How are routines helping you make decisions? What are you simplifying in your work from home experience so that things are becoming routine and don’t need to take as much energy?

There have been several studies which have explored the role of routine in creative and high performance in leadership. Consider Steve Jobs who wore the same clothing each day. Consider others who eat similar meals.

Making decisions takes energy, and especially in times of complexity, making things simpler (see Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip), can be a key strategy for flow and ease.

What are the things you might create a routine around? Consider these elements:

• How you structure meetings or rote tasks
• Meals
• What you wear
• Your daily routine

 
There is also a cost of not making decisions. Consider what happens when you “sit on the fence” rather than trusting your journey down a particular path.

Today, consider what you can create more routine around. 

Best,
​Jennifer

Last time this year I shared the following post on skills needed for remote work. As you read through this given your experience in 2020, what are your thoughts and experiences:
​
This month we’ve continued to focus on helping you build your remote team skills. Many professionals new to remote work are curious about what they want to add to their toolbox. This may include things such as:

#1 Systems to Keep You Focused – Systems may range from financial systems (budget, expenses), communication systems – voice, text, email, instant messaging, knowledgement management systems. (Where do you get information?, How do you share information?, How do you file and access information for others across the team?)

#2 Team Development Tools – Having a variety of team development tools to help the team connect, get to know each other and focus in on the work and results you want. More on this topic in tomorrow’s Teams365 blog post.

#3 Relationship Management Tools – What is going to help you build relationships with both internal and external stakeholders? If you are part of a remote team, it’s likely that you are also navigating matrix relationships, and are part of a team.

#4 Planning Tools – As a team, what are your key goals? What are you needing to focus on?

#5 Planning Tools as an Individual – As professionals, it’s likely that we will all have different preferences for planning. Some remote workers want to keep in all in the Cloud, others want an analog paper-based planning tool. In addition to the daily plans, are you taking time to focus on the quarterly and annual plans in your business? This is what I designed the PlanDoTrack Planner for. It’s an analog (i.e. paper-based) workbook and planner to help you (and other team members) get clear on what’s important to you along planning, personal productivity and skills levels.

#6 Getting Organized – Having a well set up office which functions is a big part of the equation. Check out this past post about what elements you will want to have in place.

#7 Performance Tools – Business is about getting results, and it’s important that the team is clear on what needs to get done and what success will look like. What is the current state of performance on a team and individual level? What conversations need to take place?

#8 Coaching Tools – Going hand in hand with performance tools are coaching tools to have great conversations. There are a range of different conversations which need to take place on the team level. From performance conversations (What’s working well and what’s not?)

#9 Project Management Tools – It’s likely that in your work as a remote professional you are regularly navigating projects. What is important to note about your project management skills and tools? Considering the projects you are navigating, how are they going along SCOPE, TIME and BUDGET? What needs attention? Who can help you with this?

#10 A Focus on Team Culture and Identity – While it might seem out of the norm to include this, team culture and identity is critical in today’s workspace. Our culture is WHO WE ARE, HOW WE DO THINGS and WHAT WE VALUE. When was the last time you spent time having a discussion around your team identity and how you do things? If you have team agreements around how you do things, when did you last explore these? If you don’t have them, is it time to create them?

Let us know where you have focused some of your effort this year.
 
Enjoy your mid-week!
Jennifer

This week I am reaching back to post from August 2019, Reducing Digital Distractions and Creating Focus. What do you notice about your ability to focus in the virtual space?

Take a look at these factors:

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations post takes me to one of the areas I hear about the most from professionals of all kinds today – “How can I minimize my digital distractions and create more focus in the virtual space?”
Digital distractions are created by a variety of things. Consider:

• The bing of your email
• An “urgent” email which isn’t an urgent email as you are bcc'ed in
• An instant message that comes through via Slack
• Having to toggle back and forth through different screens instead of being able to lay things out in one way
• Having different people on your team using different frameworks/platforms for reporting

The cost of digital distractions is multi-fold:

• Work doesn’t get done
• Projects are not completed
• People are frustrated because they are not able to finish tasks
• Motivation suffers in the short term
• Engagement levels drop
• Turnover occurs much more quickly

There are significant human and business costs for both.

So, what are some ways to reduce digital distractions? Consider these items AS a TEAM. They need to be team based so everyone is doing them.

Be intentional as a team (and possibly as an organization) as to what the expectations are in terms of being “on” and when people can be off. It’s not uncommon for some organizations to have a block of global working hours where everyone needs to be available and meetings can be called.

