Welcome back to another Effective Virtual Conversations tip. This week’s EVC tip is a reminder of the roots of facilitation. The word is actually derived from the Latin word - Facilis which means to make easy.

The role of the facilitator, particularly the virtual facilitator is to make things easy. That means making a focus on PROCESS easy. What’s the purpose? What can people expect? What are you doing?

Making connection EASY. As I shared earlier this month in the STAND OUT Virtually Challenge – that means connecting with the CONTEXT, with OTHERS, with YOU. What are you doing to make this easy?

Making outcomes EASY. Part of the mastery of a facilitator is having a variety of tools available to get to the outcomes required. This is where it’s important to have a wide toolkit. I’ve enjoyed helping many professionals build out their virtual toolkits this year in the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program.

Finally, it’s also about making ENGAGEMENT EASY. What are you doing to keep things moving? It’s important to be able to focus in on engagement - which is linked to connection as well as process.

What does FACILIS mean for you in your work?
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Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

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

This week as part of the Flashback Friday we are getting into the landscape of tools for business owners and leaders. Whether we lead a team, or run our own show, honing certain skills can help to accelerate our success.

I wanted to take us back to Teams365 #1540: Tools for Your Toolkit – Leaders and Business owners. 

Here’s what I wrote:
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Much of my work as a coach and consultant with leaders and teams revolves around support to leaders and business owners. One area we regularly return to is our toolbox or those resources we have at our disposal. Many of these we acquire from our own experiences, as well as the valuable networks of mentors and peers we belong to. This week we'll be focusing on several of the different tools which can be useful in our toolkit. Some of the tools you will want to make sure you have on hand are:

​#1 - Tools for Virtual Conversations - Check out yesterday's Effective Virtual Conversations tip #36  (Teams365 #1539) where I mention five different tools you'll want to make sure you master for more engaged, memorable conversations in the virtual space.

​#2 - Tools for Decision Making - Check out this audio post #Teams365 #495 where I cover two tools for decision making

​#3 - Tools for Delegation - Delegation is one of the most challenging areas for team leaders and business owners. As our work evolves it can often feel difficult to pass projects off to others. Check out my past post #391 on The Dreaded D Word - Delegation, where I share with you a quick activity to undertake to identify some of the areas you could delegate

​#4 - Problem Solving Tools - Check out this short audio posts on 3 tools for problem solving in Teams365 #488 here.

#5 - Planning Tools - Without a clear vision, and a plan to execute, our efforts may become unfocused. Drucker wrote "what doesn't get measured, doesn't get done". What are the planning tools you refer to regularly? Whether we are undertaking a SWOT, or a strategic Issues mapping activity, or building in regular pause points to take stock of where we are, planning is critical for success. Check out the multiple posts on planning here.

#6 - Conflict Resolution Tools - Conflict is inevitable in teams, especially given that most teams which excel are highly diverse. Learning to work across differences, and adjust our styles is part and parcel of collaboration and conflict resolution.  Check out Teams365 #1196 for my post on Navigating Conflict in Teams.

​#7 - Collaboration Tools - Going hand in hand with conflict is collaboration. Having a toolkit of resources to help you incorporate different ideas and perspectives, unearth assumptions, and leverage the best of a team is critical for teams and businesses today. I've written multiple posts on collaboration in the past, from partnering to ingredients for collaboration

​#8 - Coaching Tools - The final tool-set I would add is that of coaching tools. Coaching encompasses listening, questioning and helping others create their own solutions. In today's ever changing VUCA world, coaching is playing an even more important role. This is a focus of the bulk of my work with clients. What can you do to boost your peer coaching skills, or developing these skills in your team? Check out past posts on coaching here.

​I hope that you will take a  few minutes today to take note of the tools you are already have in your toolkit, and those you want to develop this year. What are the skills which will help you take your business or your team to the next level?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Much of my work as a coach and consultant with leaders and teams revolves around support to leaders and business owners. One area we regularly return to is our toolbox or those resources we have at our disposal. Many of these we acquire from our own experiences, as well as the valuable networks of mentors and peers we belong to. This week we'll be focusing on several of the different tools which can be useful in our toolkit. Some of the tools you will want to make sure you have on hand are:

​#1 - Tools for virtual conversations -  check out yesterday's Effective Virtual Conversations tip #36  (Teams365 #1539) where I mention five different tools you'll want to make sure you master for more engaged, memorable conversations in the virtual space.

