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TEAMS365 #2384 – Flashback Friday: Teamwork Skills in Complexity – Curiosity

7/10/2020

Welcome back to another Friday where we are focusing on Teamwork Skills in Complexity. This week’s post is all about the skill of Curiosity. To explore it, let’s look back at Teams365 #1596.

Here’s what I wrote:

This month we are exploring what’s required to thrive in today’s ongoing world of complexity. Last week we explored listening, and today we are exploring the skill of curiosity and open-mindedness. Tomorrow, we will be turning our attention to the skill of experimentation.

Curiosity is a critical skill set for today’s ongoing change and complexity, given that many times “we do not know” or have all of the information needed to make decisions or see what is next. This could be because things are changing so fast or it could be because things are unclear on the road ahead. Being able to lead from a place of curiosity or “not knowing” can be liberating when the shift has been made.

One thing that can help us on our voyage of curiosity as a leader is questions. We can use questions to check assumptions, learn from others, and harness the wisdom that exists. Some questions that enable all team members to step into a place of curiosity are:

What’s possible?
What’s one thing we haven’t tried?
What else?
What else can you leverage?
What’s the worst thing that can happen?
What’s another option?
What could you do differently?

In order to cultivate curiosity within our team we can:

Encourage risk taking and mistakes
Support team members in pilots and experimentation
Enable learning across the silos which exist within the business
Expose the team to new areas regularly
Support a growth mindset

What can you do as a team to cultivate curiosity?

Enjoy the conversation!
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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

TEAMS365 #2377 – Flashback Friday: Teamwork in Complexity – Experimentation

7/3/2020

This week we take a look back at a post which is probably even more relevant today than it was when I wrote it back in 2017 – Teamwork in Complexity.

What are you noticing about how teamwork is changing in your work in 2020?

What role does experimentation play in helping you be successful?

Take a look at this post:

This month we are exploring the skills required in teamwork, including listening and curiosity. Today I wanted to take a dive into a third skill area, that being the area of experimentation.

Experimentation is key for business leaders and teams today. Many times, the context is changing so quickly that we don’t have time to complete an entire roll-out before having to make a final decision. That can lead to a mindset of experimentation, where it is encouraged to try things out, see what works and what doesn’t.

In supporting experimentation in our team we want to:

Encourage and reward trial and error
Create safety around not getting “things right”
Provide team members with time and resources to experiment, beyond their everyday team responsibilities
Facilitate an evaluation of projects or “Experiments” that are completed or are even at the midpoint

Questions we may ask at project reviews include:

What’s working?
What’s not?
What are the things that need to be abandoned or tweaked?
What additional resources do we need?
What unknown obstacles have become visible?
What is the big learning we are taking?
What is the one thing/ or the many things we are going to do differently going forward?
Who else can we learn from (including our own past projects)?

Enjoy the conversations!
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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

TEAMS365 #2371 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 106

6/27/2020

Welcome back to the 106th Weekly Journaling Prompt. This week’s prompt is “I appreciate”. What do you appreciate and are grateful for? As I have written in the past, gratitude plays an important role I health and well being.

As I shared in Teams365 #331:

Flowing from gratitude are a number of health and psychological benefits which include higher levels of optimism, increased positivity, more pro-social relationships, happier relationships, and also lower levels of toxic thoughts. As you will read, one practice which has been shown to increase gratitude and the benefits is keeping a gratitude journal, which is as simple as writing down on a weekly basis five things you are grateful for that week.

You can read more about what science has found about the importance of gratitude and how to incorporate more of this at this link from the Center for Greater Good from the University of Berkeley.

What are the things you are grateful for? What would it be like to keep a list of what you are grateful for on a regular basis, even if it’s as simple as listing out the top 3 things you are grateful for?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

TEAMS365 #2362 – Team Building Tip 250

6/18/2020

This week we hit the 250 mark of the weekly Thursday Team Building Tips. Which one has been your favorite?

Each week I have been providing you with a question to incorporate into your team meeting, to spark some new ideas. This week’s question is “What needs more percolation time?”.

As we’ve collectively seen in recent months, complex challenges when we are leading from a new paradigm often requires new ways of thinking. This may mean new concepts, new mental models, as well as new ways of doing things.
With this in mind, it may mean that things need to marinate, stew or percolate for longer.

The percolation time may feel very different than when thinking is fast, and action is fast.

What are the things you need to marinate on, or percolate on as a team? As an individual? What will help you NOT rush the process?

Enjoy today’s post and be sure to take some time to review some of the first 250 Team Building questions here.

Best,
Jennifer

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

Get your Q2 planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2314 –Monthly KickOff!

5/1/2020

It’s May and it’s time to take stock and pause and welcome in this new month! I’m excited to be back with you with some new posts this month around Teams, Mindset, Planning and Productivity in the remote space from my 2019 workbook planner PlanDoTrack, and also Boosting Connection with Groups, Teams and Communities.