• Experiment with “offline” blocks of hours where people can engage in their deeper work projects. Deeper work projects might include proposals, new projects, addressing strategic issues, working on systems to ensure process and people flow.
• Turn off the technology or close it off at certain times of the day (this will need to be discussed as a team/organization in terms of what is realistic and appropriate.)
• Think twice with subject lines, cc'ing and bcc'ing (which really shouldn’t be used widely, if at all).
• Consider when having an analog copy of paper/hard copy might make a task move faster or be completed at a greater depth of synthesis. Deeper thinking of work cannot be completed with just cut and paste.
• Provide workspaces and/or flex arrangements so people can work with less distraction.
• Consider the best platform for the work

Best,
Jennifer

This week’s Flashback Friday focuses on Back to Fall Routines and takes us back to post a couple years ago -  Five Areas to Consider with Back to Work 

I thought it would be very apropos for this week’s Back to Fall Routines
In the next few weeks and month, many of us are getting back to our regular work routines. Whether our children are back to school, or our team at work is back to running at full speed, August and September often signal a “new working year”.

Earlier this month I launched a new business workbook and planner – the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner. While it’s geared for coaches, I am working on another edition for virtual and remote professionals in addition to leaders which should be out later this year.

As you step into your new routine this September there are five areas you may want to consider:

1. What are the key activities you need to direct attention around?

What are the core initiatives you need to keep your eyes on? Steven Covey made famous the phrase “big rocks” years ago. The notion is, if you fit these in first, there's more space to do what we now term "work in the margins". What are your "big rocks" this fall?

2. Keeping the home fires rolling.

Having stepped away from city life for a few months this past summer and working out of a much smaller cottage, I recognize the cost and time invested in some of the more mundane, but essential tasks, it requires to keep an almost 3,000 square foot home in order. From groceries, to meal prep, to home maintenance, what are the tasks that are needed to keep things rolling at home while you work at full-tilt? From online grocery ordering, to meals in a box, or one of our favorite – family meal prep at Supperworks – keeping the home fires burning is essential to many of us.

What are the core elements which are important to you?
 
3. Scheduling in time for your own self-care.

Whether it’s working out, or building in time to renew, we only have one body, and keeping it in top condition is essential. What are the key activities you want to leave time for this year?

4. Clearing the clutter.

While some say that a disheveled office is often seen as part of a creative mind, clearing the clutter can be essential for high performance. Can you take some time before September rolls around to do a purge of items, or clearing of an area which has been growing in size?
 
5. Reviewing, or making your plan, for the fall.

Earlier this week I hosted the first of a series of "back to fall" virtual planning workshops, in a condensed 45 minute hack format. I brought in several of the resources and planning tools from my latest book, Coaching Business Builder: Workbook and Planner.

An older project management adage asserts that 10 minutes of planning can save 20 minutes of unfocused effort. What are your plans for fall? Each month? Each week? Are you taking 5-10 minutes daily, or on a regular basis, to make a list of all the important items?
 
Enjoy your back to work routines this week,
Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Tip is appropriately entitled “Results Focus”. As we get back to work, what are the conversations you need to have around RESULTS?

Today, as a team, it may be useful to discuss:
What are the core results we are looking to achieve by the end of the:

• Year?
• End of this quarter?    
• End of this month?

It can also be useful to identify:

• What is giving us results? It may be due to processes, people, resources, expertise.
• What is getting in the way of results?
• Which activities are giving us the highest impact? (Think about the Pareto Principle and what is giving more results)

What other questions are important to explore around results?

Remember that results are just one part of the equation to high performance.

As I write in my work:
High Performance = Results + Relationships
 
Enjoy the conversation!
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders 
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326​

#1 – Put A Frame Around It. As I shared in one of yesterday’s “Back to (Virtual) Work” Posts, Parkinson’s rule asserts that tasks expand to the amount of time we give them. It can be useful to “put a frame around” bigger projects by putting a framework around the start and end. What are those tasks you want to frame out?

#2 – Related To The First Area Is That Of Boundaries. Framing things out can also relate to boundaries. What are the boundaries you want to put in place? Boundaries can include having:

• Physical space earmarked for
• Boundaries around when you are on, and when you are off
• Boundaries around task time

What boundaries will help you focus?

#3 – Creating time for sprints. Getting things done in faster, deeper dive can be a different way of working. About 5 years ago, I started experimenting with using “sprints” in program design. I take professionals through a 45-minute series of reflective prompts, helping guide them into focus. What are the sprints you want to create around your work?

#4 – Think about meal preparation and batching cooking. It’s likely that your food prep and planning is much more organized than it was this time last year, but perhaps not. Spending time every week to not only plan, and shop, but also prepare, can make a big difference, freeing up valuable time. What are the kitchen implements you have, but haven’t used? This might be an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker. What can you do to incorporate one or two more set-it-and-forget-it meals? One of my favorite video sites is the Seven Sisters….Many of their creations are things we already have in the pantry and freezer.

