Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

#TEAMS365 #1680: Wrapping up the Review of A-Z on Leadership and Teamwork

8/7/2018

Over the past month I’ve been taking a look back at some of the A-Z of Leadership and Teamwork series I’ve done here at the Teams365 blog. Today we are at our last 3 letter – X, Y and Z. Let’s take a look back:

X stands for X-cel, read more here.

Six Leadership Questions around X: Read here.

As we look to Y, what do you want to say yes to?

Y – Six Leadership Questions a Day: Read here.

Leadership Myth - You Always have to say Yes! - Read here.

Finally, as we get to z:

Z is for Zoom: Read here.

Leadership Myth – What’s the Value of Zooming in: Read more here.

Tomorrow I’ll be shifting the focus to renewal and getting ready for the post-Labor Day back to work. Enjoy!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: [email protected]
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1674 – Welcome to August!

8/1/2018

Welcome to August! We’ll be wrapping up the end of the A-Z of review of past teamwork posts, and also starting our focus on renewing in August and planning for the back to work of September.

As we continue the A-Z of teamwork, we are now at U, V and W

U is for unique, . Check out this past leadership post on some of the U’s which make teams and leadership excel here.

For those leading virtual and remote teams check out this post.

V stands for values and vision, two core areas for teams and leaders of all kinds to explore. Check out these six leadership questions related to V here.

Check out a team development activity related to V and vision here.

W stands for Wow, Wisdom and Wonder. Check out this past post.

Check out six leadership questions around W here.

I’ll be doing one more look back at past a-z posts early next week, and then we’ll be turning our attention towards some new posts on renewal, and gearing up for fall.

Has your summer been whizzing by as quickly as mine has?

For those who follow me and are coaches, you may be aware that today is the release of my newest publication – the Coaching Business Builder Planner and Workbook. It’s an analog (i.e. paper based) workbook and planner. If you are looking for a planner for your business tasks this may be just what you are looking for in terms of monthly, quarterly and annual planning. It’s a great supplement to daily planners. Pick up your own copy at Amazon.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: [email protected]
(416)996-8326

#Teams365 #991: Weekly Linked In post - FouR Ways to Develop Talent Through Mentoring

9/17/2016

My LinkedIn Pulse post this week explores the topic of mentoring and is entitled "Four Ways to Develop Talent Through Mentoring". You can read it here.

We'll be wrapping up our recent focus on virtual facilitation to shift attention over to mentoring for the next few weeks so please stay tuned this week as we delve into some posts around mentoring.

What's your biggest question about mentoring? How to support the mentoring pairs? How to set up a program? Why mentoring? Please feel free to comment below.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
For more information our mentoring support, please visit www.MentorRoadmap.com

#Teams365 #358: Leadership A - z: What Do You need to Say Yes To?

12/24/2014

Today's Leadership a - z brings us to Y and the Question " What Do You Need to Say YES To?". Throughout this year we have explored a wide variety of topics related to teams and leadership, all geared to support you in doing your best work.

A you move into the new year what is the one thing that you want to say YES to consistently? What is the one thing that will underpin all the decisions you make as a leader or team?

Being clear on our YES, allows us to be even clearer in terms of what we are going to say no to.

As you take a pause for these next few days, often the only days of the year where everything does slow down, what do you want to say YES to.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized: Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Authorized Partner of Everything DiSC and the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team
Creator of the Inner Biz Leader(TM) Virtual Business Planning Retreat - a self-paced retreat supporting you in creating your plan for the next year, while exploring your leadership foundations
(416)996-TEAM (8326)

#Teams365 #352: Leadership a- z: T is for Time Management

12/18/2014

Beyond requests from clients and organizations on support around strengths and styles for their teams, our second most popular request is for support around time management and personal productivity.

Throughout the year I've blogged on the topic a number of times:
Teams365 #154 : Track your time
Teams365 #155: Tips for Time Management
Teams365 #255: Remember the 4 D model to Time management

When speaking on this topic to different organizations and groups, I like to refer to tip rich articles including:
- Huffington Post's article on email management which references a McKinsey Global Institute Survey which has found that the average worker spends 8% of their tie, or 13 hours a week, dealing with email (reading, sorting, deleting etc). How much time do you spend with email each week?
- Entrepreneur's article " How to Manage Time with Ten Tips that Work"
- Us News 30 Smart Time Management Tips

If you were to make one change to how you use, and manage, your time in 2015, what would it be?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized: Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Authorized Partner of Everything DiSC and the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team
(416)996-TEAM (8326)

Looking to do some personal leadership or business planning for 2015 in bite-sized chunks? Consider the Inner Biz Leader(TM) Virtual Business Planning Retreat which can be taken on demand at Udemy. More info here

#Teams365 #351: Leadership a - Z S is for Styles and Strengths

12/17/2014

We are at the S in the Leadership a-z today. Today's post is about Styles and Strengths, two of the most common areas we receive facilitation and team inquiries around.

Each one of us has natural strengths, tendencies and ways of interacting with the world, which often become more pronounced in times of stress and pressure. Our natural way of approaching issues - detailed, driven, big picture or enthusiastically - may work well for us as individuals. However, in the context of working with others, they may get in the way. Learning more about our styles and strengths can support developing a culture where a common language is shared. It also creates shared understanding about what each team member brings to the table what they may do well naturally, and where the stretch exists.

Throughout the year I have written several posts related to strengths including:

Team Leader Trust Builder #1 - Leverage Strengths (Teams365 #231) - Read it here

Essential Leadership Read - Strengths Based Leadership (Teams365 #256) - Read it here.

What Makes You Unique (Teams365 #142) - Read it here. This post also includes links to other strengths based posts from early 2014

For those interested in learning more about how strengths work with your team could enhance results and relationships during 2015, please contact me.

I also continue to offer the Everything DiSC profiles, along with the Five Behaviors of A Cohesive Team. These two tools provide individuals and team members with enhanced understanding about their natural styles. Again, please contact me for more information about the Everything DiSC or Five Behaviors.

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Looking to do some planning for 2015 in bite-sized chunks? Consider the Inner Biz Leader(TM) Virtual Business Planning Retreat which can be taken on demand at Udemy. More info here

#Teams365 #343: Leadership A - Z P is for..

12/9/2014

Today we are at P for Priorities, Prioritization, Promptness, Positive, Passionate, and Principled.

I've written quite a bit on priorities and prioritization in the last yar in the context of time management and personal productivity What is important for you to prioritize right now? Priorities help us to be prompt with deliveries and other conversations that need to take place.

Helping people tap into what they are passionate is the hall mark of an exceptional leader. While most leaders would assert it's their role to get their team working their best, I think exceptional leaders and mentors help us identify what we really enjoy doing, and challenge us to find innovative ways to bring this more to work.

Positivity is key in the workplace today, and we know that teams that are more positive, and have greater relationships amongst themselves are usually more able to navigate the ups and downs. Here's the link to an article in MindTools on Building a Positive Team.

What are the principles that you lead by? I was reminded of a classic book over the weekend which I haven't read for more than 10 years - Steven Covey's Principle Based Leadership. If you haven't read it it's a classic, and the holidays may be a great time to dust off an old copy you might have laying around. Covey encourages us to consider how we lead from our principles and values, which get tied into our vision and what we prioritize.

What other words come to mind when you think of Ps in leaadership? Perspectives?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching | Teamwork | Leadership
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Eager to focus on your development as a leader during 2015? Consider joining me for a group coaching program or Teams365 Team Leader Foundations course

#Teams365 #337: Leadership A-Z: M is for Motivation ....

12/3/2014

Today's Teams365 Leadership a-z is at M. Management, momentum and movement have all been key topics in coaching conversations i've had this week.

Here's what I wrote about micro-managing and motivation last November - who other key M areas:

Today we are a the letter M in #leadership a through z. Two words in particular jumped to mind for me -
Motivation and Micro-monitoring

Motivation: What motivates you as a leader? What motivates your staff? A great book on this topic is Dan Pink's book Drive. In the book he explores what motivates us and proposes that we are motivated by three things - autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Questions to consider:
Looking at ourselves, where do we get motivation from? Is it an internal driver like purpose, or an external driver like money or recognition? Consider your team members - what are their motivators? What can you do to align their motivators with tasks that need to get done?
How do goals support motivation for your team members?

Resources around motivation:
Motivation 123 website - a website dedicated to motivation. You can visit it here
Jim Riley presents various theorists around motivation including Maslow (remember his Hierarchy of Needs) and others. You can read Jim's overview here.
An animated video by RSA based on a presentation Dan Pink gave. View it here.

Micro-management versus micro-monitoring: A common statement in any leadership development training process is that you don't want to micro-manage.

As a former co-facilitator of mine, Doug McLaren, always stated "as a leader you want to micro-monitor, not micro-manage". Micro-monitoring is about being aware of what your team members are working on, and making sure that you are there to provide support, resources and troubleshooting as needed. Micro-management, in contrast, is about taking over and not letting your employees work autonomously. As indicated earlier in this post, what is a major driver of motivation? Autonomy. Consider the implication

Questions to consider:
What does micro-management mean to you? What does it look like?
What does micro-monitoring mean to you? What does it look like?
On a scale of 0-10 (with 0 being none, and 10 being high) where are you as a micro-manager? A micro-monitor?
What support does each one of your staff really need at the moment to be successful with a particular task or project?

Heading off to the December Team Leader Breakfast Cafe in a few minutes to explore Vision - keep your eyes open for the recording later this week!

Have a great rest of your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Everything DiSC® Authorized Partner
Contact us and let us know how we can support you in helping your team reach its' full potential: (416)996-TEAM (8326)

#Teams365 #330: Leadership a-z: K is for Kick-off

11/26/2014

We tend to remember the start and end of things. This is called the latency and recency effect of the brain. Our first impressions are critical and when things get off to a wrong foot a lot of time can be spent bringing things back on course. One of the most important meetings team leaders will need to prepare for are kick-off meetings for new projects or initiatives.

I wanted to share five areas to consider as you go about prepping for your next kick off meeting, based on an earlier blog post from my BizToolkit blog :
"1. Who needs to be at the table or involved in the kick-off? Make a list. The RACI framework of stakeholder analysis can provide us with a useful framework to think through the multitude of potential players, partners and stakeholders. What happens if they are not represented from the start?

The RACI framework stands for:
R - Responsible: Who is responsible for executing the project?
A - Accountable: Who is accountable for results?
C - Consulted: Who needs to be consulted, and perhaps involved through the provision of knowledge, information, expertise?
I - Informed: Who needs to be informed - about the project, outcomes and results?

How are you involving a representation of these different players? What's the most effective channel for communication.

2. What needs to be communicated at kick-off?

3. What roles and responsibilities need to be identified or clarified? What other expectations need to be clarified?

4. Communication, Reporting and Evaluation - What ongoing communication, reporting and evaluation processes will you create? Who needs to be involved and when? What are the major milestones going to be?

5. Checking in on accountabilities - Accountability in today's business environment has become a Pandora's Box at times. What are the specific accountabilities each person/party has and how will this be measured? Who are they accountable to? What's expected in terms of reporting? What happens if things go off course? Failure to discuss this from the start can set a slippery slope for any project or initiative."

You can read the original post here.
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Teams365 #329: LeaderShip a-Z: J is for Just-in-time

11/25/2014

We are at the J in the Leadership A through Z. For leaders and business today Just-in-time approaches are critical in navigating an ever changing environment. Planning cycles have shortened and the ability to create, or draw on, just-in-time solutions are key for learning, performance and development.

Just-in-tme strategies emerged out of the production field, where inventory was created just as needed. just-in-time production aims to eliminate waste. Companies such as Toyota, Canadian Tire and Walmart have all practiced just-in-time production strategies.

On the performance realm, mentors can be one of the most important just-in-time resources for professionals of all levels to draw on. Throughout the year I've focused a number of posts on mentoring, and also provide additional resources through the Mentor Roadmap(TM) programs and resources.

Another important just-in-time approach are one-on-ones with staff. Daily or regular one-on-ones provide a pulse of where each team member is. These meetings also provide the opportunity for real-time feedback and opportunities for team members to correct performance issues right away

What does just-in-time mean in your context?

Here's a link to an article which explores how "just-in-time" education is become both possible and necessary.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized - Leadership | Teamwork | Coaching
Coaching for Team Leaders
(416) 996-8326