​It’s that time where we start rolling into year end conversations, holding one on ones (coaching conversations) individually and with the team.
As we move into the end of the year, it is invaluable to schedule some one on one time with each team member. Today’s post includes a selection of 18 questions you might include in those conversations (pick and choose as appropriate). Great year end conversations help to create a pause to reflect achievements, synthesize learning and look ahead to the future.
You may want to incorporate these questions into your conversation:

1. What are the key achievements you have been most proud of this year?
2. What projects worked well?
3. Which projects didn’t go so well?
4. What was your learning there?
5. What connections/relationships have been most valuable this year?
6. Which relationships need attention next year?
7. What’s been your biggest learning this year? What experiences provided that?
8. What has worked well with the team this year? What hasn’t?
9. What feedback do you have for me as the leader? (What’s worked and what hasn’t)
10. What’s one suggestion for how we could do things differently as a team next year?

Looking ahead to next year:

1. What are you excited about?
2. What habits do you want to cultivate or lean into?
3. What do you want to do to keep growing your skills?
4. By December 31, 2019 what do you hope you will have achieved? OR by January 1, 2020, what do you hope you will have achieved? (Notice the impact of the difference one day makes!  Yes, we are wrapping up a decade next year)
5. What are your top 3 priorities next year?
6. What feedback and support are you looking for?
7. What would be useful in terms of our 1-1 time?
8. What else is going to help you do your best work?

What else do you like to ask at this time of the year? Please let us know by sharing in the comments below.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

As we step into the end of the year, scheduling key activities for your team is important before the year comes to a close. Some of the key activities you may want to include for your team are:
A review session of accomplishments, lessons learned, based on what worked well, and didn’t work well.
Planning sessions for 2019, with an annual and quarterly focus. Is every team member clear on what key priorities are? What key activities need to be accomplished? By when? What’s expected of them? How their work links with others on the team?
Celebration sessions to acknowledge what you’ve accomplished during the year.
One-on-one time with each team member supporting them in some review of the year and visioning and planning for the year ahead.

Be sure to check out these other Teams365 posts regarding year end activities:
Year-end reflection and planning questions.

You may also want to check out the 10 Year End Activities Video I created last year. View it HERE.

As well as the 4 Best Practices for Year End Retreats.
​
Best, 
Jennifer

This week’s Team Building tip gets us to the question “If you were able to make one change to the way you do things, what would that be?”.
As you consider your work and team practices this fall, what is working? What is not?
While change cannot always be effected overnight, there may be some small things which can be changed through the introduction of:

• New habits
• New practices
• Reduction of duplication
• Process mapping
• More regular 1-1s

What is going to help your team to be more productive and effective this fall, while having more fun? We spend an awful lot of time at work, so what’s going to make it even more impactful for everyone?


Best wishes, 
​Jennifer

​It’s time to mark another watershed in the Teams365 blog history – 1700 posts. When I started this project of blogging daily on January 1, 2014 I didn't know what was in store!  From goal setting, to difficult conversations, coaching to performance management, virtual team building tips, to work-life issues, I've covered a wide range of topics relevant to today's teams.

I've been encouraged by the many emails I have received and discussion with team leaders who are not only reading these posts, but also sharing them with their team members. That's what I had envisioned.

As a writer, the regular habit of planning, writing and researching these posts have made the writing of my latest two books - Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), and the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner (2018) flow more easily. Stay tuned for a couple of new 2019 resources for team leaders and team members, which will also grow out of what I've created here at the TEams365 blog.

Over the last 100 posts I’ve explored our most recent gearing-up for fall, along with the focus on team development approaches. These posts have joined some of the more regular weekly columns:
Monday’s Effective Virtual  Conversations Tips
Thursday’s Team Building Questions
Friday’s FlashbackFriday posts which take a look back at past Teams365 pots
Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompts – questions to get you thinking and writing each week
Sunday’s Videos which bring to life many of the hundreds of posts here at the Teams365 blog.
Looking ahead, I’ll be continuing daily posts throughout 2018, with upcoming focus areas on:

• Personal Productivity for the Remote Professional
• Remote Work tips and Hacks
• Planning for 2019
• More on team development

I hope that you will continue to join us for these posts!
 
And now, onto Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip #59:
In Effective Virtual Conversations I wrote “The first few minutes sets the tone. What do you want to create?”.
In conversations of all kinds – team meetings, performance conversations, one-on-ones, difficult conversations, the first few minutes are critical. Are you considering:

• The environment you are hosting your conversation in?
• What end result you would like to achieve?
• What’s important for the other person?
• What’s important for you to create?
• What’s going to help the conversation be successful?
• What expectations do you have?
• What expectations do they have?

