This week’s weekly journaling prompt gets you to think about the question: “I need…..”. What are the things you need right now to:

• Prioritize?
• Spend time doing what you love?
• Focus on the things that are important?
• Get ahead of the curve?
• Other….?

 
We don’t always think about what we need, nor make the requests to make it happen.

What are the things you need right now?
 
If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the reflective questions for spring, published yesterday here at the blog. Check out Teams365  #1908.

Best,
Jennifer

Happy spring! Has the new season sprung where you are?

In my work as a coach I see a lot of seasonality – beginnings, ends and excitement for change. As we step into the new season today, I wanted to share some of the spring questions I had posted in Teams365 #811.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to reflect on these questions today:

What are your goals this season?
What new habits and practices do you want to put into place?
What relationships do you want to put attention around?
What else is significant for you this spring (or fall)?

Looking backwards:
What successes did you have over the last quarter?
What helped you?
What got in the way?

What changes do you want to make this spring?
What and who will help you be successful?
 
What are the other questions which are important to consider right now?
​
Enjoy your reflection,
Jennifer

Today’s Effective Virtual Conversations prompt is “Who is driving the bus?”. Some of the most common questions I receive from virtual leaders are “Am I coaching? Am I training? Am I facilitating?”.
​
While the focus on this question for the people we are hosting the call for is usually “it doesn't matter as long as I am learning”, it can be important for the person who is leading the call to be aware of what they are doing - training, coaching or facilitating. A key question the “facilitator” can be asking to dig a little deeper is  - “Who is driving the bus?” Who is the one that is shaping the direction, and content of the call?"
 
While this may be overly simplistic, a great starting point for understanding the “director” of the call is to consider who is “driving” and shaping the conversation.
 
In coaching, a fundamental premise is that the person being coached should create with the coach (and others) the direction of the call, and their content knowledge should form the foundation of the conversation. The coach is not there to share a lot of content, but rather use any content to “Spark” the conversation. Coaches focus deeply on Goal Setting, and supporting the deepened awareness around “things below the waterline”, things like values, beliefs, assumptions, perspectives. Coaching is rarely a one-off conversation, and usually has multiple touch points.
 
In training, or a webinar in the virtual space, we lean into the content we bring. We are measured on this, and while we want to poll our group members for what they want to learn, the content may also be shaped by the organization. Training is typically content-rich, and in that respect the trainer may be driving the bus a majority of the time, handing off the “wheel” as new skills are acquired, so that bus members get practice.
​
Facilitation comes from the Latin word “facilis”. It means “to become easy”. Part of the facilitator’s role virtually is to help people clarify the focus of the conversation, and how they want to move from a to b. A facilitation may be more apt to be a one-off conversation, and usually uses process to help engage the conversation, especially with bigger groups.
 
Who is driving the bus in your virtual conversations? Are there any changes you want to make to this?
 
For more on these distinctions between coaching, training and facilitating, check out any of my first three books – Effective Group Coaching (2010), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) or From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). 
 
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

​Welcome back to Team Building Tip #226. Each Thursday I bring you a different question which I hope you will consider as part of your next team meeting or use as a discussion sparker in your 1-1 meetings.

This week’s question is “Let’s carry forward….”.

We are now two months into the year and there probably have been some key learnings undertaken from things that have worked well, and things that perhaps have not worked well. How are you noting these as a team?

Best,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (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 the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.
​

This week we’re taking a look back at the Teams365 January 2018 posts where I kicked off the year with the 2018 kickstart. Over the first month I included tips around creating momentum and boosting your productivity through 18 posts. January posts last year covered 8 days of focus on your goals.
Today we are going to take a look back at Teams 365 1469.

Here’s what I wrote:

“In today’s busy world, it’s very common to get on the treadmill of doing, without taking time to stop, and reflect on what’s working and what’s not. While we might not have a full day to dedicate to planning regularly “micro-bursts” of 5-15 minutes regularly can make a difference.

Peter Drucker wrote “Follow effective actions with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”  Peter Drucker

Over the last 8 days we have explored:
Take stock of your achievements and successes from the year that was – Day 1. Read it here.
Create a clear and compelling vision of your year – Day 2. Read it here
Be specific with your goals – Day 3. Read it here.
Identify and focus on priorities first – Day 4. Read it here.
Create habits and practices that will support you in what you want to achieve – Day 5. Read it here.
Be ruthless with your time and scheduling – Day 6
Develop a community of support around you – Day 7
In the same vein, building in time to celebrate is Day 8

Consider these questions for today’s prompts:
1. As you think back to the last 8 days, what have you achieved?
2. What needs a change from the original goals you mapped out last week?
3. What momentum have you created for yourself? 
4. What are you most surprised about?
5. What have you learned about yourself, your vision and your goals?
6. What have you noticed about your pace of action and reflection (i.e. when do you do this best – early morning? Late at night? In chunks?) 
7. What time do you want to build in to make planning, and “quiet reflection” a regular part of your world?
8. What will you do to celebrate your movement forward?
9. Complete this sentence, by the end of January I will have…..
10. By the end of the year I will have….

We will be continuing our journey through the 19 for 2019 Productivity tips.. Check out # 1 – 7 here.
 
