Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

Teams 365 #3398: What kind of leader are you? Transformational or Transactional

4/24/2023

One of the books I have been reading this spring is Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. I appreciate the chapter he’s written on Transformational Leadership where he indicates that it’s all about :

Outcome
Measure
Coach

(Source: Buy Back Your Time, page 173, Dan Martell)

This is in contrast to Transactional Management which he defines is about:

Tell
Check
Next

(Source: Buy Back Your Time, page 173, Dan Martell)

If you have read my writing in Reconnecting Workspaces you would know that I assert that part of the shift which has happened and which is needed is the paradigm shift in leadership. Using Dan’s definition of TRANSFORMATIONAL versus TRANSACTIONAL leadership it’s clear as to what’s needed in the evolving workspace.

If we look at the current remote and hybrid work scuffle, so much of it can come down to a tussle of war between Transactional and Transformational Management.
When leading teams and individuals in the evolving workspace it’s critical to be able to focus on helping others grow but helping to crystalize WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE (OUTCOME), Measurement (a la PlanDoTRack), and supported by great conversations grounded in Coaching.

I hope that you will take some time to look around at what the Teams365 blog has to offer on these topics including these 3 posts: (HONEY Please pick posts)

Coaching Skills for Leaders –
Paradigm Shifts –
KPIs and OKRS – Leading by Measurement
PlanDoTrack

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.

TEAMS365 #2419 – Flashback Friday: 10 Key Roles Team Leaders Play in Organizational Success…and think about it now virtually

8/14/2020

This week I wanted to reach back to a post I wrote in 2016, and get you thinking about how it translates to the type of support you are providing your team leaders in the virtual space.

Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1026

Earlier this week I was part of a panel discussion on Team and Group Coaching at this week's Columbia University's Coaching Conference. As a coach, when I come into work with teams, team leaders play a key role in creating the conditions for success in building and maintaining a coaching culture. This was a precursor for success in work I undertook last year in developing a coaching culture with The Scarborough Hospital here in the Toronto area. This work just won a PRISM Award for Coaching Excellence from the International Coach Federation Toronto Chapter earlier this week.

While in the thick of things, team leaders sometimes forget the critical role they play for organizational success. Here's ten ways team leaders contribute to organizational success:
1. They translate the organizational objectives, KPIs and vision down into the tactical team realm;
2. They are the conduit for feedback and information up the leadership and organizational ranks;
3. They play a key role in creating a coaching culture (see above);
4. They are often the eyes and ears of what is really being spoken about in an organization;
5. They are the human face of the organization for team members, especially in larger organizations;
6. They are often the link and relationship with external stakeholders;
7. They often get called into be the voice of the organization for customers or clients when things go wrong;
8. They are able to share best practices quickly across their web of peers;
9. They have direct impact on the morale, culture and spirit of the teams they lead;
10. They play the unique middle role of being a conduit up and down the organization. This role is often overlooked by teams and leaders above them alike.

Based on this, what support are you providing right now for your team leaders? How are you involving them in communication and decision making? What development opportunities are they getting.

As you may know here at the Teams365 blog most of our work is geared to supporting teams and team leaders in doing their best work. If have questions about how coaching skills training, or some of our other leadership development programming could be of support, please reach out and let's set up a time to talk.

As many of you know virtual programming has been our preferred way of operating since opening our doors in 2004. What can we do to support your virtual and remote teams and/or organization in doing your best work?

With best wishes,
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 #2041 #FlashbackFriday: 7 Key Challenges for New Leaders

8/2/2019

As I mentioned in last week’s FlashbackFriday post, this time of year often signals the start of new leaders’ roles. With that in mind, I thought it would be useful to reach back to a 2016 post on the 7 Key Challenges for New Leader.

Here’s what I wrote in that 2016 post:

Seven Key Challenges of New Leaders
1.      Too much information
2.      Too much management by boss
3.      Buddy to Boss syndrome
4.      Trying to be “liked by everyone”
5.      Working to make changes too fast
6.      So much to do, so little time! – Create Boundaries
7.      Trying to be like the last leader

Over the last month here at the Teams365 blog we've been looking at tips for new team leaders. Today's post looks at seven key challenges for new leaders. These are in fact challenges for leaders of all tenure. Let's take a look at each one, one at a time:

1. Too much information: During the first few weeks and even months of a new role there is information coming at you from all directions. Consider what approaches are going to allow you to avoid overwhelm. This might include asking yourself what's needed now, next week, next month, next quarter OR figuring our where you want to file everything and scheduling a time on an ongoing basis to review it.

