Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #1970 – Team Building Tip 237

5/23/2019

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you thinking “outside of the box”. Challenges and opportunities exist all the time. What are the solutions which could be activated around your most pressing business challenge?

One of the frameworks I like to share with teams I work with is the Six Thinking Hats from DeBono. Read more about this topic here.

With the Six Thinking Hats we are encouraged to look at issues from a variety of perspectives –

what’s possible,
what new ideas can we generate,
what are the benefits of the approaches,
what caution do we need to heed,
what are the facts and
what might get in the way.

If you are not familiar with De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats model, take a look at his work and writing.

Wishing you all the best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #1962: Teamwork in Uncertainty: Empowering your Team with the Space to Experiment

5/15/2019

Another part of successful teamwork in uncertainty is giving people the space to experiment and try things out. This goes hand-in-hand with cultivating curiosity.

Experimentation is not just a strategy for small business and start ups, in fact, encouraging intrapreneurism has been a part of larger organizations for many decades now, including organizations like 3M.

Experimentation and trying things out can be a key business strategy when things are changing. Part of the success of this business strategy is that we also track.

When fostering an environment of experimentation, consider these questions:

Before you start an experiment, where are you? 📍
What do the metrics say? 📊
What do you want to measure?📏
How long and at what frequency will the experiment last?⏳
What is your hypothesis? I.e. What do you think will happen?📈

Recently I posted the daily business prompt as part of the #90Days Plan Do Track series over on Instagram at CoachingBizBuilder.

Ways we can encourage more experimentation:

Provide people with stretch zones
Work with real business challenges. Encourage a peer exploration of different options and perspectives around key business issues. It might be that you are looking for different ways to get services or products out to market or how to magnify sales.
Explore opportunities for cross-departmental sharing with a view to learning from other’s best practices and ways of working. This cross-pollination of ideas may lead to new ways of working in your department.

What else might you do to encourage more experimentation?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in an digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #1955 – Teamwork in Uncertainty: Cultivating Curiosity

5/8/2019

As we continue our exploration about teamwork in uncertainty, today’s post covers the ability to cultivate curiosity. Curiosity is a key skill helping us become comfortable with learning and not knowing. When we are stuck in an expert mindset, we may feel we “know everything”. There is a danger in this, specially when contexts change. Cultivating more curiosity for learning, exploration, trial and error, gives team members permission to try things out which may not work.

How do we cultivate curiosity?

Encourage people to ask questions like:

What else? This question helps us see alternative paths and solutions.
Why not? This question gives permission for us to explore another angle around things.

Encourage trial and error.

Get team members to explore what failure means and does not mean.

Provide opportunities for growing skills in new areas through job shadowing, mentoring and/or special projects.

Next week I’m going to turn my attention to what the research says about curiosity and teamwork, and why it is important to cultivate more curiosity in our staff right now.

All the best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in an digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #1954 Managing Uncertainty: Building Trust and Connection on Your Team – Virtually!

5/7/2019

We turn our attention to teamwork in uncertainty in today’s post, as well as tomorrow’s. One of the most important foundations for teams moving through change, uncertainty and volatility is TRUST.

Trust is an essential precursor to effective team work. It doesn’t just form. We need to be intentional in creating it.

As I write in my book Effective Virtual Conversations, there are many things we can do to build trust and connection in the virtual space including:

One on One Time: Having regular calls with your team members to check in around how things are going, as well as what their needs are from you, and from the team.
Group or Team Agreements (Ways of Working): Creating shared agreements around HOW you will operate as a team. This helps to create safety, an essential precursor to trust and connection.
Create shared expectations: What does everyone expect from each other? What are your expectations of how you will operate as a team?
Breakouts: Using breakouts regularly in team meetings can help people get to know each other better. Breakouts enable people to connect with one or two others for short periods of time around key discussion areas.
Paired partners: Assigning partners across the team. In my former work we called these peer partners and we rotated it on a regular basis – i.e. every 6 months. The role of the peer partner was to connect on a bi-weekly or monthly basis with another team members to chat and connect, sharing a little more about key projects and tasks they were working on, and focusing in on learning more about their partner. Brainstorming around key opportunities and challenges also ensued, as did some formal and informal mentoring.
Being clear about process and what to expect: Trust is also built on virtual calls by letting people know what to expect about process and key items.
Connect people early on with their WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?): Connecting people around their What’s In It For Me at the start of the call, helps to connect people with the relevance and importance of the topic in their world. Without this, it is unlikely that we will listen.

