Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2437 Welcome to September – August Month in Review, September Planning & Gearing Up For Back To Work & School

9/1/2020

Welcome back to September. I’m excited to step into another month of blog posts with you. This start of September may be a little different than past years AND for many it still signals the start of a new year and new routines.

As we start this month, what are you excited about? What are you looking forward to? What do you want to make sure you focus on?

We’re going to start the month with our typical monthly review and stock taking. If you haven’t participated in one of these before, I hope you will take 5-10 minutes today to work on it. What’s important to note and pay attention to?

Looking back to the month of August (and/or the summer):

What were your achievements?
What didn’t get completed but is going to be carried forward?
What learning did you undertake?
What strengths did you leverage?
What got in the way of your plans/achievements?
What helped to MAGNIFY or AMPLIFY things?
What helped you FOCUS?
What helped you SIMPLIFY or streamline?
What else is important to note about your past month? (metrics, lessons learned, other…)
What did you do to renew?
What habits did you lean into?

Looking ahead to the month ahead:

What are your major goals for September?
What do you want to focus on?
What needs to be completed by the end of the quarter/end of this month?
What is the one routine you want to make sure you develop or maintain?
What’s important to let go of?
What will help you streamline or systematize?
What will help you MAGNIFY or AMPLIFY?
What habits do you want to focus on?
What relationships do you want to pay attention to?
What actions/projects do you want to complete, not matter what?
What else is important to note?

Enjoy your reflections!
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 #2406 – July in Review and August Planning

8/1/2020

It’s the beginning of August which means that it’s time to stop and take a pause to check in around your plans and goals.

How did July go? What progress are you making on your Q3 goals? What’s your focus going to be this month?

What did you notice about your metrics last month?

My hope is that today you will take a few minutes to stop and pause and do some planning for the month of August and beyond, while also taking some time to reflect on July.

It’s been 2 years since I launched the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner, and about 18 months since PlanDoTrack was released. Since that time, many of you have gone through one planner, moved to the other. Did you know that this spring I also made the planners available at our site for digital download? While they are intended for analog use (ie. hardcopy) you can now order a digital copy and print it off for personal use.

Pick up a copy of the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner (for virtual and remote professionals) here at our Potentials Realized site here.

Pick up a copy of the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner for coaches at our Potentials Realized site here.

If you have a copy of either one of these, you will want to explore:
#1 – The Month in Review
#2 – The Monthly Daily Trackers
#3 – One Line a Day

And for now, here are some reflection and planning questions (I’ve gone back to July 2019’s post for these!):

Looking back to the month of July:

What are you pleased with achieving?
What didn’t get completed but is going to be carried forward?
What strengths did you leverage this month?
What got in the way of your plans/achievements?
What helped to MAGNIFY or AMPLIFY things?
What helped you FOCUS?
What helped you SIMPLIFY?
What else is important to note about your month? (metrics, lessons learned, other…)
What did you do to renew?
What habits did you lean into?

Looking ahead to the month ahead:

What are your major goals?
What do you want to focus on?
What do you want to let go of?
What will help you simplify?
What will help you MAGNIFY or AMPLIFY?
What habits do you want to focus on?
What relationships do you want to pay attention to?
What actions/projects do you want to complete, not matter what?
What else is important to note?

Enjoy your planning!
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 #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 #2253 – Month In Review

3/1/2020

Welcome to a new month! This month’s focus is going to be on teamwork, including remote work. With an increasing number of professionals looking to get up to speed quickly with remote work, I hope that you will find these posts useful, and will share them with others.

Before we get started, it’s time to do a quick stocktaking of the month that’s past and set some goals for the month head.

Looking to last month:

What were your major accomplishments?
What progress did you make towards your annual goals?
What was your biggest learning?
What surprized you?
What skills and strengths did you leverage?
What habits did you develop?
What helped you be successful?
What do you need to leave behind?
What annual goals are you making progress on? Which ones are stalled or need a review?

Looking ahead to March and the end of Q1 of the year:

What are your top 3 priorities?
What do you want to make sure you focus on?
What do you need to say no to?
What relationships are important to foster?
What habits are important to create or maintain?
What’s going to be a stretch?
What’s the one thing you might shy away from? What will help you achieve this?
What will help you be accountable to your goals and plans?
What’s your contingency plan?
What needs to be “knocked out of the park” this month?

If you did not get the chance to check out this week’s blog posts, please take a look at the following:

Monday’s Teams365 2247: Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 133: Catch people doing things right. Read it here.
Tuesday’s Teams365 2248: Working From Home -When you have to. Read it here.
Wednesday’s Teams365 2249 – Meeting Questions – Keeping them efficient, even if you aren’t face to face
Thursday Teams365 2250 – Team Building Tip 276 – Micro-Pause. Read it here.
Friday’s Teams365 2251 – Flashback Friday – 4 Essential Ingredients for Collaboration. Read it here
Saturday’s Leap year post and some of the past posts to look back at. Read it here.