​#2 - Tools for Decision Making - Check out this audio post #Teams365 #495 where I cover two tools for decision making

​#3 - Tools for Delegation- Delegation is one of the most challenging areas for team leaders and business owners. As our work evolves it can often feel difficult to pass projects off to others. Check out my past post #391 on The Dreaded D Word - Delegation, where I share with you a quick activity to undertake to identify some of the areas you could delegate

​#4 - Problem Solving Tools - Check out this short audio posts on 3 tools for problem solving in Teams365 #488 here.

#5 - Planning Tools - Without a clear vision, and a plan to execute, our efforts may become unfocused. Drucker wrote "what doesn't get measured, doesn't get done". What are the planning tools you refer to regularly? Whether we are undertaking a SWOT, or a strategic Issues mapping activity, or building in regular pause points to take stock of where we are, planning is critical for success. Check out the multiple posts on planning here.

#6 - Conflict Resolution tools - Conflict is inevitable in teams, especially given that most teams which excel are highly diverse. Learning to work across differences, and adjust our styles is part and parcel of collaboration and conflict resolution.  Check out Teams365 #1196 for my post on Navigating Conflict in Teams.

​#7 - Collaboration Tools - Going hand in hand with conflict is collaboration. Having a toolkit of resources to help you incorporate different ideas and perspectives, unearth assumptions, and leverage the best of a team is critical for teams and businesses today. I've written multiple posts on collaboration in the past, from partnering to ingredients for collaboration

​#8 - Coaching Tools - The final toolset  I would add is that of coaching tools. Coaching encompasses listening, questioning and helping others create their own solutions. In today's ever changing VUCA world, coaching is playing an even more important role. This is a focus of the bulk of my work with clients. What can you do to boost your peer coaching skills, or developing these skills in your team? Check out past posts on coaching here.

​I hope that you will take a  few minutes today to take note of the tools you are already have in your toolkit, and those you want to develop this year. What are the skills which will help you take your business or your team to the next level?

Have a great Tuesday,
​Jennifer

Think about all the virtual conversations you have been in, in the last week or more. How many captivated you enough to focus 100% on the conversation, pulling you back from the abyss of multi-tasking and what I call the "Death By Conference Call" mindset in my latest book - Effective Virtual Conversations?

​How important is it for you to have a memorable call with others? Do you want to be remembered as the person who broke the mold on the "regular" conference call mindset, or are you ok with being one of a dozen virtual conversations in any given month?

​Virtual meetings and conversations can be as engaging, and even more engaging, than in-person meetings, especially if you know how to create multiple engagement points with your attendees or participants. Whether it's a virtual team meeting, a check in conference call, or other, having a robust toolkit is critical in creating a memorable, and engaging, conversation. Throughout the 400 plus pages of my latest book, Effective Virtua Conversations, I cover dozen of strategies and even 24 different approaches (see Chapter 7). For the past seven months I've been hosting a series of community calls on different ways you can engage others  through our EVC Community Calls - check them out here.

​In terms of building your own toolkit, consider how you might incorporate more:

• ​Breakouts
• Annotation
• Chat
• Polling
• ​Questions which people can reply to or reflect on
• ​Real-time tasks and activities, people can undertake during the call/conversation. 

​With a new season coming up in a few days this is a great week to try out something different. Pick one of these strategies and give people a few minutes to reflect on or discuss their plans  and aspirations for the new season. See what impact it has and loop back with them in a while to see how things are going.

​We cover dozens of these strategies real-time, giving you hands-on experience in seeing them modelled, during the Virtual Facilitation Skills Essentials program. This program is starting again in a  short while - on Fridays from 1:15 - 2:30 pm ET with virtual sessions being held on zoom on April 6, 13, 20, 27, May 4, 2018
​Learn more about the program here - and for coaches interested, note that it is now approved for 8.5 hours of CCEs with the ICF.

​Enjoy your virtual conversations this week, and let us know through comments what you decided to do to engage your groups.

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

This week at the Teams365 blog we have been focusing on different tools to support teams with teamwork. Today's post takes us back to an audio post from early 2015 on three different problem solving tools. It's very common for team leaders to be ewanting more resources and tools to support their conversations with the team. Listen into Teams365 #488 to this 9 minute audio on three tools you might bring into your nex problem solving. Consider how you can share these as well with your team, particularly if you are a virtual team leader.

