I thought that it would be interesting to reach back to what I had written five years ago here at the Teams365 blog – here’s the post from that day – Five Key Relationships – still as relevant (and maybe even more so in today’s virtual context”.
​
Whether you are back to work or starting a new role, relationships are key in today's business context. As team leaders, we navigate a wide network for relationships, which you may need to call on at any given time. Five key relationships for team leaders to be aware of are:
​
1. Your team - What is the strength of these relationships right now? What conversations are important to have? What does your team rely on you for? What do you need from them? What preferences to do they have in terms of support, communication, connection etc.?

2. Your boss - When was your last quality meeting with your boss? What support do they need from you? What support do you need from them? What are their priorities this month/quarter? How can you help them be even more successful?

3. Your customers, client’s other key stakeholders are also key players in your network. What conversations and touch points do you have planned or want to have?

4, Key project relationships - Consider other key relationships you have. What requires attention? Where can you lean into for support?

5. Your peers - As team leaders we also benefit tremendously from fostering a network of peers around us. Is it time to connect with some specific people within your network? What could you share about your current successes that would help others? What do you need from them?

To wrap up with one of my favorite business authors on the topic of relationships, here's what Keith Ferrazzi says:

“Connecting. It’s a constant process of giving and receiving—of asking for and offering help. By putting people in contact with one another, by giving your time and expertise and sharing them freely, the pie gets bigger for everyone. This karma-tinged vision of how things work may sound naïve to those who have grown cynical of the business world. But while the power of generosity is not yet fully appreciated, or applied, in the halls of corporate America, its value in the world of networks is proven.”
― Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

Enjoy your weekend!
Jennifer

I thought it would be fitting to reach back to a post I had written several years ago about how teams can respond to rapid change, given that this has been the theme for 2020. Here’s what I wrote back in Teams365 1577:

Change is everywhere in many industries and our ability to stay grounded in order to make decisions is key. Today's Thursday team building question get you to think about the question "What is going to help you be successful within a context of rapid change"?

​Teams explore different approaches to rapid change including:
​Embracing ongoing learning - in a context of rapid change ongoing learning becomes critical. Figuring out what "good enough" looks like rather than mastery may be an important mindset shift if this is possible in your work.

​Becoming more curious - When change is ongoing the context may be changing and what we "know to be true" may also be changing. Being curious and open become key skills to foster.

​Shortening cycles - Think about what needs to happen in terms of communication and feedback cycles as things speed up. What about work cycles? If you are now seeing change every quarter, rather than once a year, what implications does that  have for how you share information, provide feedback and change processes.

​Simplify - Process is key in rapid change, AND older ways of working and processes may be cumbersome. Is it time to simplify different processes? Is it time to simplify other components. What does simplify mean for you as a team?

​Empower - Empowering your team and providing them with the responsibility and authority to do certain tasks is likely to be critical. Everyone's eyes and talents may be required. Helping the team bring their best skills and use them is also key to success.

​Create peer sharing opportunities- Going hand in hand with empowerment is making sure that you build in opportunities for peer sharing. Whether it is formal job shadowing and mentoring or peer partners who meet informally throughout the month, part of rapid change often means a reduction of the silos and barriers which can exist in teams and in our work.

​What changes are needed for you as a team in becoming more fluid in light of rapid change?

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Earlier this year I shared a post on ten things you would want to make sure you took time to schedule. You can read Teams365 #2199 post here.

As we moved into the months of January and February a lot of our focus was on getting up to speed, and with the pandemic taking a lot of attention in recent months, some of these activities may not have been on the radar as much. I thought it would be useful to go back and take a look at these areas:

#1 – Team Meetings – Make them consistent and regular. It’s likely that you won’t be able to have everyone at the table (or the screen). Make sure that you create shared team agreements of what team members need to do if they are not present for meetings.

#2 – Meetings with Your Boss – Have you scheduled in time with your direct line manager? Keeping visible and being in regular communication is essential in today’s workplace. Corporate priorities can change quickly as can your boss’ priorities. How often are the two of you meeting? What format are you using? What’s important for them to know?

#3 – One-on-Ones with The Team – While group and team meetings are great, team members still need some 1-1 time. Be sure to schedule in some time with your team on a regular basis. Are you aiming for monthly 1-1 conversations? Quarterly deeper dives? Daily touchpoints? As a team talk about expectations and make agreements about who is responsible for scheduling and follow up.

#4 – Team Development Time – As I shared in yesterday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip, team development time is critical and is often overlooked for virtual teams. Teams don’t just excel by osmosis! They need time to get to know each other, clarify how they are operating and focus in on what’s important.