#5 – Think about creating something different in your routine. Our brains crave, and remember, things that are NOVEL, DIFFERENT or SURPRISING. On a regular basis, what can you do to get out of your routine? Maybe it’s attending a call which helps you think about things in a different way. Maybe it’s about shaking up your routine (moving your workout to a different time of day). Maybe it’s about working from a different location. What can you to do jazz up your routine?
 
For more ideas and virtual productivity hacks, check out the PlanDoTrack Weekly Planning Hacks. You’ll find them here.

You might be interested in reading a recent post I wrote last month – Maintaining Productivity in the Remote Space

Best,
Jennifer

Whether you are still working from home or back to an amended, socially distant, working routine, this month is often likened to the start of the new year. As you gear up for work, consider these routines:

What are the tasks you want to streamline, automate or systematize – From accounting to processing your outreach, what can streamlined, automated or systematized?

What can be batched? The term cognitive switching refers to the processing needed (and associated) energy when we switch from one type of task to another. As I liken it, there can be a need to switch and reset parts of our brain. Think about the different flow you find when you are working with numbers? Or writing? Or creating something? Or reading something? What are the tasks you want to batch? When do you want to schedule them? Would it be useful to earmark a Friday afternoon to filing and financial info when your brain is tired? Or early morning for really important tasks that need to be completed?

What are the boundaries you want to create? If you are working remote, tech time and work time may need some adjustment to provide you with free space to

Fit in workout time. While our work out time and routine may look different today than it did last year, what are you doing to build in workout time? When does it happen? What will help you prioritize that it happens? Do you prefer doing it early morning? Lunch time (yes, we do need to take a lunch in the remote space)? Or at Night?

Give things a start and end – Just as Parkinson’s Rule asserts, tasks expand to the amount of time we give them. What are the time windows you have given on important tasks? For example, with a writing project, are you giving it a month for completion or two weeks? Some tasks can wind up extending onwards much longer. As you look to your major projects this month, what are the time windows you want to give them?

What else will help provide a frame and focus?

If you want to read more, check out this post: Remote Teams: 5 Things to Schedule Before Fall

Best,
​Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Tip asks the question – What would create more safety?

For team members to engage, or individuals to engage virtually, we need to ensure that there is safety.  This is an essential ingredient for learning, results, relationships and performance.

Safety is created through many things –

• From being clear on what people can expect
• From being clear on outcomes
• By inviting all voices into the room
• By being clear what the boundaries are around the outcome
• By clarifying roles

Safety is an important part of what I term “the triad of virtual calls”. This includes TRUST, SAFETY and CONNECTION. Be sure to check out other posts on this topic here.

As you surface this conversation, what do you notice?

Enjoy your conversations, 
​Jennifer

Welcome back to another weekly journaling prompt. This week’s prompt is “I’m in the FLOW when….”

As I share in PlanDoTrack, my Workbook Planner for Remote and Virtual Professionals, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes, ”The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relating times…The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” (from his book FLOW, 1990, page 3)
 
What are the moments when you find yourself in flow? It’s often characterized by us using our strengths just at the edge of our comfort zone, around topics we find interesting and important.
 
What helps you get into flow?

What’s possible when you move into that state?

Enjoy the reflections!
Jennifer

Welcome back to another Monday Effective Virtual Conversations tip. This week’s tip takes us back to a reminder of six elements I write about in part 3 of EVC which help remote teams thrive. I call these the Six Factors of High Performing Teams in my work. It’s a framework I have used for several years, especially when teams are looking to pinpoint some of the ‘levers’ they can use to make their teamwork better.

Together these six areas create a dynamic set of levers which can be focused on and adjusted. In my experience of working with teams, especially remote teams, it’s likely that some areas are doing well, and one or more need attention.

I’ve shared quite a bit about the Six Factors during  the seven years of the post several times, including this post back in 2014 – # 8 in this daily blog series.

As you read through these, consider what are the elements or levers your team could benefit from some attention around:

1. Shared purpose or mission - Your WHY? Why do you exist? How might this have changed? What are you doing to reconnect everyone into this on a regular basis?

2. Shared performance goals - What are the goals you are working on for Q2? How do they connect in with others?

3. Shared behavioral norms - What are the ways you do things? What makes your team unique in terms of how you do things? What’s acceptable and what’s not? Our norms define our culture and help to differentiate us.

4. Shared team practices - What are the things you are doing to keep things moving as a team? How have your meetings evolved? What are you doing to focus on both relationship development and results?

5. Shared commitment - What are you committed to, NO MATTER WHAT? How do you have each other’s backs?

6. Clear roles - What are the different roles required on the team to do your best work? Who is best suited to play what role?

How do you rate as a team on each of these six factors? You may want to rate them on a scale of 1-10 with one being low and 10 being high. Which areas do you need to work on or create together?

What are the levers which need attention? Where would you like to focus as a team, going forward?

Best,
Jennifer