​Click on over to Teams365 #488 to listen in.

​The three tools we look at include the Fishbone, as well as the Force Field Analysis tool.

​Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

AS a former team leader myself I know how time crunched it can be to find quick things to do with our team. That has spurred me on since 2004 to develop a number of resources for team leaders to bring into their own work with teams.  Today so many of our team members are visually inclined and new conversations can get sparked using visuals.

Earlier this week the Teams365 Team Sparker deck was launched, consisting of 52 questions, the deck can be a great "Sparker" at team meetings or in individual coaching conversations.

For years I have been bringing photos into the facilitation and coaching work I do with teams and groups. Yesterday I launched a new e-manual "40 Ways to Use Visual Cards in your work with groups and teams" which includes detailed instructions and more sparking questions to facilitate insights etc. Whether you are looking for something different to do at your next strategic planning session, looking for a new way to kick off your retreat, or close a team meeting, these forty activities are a little different.  Click here to learn more or view my weekly Group Coaching Design Studio blab where I shared six ways to work with visual cards in the weekly 30 minute live stream show. I use the Conversation Sparker cards as illustration in the conversation.

For others interested in using photos for team development you may want to check out The Coaching Game - Points of View which offer another interesting series of photos.

A fourth resource I wanted to share which leverages photos is the original deck i am aware of - Visual Explorer from the Center for Creative Leadership. I've had the privilege to use the cards I purchased from them with thousands of professionals globally over the last seven or more years.

A fifth and final resource for you to explore is the JICT Images deck,
another excellent resource.

I hope that next time you have a meeting, retreat or team event, you will consider how images can spark some new insights, action and awareness.

Here are the links for more info or or pick up a copy of the  Conversation Sparker Cards(TM), the Teams365 Team Sparker Deck of the 40 Ways to Use Visuals with Groups and Teams. If you have any questions, please let me know. Enjoy!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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

Throughout the last two years I have been focusing on team leader skills and teamwork as a skill set and practice, here at the Teams365 blog. This month, November, is also the NaBizWriMo - the National Business writing Month. I am in the process of writing a new book for team leaders, in support of further building your skill set.

Today I wanted to share five current books which you might be interested in checking out as a team leader for enhancing your skills:

Managers Guide to Virtual Teams - Kindall Fisher, Mareen Fisher
Primal Teams - Jackie Barretta
Super Teams - Paul L, Marciano and Clinton Wingrove
The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork - John Maxwell
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni

What are your favorite teamwork books?

Best wishes,
Jennifer


Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized - Leadership and Team Development, Coaching, Retreats
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Email us to find out how we can support you and your team in enhancing your collaboration through coaching, training or a retreat program

One of our themes this week at the leadership myth was that innovation is for someone else. It is likely that you are hearing more and more about innovation, but what exactly is it? What does it mean? Here are some resources to get you started thinking and exploring the topic of innovation more for you and your team:

HBR's Top 10 on Innovation - Click here to review it on Amazon

The Innovation Book  How to Manage Ideas and Execution for Outstanding Results - Max Mckeown - Click here to review on Amazon

Vijay Kumar's101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. Click here to review on Amazon.

Collective Genius - The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation. Click here to review it on Amazon.

Four Lenses of Innovation - A Power Tool for Creative Thinking - Rowan Gibson. Click here to review it on Amazon.

Best wishes

 Earlier this week we explored Leadership Myth 5 - Employee Engagement is Overrated. It was a popular post and I thought it would be fitting to wrap up the week with it in the spotlight for our Toolbox and 6 Leadership Questions.

Here are some additional resources you may find useful around employee engagement

Partnering Resources Employee Engagement articles which you can access here.

Tom Rath on Leadership Strengths and Employee Engagement video (Tom is the well known author of How Full is My Bucket and StrengthsFinder 2.0). View the video here.

A Forbes article"The End of Employee Engagement" .

An interesting article from Christine Comaford on How Great Leaders Build Trust and increase Employee Engagement (for those that are interested in neuroscience - this is a goo read)

Fast Company article on 5 Secrets to Better Employee Engagement. Read it here.

What other resources do you find useful around employee engaement?

Best
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
Join us the weekend of November 7-8 for a two day Team and roup Coaching training session - build your toolbox with coaching teams and groups. Register here.
(416)996-TEAM (8326)