Enjoy your reading!
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 #2071 Stepping into September – Planning and Monthly Reflections

9/1/2019

Welcome to the month of September! Today’s post is two-fold – a look back at this past week, and an opportunity to pause and undertake some planning for the month ahead. Many readers are enjoying a long weekend this weekend, so I hope that you can take a few minutes before things gear up for work and school on Tuesday.

This month’s September Series is going to focus on getting back to the swing of things, setting yourself up for success and myths around Virtual Work. We’ll be exploring some tips around productivity, boundaries and habits.

First, let’s look back at this past week’s posts:

If you haven’t read them, I hope you will check them out.

Now, here’s this month’s planning questions, and month end reflection questions:

What were my major achievements this month?
What do I want to celebrate?
As I consider my goals (and resolutions) I made at the start of the year, how am I doing with these on a scale of 1-10? Which ones are becoming new habits or something I can check off?
Which ones need to be let go of?
As a leader, what have I noticed about my team this month?
As a leader, what notes should I make about performance issues (if I haven't done it already!)
The thing that has helped me be most productive this month has been ______
The thing that has helped me be most successful this month has been ______
The thing that has helped me be happiest this month has been ________
The thing that has helped me be most healthy has been _______

As I think about the summer overall:

My biggest accomplishment has been....
My biggest learning has been....
My ability to flourish has been supported by....
I'm proud of....
The one habit which has really helped me has been...
I want to continue….

Looking ahead to the month of September:

My top 3 -5 goals this month are:
My priorities are:
Wild success at the end of the month will look like … (Yes, this is one of my favorite questions which I ask each month in PlanDoTrack…)
The interruptions and disruptions I want to minimize are….
The habit I want to focus on is…
I want to take daily steps around…
I want to reach out to….
I want to say NO to…
I want to keep an eye on…
I’m excited about….

Enjoy your reflections and planning!
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 #2039 – Monthly Round up and Month in Reflection

7/31/2019

This month we have explored a variety of topics resonant for the mid-year rhythm:

Digital Detox
Work-life
Focus
Simplification
Habits
Creativity

What are you noticing about your work flow and energy right now?

As we step into the month of August, the work routine may adjust once again, AND I hope that you will be able to return back to these posts once again.

Today is the last day of the month, signalling a time to pause and take stock on what the last month was like, and do some planning for the month ahead.
Here are a variety of questions you may want to explore:
Looking back to the month of July:

What are you pleased with achieving?
What didn’t get completed but is going to be carried forward?
What strengths did you leverage this month?
What got in the way of your plans/achievements?
What helped to MAGNIFY or AMPLIFY things?
What helped you FOCUS?
What helped you SIMPLIFY?
What else is important to note about your month? (metrics, lessons learned, other…)
What did you do to renew?
What habits did you lean into?

Looking ahead to the month ahead:

What are your major goals?
What do you want to focus on?
What do you want to let go of?
What will help you simplify?
What will help you MAGNIFY or AMPLIFY?
What habits do you want to focus on?
What relationships do you want to pay attention to?
What actions/projects do you want to complete, not matter what?
What else is important to note?

Enjoy your reflection!

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 #2008 Month End Reflection

6/30/2019

As we step into the end of the month, we’ve had a number of core focus areas here at the blog -Mid-Year Stock Taking. A reminder to check out these posts if you haven’t done so already:

Team Tune Up
Systems Check
Feedback and Performance Check
Coaching and Mentoring
Presentations
Navigating Disruption
Downshifting and Renewal

I’m going to save my anticipated post on Knowledge Management – Capturing Successes and Strategic Issues for this coming week.

Given that it’s the end of the month and the quarter, let’s take a look at some core questions:

What were my major achievements this month?
What do I want to celebrate?
As I consider my goals (and resolutions) I made at the start of the year, how am I doing with these on a scale of 1-10? Which ones are becoming new habits or something I can check off?
Which ones need to be let go of?
As a leader, what have I noticed about my team this month?
As a leader, what notes should I make about performance issues (if I haven't done it already!)
The thing that has helped me be most productive this month has been ______
The thing that has helped me be most successful this month has been ______
The thing that has helped me be happiest this month has been ________
The thing that has helped me be most healthy has been _______

Quarterly Review Questions:

My major achievements this quarter have been _________
Key projects/tasks I started/completed/will continue…
Critical success factors were:
Key relationships I leaned into were:
What I need to carry forward to the next quarter is…
One thing I want to continue doing to ensure my success next quarter is…

Be sure to also take a look at the Quarterly Review Questions I posted at the end of March 2019. These can be used as Q2 reflections as well.

Looking ahead to July:
My priorities are:
My goals are:
I want to......
I'll be really happy at the end of summer when I.....

Enjoy your reflections and the wrap up of the month!

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 #1979 - Stepping into a New Month

6/1/2019

Welcome to June! What’s exciting about this month for you? What are your new goals?

