, a core focus of my business. I hope you got tips for both your remote and in-person teams, especially for those that are returning back to face-to-face work.

Best,
Jennifer

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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

TEAMS365 #2367 –Back to the Basics with Teamwork: Roles

6/23/2020

It’s Tuesday which means that we are heading “Back to the Basics” with teamwork. One of the areas which gets really magnified in the virtual and remote space is that of roles. With matrix relationships being the norm for many teams who operate remotely, it’s not uncommon to have two, three or four different line managers. Someone who might be your “main” boss, someone who supports you on one project, and another who supports you technically.

At the same time, it’s likely that in addition to having different bosses, you also likely inhabit different roles. On some teams you might be a project lead, on others an activator and on others a person who gets things done.

With membership on so many teams, it can be important to clarify ROLES as well as be really intentional with building out the culture of your organization. Tomorrow we will look at the different components of building out a vibrant remote team culture where people feel connected with their team and help to shape the culture of it.

Spending time focusing on the roles which exist in a team is important. It’s important on several different levels:

First, what are the roles needed in order to get things done?
Second, who is ideally suited for each role. Consider who might be good at setting a vision, versus executing things and getting things done. Who is better at the granular detail versus the strategic view of things? Consider who is best placed for which role. Consider who gets put in a role by default – they do it just because they can, not because they want to. While this will work in the short-term, what happens in the long term?
Third, how do the different roles connect and fit together? Where is there overlap? Where are their gaps?
Fourth, what are the different roles and responsibilities? Who needs to do what, when? What happens if this doesn’t happen? Helping team members understand the bigger picture is essential for performance.
Fifth, what are the feedback loops from one part of the team to another? Take a look at Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip on Team Feedback. What can you be doing to amplify your team feedback?

Roles are an often-overlooked part of team experience. What’s important to note?

Best,
Jennifer

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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

TEAMS365 #2362 – Team Building Tip 250

6/18/2020

This week we hit the 250 mark of the weekly Thursday Team Building Tips. Which one has been your favorite?

Each week I have been providing you with a question to incorporate into your team meeting, to spark some new ideas. This week’s question is “What needs more percolation time?”.

As we’ve collectively seen in recent months, complex challenges when we are leading from a new paradigm often requires new ways of thinking. This may mean new concepts, new mental models, as well as new ways of doing things.
With this in mind, it may mean that things need to marinate, stew or percolate for longer.

The percolation time may feel very different than when thinking is fast, and action is fast.

What are the things you need to marinate on, or percolate on as a team? As an individual? What will help you NOT rush the process?

Enjoy today’s post and be sure to take some time to review some of the first 250 Team Building questions here.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2360 –Back to Remote Team Basics – Core Teamwork Skills: Communication

6/16/2020

Each week I’m going to be sharing a new remote team basics post. Given that at a lot of teams will not be returning to a full in-person team experience, it can be important to return to the basics of remote teamwork. Today we explore teamwork skills.

In the paradigm shift of remote leadership, all team leaders need to develop capacity with leadership skills such as relationship building, communication, influence, decision making and prioritization. When our work needs to be managed by ourselves and we can’t physically get together, these core skills are really important.

As I wrote back in February in the Remote Working Whitepaper, in addition to these teamwork skills, we also want to make sure we foster the 7 Remote Enablers™, what I also term the 7 Cs to Remote Work™ - Communication, Clarity, Connection, Culture, Consistency, Community and Collaboration.

What are you doing to build these and foster these throughout your teamwork, processes and practices?

Today let’s explore one of the foundational teamwork skills: COMMUNICATION.
Communication in the remote space does illustrate two fundamental principles in remote work those being “things get magnified in the remote space” and “things can be more complex”.

In terms of things being more complex, communication in the remote space happens along many different channels – slack, IM, text, phone, Voxxer, dashboards, email, social channels. It can be dizzying, and exhausting, if boundaries aren’t incorporated. What are the expectations regarding how many channels communication can occur on? How quickly do you need to respond? When are you “on” and when are you off?

Each of us is also likely to have a preference in terms of what we like as our primary and secondary channels, also creating more complexity.

To what level of detail do people on the team require information? High Level? Granular? Big picture? Regardless of level, be sure to connect people into the WHY and what’s important.

To the point of things getting magnified, what do you notice about what does get communicated? What does not? And what becomes noise, when it’s being overly communicated?

Consistency is key around communication, so consider how you are being consistent with core messaging?

As you consider communication this week, what’s important to notice?

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2356 – FlashbackFriday: Teams365 #1597: Teamwork Skills in Complexity: Experimentation

6/12/2020

My former world of work involved leading mega-projects in terms of post disaster management support. From coordinating teams of professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds (GIS specialists, architects, civil engineers, health care professionals) to rebuild different components of society (from roads, to land records, educational systems to health care). My work during the 1990s and early 2000s was outside of the norm, I believe, from what many leaders experienced. Flashforward to 2020, where everyone – leaders and team members alike – can benefit from thinking about teamwork and leadership skills to support them in navigating and thriving in complex environments.

Today’s post takes us back to one of several posts from May 2018 where I explored different teamwork skills required for complexity in a series of Teams365 blog posts. From exploring experimentations, to curiosity, problem solving, focus (and think about yesterday’s blog post about the RAS), to listening and synergy.

As part of today’s Flashback Friday post, let’s take a look at one of the skills that I think is probably most important to cultivate and sometimes requires a significant shift in terms of focus and mindset. It’s the skill of experimentation.
How often do you experiment?

Are you encouraged to experiment? Are youencouraged to try things out, even if they don’t work?

Here’s what I wrote, and as you read, consider how experimentation might support your work efforts.

This month we are exploring the skills required in teamwork, including listening and curiosity. Today I wanted to take a dive into a third skill area, that being the area of experimentation.

Experimentation is key for business leaders and teams today. Many times, the context is changing so quickly that we don’t have time to complete an entire roll-out before having to make a final decision. That can lead to a mindset of experimentation, where it is encouraged to try things out, see what works and what doesn’t.

In supporting experimentation in our team we want to:

Encourage and reward trial and error
Create safety around not getting “things right”
Provide team members with time and resources to experiment, beyond their everyday team responsibilities
Facilitate an evaluation of projects or “experiments” that are completed or are even at the midpoint

Questions we may ask at project reviews include:

What’s working?
What’s not?
What are the things that need to be abandoned or tweaked?
What additional resources do we need?
What unknown obstacles have become visible?
What is the big learning we are taking?
What is the one thing/ or the many things we are going to do differently going forward?
Who else can we learn from (including our own past projects)?

Enjoy your reflections!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.