Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2248 – Working From Home: When You Have To

2/25/2020

This year has already had a number of factors which have made working from home a necessity rather than a perk. Whether it’s been weather or health related, some people aren’t quite set up for a great working from home set up. Today’s post gets you thinking about what’s going to help you keep your work flowing, even if you have to work from home.

Consider these items:

Remote (or direct) access to the key files and information that you need. Do you know how to get into the files you need to keep working? Are they accessible?
A way to keep meetings running: Zoom may be a great option to set up for your team.
A way to keep project work meeting: Co-working is also easy when you are able to set up conversations with team members on zoom. What are the conversations you want to build in on a daily or weekly basis?
A secure and solid connection.
Passwords and access codes
A dedicated work space as free from interruptions as you can have.

What are the things you need access to right away to keep your work flowing?

For more on remote work, please check out the remote work tag.

My 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, explores many of these topics as well. Pick up a copy at Amazon.

Later this month I'll be releasing a new White Paper on Remote Work - Getting Up to Speed in a Hurry. Sign up to receive a copy. It will be send when it is available - likely March 1st.

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.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

TEAMS365 #2240 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #132: Matrix Tip

2/17/2020

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip is a matrix working tip, getting you as a team, or partnership to explore the question “What’s the priority?”.

With matrix work and membership of multiple teams become the norm in today’s workspace, it can be important to focus on WHAT’S the PRIORITY?

Are you taking time as a team to discuss what your priorities are?

Are you holding three-way meetings so that team members can learn more about the bigger picture and landscape of the multiple teams they are part of?

As a leader, are you communicating the WHY, or what’s important about the bigger picture of work?

Prioritization is a critical skill set for most remote workers. It may also involve some negotiation when multiple priorities show up on our desk (think – almost every day!).

The challenge is that balancing multiple priorities for two parties who don’t usually connect. This is where getting into the practice of holding quarterly or regular meetings with the matrix teams or leaders can be of benefit. Widening the understanding of what people are working on, can help sensitize thinking, as well as help with weighing in on priorities.

A reminder of the different prioritization tools we might leverage –

Covey’s Urgent/Important Matrix
To Do and Not To Do List
Strategic Issues Mapping

I’ve covered many of these tools in past Teams365 blog posts. Many of these tools can also be found in Section 4 of PlanDoTrack.

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

TEAMS365 #2229 – Team Building Tip 273: Habit Focus!

2/6/2020

Welcome back to our weekly Team Building Tip. These are geared to provide you with a conversation sparker or an area to surface dialogue around.
This week’s tip gets you to think about HABITS.

As I wrote in last month’s post, habits are things we do automatically. They often become subconscious, so we are not aware that we are doing it. Habits can both help and hinder our work.

As a team, what are the habits you are creating? Think about your habits around communication. Meetings? Outreach? Teamwork?

What habits are helping you? Which ones aren’t?

What habits do you want to change? What can you become more intentional around?

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.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

TEAMS365 #2225 – Weekly Round up & the Teams365 Calendar of Posts

2/2/2020

Welcome to Sunday! It’s time for a weekly round-up and also sharing the February 2020 Calendar with you. Now that the Teams365 blog is in it’s seventh year (yes!) there’s a lot of content you may find invaluable. This year I wanted to provide a monthly calendar to showcase some of the more interesting posts from our history.

If you didn’t see January’s calendar access it here.

And now, drumroll please…. Here’s February’s calendar!

If you missed this last week of posts, here’s what there was:

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and hope that you’ll enjoy looking through February’s calendar. This month we’re focusing on collaboration and relationships.

Don’t forget to download the calendar here!

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

TEAMS365 #2206 – 20 for 2020 – Day 14: What’s below the waterline of your work?

1/14/2020

Metaphorically, there are a number of elements “under the waterline” in our work that aren’t seen but contribute to both our behaviors and our results. In my 2019 work, PlanDoTrack, I encourage remote workers to think about what are the things that are shaping their behaviors, results and impact. This could include – habits, beliefs, assumptions, mindsets and values.

These become a rich focus area for the work I do with teams in Team Days and in extended coaching conversations.

Habits – the things we do regularly and often subconsciously. Our habits shape what we put attention on, what we do. What do you notice about your habits? What are the habits which are helping the team? Getting in the way of team results?

Our beliefs and philosophies also have tremendous influence on what we pay attention to, what we prioritize and how we approach our work. This is an area which warrants much greater exploration for teams and individuals. Our beliefs may be deeply entrenched. Our philosophies may not be made explicit. What is the work for you to explore in this area?