#5 – Strategic Thinking Time — Are you leaving yourself enough time for reflection and thinking? Be sure to leave in enough time for strategic thinking. This can include creating, or revisiting your VISION, MISSION and MANDATE. Taking time to think strategically is important so that you have a clear big picture with a longer-term horizon. With things changing rapidly, the strategic horizon of 1, 3 or 5 years down the road can be invaluable in helping us keep moving, and not getting too set back by the small changes which can feel frenetic.

#6 — Time to Get Things Done — With meetings, communication and email taking a lot of time, what time are you leaving for yourself to get things done? For some professionals, it means coming into the office early to tackle key tasks for 30-60 minutes before others arrive. For others, it means booking a conference room and closing the door. Notice when you are most productive and when it’s important to get things done.

# 7 – Learning Time – What are your learning and development goals this year? Embracing ongoing learning has never been more important. What are the skills, processes and approaches which are going to help you do your best work? Note that learning can take many forms: including in-person programming, virtual learning as well as on-demand learning. Finally, peer learning (see #9) is another set of approaches.

#8 – Feedback Time – What feedback touchpoints are you building in throughout the year? Feedback in many organizations has moved to an ongoing cycle, and it can be important to make sure that it is happening regularly. Block off time in your schedule to get it done.

#9 – Peer Learning Time/Mentoring Time — What is the peer learning you want to undertake this year? Is it possible to do some job shadowing or pair with a peer partner throughout the year to compare notes, share resources and learn from each other?

In addition to peer learning, what about identifying a mentor in your organization or industry who can share their experience in order to help you understand “what’s below the waterline”?

#10 – Time Within Your Industry or Outside Your Regular Scope of Work — Finally, industry connections are key. Keeping current in your area of work may be as important, or more important, in the medium- and longer-term. What connection into professional associations are going to support you this year?
 
What do you want to make sure you make time to focus on?

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. ​

Over the last few months, we’ve had a tsunami of professionals joining us in the virtual and remote space. One thing that most have become aware of is that virtual conversations are not uniform across the virtual and remote space. In fact, in my 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, I share 9 different types of virtual conversations which vary across both level of formality and peer versus individual learning approaches.
 
In EVC, I differentiate between these nine different types of virtual conversations across the ecosystem:

1. Mentoring
2. Coaching
3. Peer Learning
4. Team Development
5. Goal Setting
6. ​Video Based Learning
7. Education – Webinars, Webcasts, Formal Learning, MOOCs
8. Meetings
9. E-Learning

What are the different types of virtual conversations you are engaging in? Are they synchronous – real time – or asynchronous – when the conversations take place at different times?
 
Chapter 4 of Effective Virtual Conversations dives more deeply into the different types of virtual conversations which exist.
 
Regardless of the type of conversation we are having, many of the same skills and practices underpin all of these. Last week I delivered a national webinar series for the Institute for Performance Learning and covered the 8 skill sets that underpin virtual conversations including:

1. Creating the Context
2. Communication
3. Process
4. Tools
5. Group Development
6. Ourselves as Facilitators
7. Technical
8. Design

(Copyright – 2017, Jennifer Britton, page 71)
 
What are the skills which are important for you to develop further to enhance your conversations?
 
For more on these skills, check out the Daily Reading Series I hosted during April and May of this year covering off chapters 1-3 of the book. You can listen in here at the Effective Virtual Conversations Blog. 

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. ​

At this point of remote work, many have gotten into their groove (or not). One area which is always a challenge, and is absolutely essential for long term business success, is building relationships in the remote space. While old-school networking often felt uncomfortable, how are you approaching virtual networking and relationship development?

Here are 10 remote conversation starters you might want to try out:

1. Tell me a little about the work you do.
2. What are the major projects on your desk right now?
3. Tell me a little about your career progression and how you got to your current role?
4. What have you found to be a useful tip around building relationships virtually?
5. What’s been your biggest learning as a professional?
6. What are some strategies you use to (manage conflict, “manage up”, focus on you)?
7. What helps you be productive in the remote space?
8. What resources do you tap into regularly (websites, people etc)
9. What’s one tip or suggestion you have for others in our line of work/space?
10. What’s the piece of advice you have for others?

 
These are all possibilities. They may have resonance or not.

Key to remote working success is making a concreted effort to build relationships (horizontal, vertical, within your industry, outside your organization and industry) on a regular basis.

I hope that you find these remote conversation starters useful.

​What other ones do you like to ask?

Enjoy the conversations!
​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. ​

​One of the skills which is important to develop in the virtual world today is empathy. One of the challenges is that we don't get to see beyond the screen.  What are some ways we can be building more empathy and understanding with other virtual team members?

​What comes to mind in terms of ways you can boost more connection and understanding amongst team members?