2. Too much management by your boss - As I've written multiple times, your relationships with your boss is one of your most important relationships. For many reasons your boss can be overly hands-on and directive at the start of a new role. Diplomatically you will want to navigate the tension of your own autonomy as a leader, and also taking their advice into consideration.

3. Buddy to Boss Syndrome - When you take over a team that you were once part of you may face the buddy to boss syndrome. In these instances, it's not only you making the adjustment, it's also the team as well making the adjustment to you in a new role. What conversations do you need to have with your former colleagues on the team?

4. Trying to be liked by everyone - one of the biggest adjustments for some new leaders is not being liked by everyone. Leaders making the hard calls doesn't always cultivate friendship. There is an important difference between being liked and being trusted, and this is important for leaders of all tenures to keep in mind.

5. Working to make changes too fast - While change is important, making change too fast in a team can create a lot of waves and potentially may not be in the best interest of the team. What new insights are you getting around issues from your new vantage point? What are the key issues which really need a change?

6. So much to do, so little time. Remember that as a leader you can delegate. It's not about doing everything yourself. AS a leader it's important to have the space to build relationships, support the team etc. What are the things you do need to delegate? What boundaries do you want to create with your time so you can focus on the strategic issues, not just the tactical issues?

7. Trying to be like the last leader. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we try to fashion our approaches and movements like someone else. In what ways are you unique? What makes you completely different than the last leader? How do you own this and communicate this?

These are just seven areas of many more which may pose challenges. What would you say is on your top five list of challenges as a new team leader?

Have a great weekend,
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 #2040– Welcome to August and a Return to Teamwork Fundamentals

8/1/2019

Welcome to August and a focus on the Foundations of Virtual Teamwork and Leadership. This month we’re going back to the basics, given that we are only a month away from what often is termed the “second new year” - September.

September often signals “all hands-on deck”, when our teams and leaders need to be ready to run. With this in mind, this month we are returning to the foundations of work today. We’ll be exploring topics around these Teamwork Foundations:

Planning
Minimizing Distractions
Four Neuroscience Ideas that can help your team accelerate
Meeting Management 101
Powerful Presentations
Planning for Team Events
Boosting your mentoring and coaching conversations
10 Questions to ask when selecting your mentor
Creating Accountability Partners

I hope that you will enjoy the posts!

A reminder to take a look back at yesterday’s post on the monthly round up and planning for the month of August, if you haven’t seen it yet. Check it out here.

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 #2020 Flashback Friday #391 – The Dreaded D Word – Delegation

7/12/2019

This week I reach back to the topic of Delegation. One area which is critical for focus is being able to identify tasks to delegate, and when delegating how to support the process.

For this week’s Flashback Friday, we explore Teams365 #391 which has links to other areas.

Here’s what I wrote:

One area both new and experienced team leaders struggle with is in the area of Delegation. How do you find delegation as a skill set and practice yourself?

If you are one of the many leaders who struggle with this area then this week's focus on delegation is for you. You may already find yourself with way too many things on your plate, and not enough time to do it.

To get a handle on what might be "delegation material" schedule the following 10-15 minute activity:

1. Pull out your current to do list, along with your accountabilities for the next quarter.
2. With these in mind, take a look at the current key priorities. These may be shaped by KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), Team Goals or any other Organizational Goals which are priority this quarter (or year).
3. What are the tasks that only you can accomplish?
4. What are the tasks that you need to be involved with, but can be supported by others?
5. What are the tasks that you really need support from others to accomplish (i.e specialized skills may be needed, due to complexity etc)?
6. What are the tasks on your list that really need to be completely handed off - who can do them? What support and direction do they need?
7. With these items off your plate, how much more time will you have?

Once you have gotten a line of sight on the tasks which need to be handed off, we can then start exploring how to do this. We'll be looking at tips for that this week, and you may also want to refer back to other posts I've written on delegation namely
Teams365 #90 - Delegation Tips which you can read here OR
Teams365 #315: Leadership a - z - D is for delegation which you can read here

What are the tasks which you need to delegate this year?

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 #2013 - FlashBack Friday: Developing Your Team Through Mentoring, Coaching and Leadership

7/5/2019

One of the areas I spend a bulk of my time in is the area of mentoring. I thought it would be useful to return back to a post I shared back in July 2014 on the differences between mentoring and coaching. Both are key conversations to incorporate in organizations today. What are you doing to foster development in your teams?

Here’s Teams365 # 212:

In terms of the development of members of your team, mentors, coaches and leaders all play important roles in building capacity of the team, individually and collectively. You can view past posts about mentoring here and coaching here.