Our mindsets – Authors such as Carol Dweck have dedicated their work to exploring the field of mindsets. What mindset do you embrace around your work and elements of your work? Are you an active learner with years of experience under your belt, or are you an expert? Do you embrace experimentation or do things have to be perfect? If you haven’t explored the realm of mindset and the work of authors such as Dweck, this may be of interest to you.

Again, our mindset will influence the activities we undertake and what we do.

Our values – What we value and what we take a stand for also influences our values. What are the values you hold as a team? An organization? An individual? If I hold a value of experimentation, I may be willing to try a lot of things that don’t work. This would be in contrast to (and potential conflict with) a team that values quality and would never let something go out the door before it was vetted multiple times. Our values will have a significant influence on our behaviors and therefore results. They may influence speed etc.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to map out your iceberg. If you are interested in exploring this more, contact us to discuss working 1-1 via coaching, or by bringing this into a team day session.

All the best,
Jennifer

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

As we step into the start of the year, 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.

TEAMS365 #2200 – 20 for 2020 - Day 8: Accelerating Your Teamwork This Year

1/8/2020

Today’s Milestone post (#2200!) is all about accelerating your teamwork this year. While the context of teamwork has shifted dramatically, the fundamentals of great teamwork has remained the same. I thought that it would be great idea to revisit what I term the 6 Factors of High Performing Teams: six core ingredients for team success. (Six Factors of High Performing Teams – Copyright Jennifer Britton 2017 - 2020)

Regardless of if you are a remote team, or an intact team, taking time to focus on these elements will help you go faster in the medium- and long-term. I write more on this in part 3 of Effective Virtual Conversations.

As a team, have you taken time to clarify and agree upon these areas?
(as built upon from Teams365 #1920)

Shared purpose or mission (Your WHY)
What is your purpose? Your mission? Why do you exist? Does everyone hold the same understanding? What does this mean practically for your work? What priorities does your purpose or mission naturally create? What are people doing to keep the vision and priorities VISIBLE?

2. Shared behavioral norms
How do you do things? What is acceptable and unacceptable on the team? What behaviors and habits exist? Which ones are supportive of exceptional performance? Which ones aren't? Is it time to revisit your shared agreements or TEAM charter and how you operate?

3. Shared commitment
What are team members committed to? What will you get done, no matter what? Is there anything that needs to be dropped off the list? How do members of the team have each other’s backs?

4. Shared performance goals
What are key goals for the team this year? What are key individual goals? How do your goals align across the team? Overlap? What needs to get done by one team member and then passed on to another? What is contingent upon another task completion? What does success look like for each member? For the entire team? Does everyone have an understanding of the key goals of others on the team and how they feed into them?

5. Shared team practices
Teams that work together effectively share common practices which support both a focus on RESULTS and also a focus on RELATIONSHIPS. This might include team practices such as a Monday morning huddle, a Thursday night out or a daily check in at 3 pm ET for a team that needs to get things “out the door” by 5. What practices support your relationships? Your results?

6. Clear Roles
How do our roles overlap, align and connect? On the team, what are people’s strengths? Who is good at initiating things? Completing things? Checking for quality? Innovating things? What changes, if any, are needed this year around your roles giving your priorities?

As a team what’s important to note? What areas need further clarification?

All the best,
Jennifer

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

As we step into the start of the year, 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.

Winter 2019 programs start this week including the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual focus on coaching business development), GroupCoachingEssentials (8.75 CCEs), the Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs) and the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (8.5 CCEs) - geared to support you in creating more exceptional virtual conversations. Finally the Mentor Coaching Group for Winter 2020 will begin - aimed at coaches who are working towards their ACC, PCC or renewing.

TEAMS365 #2167 – Flashback Friday: Expectations and CLarification

12/6/2019

This week I am reaching back to one of the original Teams365 blog posts.

Here’s what I wrote, which might be an interesting conversation starter as you go through your year-end discussions. Expectations are often at the heart of a high performing team.

Our final team building tip of the year gets you to think about the expectations which need to be clarified for the team. One of the biggest hindrances to exceptional team performance is lack of clarity around expectations.

Earmarking a focus around clarifying expectations in the new year can pay off in dividends.

Areas you may want to ensure you have clear, and shared, expectations around are:
- What does success look like? For us individually? Collectively as a team?
- What are our start and end times?
- What does quality mean?
- What does being an exceptional team mean?
- What are we committed to creating? What do we need to do in order to get there?
- What do you expect of me as leader this year? What do I expect from you this year?

What other expectations are important for your team to discuss as you get back to work in January?

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

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

As we step into the end of the year, 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.

