Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #2054 – Team Building Tip 249: What are you putting your attention around?

8/15/2019

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to think about what you are putting your attention around. What we measure gets done. What we focus on, may improve.

Creating intentional focus is critical for success in a disrupted business context. It’s often the consistent action that gets things going.

In contrast to the question you, as a team, will want to consider – what are you NOT putting attention around? What does need some attention?

As we step into the early part of September, it’s likely that things are going to ramp up again. Having a discussion this week with your team who is in the office around what you are and are not focusing on, and changes you want to make, can help set you up for success this fall.

Enjoy your conversations!
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 #2053 – Teamwork Foundations - Meetings and Other Team Practices

8/14/2019

As I have written in other Teams366 blog posts, shared team practices are critical for high performance. Shared team practices are the ways teams communicate with each other and share information and build trust and connection.

Shared team practices could include:

Weekly team meetings
A monthly pot-luck meal (virtual or in person)
Getting together monthly to share information about programming and focus areas
Informal and/formal peer learning events

One of the main vehicles teams use for communication is meetings. As many find, meetings may not be held most efficiently or effectively. Next week I’ll share more on meeting pitfalls.

In today’s post, I wanted to remind you of the 8 Essential Meeting Questions I share in Effective Virtual Conversations. These are questions you will want to get in the practice of asking before each conversation you have:

What’s the purpose?
What takeaways do we want?
Who needs to be on the calls?
What preparation is needed for us to be most effective in the meeting?
What pace do we want in order to keep it engaging?
What will help keep the focus?
What is absolutely essential (versus what will be a nice to cover) where people can go for more information?
What follow-up might be required?

(Source: Britton, Effective Virtual Conversations, page 304)

As you consider your meetings and/or team practices, what is important to note? To adjust as you step into September?

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 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 #2052 – Teamwork Foundations – Alignment

8/13/2019

This week’s Teamwork Foundation post gets you, as a team, to consider how you are as a team with respect to alignment. Teamwork today is dependent on alignment.

Alignment around purpose.

Alignment around values.

Alignment around goals.

When a team is not aligned, it’s likely we’ll see these types of behaviors:

Duplication
Gaps
Performance issues and lack of clarity around goals
Weaker team culture – no one is sure what they are working on or what’s important

In order to boost alignment, we want to:

Help team members see the bigger picture
Help teams prioritize so they can focus on what’s important
Build connection across the team
Understand who does what
Clarity and strengthen team culture

What is important to note around alignment within your team right now?

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 #2047 – Team Building Tip 248

8/8/2019

Exceptional results usually don’t “just happen”, they require practice. For teams this holds true. Teamwork practice can include skill development in areas including conflict, communication (listening, questioning, working across differences). It can also include scenario-based learning (what would we do if x happened?).

While some teams might think that practice is not for them, others may recognize that practice is essential for exceptional performance. When stakes are high, lives may be impacted by failure, it’s key to get it right.

Practice also helps us with alignment, and development shared mental models. It’s these shared mental models that help us move in similar directions when faced with a situation, even if we are in different continents, or in different roles.

As a team, where could practice benefit you?

What do you as a team need to do practice more?

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 #2027 – FlashbackFriday: Leadership Practice - Feedback

7/19/2019

This week’s Flashback Friday takes us back to the 2017 series entitled “Leadership Practices”. Given that this time of year often involves planning, I wanted to take us back to our focus on feedback.

Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1296:

Leadership Practice – Feedback

One of the areas many team leaders struggle with is providing feedback. Sometimes feedback has not been well modeled to us, or we may not operate in a feedback culture. Creating the context of regular feedback - both positive and constructive – can be an important shift in changing the way people work and interact. When feedback is sparse we may inadvertently create a culture where team members move below the radar line, and people are afraid to take risks. When we create a culture where feedback is offered on a regular basis – both positively and constructively – we are often able to take more risks and try things out in an iterative fashion.

