This week’s Team Building Tip gets you thinking “outside of the box”. Challenges and opportunities exist all the time. What are the solutions which could be activated around your most pressing business challenge?

One of the frameworks I like to share with teams I work with is the Six Thinking Hats from DeBono. Read more about this topic here.

With the Six Thinking Hats we are encouraged to look at issues from a variety of perspectives –

• what’s possible,
• what new ideas can we generate,
• what are the benefits of the approaches,
• what caution do we need to heed,
• what are the facts and
• what might get in the way.

If you are not familiar with De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats model, take a look at his work and writing.

Wishing you all the best,
​Jennifer

Another part of successful teamwork in uncertainty is giving people the space to experiment and try things out. This goes hand-in-hand with cultivating curiosity.

Experimentation is not just a strategy for small business and start ups, in fact, encouraging intrapreneurism has been a part of larger organizations for many decades now, including organizations like 3M.

Experimentation and trying things out can be a key business strategy when things are changing. Part of the success of this business strategy is that we also track.

When fostering an environment of experimentation, consider these questions:

• Before you start an experiment, where are you? 📍
• What do the metrics say? 📊
• What do you want to measure?📏
• How long and at what frequency will the experiment last?⏳
• What is your hypothesis? I.e. What do you think will happen?📈 

Recently I posted the daily business prompt as part of the #90Days Plan Do Track series over on Instagram at CoachingBizBuilder. 

Ways we can encourage more experimentation:

• Provide people with stretch zones
• Work with real business challenges. Encourage a peer exploration of different options and perspectives around key business issues. It might be that you are looking for different ways to get services or products out to market or how to magnify sales.
• Explore opportunities for cross-departmental sharing with a view to learning from other’s best practices and ways of working. This cross-pollination of ideas may lead to new ways of working in your department.

What else might you do to encourage more experimentation? 

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including 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).
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in an digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

​It’s Sunday which means that it is time for another Video Montage from PlanDoTrack. Take a look at this week’s video montage.

In bringing this work out into the world, one of my favorite program offerings at the moment is the four-hour PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreat.  Check it out here.

The program is geared for business owners and professionals who are looking to reconnect or create their vision OR take action on a creative project. We meet throughout the four-hour retreat every hour as a group, leaving you ample time in between our group touch-points to engage in structured activities to help you PLAN, take action (DO) and TRACK your results.

Here’s what two participants from the April session wrote about their experience:

"The PlanDoTrack session was everything I hoped for and more! These 4 hours were a super useful and productive pause to work on my business vision and goals for the year. It was a hands-on approach, very much helped by the worksheets in the Coaching Business Builder and also Jennifer's guidance.
I would certainly do at least one more session!”
- Rute Silva - Organizational Development Consultant/Executive Coach - PCC 

"Jennifer - thank you for creating a space to allow me to focus on the deep work that I am committed to getting out into the world.  On a normal day, the whirlwind of life would have prevented me from putting pen to paper and designing a problem that could have easily been put off until "someday". Today I prioritized the important over the urgent and I feel so accomplished to have created content that will make a difference. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. If you are committed to creating a program, a business plan, content, or whatever is meaningful to you and your clients, but you do not have the space or time to focus, this program is a game changer. Block the time. You will be thrilled with the outcome and the support along the way.” 
- Jacyln M. Bradley

The next one will be held on Thursday May 30th from 10 am – 2 pm Eastern/Toronto.

I hope that you will join us. The cost is $129 US and includes a virtual retreat workbook, structured exercises to work on during the afternoon and access to me during the 4 hours for some individual coaching.

You need to bring a copy of the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner, OR the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner, an idea of what you want to focus on, and four-hours of dedicated space.

Reserve your spot at the next PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreat – Thursday May 30th here.

Look forward to connecting!
​Jennifer

This weekend I wanted to share links to one of my sister blogs, the PlanDoTrack blog which is focused on personal productivity and time management issues, particularly for virtual and remote team members, entrepreneurs and leaders.