TEAMS365 #2160 – Flashback Friday: Bringing Projects to A Close

11/29/2019

We’re just a few days away from the start of December and this is the time of year when EVERYTHING needs to get done. With that in mind, I thought it would be useful to take a look back at last year’s post about Bringing Projects to a close from Teams365 #1794. Here you go:

“At this time of year, the clock is ticking and it may now be GO TIME to get projects across the finish line. Where there was once time and leeway, now things need to get done and completed. What is it going to take to get the project completed before the end of the year?

To bring the project across the finish line consider:

What is it going to take to bring this project to a successful close?
What resources are needed? Do we need to pull new resources?
Are there any lessons learned from other projects that we can incorporate?
Are there any specialized, or talented, human resources we can bring in at this time to move the project quicker? Are there experts or seasoned team members who can complete tasks more quickly than others?
What elements can be completed consecutively? We often think that tasks are sequential (i.e. this has to be done before that), when in fact, we might be able to complete some tasks consecutively.
What does complete look like? Think about quality and scope. Are we still within the original scope of the project, or has there been scope creep?
Do we want to reconfirm project requirements, checking for any assumptions which may not be correct?
What can we do to minimize distractions and focus on what is really important? Are there some tasks which need to be devolved from those on the project team so they can focus 100 % on the task at hand?
What does project close out look like?
How can we capture the learning so we don’t repeat these cycles next time?
What’s going to help your projects move to completion phase quickly?”

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

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

As we step into the end of the year, 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.

TEAMS365 #2150 – The Last Mile of the Year

11/19/2019

We’re about six weeks away from the end of the year, a time which I like to frame as the LAST MILE of the year. It’s at this point where we start getting really clear on what needs to get done, what needs to get carried forward and what needs to get delegated.

Today’s post is an encouragement to think about what you want to accomplish in the last six weeks of the month. As we consider the last mile there may be many areas we want to consider including:

Projects:

What are the projects which still need attention?
What are the projects which need more resources to wrap up?
What has moved out of scope and needs to be readjusted?

One-on-one time with your team:

When was the last time you held 1-1's with your team?
What are conversations which need to happen before year end?

Team Events:

What team events need to happen before year end?
What supports do they need individually? Collectively?

Planning and Performance Events:

Have you already prepared your 2020 plans – at the organizational, team and individual levels?
When did you last hold a performance conversation with each team member? Ask for feedback yourself?

Stakeholder Events:

What stakeholders do you want to reach out to?
What conversations and/or collaborations are important to have?
What updates are important to provide?
Who do you want to set meetings up with before year end, or at the start of the year?

Communication and Reporting

What reports need to be completed?
What information needs to be shred with others?
What reports need an update?
What tasks have you been putting off? What needs an update?

Other Items:

What other items need to be wrapped up?
What do you need to put in hold or closed off on?
What are you going to do to capture lessons learned and lessons to carry forward?

The last couple of weeks of the year can feel like a whirlwind, and sometimes the important tasks get set aside and missed, including time set aside for the team. In one of my newsletters this month I included 8 different ways to wrap the year up with groups and teams – link to newsletter here.

What daily steps do you want to take going forward to get important items focused on?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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

As we step into the end of the year, 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.

TEAMS365 #2144 – Planning for and scheduling the last one-on-one conversations of the year

11/13/2019

As we step into the “last mile” of 2019 (i.e. the last six weeks, give or take a few, especially if your business shuts down for the holidays), one of the key activities you will want to make sure you build in time for is a set of year-end one-on-ones with staff. While many organizations have moved to an ongoing feedback and performance management culture, it can be important to ensure that final one-on-ones don’t get forgotten in the rush of year-end.

Some of the elements you may want to include in your final one-on-ones are:

A look back at the key highlights for the individual this year.
Reflections and sharing on key performance witnessed – things that they did very well, times when you saw their strengths in action.
What were their major accomplishments? What skills and experiences were learned/acquired? How can this support them going forward?
Discussion around areas for growth and improvement in the new year.
Looking ahead to the new year, what are the key priorities based on organizational and department goals?
What are their key learning goals? Where do they want to grow? What changes do they want to make?
Support needs for the new year.
Learning needs for the new year. Identification of any areas they would like to acquire more skills within in their work.
Goals they have for themselves and their career.

What other items might you include in your year-end one-on-ones? Every team and organization is different. While not all of these categories may reflect the type of performance conversations you typically have, it can be useful to invite your team to consider the bigger context of their work (i.e. how has this year helped them with future career aspirations).

While it’s top of mind, I hope that you will take a few minutes to make note of the questions you want to include in everyone’s discussion.

Enjoy!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success focusing on the Virtual and Remote Space
Author of 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.
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Coming soon - the Remote Pathways™ Podcast