Before we get going, let’s take a pause to reflect on our last month – the month of April:

As you think about April:

What are the top 3 positive highlights from the month for you?
What skills and strengths helped you?
What habits did you lean into?
What did you accomplish?
What distractions got in the way?
What surprized you?
How did you navigate the changes you were faced with?
What projects, tasks and activities are going to carry forward?
What Q2 goals have been achieved? What’s shifted already?
What else is important to note?

As you look ahead to the new month of May:

What are your top 3-5 priorities?
What’s important to take action on and/or wrap up this month?
What key activities are important to put boundaries around?
What distractions do you want to minimize?
What relationships are important to note?
What habits to you want to count on?

What else?

If you have a copy of PlanDoTrack or Coaching Business Builder take note of the metrics you have been tracking in your Monthly Daily Trackers and be sure to complete the Month in Review as well as your Monthly To-Dos, and new month in review.

Enjoy your end of week and reflection!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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

Get your Q2 planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2312 – Remote Team, Group and Community Builders

4/29/2020

Whether we are part of a team, collaborating with others or even building a community, there is an art form to bringing people together in the remote space. Today’s topic both curates some of my favorite past posts I’ve done on remote team builders, as well as focuses on some of the areas groups may be hungry for…

#1 - A little bit of grounding: This is where a quick meditation might come in handy.

#2 - A bit of context: Share one thing that’s on your desk right now!

#3 - A little bit of laughter: I recently heard Les Brown share in a presentation that a minute of laughter boosts your immune system for 24 hours. What can you to do create a bit of humor?

#4 - A little stress relief! Check out these 20 stress reduction activities from Sophaya.

#5 - Thinking about things in a different perspective: Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats tool is always a great go-to to explore issues from multiple perspectives.

#6 - Leveraging strengths: Check out this earlier blog post on Leveraging Strengths for remote teams.

#7 - Creating connection: One of my favorite exercises to do at the start of the call (even before stay-at-home became a reality for many of us) was a quick exercise of What’s Outside Your Window? Check it out in action in the April 15th Community Call I co-hosted for the Remote Pathways podcast.

Here’s a great list on the A – Z of building a remote team from Trello’s blog – you can find it here.

You may also want to go back to the A-Z series I did back in 2017 as well.

Download a copy 20 Different Remote Team activities you can take your team through at the Potentials Realized store for $27.50 US - (immediate download).

Enjoy!
Jennifer

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

Get your Q2 planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2306 Team Building Tip 241

4/23/2020

If anything, the recent context has underscored the need for ongoing learning and adaptation in all areas of our life. The writing and research of Dr. Carol Dweck is so important at this time around Mindset and the approaches to open and closed mindset. In an open mindset we know that there are likely to be multiple areas for ongoing learning and business development.

As a team it can be useful to regularly ask “What haven’t we mastered yet?”, considering the questions of what areas might need to be focused on, adjusted or amended.

As Heraclitus wrote back in Ancient Greece: “Everything flows and nothing abides, everything gives way and nothing stays fixed."

Mastery is almost impossible in a context which is not static. Even a Master knows that they will need to keep learning.

What’s important to explore individually or collectively this week?

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

Get your Q2 planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2280 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 92 – 6 Words to Describe My Life

3/28/2020

We are continuing with the focus on the six words series. This week’s post gets you to consider the question – “How would you describe your life?”

Additional questions you may want to consider are:

What are the things that have defined you?
What else is important to note?
What are you known for?
What moments have defined who you are?
What is important to note about focus?

Enjoy your reflections!
Jennifer

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

Get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.
Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

TEAMS365 #2259 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 89 – LOVE

3/7/2020

“Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is a quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through the good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.” -Ann Landers

Welcome back to another Saturday weekly journaling prompt. This week’s prompt is simply the word LOVE.

Like past weeks, I hope that this week’s prompt provides you with the space to explore ideas such as:

WHAT do you LOVE right now?
What are your passions?
If you were to create a top 10 list of the thins you LOVE this year, what would it include?
WHO do you LOVE?
How do you demonstrate LOVE?
What do you LOVE about your business and what you do every day?
If you run a business or lead a team, what do you LOVE?

I hope that you enjoy your reflections!
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.
Get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

TEAMS365 #2245 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 88 – I feel supported by…

2/22/2020

Happy Saturday! It’s time for another Weekly Journaling Prompt. This week’s prompt gets you to reflect on, and write about, “I feel supported by….”.

Consider:

What supports you?
What does support look like for you?
Visually, what are the images or icons which represent support for you right now?
If you don’t feel supported, what’s missing? What’s the type of support you want? What could support look like visually for you in the future?
What support can you offer others?

Enjoy this weekend’s Weekly Journaling Prompt!
Jennifer

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

Get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!