As we step into a new month, I’m excited to be focusing on undertaking a mid-year review with you this month. We’ll be reconnecting with some of the core activities that help teams and organizations excel:

Team Tune Up
Systems Check
Feedback and Performance Check
Coaching and Mentoring
Streamlining Meetings
Presentations
Knowledge Management – Capturing Successes and Strategic Issues

It’s also an opportunity to take stock of the past month and look ahead to what you want to create in June. Before we go further, I hope that you will take a few minutes to explore these questions. Grab a pen and journal and let’s go. Given that we are stepping into the middle part of the year, what do you want to note about what you want to create by the end of the month? By the end of Q2?

Here are some questions to consider:

As you reflect on May, what have been your successes and accomplishments?
What are you most proud of?
What successes this month do you want to duplicate? What has been some of your key learning?
What key relationships have helped you so far this year? Which ones need more attention?
What has helped your successes? What has hindered?
What does your team need to be acknowledged for?

As you look to June, consider these questions:

What are your key priorities for June?
What are the key goals?
What are the major priorities?
What will you need to place attention on?
What changes do you want to make in June?
What resources do you want to tap into?
By the end of the month, which will be the middle of the year, what do you want to make sure you have completed?

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 #1978 – May Month End Review: Teamwork in Uncertainty

5/31/2019

This month we explored the topic of Teamwork in Uncertainty. From looking at the statistics of readers, it seems like it was a very resonant topic for those who visited the Teams365 blog this month. If you haven’t taken a look at this month’s posts, please be sure to check out:

1968 – Tuesday May 21: Teamwork in Uncertainty – Pivot
1969 – Wednesday May 22: Teamwork in Uncertainty - Comfort with the Unknown
1974 –– Tuesday May 28: Teamwork in Uncertainty – Strengths and Go-Tos
1975 – Wednesday May 29: Teamwork in Uncertainty – Synergies

As we step into the end of May, I thought it would be useful to reach back to one of the posts from last May on Prioritization.

One of the most disruptive things about disruption is the impact on our focus. Prioritization becomes a key skill set to cultivate.

Here’s what I wrote last May about leading in complexity -

“Prioritization is a skill set we draw upon regularly in times of complexity. Prioritization allows all team members to regularly scan and manage their workload.

Key to prioritization is:

Having the tools to prioritize
Feeling empowered to make decisions and take responsibility for managing workload
Understanding what is most important – to the different players of the team, as well as the different time frames you are working on (short term, medium term)

In past Teams365 posts I’ve explored a range of prioritization skills including the Urgent/Important Matrix (we often attribute to Covey), as well as a Decision Matrix where we weigh what’s important in making our decisions.

For more on the topic of prioritization, check out these additional resources:
This excellent article from MindTools.com - which has an incredible amount of other resources team members and leaders will also want to check out.

LiquidPlanner.com's article on How to Prioritize Work When Everything Is #1 - Read it here."

For those that are looking at prioritization through the lens of product design, you'll want to take a look at this excellent article 20 Product Prioritization Techniques.

In my books PlanDoTrack and the Coaching Business Builder I share four prioritization tools I use regularly with my clients and teams including the Urgent/Important Matrix and Strategic Issues Mapping.

The issue of prioritization takes on increased importance when we are working as part of a matrix or remote team. In these instances, our priorities may be varied and not as visible to ourselves and others. What is important for you to note around prioritization?

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 #1973: Month in Review: Teamwork in Uncertainty: May

5/26/2019

This month I’ve explored the topic of Teamwork and Leadership in Uncertainty here at the Teams365 blog. As we go to wrap up our last weekend of the month, here are some posts you will want to make sure you check out if you have not done so already:

Teams365 #1955- Teamwork in Uncertainty: Cultivating Curiosity. View it here.

Teams365 #1954 – Managing Uncertainty – Building Trust and Connection on Your Team Virtually. All workplaces can benefit from this topic – it is one of the #1 questions we receive here at Potentials Realized. Check out the post here.

Teams365 #1962: Teamwork in Uncertainty: Empowering your Team with the Space to Experiment. Link to: (not a live link yet)

Teams365 #1968: Teamwork in Uncertainty: Pivot

Teams365 #1969: Teamwork in Uncertainty: Comfort with the Unknown: Link into post

For those interested in taking a reflective pause, check out the Saturday Weekly Journaling Prompts.

Last Sunday showcased the latest Video Montage for the PlanDoTrack series, which will be of interest to professionals of all kinds – leaders, teams, and . There are now almost 20 of them in existence and you may want to show one as part of an upcoming team meeting to spark some dialogue. Check out those short videos here.

We’re just a few days away from the month of June and almost mid-way through the year. What have you noticed about how your 2019 goals are coming?

I’ll be hosting this months PlanDoTrack Month End Planning Review on Friday May 31st from 3 - 4 pm ET/New York. If you are looking for a structured reflection and planning process for the month ahead, I hope that you’ll join me. Cost $39 US. Click here to register.

Bring your planner and a pen! We’ll be connecting on zoom for the 1 hour program.

Enjoy your 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.