It's time for another #FlashbackFriday and this week I am reaching back to one of the many new team leader tips I wrote about last summer. Whether we are new to role, or experienced, or a virtual team member, equipping ourselves with these skills is important.

One of our focus areas this week was on goals, and here's what I wrote in TEams365 #945 around Creating Shared Goals:

"Today's New Team Leader tip gets you thinking about having a plan and creating clear and shared goals with your team.  As a team leader we need to always remember that we work through our team, so creating SHARED goals with team members are key.

Questions to consider and have dialogue with the team:
1. What are the top goals for this quarter for the team in general? For the team as individuals?
2. How do goals fit together? Intersect and align across the team?
3. Do team members understand how their efforts impact others on the team?
4. How do current efforts support goals of the department or the organization?
5. What's at risk/stake if these goals aren't completed?
6. How do smaller goals fit into the bigger picture?
7. What does each goal look like at the 30,000 foot view vs what it looks like from the shoreline?
8. What else is important to have dialogue around goals?"

I hope that you will take a few minutes in the coming weeks to discuss some of these questions with your team members. Read the other New Team Leader Posts here.

I am always curious to see what was happening a year ago. It lead me to reach back to see what I was writing about last August. Last August I did a monthly series on New Team Leader Tips. More than 14 posts on things leaders will want to consider in their first 90 days. One area that is a stretch for many new team leaders is the area of developing a strong relationship with their boss. Here are some things to consider.

​Let's take a look at what I wrote last August in Teams365 #944:
New Team Leader tip #9 got you thinking about the lay of your land.  One of the most important relationships you will foster as a new team leader is that of your boss. As a team leader your role is often one of a  conduit, feeding information downwards from your boss to your team and moving it upwards from your team to your boss.

Establishing a solid relationship with your new boss is key. How would you characterize it so far?

Questions to consider:
What are your boss' expectations of you? Of the team?
What are your bosses preferences in terms of communication, updates, frequency of contact?
What are your bosses key priorities? What is important about these to them?
What can you depend on your boss for?
What type of requests can you make?
What does your team want your boss to know about?
What advice and guidance has your boss provided you with so far?
What key relationships do they recommend you establishing?

If you haven't had discussion around these points so far, it can be useful to raise them in your next meeting or touch point.

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Looking for more tips and ideas to support you in your work as a leader? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, full of tips, resources and hacks for leaders and team members looking to realize their potential. Sign up at http://bit.ly/teams365news
Phone: (416)996-8326

This year marks the end of the third year of daily posts here at the Teams365 blog. It's been quite the journey and experiment of moving to a daily blog format for more than a thousand days! What began as a way to expand readership and visibility of our website with a handful of readers, has grown into thousands of readers throughout the week, the seeds of a couple of new books and more importantly impact and learning for leaders around the world.

Plans are underway for our 2017 blog posts, with a continued daily focus, and some new weekly columns. Our Team Building Tips Thursday will now be joined on Friday by a Flashback Friday section where I'll take a look at past posts from the blog. Let me know by email what you have enjoyed and what other focus areas you would like explored during 2017.

​Here are some of our top posts and post areas for 2016. Let's take a look:

Teams365 #1075 - Linked IN article - 10 Year End Activities to Undertake With Your Team  - Click to read here

​Our Teams365 Team Development Activities Series which will continue into 2017. If you haven't checked out these short posts which usually include a 3-5 minute video, take a look.

​Our Virtual and Remote Team Leader a-z  Posts which were a focus for us this spring - Check the 26 posts out here  

​This led to the development of a new e-book which builds on these posts and goes into 26 essential characteristics of Highly Effective Vritual and Remote TEam Leaders. Pick up a copy at our store for $19 US.

This year I introduced a new cartoon series of Jo, the new team leader. This series focused on some of Jo's key activities such as hosting virtual meetings, and undertaking one-on-ones with staff. View the cartoons here.

​Our global leadership series - Check out these posts here.

​The Foundations of Feedback series in May and June. Check out these posts here.

​The Foundations of Teamwork series - Check out these posts here. This grew into our new Foundations of Tetamwork on-demand course available at the Teams365 Learning Portal.

New Team Leaders series back in August. Check it out here

​You may also be interested in the July and August First 90 Day Video tips I did this past summer as well. Check them out here.

​and finally....and area that will be a huge focus for me in 2017 - the Virtual Facilitation Tips series. Check them out here.


​What did you find to be most useful to you in your work this year? Let us know by commenting!

Have a great holiday week,
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 getting your best results through coaching, training or a retreat program
​Looking for more cool things to do with your team? Check out our Potentials Realized store for books, emanuals, and the Conversation Sparker Cards.
(416)996-TEAM (8326)

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

With it being the last day of the month it is time for our month end round-up, as well as a pause point for reflections on the month that was and some planning for September.

This month at the blog we've continued to cover New Team Leader Tips, and then then moved onto tips for Virtual Facilitation. Increasingly, being able to facilitate effective AND ENGAGING virtual meetings, trainings and events has become a differentiator in the leadership space. During the 15 hour Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive program we focus on different strategics and techniques for leading ENGAGING And EFFECTIVE Virtual Meetings, Retreats, Training and other Learning and Conversation Events. The next program starts mid-September. Click here to learn more.

as the last day of the month, it is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the month that was, and think about the month ahead. Here are a few questions to get you thinking:

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 _______

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


Looking ahead to rest of the year....
My priorities are:
My goals are
I want to......
I'll know we will have been really successful at the end of the year when we....

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 start to the week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Looking for more tips and ideas to support you in your work as a leader? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, full of tips, resources and hacks for leaders and team members looking to realize their potential. Sign up at http://bit.ly/teams365news

In starting a new team, it's important to keep in mind some of the research which points to what makes teams most effective. Authors such as Wagerman, Katzenbach and Smith, point to a variety of factors which support team performance.