Which posts have you enjoyed the most here at the Teams365 blog - let us know by commenting below! Please also take a moment today to share this blog resource with someone you know who would benefit.
 
Thanks,
Jennifer

This month's focus on goals is tied to the performance management realm in any team. As we individually and collectively get clearer on our goals, it helps us to articulate the resourcing we need, and gain clarity on the steps we need to take.

For today's #FlashbackFriday I wanted to reach back to a past post on one-on-ones, which are an important part of the leadership role in goal support. Have you scheduled your first (or second) one-on-one with staff already this month? If not, perhaps this is the impetus for you to get it in your books.

Here' what I wrote about the Leadership Practice of one-on-ones in Teams365 #1301. Take note of the skills and enabling factors for better conversation. What needs to be put in place, or adjusted, for your team to be having the best conversations this year? Here we go with Teams365 #1301:

It's the start of another week and time for another Leadership Practice. This one is on one-on-ones. Taking time to build closer relationships with your staff is critical for success as a team  leader. One-on-ones, short conversations with each individual team member are important for:
- Getting to know your team members. What their strengths are, their aspirations, and what their preferences are.
- Creating shared expectations around work
- Understanding where support is needed and what type of support is required
- Keeping abreast of issues which need attention or may be on the horizon

In holding one-on-ones with different team members you will likely find that there is a different appetite for how and where one-on-ones occur. Some staff may want them held frequently, while others may want them on a less regular basis.

Here are seven things you will want to keep in mind as you move into your one-on-ones (Taken from Teams365 Team Building Tip #120 - Teams365 #1122)

Today's post looks at seven elements which makes a one-on-one really effective.

​These are:
1. Listening - In a one on one conversation it is important to be listening on a number of different levels - from noticing body language and alignment with what is being said, to really seeking to understand and hear what the person is saying. So often in leadership conversations we are thinking about how we are going to respond and what will we say next that we fail to listen deeply. What do you notice about how you l listen in one-on-ones? What changes would you like to make?

2. Focus - We don't always have a lot of time in a one on one conversation so creating a focus for our time with our staff can be important. You may ask questions such as "What would you like to get out of our conversation today? OR "What would be a useful takeaway?"

3. Minimize Distractions - Creating a pause point can be easier in some contexts than others. Consider how you and your staff can minimize distractions during your 1-1s. This might include turning off your phones, moving the conversation out of the office or to a different floor. What will minimize distractions for you?

4. Use powerful questions - Powerful questions invite people to explore, expand or sometimes focus. Powerful question are open ended questions, inviting the staff you are talking with to elaborate and share their ideas. We can build trust by asking great questions to our staff and giving them time to speak and share. Note that WHAT questions are usually the most "powerful" in opening up the space for dialogue. WHY questions in low trust can put people on the defensive.

5. Suspend judgement - It is important to note how and where our judgements are surfacing and how even subconsciously our bias can come through. What do you need to do to become neutral or as unbiased as possible in your one-on-one calls? What happens when you are able to do this?

6. Watch body language - In face to face conversations body language can make up more than 50% of the message. What does your staff's body language say? How does this  compare to what is being said?

7. Create an action plan - One of the reasons why I chose to do more training and have a focus on coaching almost a decade ago was because coaching focuses on having a "Conversation with intent" and having a specific action plan which we can loop back on. In your one on ones what are the next steps for the staff member? How will you check in together around these next steps?

​What opportunities do you have coming up around one-on-ones? What notes do you want to make for yourself about important things to keep in mind?

I have written quite a bit about one-on-ones here at the blog. You can view some of these posts here.


Best wishes,
Jennifer

It's the start of another week and time for another Leadership Practice. This one is on one-on-ones. Taking time to build closer relationships with your staff is critical for success as a team  leader. One-on-ones, short conversations with each individual team member are important for:
- Getting to know your team members. What their strengths are, their aspirations, and what their preferences are.
- Creating shared expectations around work
- Understanding where support is needed and what type of support is required
- Keeping abreast of issues which need attention or may be on the horizon

In holding one-on-ones with different team members you will likely find that there is a different appetite for how and where one-on-ones occur. Some staff may want them held frequently, while others may want them on a less regular basis.

Here are seven things you will want to keep in mind as you move into your one-on-ones (Taken from Teams365 Team Building Tip #120 - Teams365 #1122)

Today's post looks at seven elements which makes a one-on-one really effective.