Several keys for providing feedback include:

Make feedback regular. In moving to a feedback culture we want to make sure that we are providing feedback to our team members in both positive and constructive ways. Poor performance, or performance that is not meeting the mark should not be a surprise at formal performance evaluation moments.

Leaders alone may not be the only ones providing feedback. Building the capacity within our team to provide peer feedback can support a shift to an overall feedback culture. In building the capacity within team members to provide feedback we want to make sure that we train people in providing feedback. It can be useful to start with comments like “ I see one of your strengths as…..” or “I appreciate it when you….”. Constructive feedback from the perspective of “one thing you might want to try is…..” or “one are you may want to focus on is….”.

Be sure that in providing feedback you are speaking to observable behaviors not personality issues. A major trap in feedback is that we attribute poor performance not to things we see, but to heresay or assumptions. It is important to provide feedback on things we have seen ourselves.

Practice giving feedback in authentic ways. When feedback cultures are not established it can feel awkward to provide feedback and it may not be modeled in different voices. Providing team members with the opportunity to provide feedback using a framework mentioned in the last point, may start to build the muscle and confidence around feedback, along with a common framework with different voices.

As you think about feedback for the year, what do you notice?

Enjoy,
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 #1992 – Listening and Questions – FlashBack Friday

6/14/2019

This week’s Flashback Friday takes us back to a spring 2018 on 19 questions to be asking during one-on-ones, project debriefs, and I thought it would be useful to share in light of recent posts about listening and questioning.

Here’s what I wrote in Teams #1562

Today's post focuses on questions to spark discussion around three key spring start up activities. In these three areas mentioned in yesterday’s blog post - one on ones, planning and project debriefs.

Today’s post dives into a series of questions you’ll want to ask yourself, and your team, in three key spring areas. Whether you are a team leader, member or even business owner, this may be one of those posts that you want to highlight and return back to.

One on Ones:
One on ones with your team are critical on a regular basis. Unfortunately, they are also the things that usually get left at the bottom of the to-do-list. While each team leader will have their own frequency of holding these with team members, you do want to make them regularly consistent. Some of the questions you may want to incorporate into your upcoming one on ones are:

1. What are your key priorities this quarter?
2. What support do you need in order to be successful? (From me, from others on the team)?
3. How frequently would you like us to connect?
4. What’s going to help you stretch as a professional? What’s going to be the challenge for you this?
5. What are the partnerships or relationships which are going to help you be successful?
6. What check ins will be useful (time, frequency, type) to see how things are going?

Project Debriefs:
Projects large and small deserve a bit of post-mortem or debrief. Here is a selection of questions you may want to incorporate into your next project debrief.

1. What worked well with that project?
2. What were the three critical success factors (i.e. things that mad the project a success)
3. What key lessons were learned?
4. Which projects do they need to be carried forward into? Who else could benefit from hearing about these lessons learned?
5. What needs to be avoided at all costs in future projects?
6. What systems helped with teamwork, roles, tasks and resources?

Planning:
If you haven't had the chance to undertake some planning, grab a pen and work through these questions. They are also ones you may want to share with your team:

1. What are the top 3 -5 priorities this month?
2. Who (or what relationships) is/are needed in order to make this a success?
3. What’s the one habit that will help these projects?
4. What might get in the way?
5. Where are you getting the bulk of your results right now? How can you do more of this? What do you need to say no to?
6. What can get delegated or deferred?
7. What tasks are not adding value and need to be dumped?

Enjoy the questions. Share your favorite here in the comments!

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 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 #1989 – Feedback and Performance Check

6/11/2019

A few days ago, I shared a post on preparing for the performance conversation. Feedback and performance conversations are often an area team members of all kinds struggle with, regardless of level of experience. When is the last time you held a two-way performance conversation – receiving and providing feedback to those you work with?

