Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #1849 – Productivity Tip #12: Build In Regular Time for Review

1/22/2019

Tip #12 – Build in regular time for review

"Big thinking precedes great achievement."
— Wilferd Peterson

Part of productivity is about building in pause points to reflect and think about what’s working and what’s not.
Building in time for regular review helps to:

Identify where we are getting our results
Observe the patterns that are occurring
Think about where we want to go
Identify what is important to be able to move forward

Some of the pitfalls we may experience in review is number one we don't have the data our memories are not good at remembering and capturing where we were at different points in time.

With this in mind, I've included in number of monthly daily trackers in the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack. They get you to regularly track and capture your key metrics. Perhaps you want to track sales. When did sales and revenue come in for the month? Was it on a Friday or was it on Monday?

Another metric you might want to be tracking is social media. How many followers did you have on July 1st? November 1st?

Building in time for regular review helps us to identify what's working and what's not that then gives us the opportunity to make a change.

Activity

Identify the metrics you want to track in your business. Make note of these and start tracking them. Consider using colors to highlight. As you review them consider these questions

What do you notice about your metrics?
Where are you spending a lot of time?
What is giving you impact? What is not?
What changes do you want to make?

Conversation Sparkers

“What we focus on expands”. What do you want to focus on more?
What does the data say?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon

#TEAMS365 #1801 - Productivity Hack #2

12/5/2018

Welcome back to the 2nd of 19 posts entitled 19 Productivity Hacks
Yesterday’s Productivity Hack #1 was to have a clear vision. Going hand in hand with this is knowing where you are getting your results. Since launching the Coaching Business builder workbook and planner in August, I’ve been hosting a series of month end reflection and planning sessions in a one-hour format. They are turning out to be a popular and focused way to create a pause real-time OR on-demand in a tight process. Learn more about these programs here (and join me for the end of December month end reflection session).

Productivity Hack #2 is about knowing clear of where you are getting your results.

This week it could be useful to do some stock taking of your year. Consider these questions:

What were your key successes this year?
What key learning did you undertake?
What were key relationships which helped you to do your work?
What accomplishments do you want to note?
What helped you with your work?
What metrics do you want to note?

Today I would invite you to grab a pen and notebook and take stock of your ideas. If you prefer to use a device, go ahead, AND note that things are retained differently when done by pen, rather than digitally. Put your reflections in a safe space so you can refer back to them at a future date.

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Coming December 14, 2018 – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Pre-order a copy today on Amazon
Join us for a year-end virtual planning retreat!

#TEAMS365 1799 - Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 73

12/3/2018

As we move into the 73rd Effective Virtual Conversations tip, we’re looking at another success factor for high performing teams. This week brings us to number two of six in the ingredients which make up high performance – Shared Performance Goals.
In a virtual team it is really important to be clear on what the performance goals are, so everyone knows what they are aiming for, how things fit together, and what success looks like.
The danger in a virtual team when these things are not clear are:

Lack of alignment
Lack of understanding of how one goal fits with another
Competing Priorities
Differences in terms of quality of output, if end results are not clear
Spending time clarifying goals, and what success measures are, are critical when team members do not see each other, and may be reporting to multiple matrix teams at any given time.

Goals are the heart of any team, and it is important to spend time with the team in discussion around this. You may want to dedicate an upcoming team meeting to this and have discussion around:

What are your key goals?
How do goals fit together?
What does success look like around each one?
What are the standards for work on this team?
What are the minimums in terms of response time?
What needs to be communicated, when?
What are the best channels/appropriate ways to keep everyone updated with respect to their goals?

Enjoy your conversations!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
Join Jennifer for a year-end virtual planning retreat in the PlanDoTrack Series!
Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
YouTube – Teams365 Leadership Channel
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326
Pre-order a copy of the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner for Virtual and Remote Professionals on Amazon (Available December 14). Check it out here.

#TEAMS365 #1774 Team Building Tip 209: What Needs to Get Completed by Year End?

11/8/2018

This week’s Team Building Tip brings us to #209 of the series. Aligned with our shift to a focus on year-end, this week’s question to surface with the team is the question:
What needs to get completed by year end?
As you think about year end, here are 14 common year-end activities you will want to budget time and space for:

Reporting
Financials
Projects
Planning for new projects
Meeting with stakeholders (internal and external)
Communication planning for next year
Team development
Performance Reviews
Coaching Conversations
Learning for 2018
Learning for 2019 (individual and team level)
Peer Meetings
Meeting with our bosses
Meeting with other key internal partners

What else would you add to the list?

Enjoy!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1738 - Team Building Tip #204

10/4/2018

#204 – Is everyone clear what exceptional team performance looks like?
Today we are at Team Building Tip #204, getting you as a team to explore the question “Is everyone clear what exceptional team performance looks like?”.
In today’s team context, where virtual teams sound, and people may not have the luxury of operating together, and seeing work outputs visually, spending time as a team to clearly define what “Exceptional Team performance” and results looks like is key.

One of the tools I share in my latest book, the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner, is that of the IS/IS NOT Table. When assigning tasks, or talking about performance, are we getting really specific and granular about what the end results IS and IS NOT? Making a list of these two in contrast, can help to tease out some of the unspoken expectations.

Another great way to prompt this conversation about what exceptional team performance looks like is by having some discussion around your “PEAK EXPERIENCE”. Have your team discuss and share times when you were at your best, and have done your best work. Share details about WHAT you did (Behaviors), HOW you did it (Practices), and the Characteristics of the Work and Your Relationships.