​Empathy is a skill set critical for teamwork and leadership. In fact, I probably could do a series of posts on this topic.  In today's post, I want to zoom into the question of "what are some practical ways to build more empathy across virtual teams, while also boosting connection?". 

​There have been some great writings by others on the topic of empathy. Consider these articles - Empathy in Leadership - 10 Reasons Why It Matters by Tanveer Naseer. Read it here.
​Matthew Taylor's Empathy in Leadership: Coaching Leaders to Manage Their Stories. Read it here.
Center for Creative Leadership: Empathy in the Workplace. Find this here.

​As virtual teams, what are some ways we can build our skills in empathy while building connection?

​1. Provide opportunities for team members to get to know each other - online and offline. While some virtual teams will never meet, building in time for "getting to know" each other is critical. This could entail dedicating some time to sharing "What's outside your window?" or" on your desk?" as I describe in Chapter 7 of my new book Effective Virtual Conversations.

​2. Create formal learning partnerships with others on the team. Many virtual teams benefit from having peer partners to meet with on a regular basis. This helps us to learn more about each other, what projects we are working on. As we listen and learn more trust, connection and understanding are created.

​3. Be present and listen. We continue to see how important the ability to focus on virtual conversations is. Nothing will destroy trust and connection faster than hearing the other person on the end of the phone or streaming typing away -doing an email while you are speaking together. What will it take to be present, focus, and deeply listen in your virtual conversations?

​4. Listen for the deeper layers. Typically, in listening we may be staying at the surface. Hearing with one ear and thinking about what we are going to say back to the other person. In the deeper listening needed by virtual teams today, listen to what the person is saying. Notice the pace, pitch of the conversation. Notice what is the emotion behind the words? What is being said? 
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​5. Take time to share more about your world, your work, your priorities. An important part of empathy is understanding. It's a two-way street - being open to share and being receptive to listening. how much are you sharing about your world, your work and your priorities?

​There are multiple ways we can be focusing on the skills of empathy as we build connection on teams. What are some approaches you as a team want to focus on?
​
Have a great weekend,
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. 
​

Metaphorically, what do you want to pass on? What pearls of wisdom do you want to share with someone else? What do you want to give to someone so they can benefit from it? Mentoring is an important modality at any time, especially at this time, when people can benefit from the lessons learned from those who come before us.

Our most recent Remote Pathways podcast #10 focused in on Virtual Mentoring. You’ll find the episode here.

One of my business partners, Susan Combs, of the Mentor Roadmap shared the experience of developing internal mentoring programs and supporting mentor pairs in many industries and with many organizations including Fortune 500s.

Mentoring can take many forms, and virtual mentoring is alive and well. Check out Teams365 #2107 – Effective Virtual Conversation Tip 114. Read it here.

This week in your journaling, you are invited to think about what you want to pass on? What is important to capture? What is important to communicate? What is important to mentor someone else around?

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
​

​An increasing number of teams have been moving their work to the remote space in recent weeks. Focus and relationships are core to success. I thought it would be useful to reach back to a post from October on different ways you can connect your remote team. Take a look:
​
This week we turn our attention to a post from last October around your Remote Team Toolkit:

TEAMS365 #2130 Remote Team Toolbox: Helping teams connect, get to know each other and focus

In yesterday’s post I covered a range of different team development tools which professionals in the remote space may want to build or further develop. This could include tools in the areas of supporting the team to connect with each other, get to know each other and focus in on the work and results you want.

Area A: Activities/Resources to help the team to get to know each other
What’s outside your window? – As I wrote in Effective Virtual Conversations, we often only see people in their screen but aren’t able to see what’s beyond the screen. Have people share what’s outside their window or call in from a different location so you can learn more about their context.

Earmark 3-5 minutes to a fun opener/icebreaker in your next team meeting so people can get to know each other better.

Area B: Tools to help with focus
Minimizing the impact of digital distraction is a key issue for teams today. See what I had to say about reducing digital distractions a short while ago here at the Teams365 blog. 

Several different tools which help team members focus in the virtual space include the:

• Urgent/Important Matrix
• Strategic Issues Mapping (link to past Teams365 posts)
• SWOT: The trusty strategic planning tool (link to past Teams365 post)

Area C: Helping teams connect
Helping teams connect with who is who and who is working on what is of critical importance to a remote team. It’s an area we often don’t think about on the surface, sometimes given the diversity of roles and locations. It can be very useful in the medium- and long-term to facilitate regular conversations with the team around who is doing what, and to also earmark time for the team to regularly connect and get to know each other. Discussion in this area might include:

• Undertaking inventory of projects people are working on so that lessons learned can be shared.
• Identifying key strengths and experience bases which exist in the team – there may even be a “go to” team resource person around different areas – i.e. technology questions, resource around different themes/focus areas you work on etc.
• Short team openers and closers such as BINGO. (where team members asked to find someone who – insert different categories like: “has visited 3 different continents, speaks multiple languages, is a twin” etc.)