Mentoring is often an underutilized method of support in organizations today. Mentors provide the value of being able to provide tremendous insight into the culture of an organization, how to "practically" get things done, and also into networks and technical issues important for different roles. Along with my colleague, Susan Combs, we continue to hear from organizations that are interested in adding mentoring, but they don't know where to start to support their mentors and proteges/mentees. This summer we launched the Mentor RoadMap(TM) series of workbooks for mentors and proteges. Organizations who have gone through the initial beta tests have found the resources to be invaluable! Interested in learning more? Contact us to set up a conversation about how mentoring could benefit your organization.

Coaching also can play a key role in the development of the team - as individuals and also as the team itself. Research by the International Coach Federation has found that coaching has a number of productivity benefits, as well as other related areas. The 2009 Global Coaching Client survey found that:

Increased productivity measures include:

Improved work performance (70%)
Improved business management (61%)
Improved time management (57%)
Improved team effectiveness (51%)

Improved positivity measures include:

Increased self confidence (80%)
Increased relationships (73%)
Improved communication skills (72%)
Improved work life balance (67%)

We've focused on coaching skills for leaders here at the blog this month, and sometimes it can be useful to bring in an internal or external coach to work with your team. Contact us to learn more about what this could look like with your team.

At the same time, teams excel because of great leaders. This is the emphasis here at the Teams365 blog. Helping you as leaders, and aspiring leaders, become better at what you do - through new skills, refined approaches, new insights and self-awareness. In a few weeks we will be launching one of our first Teams365 Team Leader Foundation programs on Time Management. The first of more than a dozen training modules for team leaders. New modules will be offered monthly and I hope that you will join us in the coming months with a focus on your own development. Learning is online so you don't have to travel!

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 #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 #1971 – #FlashbackFriday: Mistakes Made By New & Experienced Virtual & Remote Team Leaders & Skills Needed In The Virtual Space

5/24/2019

This month’s theme is about teamwork in complexity. One of the more complex areas can be the virtual and remote space. Let’s look at mistakes made by new and experienced virtual and remote team leaders.

I also thought it would be interesting to reach back to a skill-based post as well. Here’s what I wrote about virtual and remote leadership skills:

Today we reach the W in the A-Z of Virtual and Remote Team Leadership. As virtual and remote team leaders, having a wealth of skills and experiences to draw on can be invaluable. Given the need to lead across distance and ever-changing contexts it can be useful to have a broad base of skills to draw up on. Many of us are Jacks or Jills of all trades. The ability to lead confidently in uncertainty and across issues we are often unfamiliar with is key. Our ability to empower our team members to take the lead and advise on issues is also critical.

Questions to Consider:

When you think of your skill base as a team leader, what broad skills do you bring really help you lead effectively?
What new skills would you like to add to the table?
What experiences add to your mix?
What new leadership experiences would help you round out your style?

https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-850-virtual-and-remote-team-leadership-w-is-for

I also wanted to remind you of some of the more common mistakes new and experienced virtual and remote team leaders make:

Today’s post explores common mistakes virtual and remote team leaders can make. In this post we are going to look at five different ones.

Not enough 1-1's – As I have said many times, being out of sight is not the same as being out of mind. Not spending enough time in one-on-ones can be detrimental to the levels of trust team members feel, the connection they feel with others, which will have an impact on levels of engagement. What is an appropriate frequency of meeting time with team members? What does it look like – phone calls, video streaming, onsite visits, or bringing staff into the office regularly?
Not learning on your feet – Part of being an effective virtual and remote team leader is your ability to be shifting, learning and adapting. Given that there is much less levels of control and greater span, the ability to learn on your feet and expecting this rather than feeling you will have all the answers, can make a big difference with team members.
Not being clear with goals – Goals can be a little different with virtual and remote teams. Whether people are matrixed and reporting into different areas, or whether goals can become competitive, providing opportunities to be clear with goals is important.
Not helping people connect with the bigger picture – Because virtual and remote team members are working with different levels of autonomy and independently, helping team members connect with the bigger picture is essential. This could include helping them understand more about corporate and departmental goals, giving them more access to strategic or corporate plans, and making goals and achievements more visible. Making goals more visible might include making the reporting structures more shared and visually appealing, or mapping out team goals on a weekly basis or other.
Not providing team members with the necessary responsibility and authority – A final mistake virtual and remote team leaders can make is not providing the necessary responsibility and authority to their team members so they can make the decisions they need to autonomously.

https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-1177-common-mistakes-made-by-virtual-and-remote-team-leaders

What can you do to avoid these common mistakes?

Pick up a copy of the entire A-Z series at the Potentials Realized Store here. It’s a downloadable ebook format for $19 US.

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 #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.