What will help to build trust and connection for your team members?

Another key element to helping teams thrive in uncertain environments is connection. Knowing other members of your team – who they are, what they do, who they are connected with, and what strengths they bring – is crucial in contexts which are changing regularly.

No person is an island, and our relationships are even more important.

To boost connection on a virtual team we will want to:

Build in moments for teams to learn more about each other – who they are, what they do, what they can be counted on to accomplish.
Help people articulate their role, and how they operate. This might include a one pager with a focus on “Here’s what you should know about me”.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in an digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #1941 Four Teamwork Essentials for 2019

4/24/2019

As we move into the last week of the month of April, many teams are staring to kick it into high gear. With summer vacations starting in a few weeks or months, now is the time teams really need to get results. What are the core things teams want to keep an eye on this year?

Efficient meetings. We know that teams need updates and meetings abound. Are they the most effective? I have shared my top 8 Essential Meeting Questions from Effective Virtual Conversations several times, and they warrant inclusion again. Meetings are a huge time expenditure and getting them right is so important.

How to have conflict, constructively and respectfully. Being able to have conflict and work across differences constructively and respectfully is really important. Teams thrive when there is a difference of opinion and different insights; however, not every team is encouraged to, or can, work through differences.

Harnessing strengths and styles. One of the greatest challenges in teams is finding the balance between individualism and collective alignment. This is going to be different for each team, with some teams on the end of the spectrum where there “is no I in team” and it’s all about the collective system, and there will be other team experiences (especially remote and virtual teams) where it is more about the individual person.

Open feedback loops. Regular and frequent feedback and communication is imperative in a business context which is changing rapidly. How is information shared across the team? Open communication and feedback loops are critical for success. What are the mechanisms people have to offer feedback? Where is feedback not getting through? Where is genuine feedback NOT being offered? Why? What’s the cost of this – short term and long term?

What are the core issues you are noticing in your teams right now?

What focus and conversations are needed?

Wishing you the 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.

#TEAMS365 #1934 – Team Springboard: 20 Things that Help Teams

4/17/2019

This month’s focus is on Team Springboards, things that help teams. Let’s take a look at a laundry list of things that help teams excel. Individually they are quite straightforward, collectively they are powerful. As you review this list you might consider giving yourself a rating on a 1-10, with 1 being low and 10 being high.

Clarity around goals
Strong team culture
Knowledge of each other
Connection with other team members
Understanding what people do on the team
Knowing who to go to for _____________ (insert issue)
Clarity around roles on the team
Clarity about how to surface issues
Confidence that issues raised will be heard
Confidence that issues raised will be addressed/considered/responded to
Clarity around how performance is measured
Resources needed to do the work
Mechanisms to flag resources needed
Feedback channels
Acknowledgement for work well done
A clear vision of what the team is aiming for in terms of this year’s/quarter’s goals
Effective Team Meetings on a regular basis
Clear channels for communication
Opportunities for development
Opportunities to have fun and connect with others

What else?

Enjoy the conversation!
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.

#TEAMS365 #1929 – FlashBack Friday – Trust and Connection

4/12/2019

This week at the blog we’ve been exploring the topics of trust and connection. As part of this week’s Flashback Friday, let’s reach back to Teams365 #610 where I explored Four Ways to Boost Trust. Here’s what I wrote:

As we explored earlier this week, trust is a key issue for teams today. Today’s blog post looks at four ways to build trust in your team:

1. Connection - We feel supported when we feel valued, known and heard. Connection is a critical factor for high performing teams. Teams who feel connected with each other have often invested time in getting to know one another, and schedule time for regular connections. Perhaps a 2 pm daily meeting is the norm, or a Monday morning huddle kicks off your week. Consider what will boost connection amongst your team members.