Things to keep in mind:

Feedback and performance conversations should be ongoing.
Signal when you are having a performance conversation. Sometimes it’s so informal that people don’t even recognize that they are receiving feedback. This is particularly important if performance is not going well.
Be specific about what performance is expected for each role. Provide examples of what good performance would look like.
Be sure to indicate what follow up is needed – and follow up. Lack of follow up may signals that you are not interested, or that things are better, when in fact they may not be.
Are you making the performance conversation two way? Any performance conversation is an opportunity to get feedback for yourself.
Experiment with leading with what the other person sees and observes about their own behavior. What do they notice?

What else is important to note in your feedback conversations?

Enjoy your conversations!
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 #1985 - #FLASHBACKFRIDAY: Preparing For the Feedback Conversation

6/7/2019

This week’s flashback Friday takes us to preparing for the feedback conversation. When feedback is unplanned or unscheduled things can go awry. Even taking a few minutes on a regular basis to review your team members performance, can be a useful habit to get into. Providing feedback on a regular basis is a best practice of leadership today.

Check out Teams365 1252 Preparing for the Feedback Conversation. This is useful for both the person giving and the person receiving the feedback.

Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1252:
Today's post takes us to the realm of feedback, an area I often find myself working with teams around. The performance conversation should not be a one-off conversation. In fact, it should be an on-going dialogue (two-way) between staff and their leader.

Taking time to prepare for the feedback conversation is an essential step in the process, and it is often one that is overlooked. It's important to take some time to think about the performance conversation, rather than just winging it.

Some things to do when you are starting to prepare for any feedback conversation is:

Make sure that you have solid items to talk about. What are the facts? What is hearsay? What have you seen yourself? If you realize that you don't have a lot to share, this is a flag to make some changes so that next time you do.

What are the key goals which are important to discuss? Another challenge in the feedback conversation is that the team leader may be focusing on different things than the employee. What are the key goals which are important to discuss? Are these aligned?

How have you set the employee up for success in scheduling this meeting? Performance conversations should be a two-way process. What have you done to set the employee up for success? Have you asked them to consider any questions prior to meeting? Have you invited them to do a self-assessment? When was the last time the two of you sat down to explore performance issues? Nothing raised in an annual review should be a surprize.

Dedicate time and space for the performance conversation and preparation. Even though many of us feel we need to run from task to task, feedback and performance conversations should not be left as a low item priority. Make sure you are dedicating time and space for not only holding the performance conversation, but also preparing for it.

What other tips do you have for preparing for the performance conversation?

Enjoy the conversations!
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 #1983 - Mid-year Systems Check

6/5/2019

Mid-year also beckons for a mid-year systems check. Are things working the way you would like them to?

If you are an entrepreneur, consider exploring the following:

Client data
Financial info – accounts receivable, cash flow projections, invoicing, accounts payable
Marketing
Strategy
Reporting

If you are a team member consider these things:

Reporting
Successes
Technology
1-1's
Budget requests
Peer meetings
Meetings with mentors
Meetings with partners

If you are a team leader, consider these things:

Feedback conversations
1-1 coaching conversations
Reporting
Team successes
Meeting with you boss
Meetings with your mentors

What are the activities you want to make sure you schedule?

Enjoy the conversations,
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

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. It's a great mid-year activity!

#TEAMS365 #1982 – Team Tune Up

6/4/2019

Given that we are stepping into mid-month, let’s take a look at where your team is at. Is it time for a team tune-up?

As we move into mid-year, some of the things we might want to keep in mind are:

What rhythm have we gotten into in terms of work and results?
What rhythm have we gotten into in terms of meetings?

AT your next team meeting, consider building in some time for a team check in or tune-up. Questions for each person to reflect on and possibly share:

What do I need from others in order to be successful?
Things others on the team should know about my work right now are…
My priorities for the next six months are…
My greatest success has been…
Our greatest success this year has been…
One thing that is really important for us to address is…
One thing I need from my leader is…
The feedback I want to offer to my leader is…
The feedback I want to offer to my teammates is..
The one connection I wish I had…
If I had a magic wand I would….

Depending on how frequently you meet, it might be possible to have you share 1-2 of these questions as an entire team for the next few meetings.

Wishing you 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.