​These are:
1. Listening - In a one on one conversation it is important to be listening on a number of different levels - from noticing body language and alignment with what is being said, to really seeking to understand and hear what the person is saying. So often in leadership conversations we are thinking about how we are going to respond and what will we say next that we fail to listen deeply. What do you notice about how you l listen in one-on-ones? What changes would you like to make?

2. Focus - We don't always have a lot of time in a one on one conversation so creating a focus for our time with our staff can be important. You may ask questions such as "What would you like to get out of our conversation today? OR "What would be a useful takeaway?"

3. Minimize Distractions - Creating a pause point can be easier in some contexts than others. Consider how you and your staff can minimize distractions during your 1-1s. This might include turning off your phones, moving the conversation out of the office or to a different floor. What will minimize distractions for you?

4. Use powerful questions - Powerful questions invite people to explore, expand or sometimes focus. Powerful question are open ended questions, inviting the staff you are talking with to elaborate and share their ideas. We can build trust by asking great questions to our staff and giving them time to speak and share. Note that WHAT questions are usually the most "powerful" in opening up the space for dialogue. WHY questions in low trust can put people on the defensive.

5. Suspend judgement - It is important to note how and where our judgements are surfacing and how even subconsciously our bias can come through. What do you need to do to become neutral or as unbiased as possible in your one-on-one calls? What happens when you are able to do this?

6. Watch body language - In face to face conversations body language can make up more than 50% of the message. What does your staff's body language say? How does this  compare to what is being said?

7. Create an action plan - One of the reasons why I chose to do more training and have a focus on coaching almost a decade ago was because coaching focuses on having a "Conversation with intent" and having a specific action plan which we can loop back on. In your one on ones what are the next steps for the staff member? How will you check in together around these next steps?

​What opportunities do you have coming up around one-on-ones? What notes do you want to make for yourself about important things to keep in mind?

I have written quite a bit about one-on-ones here at the blog. You can view some of these posts here.

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

As we start winding down our June series on one-on-one questions you might want to bring into your next team meeting and/or individual conversation, we arrive at one of the final six factors for high performing teams - shared performance measures and goals. Yesterday's post looked at the concept of Mission, and last week we looked at shared team practices and shared commitment.

Teams which excel are clear on their goals and how those goals are measured - what we also refer to as shared performance measures.

As you consider your work right now, have some dialogue in these areas:

1. What are our top 3-5 goals this month?
2. Are the goals SMART-E? Specific? Measurable? Achievable? Realistic? Timely? and Exciting?
3. What does success look like for each major goal?  Do we all share the same vision of success?
4. What does each one of us do to contribute to the achievement of that goal?
5. What are the things that could get in the way, or derail, the goal? What will help, or enable, the goal?
6. What are the measures we will use to know that we have reached the goal? (Time, money, other....)

What other questions are important to consider, and have dialogue around, as it relates to goals?

Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer

 It's time for another series of leadership questions and one-on-ones for your team. Last week I looked at two of the Six Factors for High Performing Teams - Teams365 #1267 - Shared Commitment, and Teams365 #1266: Shared Team Practices. 

Today we are looking at the topic of mission, another key ingredient of clarity for teams that excel. Whether you are helping people consider their mission on an individual or team level, use these questions:

• What’s our mission?
  
• Why do we exist?
• Who do we serve?
• What do our clients/customers/stakeholders say about us?
• What is the one thing we can do, which no one else can do?
• What are our competitive advantages?
  

As you think through these questions, what do you notice?

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Clarity around team roles is a critical part of team effectiveness. In today's post I am going to share with you seven questions you might want to be asking your team to answer. What needs some attention?

1.       What are the roles which exist on our team?
2.       How do they overlap?
3.       Where are there gaps?
4.       How do the roles leverage our strengths?
5.       How do the roles support our styles?
6.       What changes would we make to roles going forward?
7.       What do we definitely want to keep the same?

​What do you notice about the responses to these questions?

​Have a great Wednesday,
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 potential - (416)996-8326

Today we're back for another series of questions you might want to bring into your next one-on-one questions with team members - either collectively, or individually. Today's questions get you in conversation around stretch zones. It's always important to keep in mind that a stretch for one team member, may not be a stretch for others.

​Here's six questions you may want to incorporate into any upcoming conversations around stretch:
Where is the team getting into a rut?
Where do people want to stretch
Where do people need to stretch?
What will stretch look like?
What support do people need?
What acknowledgement do people need?
What’s the reward for undertaking this stretch?

What other questions would help the team explore the question of stretch?

Have a great Tuesday,
​Jennifer
​