2. Clarity - Clarity is key in creating trust. When we know what is expected of us, it is easier to follow-through and know how we are doing. Creating shared, and clear expectations of each other is important, as is having clarity around roles.

3. Communication - Communication is the foundation of connection and clarity. Consider how the team wants to communicate with each other, and what in fact is most effective.

4. Knowledge/Competence - Many trust models talk about the importance of skills and knowledge, or what they call competence, in building trust. If we know that others have the skills and knowledge to have our backs, we can rest easier that things will get done.

What else do you see as other factors building trust?

As you think about your work and team practices right now, what are you doing to boost:

Connection
Clarity
Communication
Knowledge and Competence

Let us know and share your comments below!

Enjoy your weekend,
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.

#TEAMS365 #1927 - Creating a Strong Team Identity

4/10/2019

Team identity and culture is something that we all shape. Team identity is critical in the context of virtual and remote teams. It helps us understand who we are and how we do things. A strong team identity helps me know that as a member of this team, I am expected to:

Raise issues quickly
Rather than complain, seek for solutions
Support others and provide information to others on a regular basis about the work I am undertaking, opportunities I see for collaboration

Ways we can start to form a strong team identity include:

Having the team identity key values. For example, innovation or respect.
For each one of these values, have the team identify the behaviors which illustrate that value. For example, for respect – Consider impact before speaking; take ownership of mistakes; reply to requests in a timely manner (and as a team identify what timely means); when raising issues also offer possible solutions.
Having the team own “How we do things here. What’s acceptable and what’s not”. In owning it, we call out behaviors which are not aligned with our agreements.
Identifying logos, icons or metaphors of what the team is. For example, a team that is about creating a WOW experience might embrace “The Orange Bird” as their mascot.
Creating a drawing or tableaux of what the team is aspiring to. Several years ago, vision boards were very popular. Teams too can have their own team vision board which they can situate in an area of high traffic. If its’ a virtual team, take a photo and include in it any sides you are sharing with your virtual meetings. Review it regularly.

Bad behavior doesn’t just happen. It’s permitted. What are you doing to call it out?

Best wishes,
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.

#TEAMS365 # 1885 – Virtual Team Practices

2/27/2019

Today’s post is around Virtual Team Tools. In January I hosted a call for the Effective Virtual Conversations book on 5 Virtual Team Builders. What are the things you are doing to build your virtual team? What are the things you want to focus on as a team? Be sure to take some time focusing on virtual team development.

As I wrote in yesterday’s post – Teams365 #1884 -having an intentional focus on virtual team development can be important for virtual and remote teams who are less apt to have a focus on team development.

Some examples of virtual team practices are:

Weekly coffee breaks which the entire team attend. You could incorporate one of the weekly Thursday Team Building Tip Questions I share to spark dialogue across the team. View them here.
Virtual Co-working times – for example, quarterly I host a Virtual Get Things Done afternoon. People are invited to bring their list of things to do and join us for a 4-hour co-working block. We meet at the top of every hour to check in. Benefiting from peer accountability and a focused support, hourly check ins also serve to keep the focus and push people through work which might not be as focused.
Structured team meetings to build connection and focus on work.

What other types of virtual team practices will support the team in maintaining and building relationships, keeping the team moving, and getting things done?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner for Virtual and Remote Team Leaders (2019)
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Connect on Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1883: Effective Virtual Conversation Space #83

2/25/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversation tip gets you thinking about the statement “Virtual teams need attention too”. It is often thought that “out of sight = out of mind”. Virtual teams receive a lot less attention and focus than intact, face to face teams. A 2016 study by Culture Wizard (insert link) found that approximately 22-23% of virtual and remote teams surveyed actually benefited from virtual team support.

Virtual teams need just as much attention, and perhaps even more focused space for dialogue and greating shared agreements and norms. Discussion around “how we do things” ensures consistency across a team, and a focus on what’s important.

What are the conversations important for the team to have? What things need to be clarified or agreed upon?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326