Enjoy your first weekend of 2019,
Jennifer

As we step into the new year, what’s your intention? What do you want to achieve in this last year of the decade?
365 days from now what are you looking forward to:

• Doing every day (or at least several times a week)?
• Investing in?
• Financing?
• Spending time with?

If you haven’t done so already, I hope you’ll take a few minutes today to capture your goals and intentions for the year.
​
Goal setting is just one part of the equation of success. Ongoing action and accountability are two other important elements for success.
What are you doing to build in time in your schedule for an ongoing focus on planning, and action?

As I write in PlanDoTrack, a reminder of what Peter Drucker wrote - “what doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done”.
​
What time have you built into your schedule for ongoing focus on larger projects and tasks?

If you haven’t got it in your schedule already, block it out right now! Productivity experts often point to 90 minute to 3 hour blocks being good amounts of time to get things done. Can you schedule in 2 x 90 minute blocks right now into your schedule on a weekly basis?

As we move into 2019, I am pleased to step into the sixth year of daily posts for the Teams365 blog. Topics we’ll be exploring this year are:

• January - Last year, we started the 19 for 2019 – a series included on Tuesday and Wednesday for December and January which will provide you with tips and ideas for boosting your personal and professional productivity.
• February – Relationships and Collaboration
• March - Building Your Team

Beyond these we will also look at topics including Virtual Team work, Mentoring, Feedback, Virtual Facilitation, Creating powerful learning environments, planning and project management.

If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to pick up a copy of the new PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner for Virtual and Remote Professionals. It’s an analog desk-sized planner you can start using at any time – packed with annual, quarterly, and monthly tools, PLUS resources to support you with your content creation and also creative planning! Pick up a copy here.

For now, we’re circling back to the 19 for 2019. Let’s get started with January’s posts – 19 for 2019.  We’ll be heading back to Tip 7 tomorrow.

Check out the past Teams365 19 for 2019 Productivity Tips here. 

I’ll be back with our next one #7 in the series tomorrow!

Best wishes, 
Jennifer

Today’s Flashback Friday takes us back to December 2015 and my post entitled  “2016 Resolutions and Support To Make Them Happen”– you can read it here.

Here’s what I wrote:

"As you have been thinking about your 2016 plans, I'm sure a few new resolutions have cropped up. Some common ones I've heard from team leaders in recent years have included:

* Spending more one-on-one time with team members
* Making meetings more efficient
* Getting a handle on email management and/or other office organizing issues
* Creating more defined boundaries with time on and time off of work
* Creating more defined boundaries around technology
* Becoming more efficient with time
* Getting more exercise (especially at lunch time to create a break and thinking time!)

What are your new year's resolutions? Take a look at the statistics around new years resolutions which StatisticsBrain.com have shared here.

They note that 45% of American adults create new years resolutions with 8% being successful. That's a pretty low percentage. I've recently had dialogue with a number of team leaders I coach and support around things they may want to do to raise that amount and be more successful.

Here are four things you might want to consider in making your resolutions stick into 2016:

1. Be clear in articulating them. The StatisticsBrain.com article  notes that those who are explicit in making new years resolutions are 10x more successful in achieving their goal.

2. Write them down and make them visible. Many of us, myself included, set resolutions but don't make them visible. Post its, or a reminder on your phone can help to
What will help keep your goals visible?

3. Share them and create some accountability partners around them. Share your goals with others and create some accountability partners who can cheer you on, or hold your feet to the fire (whatever is needed by you in that moment!). We know from lots of studies how important having an accountability partner really is.
Who do you want to share your resolutions with? Who can be a support or accountability partner to you?

4. Be selective in the number of resolutions you choose. It's very easy to create a long laundry list of things you want to do AND the more we add to the list, the harder it may be to remember, or the more diffuse our efforts become. You may have one or two major goals in different areas of your life, OR a small handful across areas (such as finances, relationships, career/business, family, health etc).
Ultimately, what are the resolutions you want to focus on?"


As we step into the new year of 2019, I hope that you’ll be able to incorporate some of these tips. What are your resolutions for the new year? What will help them stick?

Have a great day,
Jennifer

​That’s it! Another month has passed and it’s time for our month end reflection and wrap up. This month here at the Teams365 blog we shifted our attention to month end and looked at:

• 5 things to get in your calendar for 2019, right now!
• Planning for Year End Activities for your Team
• Year end productivity reminders – 4 things to keep in mind
• 18 Questions for 2018 Year-end one on ones
• Bringing projects to a close

Given that it ‘s the last day of November, it’s time to grab a pen and take stock of the month that was, and do some planning for the month ahead:
 
As you think about the month of November, consider:

1. What key goals did you, and the team, achieve?
2. What helped you be successful?
3. What worked really well? What didn't?
4. What lessons learned do you want to capture and note?
5. What changes do you want to make?
6. What were key relationships helping you to be successful?
   
   Looking to December

1. What are your key goals and projects this month?
2. What projects need to get completed, no matter what?
3. What else needs to be wrapped up?
4. What do you want to focus on?
5. What do you want to say no to?
6. Where is it important to place attention this month?
7. What else?

Enjoy your reflections this month!
If you have been doing this every month this year, take a look back at your monthly stock-taking.  As you look across the year:
What do you notice as trends?
What has key learning been?
What still needs attention?
What issues or items have come up month after month? What’s significant about this?
What changes, if any, do you want to make?

Best,
​Jennifer