In starting the journey with a new team  you will want to build in time, and focus around these key areas:

1. Create a shared vision – Where are we going? What’s our WHY? Why do we exist? What’s important?
   
2. How do we….Creating Shared Behavioral Norms. Creating shared behavioral norms is key in establishing consistent team performance. Knowing what is acceptable and unacceptable on teams helps individuals self-correct and align. Read this past post on team norms - Teams365 #948
   
3. Shared team practices –  Regular meetings – huddles, team meetings, an evening out once a month to socialize, helps to build the key relationships which are critical for trust and connection. It is these relationships that help teams through the ups and downs of their existence.
   
4. Clarify performance goals – what are key goals and priorities. How are they measured? What will success look like?
   
5. Clear Roles - helping team members understand their roles and how they overlap, intersect and depend on each other is key.
   
6. Ongoing accountability – In high performance it is key to "circle" back and see how team members are doing. Creating a safe space where people can share what's working, and what's not, is increasingly being found as an important factor in high performance. Read Charles Duhigg's article on Google's experience with "safety" and behavioral norms.
   

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Looking for more tips and ideas to support you in your work as a leader? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, full of tips, resources and hacks for leaders and team members looking to realize their potential. Sign up at http://bit.ly/teams365news

As a new leader there are a number of assumptions you can make which can lead to a lot of problems and/or headaches for you and your team.  Here they are in random order.

Assumption #1  -Everyone needs and wants the same type of support.
In fact, every team member will have their own strengths, styles and personalities. Take time at the start to learn who each person is and how they want to be supported. Areas such as how they want to be communicated with can vary tremendously from team member to team member.

 If we don’t bust this assumption chances are many of your team members will not connect with you. Trying to support everyone in the same fashion can also lead to lower levels of engagement and trust.

Assumption #2 - I need to do everything myself – As a leader delegation is key. It’s important that we empower the team to do their work. Micro-monitoring is more important than micro-managing. While delegation is often considered an art form, mastering this skill early on can me the difference between flow and overwhelm. For more tips on delegation, view this recent Linked In Pulse post I shared a few weeks ago on Delegation.

Assumption #3 - I always need to say yes
From boundaries with your time, to learning to sway NO (diplomatically to your boss and team) creating boundaries is a key skill for team leaders. As someone who leads from the middle - supporting those above and below you - being able to say no tactfully is an important skill to master as are the skills of negotiation. If it's impossible to say NO you may need to say "I can do this, but it will mean I can't do that. What do recommend as the primary focus?".

Assumption #4 -This is going to be easy.

As a leader we need to often make the hard calls and difficult decisions. Some naively step into leadership thinking that it will be a bigger pay cheque and sim liar work. Not quite. While things won't always be easy, the learning curve does slow down. Your first leadership role may present you wit the steepest learning curve. For those that enjoy challenge, successive leadership roles will usually provide additional challenge in different ways.
Rather than feeling like leadership is going to be hard, what's another perspective you can step into around that?

Assumption #5 - You are going to be just like the other person who filled the role.
Leaders can benefit from busting this assumption early on. As a new leader you'll be bringing referent skills, experiences and a different personality to the table. Make your work life easier by not putting on additional pressure trying to be just like the "other leader". Reminding your team and your boss and stakeholders about your unique strengths can create a win-win for all involved.

What other assumptions do you notice you are holding around leadership? What needs to be reframed?

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Looking for more tips and ideas to support you in your work as a leader? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, full of tips, resources and hacks for leaders and team members looking to realize their potential. Sign up at http://bit.ly/teams365news

As we wrap up the week, New Team Leader Tip #21 gets you to pause, reflect, iterate and take action.

The journey of a new team leader is full of new skills, experiences, relationships, and pausing along the way can be an important part of the larning process. What are you noticing about what's easy? What's hard? Where you need support.
This weekend you may want to take a  few minutes to review the 21 tips for new team leaders and see which areas still need attention.

Iteration is the name of the game for many new team leaders today. Ongoing change requires that we are open to change, and are agile with our approaches. Trying things out and seeing how they land is important. As one organization I do work for says - "fail fast, fail forward and fail often". Its through ACTION that we do learn.

I hope that you have enjoyed these 21 tips for new team leaders. What are the next steps  you are going to take? Looking for more support? Contact me to discuss coaching and/or training support for you and your team.

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Looking for more tips and ideas to support you in your work as a leader? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, full of tips, resources and hacks for leaders and team members looking to realize their potential. Sign up at http://bit.ly/teams365news

Our 20th new team leader tip gets you thinking about where your time is going. While things may take longer to do in there initial few weeks, getting a handle on how much time you are spending on tasks is critical. In terms of time management it can be important to note:
​What amount of time are you spending on activities such as:
​* One on ones with team members
​* In meetings (and with what impact)
​* Meeting with your boss
​* Connecting with your peers
​* Learning new skills
​* Connecting with other stakeholders
* Commuting

​What's working? What's not?

​The patterns we establish in our first few weeks can become habits, so what do you want to make sure you focus on? If you had made a commitment to be hoe earlier to spend time with family, or focus on a side interest, how is that going?

​It can be useful to do a time audit for yourself in terms of noting over the course of a week where your time is going. Given the demands of a new role, getting a handle on your time can be key.

​If you are feeling like you just don't have enough time to get everyting done, check out our others posts on:
​Delegation (see a recent linked in article on the same topic) or any of our past posts here at the blog. CLick here for past Teams365 posts.
​Time Management and personal productivity

​If you want to do some planning for your own work, consider joining me for the inner Biz Leader Virtual Business Planning Retreat. This can be taken at  your own pace.