For several months now I have hosted a weekly Wednesday series on short productivity hacks - things that you might keep in mind to get more leverage with your time, focus and work. They are posted at the PlanDoTrack blog, and then I also do a quick Facebook Live around them as well.

Here’s what I’ve covered since the start of this series:

1. Pomodoro Technique
2. Color Coding
   
3. Master Minds
4. Accountability
5. Write it down
6. Weekly Journal Prompts
7. Month End Planning Sessions
8. Top 5
9. Themes - monthly, quarterly, annual
10. Relationships

Read more about these here. 

Each Wednesday I post a short blog which often includes a quick activity you might consider undertaking t support your own planning and productivity. Just as the name implies, these are short things you can action right away.

Check out some of the past 3-5 minute Facebook Live posts which include more detail about that week’s hack. If you are on Facebook, do consider liking PlanDoTrack so you can be alerted to the weekly videos.

Wishing you the best,
Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip gets us thinking about what often is the norm, not the outlier- when technology happens. In a virtual setting a core practice is to “always have a back up”. Technology will break down.
Having a back-up is important on many levels. It may include:

• Having another line/service in case your preferred service breaks down
• Communicating to the group what to do in the event of tech failure (i.e. should they try to call in again, and then switch to another platform OR should they look to email to find instructions)
• Having a list of all contacts for the call – this could include email addresses and phone numbers along with your class list
• Having a back-up computer/laptop in case your system goes down (or decides to update)
• Having a back up copy of your presentation loaded to the cloud and/or USB key
• Having a back up copy of your material (print)

 
Remaining calm and moving into contingency mode is key when facing a tech issue. Before anything happens work through your own list of what you will do and write it down. Have these items in a location which you will naturally “go to” in the event of a break-down.

What else is important for you to note around having a back up?
​
With best wishes,
Jennifer

As we step into Quarter 2 it can be useful to do a bit of a review – on the individual level, and also with our teams.

For some individual reflection, take a look at the recent Quarterly Reflection Worksheet I created for the PlanDoTrack series of programming I offer around Planning, Productivity and Remote/Virtual Teams. Take a few minutes to complete that before you get too far into the month.
​
At the same time, it can be useful to do a checkpoint around these items:

1. How are we going in our progress to our most important goals? Rate this on a 1-10 and get input across the team?  What will help you move the #s upward?
2. Have we had a recent feedback conversation “both ways” – between leader and team member? What’s going well? What’s not? Be sure to provide positive and constructive feedback.
3. What issues need to be addressed, or have the potential to derail us?
4. What team practices are working well? Consider meetings, social events, peer mentoring, 1-1 meetings etc.
5. What systems are helping with information flow and knowledge sharing?
6. Projects – Where are projects at? What is the status of communication? What project issues require attention? How are they doing according to the spotlight (Red, Yellow, Green)? –Check out this spotlight blog post for more!
7. Matrix relationships 
8. Reporting
9. Finances
10. Other Systems which need attention..

And ANYTHING ELSE?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Happy April Fools Day! Every April I celebrate the milestone of moving back to Canada after spending almost 15 years working and living abroad. Some stints were short, others became indefinitely longer than planned, AND I look back to my many years of service in the global arena with great fondness.

Coming home to Canada was precipitated by many factors in 2004, namely the loss of vision in one of my eyes. While I’ll never have full vision, I can say strongly 15 years later, that I’ve learned to navigate most things very well, and given my focus on the virtual space, don’t often even think about it!
​
This month at the blog we’ll be focusing on the theme of Team Springboards, in honor of the new season. I’ll be continuing to focus on some practical things you can incorporate with your team – whether it’s remote or virtual or intact.  The start of Q2 provides an opportunity for reset and also stock taking. Before we know it, summer will be on the doorstep for Northern Hemisphere teams, and winter, encroaching for Southern Hemisphere teams.

This month will mark the start of our 15th anniversary celebrations given that Potentials Realized marks its 15th birthday on April 7th. Stay tuned for monthly spotlights and resources around the key areas we provide services in to leaders, teams and business owners.