Revisiting these questions regularly can help with alignment and propelling the team through the murky waters of performance.
Let us know what you as a team have done to ensure that everyone is clear about what exceptional team performance looks like.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1723 – Tip 10 of 10 Things to Do with Your Team This Fall

9/19/2018

Today we get to a 10th team tool you may want to bring into your conversations this fall. As I’ve written in the past four posts, teams which excel are great at both Relationships and Results.
On the performance front the work of Robert Mager and his performance tree can be invaluable in helping to shape our conversations:

Tool#10- Performance Tree - Mager
One of most powerful frameworks I have shared with leaders and their teams around performance is Mager’s Performance Tree.
Mager created the Performance Tree as a way to get to the root cause of performance issues. This is a valuable tool, and conversation prompt, for team members and their team leaders, particularly in a virtual setting.
Mager’s Performance Tree takes us step by step through a series of questions around the performance issue. Many times we are quick to jump to “Training” as the solution, when in fact a performance challenge may be due to resourcing, work flow or the environment.
What are you doing as a team to get to the root cause of performance issues?

I hope that you have enjoyed the Ten Things to Do With your Team this Fall series of posts. In case you missed them, do check out these other four posts: (insert urls for all)
1707 – Wednesday September 4 – Tips 1 - 3
1715 – Tuesday September 11 – 10 Things to Do with Your Team part 2 – 4 and 5 – Mapping out key work flows, and role clarity.
1716 – Wednesday September 12 – 10 things to do with your team #3, Tips 6 and 7 which looked at connections and vision.
Also be sure to take a look at Tuesday's post on Creative Thinking and Working Around Decisions (Tips 8 and 9)

What do you want to incorporate into your team meetings this fall?

Enjoy,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1709 – 10 ideas for your team this fall – Part 1

9/5/2018

It’s back to work for many teams and some team leaders may be curious about what to do to move their team forward. In the next few series of posts, I’ll be covering 10 different ideas you might want to incorporate with your team.
As I have written in past posts, teams which excel usually have made sure they are aligned around the following six elements:

Shared vision
Shared Goals
Clear Roles
Clear performance measures
Shared Team Practices
Shared commitment

While at an initial glance, many of the activities I’ll be sharing this month appear to fit under the shared team practices umbrella, many also move the needle on the other six elements. Given that teams which excel are good at both results as well as relationships, consider how you can provide a focus on both in your work.

Covering the 10 ideas is going to take a few posts, so let’s get started!

Idea #1 for Back to Work focus with Team – Schedule time in everyone’s calendars for regular, and effective team meetings. As I write in Effective Virtual Conversations, asking 8 questions before every team meeting can help to make them more effective:

What’s the purpose?
What takeaways do we want?
Who needs to be on the call (in the room)?
What preparation is needed for us to be most effective?
What pace do we want to keep it engaging?
What will help keep the focus?
What is absolutely essential for us to cover
What follow-up might be required?

(Effective Virtual Conversations, Copyright Britton, 2017)

Idea #2 – Map out the major team goals and activities in the next 1-2 quarters (or longer). Provide everyone with a visual mapping of:

Key activities
Key priorities
How activities connect with one another
Who is responsible for what

While there are many ways to do this, the more visual the better! Taking time to share this across the team also supports the team in keeping focused and aligned.

Idea #3 – Revisit, or visit, your vision as a team. Fill in the blanks,
It’s December 31, 2019 and we are looking back to take stock of the past 16 months. ____
Consider filling in the blanks around questions like:
Our major accomplishments have been _____________.
We are most proud of_______________.

Enjoy the conversation!
Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1708 – Key activities for the new month – coaching, goals, setting routines

9/4/2018

It’s likely that this month your team is coming back together after months where not everyone may not have been around. September is an important time to get back to routines and habits, as well as creating new ones that may work better. Consider what you are doing (as a team, and as a professional) around these key areas:
Meetings – with meetings taking upwards of 40% of professionals times, what are the ESSENTIAL meetings to schedule this month? What can be deferred? Which ones do you need to negotiate your presence at? Where do you need to be, where you are not already? What’s going to make your meetings more effective?
Coaching Conversations – “Coaching is a conversation with intent” is what I wrote back in 2013 in my book “From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching”. What are the focused conversations you want to have an on a REGULAR basis this fall? What needs, and warrants, attention? What type of conversations are going to support different team members?
Email and Communication – What’s working with communication right now? What’s not? What can be streamlined (think email)? What are people’s preferences?
FOCUS – What are the interruptions that are pulling you off course? As you think about the last few months, what’s helped with your focus? What’s hindered? In today’s workspace focus is at a premium. What are the pockets where you can create more focus to get the important things done?
Renewal – The field of high performance sport shows that renewal is just as important as running. What are you doing to build in times for FOCUS and Renewal?

Best
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1700 – Celebrating a MileStone and Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #59

8/27/2018

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

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

#TEAMS365 #1666 – Team Development M through P

7/24/2018

M is for motivation, malaise, meaning, momentum.
Check out this Teams365 post #337 on Motivation and other M ways to focus on team development here.

N is for new hire orientation:
Check out this post suggested areas to include in new hire orientation here.

Check out these six leadership questions on nimble, networking, norms and new here.

Check out What’s Your Nature – where I discuss more about styles and strengths, and the impact of this here.

O is for opportunities, optimism:
Read more about this here.

Reflect on 6 leadership questions a day around opportunities and options here.

Continue the thought process around Remote and Virtual Team Leadership here.

P is for performance, process, priorities:
Check out the blog here.

Leadership Myth – Priorities change all the time:
Read more here.

Enjoy today’s selection of looking back at some of the many varied posts I’ve covered here at the Teams365 blog.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations | Coaching Team Leaders
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017)
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326