For more on this topic check out the 20 Focus Areas for Virtual and Remote Team Development ebook which is available at the Potentials Realized site and provides you with facilitated instructions of 20 different activities you can facilitate with your team. Pick up a copy here.

If you have a copy of the Effective Virtual Conversations book, check out chapter 7 on Tools and Resources.

Wishing you 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 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!
​

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip reminds you to “Catch people doing things right”. A challenge in remote work is that we don’t always see people in their natural work setting. Feedback, in general, may be missing when we work remote and sometimes it can feel like we are operating in a vacuum.

In order to help team members excel, feedback is needed. Both positive feedback and constructive feedback when things aren’t going well.

So how do we provide feedback when we don’t see others in action?

Build in review reflection touchpoints. This might include mid-project or end of project reviews. These can involve sharing works in progress (or completion) where there’s a specific focus on sharing and receiving feedback.
​
Build in co-working opportunities where it is live and virtual. This can provide a sense of everyone’s different working style. What might a co-working opportunity look like? It could be undertaking a 4-hour block of work together with the group coming together at the top of every hour. I facilitate these as part of the different remote coaching services I offer to group members who join me for an annual basis. With benefits of both ongoing accountability and getting things done quicker, it can be really interesting to have people share a snapshot of their work, real-time. It’s not only inspirational for us but can be a validating factor for those sharing the work. It also opens the door for informal feedback like – “Have you thought about….” OR “Have you considered looking at…..”. While we may operate in isolation, it can be important to benefit from peer wisdom and sharing.

Job shadow virtually, where feasible. Can more junior team members shadow another team member? Be an active observer so they can learn from others?

What else might you do to encourage job shadowing?

Finally, are you building in a culture with your remote team of having people share accomplishments and successes at team meetings? There might be a Star of the Week, or the Month. While this may not motivate everyone, it can build a great practice of building in a pause, so people note what they have done.

Enjoy your focus on thinking about feedback in the remote space and catching people doing it right.
 
Have a great week!
Jennifer

This month we’re looking at building relationships in the workspace. Whether it’s meeting colleagues half a world away or getting to know new team members who you can’t see every day, today’s post gets you thinking about, and using, five conversation starters in the remote space. These can be useful to combine together if you are creating more of a focus for team members to meet with each other and learn about each other’s work. As I write “Remote does not mean disconnected!”. Remote team members are often surprized to see just how connected their work really is.


Tell me a little more about your role and what you focus on? (another reframe may be – Tell me a little more about your work?)

It’s likely that this question will take you in the broad landscape of what someone does. It can be useful to hear what they do, where they are based, what they are responsible for. Are they part of a local office that you can’t see, or do they work from home? Are they part of just your team or multiple matrix teams? What are the major items they are responsible for?

Tell me a little more about your priorities right now?

This question helps get at what their priorities are. In the remote space, it’s easy to think that everyone is working on the same projects that we are, when in fact, they may have two or three other priorities ahead of ours.

How do you see our roles fitting together?

This question may be a “door opener” to your peer asking you questions about your work and what you do. It may also help to clarify the intersection points of your work. The value of having regular conversations and talking about what you do is that you may start seeing even more connections together than you did in isolation.

What type of communication is going to work for you?

This question helps to create a proactive approach to teamwork. The support needed, and valued, by each team member may be different.

Asking how you can support others in their work can surface a discussion around strengths, preferences, and how each team member is unique. If you know that someone puts an emphasis on brevity and timeliness, your response can adapt. It may mean short bullet form emails, specific to the task, rather than long winded emails which ask questions about how people are doing as in the case of another team member who values relationships, inquiry and a slower pace.

Beyond this, you will likely hear about the varying channel preferences people have and the frequency people will value.

What should I know about your work context and preferences?

In the remote space our team may be “on” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7). Understanding how people work, where they work and what their context is critical for communication, workflow and also prioritization. If you know that someone is only in the office two days a week you can prioritize accordingly. If you understand that a colleague’s work hours don’t intersect with yours, you will be able to adjust WHEN you send info – i.e. at the end of your day so they can work on it during their work day and have it back to you by the time you get back online the next morning.

How can I support your work?
​
Even if you aren’t seeing each other every day, or working physically side-by-side, collaboration and reciprocity still exists. Find out what you each can do for each other. Maybe they have specialized skills and experience you can learn from, maybe there are process tools they are really good at. What supports can you offer each other?

I hope that you will start to incorporate some of these questions as you move forward with your conversations and relationship building. What time are you earmarking for conversations this week?

Warm wishes, 
Jennifer