Best, 
​Jennifer

Happy spring! Has the new season sprung where you are?

In my work as a coach I see a lot of seasonality – beginnings, ends and excitement for change. As we step into the new season today, I wanted to share some of the spring questions I had posted in Teams365 #811.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to reflect on these questions today:

What are your goals this season?
What new habits and practices do you want to put into place?
What relationships do you want to put attention around?
What else is significant for you this spring (or fall)?

Looking backwards:
What successes did you have over the last quarter?
What helped you?
What got in the way?

What changes do you want to make this spring?
What and who will help you be successful?
 
What are the other questions which are important to consider right now?
​
Enjoy your reflection,
Jennifer

It’s March 15th which historically has been known as the Ides of March. My father always has said we can usually expect one more snowfall in Toronto on, or around this date. I’m always happy when it gets to be this time of year as I start seeing that spring is (usually) just around the corner.
 
For today’s FlashbackFriday I wanted to reach back to a former blog post (in fact one from the precursor blog to Teams365 – the BizToolkit blog), on a topic which I think has major significance today – Meetings!
 
Meetings can be the “bane” of most employees existence, and aren’t always held effectively. It’s not uncommon for leaders I work with, scheduled into 30 or more hours of meeting a week, leaving them little time for work they need to accomplish, strategic thinking and other discussions.
 
Here’s what I posted in March of 2014 as Teams365 #86: 

Five Ways to Keep Your Meetings on Track 
Copyright Jennifer Britton, All Rights Reserved, 2013 : Originally published on the BizToolkit blog, 2013

Meetings are a huge time-consumer in today's workforce. What is the state of your meetings? How efficient are they? Today's blog post includes five ways to keep your meetings on track, so you can avoid what Patrick Lencioni describes as "Death by Meeting" syndrome.

Some key tips to keep in mind are:
1. Assign a meeting facilitator. Facilitation comes from the Latin word "facilis" or to make easy. The facilitators role is to keep an eye on the process. As the facilitator, the focus is on:

• starting and ending the meeting on time, 
• keeping the flow moving, 
• summarizing and capturing key discussion points,
• identifying issues which may need to be shifted to other events (use of a parking lot)
• summarizing key action steps

It can be very useful to have a rotational facilitator role if meetings are held regularly with the same group. This supports capacity and skill development, and also recognizes that the facilitator's power is related to that role, not the role people usually inhabit. Who will be the "facilitator" for your next meeting? How will this be rotated?

2.  Have an agenda, and assign timelines to it. Does each meeting have an agenda, which has been circulated before the meeting to ensure that nothing else needs to be added? Putting time-frames on each item, and sticking to them, helps to manage time, as well as identify issues which may need to be carried into other venues. What does the agenda for your next meeting look like? How much time will it take? 

3. Ensure who you need is at the table. A common challenge in effective meetings is not having who you need at the table. This may be someone who has specific information, background on  a topic, or authority to sign off/give approval. Who needs to be at your meeting, based on the agenda?

4. Confirm Action Steps and Responsibilities - A common pitfall is that action steps, and who is responsible for moving things forward, is lost in the dialogue. Key action steps, and those who will take responsibility for making sure they are done, should be summarized at the end of each meeting. What are the major next steps? Who will be responsible for them?

5. Circle Back to Make sure Actions are being Actioned. What is the status of the action steps? How are they being moved forward immediately, and in the longer term. Who needs to know? Who is accountable? Action Plans are only as good as they are tracked and followed. What will support the implementation of decisions, and the reporting out of these actions? 

As you consider your upcoming meetings, in which context might you be able to incorporate some of these ideas?
 
As much as the meeting content may have changed in the last six years, I think a lot of these pointers remain the same. What’s the one tweak you could make to your meetings which would help them become more productive and efficient?
 
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (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
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.
​

​Today’s post focuses on tips for boosting collaboration in the virtual space:

1. Be proactive in terms of what relationships are important to build. Are you taking time for regular outreach with a purpose?
2. Be systematic in discussing key elements of collaboration – what is the end result you are aiming towards, what will success look like? