Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

#teams365 #3029 Reconnecting the Workspace Tip

4/19/2022

Supporting others to do their best work in the virtual, remote, and hybrid workspace is an integral part of keeping organizations moving. Professionals at all levels of an organization can benefit from enhanced coaching skills in goal setting, questioning, listening, and accountability. What type of support will work best for you—coaching or mentoring?

What are the conversations you want to initiate? What can you do to connect team members with their vision, values, beliefs, and assumptions? How can the iceberg model support you to do your best work?

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

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TEAMS365 #2258 – Flashback Friday – 7 Focus Areas for Team Leaders (from 2017)

3/6/2020

Over the last few years, there’s been a treasure trove of content built up here. As part of the Flashback Friday series, I like to go back and do a quick share of past posts. This week I am reaching back to a great post from 2017 on 7 Focus Areas for Team Leaders. Ask yourself how much this has changed in the last few years. My guess is they are all still relevant for your work:

Today's blog post focuses on 7 tools for leaders we have covered during 2017. As busy professionals, both team leaders and team members can benefit from having a robust toolkit of tools to pull from. Here are seven that we've focused on throughout the year:

1. Questions - Questions form the backbone to any great conversation. One of the Teams365 videos which has been viewed the most this year is the 20 Coaching Questions video I created from Teams365 #1277. You can view the video here. Subscribe to our Teams365 Leadership YouTube Channel to keep up-to-date with the weekly Teams365 videos I release each Sunday.

2. Techniques for leading more effective virtual conversations – One-on-ones, virtual meetings, and webinars. With the launch of my newest book this past summer, Effective Virtual Conversations, I started dedicating Monday's Teams365 blog posts to the topic of leading more effective virtual conversations. If you have not checked out the 26-ish weekly posts on these, please do so here.
Whether it's using more breakouts or asking better questions, virtual meetings and webinars can break the mold of what I call "Death by Conference Call" - the multi-tasking, zoning out mindset. Be sure to also check out the related Community Calls I have hosted this fall as well.

3. Tools for collaboration - Working across teams, and organizations, and industries is becoming much more the norm for most leaders and team members today. In February, I focused on the topic of Collaboration. Take a look at the top posts from February around the topic of collaboration.

4. Strategic planning - Whether strategic in your organization means 36 months or 10 years, planning sessions for teams continued to be very popular in 2017. You will want to check out several of the posts I have included around this topic here at the blog.

5. Strengths-based teamwork - Almost every month this year I found myself facilitating strengths-based teamwork sessions with teams, both in person and virtually. Whether we explored StrengthsFinder 2.0 or used VIA Strengths, I found these conversations to be extremely vibrant and transformational for teams. Circling back with most of them months later, strengths-based approaches really stuck out for them, and were approaches they could integrate into their everyday work. Contact me to discuss how we can bring a strengths-based teamwork session to your team this next year.

6. Feedback - Another area I found most of my team support boiled down to this year was around the areas of feedback. Check out the Teams365 posts on the topic of feedback here.

7. Difficult Conversations - Going hand in hand with feedback was the topic of having more difficult, or courageous, conversations during 2017. Check out the Teams365 posts here on this topic.

What are the areas you have been focusing on?

All the best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.
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#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 #1996: Presentation Brush-up

6/18/2019

As you may recall, this month we’ve been exploring several mid-year topics – the Team Tune Up (link to that post), along with others encouraging you to do some mid-year stock taking.

One area which I think often gets pushed to the side is that around presentations. Whether we are being formally asked to lead a webinar, or present something “on the fly”, brushing up on our presentation skills can go a long way.

While there is a whole art and science behind presentations, I like to always bring it back to KEEP IT SIMPLE. I’m going to model that in today’s posts as well, sharing with you five key areas to keep in mind when you go to design or lead your next presentation:

Connect people early on with their WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? What’s important about this topic for people?
Use real-time examples. If you have time, is there an opportunity for people to share a real-time example of how they are focusing on this topic. The question might be: “Who can share an example you are currently working around, as it relates to this topic?”. This helps make it not only meaningful, but relevant and usually a lot more urgent than if you were talking about the topic in a more conceptual way.
Consider the start, middle and end. We tend to remember the start and end of things. Really think through how you want to start the presentation and how you want to wrap it up. What are
What are the top 3 bullet points? We operate in a fast-paced business context, where direct communication can be an advantage. What are the top 3 bullet points you want to share during the presentation, or have people retain?
Use graphics that capture attention. Media use in many presentations is an expectation and can bring to life many of the ideas you are covering. What are the graphics that are going to provide a focus and inspiration?

Finally, as a bonus tip, remember that most people prefer to bring their own voice into the presentation and talk about the issues that are relevant to them, rather than passively sitting back and being talked at. What can you do to bring their voices and experience into the room?

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 #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 #1960 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 93: Virtual Facilitation Tip

5/13/2019

As someone who has led a variety of virtual calls for the better part of the last 15 years, I often get questions around quick techniques we can use to “jazz things up” with hearing from different people on the call.

While some people will attend a virtual session thinking they can multi-task, if you really want to create a powerful learning context create agreements around engagement and how you are going to call on group members during your time together.

Last week I shared the tip of calling on people from A-Z. This week consider using an East to West (or West to East strategy). This provides a little more interest and mental power in keeping the call moving.

To support this process, during one of your call kick offs as an energizer you may want to get people to share their location (or where they are calling in from – city, state or country) by dotting themselves on a map.

These approaches are yet another quick way we can “Avoid the Death by Conference Call”, creating more engagement for our group members.

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 #1932 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 89 – Always have a back up

4/15/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip gets us thinking about what often is the norm, not the outlier- when technology happens. In a virtual setting a core practice is to “always have a back up”. Technology will break down.
Having a back-up is important on many levels. It may include:

Having another line/service in case your preferred service breaks down
Communicating to the group what to do in the event of tech failure (i.e. should they try to call in again, and then switch to another platform OR should they look to email to find instructions)
Having a list of all contacts for the call – this could include email addresses and phone numbers along with your class list
Having a back-up computer/laptop in case your system goes down (or decides to update)
Having a back up copy of your presentation loaded to the cloud and/or USB key
Having a back up copy of your material (print)

Remaining calm and moving into contingency mode is key when facing a tech issue. Before anything happens work through your own list of what you will do and write it down. Have these items in a location which you will naturally “go to” in the event of a break-down.

What else is important for you to note around having a back up?

With 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 #401: Team Building Tip: What Do you Want to Be Known For?

2/5/2015

It's time for a Thursday Team Building Tip. Today's question gets to you to consider the question " As a team, what do you want to be known for?".

This question takes us into the terrain of relationship management and reputation. How do you want to be seen as a team? Exceptional? People focused? Getting results?

Here's a quick exercise:

1. Ask the team to share what adjectives they would use to describe how they would describe the team right now (from their own perspective)?

2. Get them to share adjectives internal and external stakeholders have used in the last year to describe the team?

3. What do you notice? Are they aligned? Different?

4. Now, consider your vision. Ultimately, what do you want to be known for? What's it going to take to shift from where you are now, to where you want to be?

The topics of reputation and relationship management are key. Make sure you spend some time focusing in on these areas with your team.

Have a great Thursday,
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
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Contact us and let us know how we can support you in helping your team reach its' full potenial - (416)996-8326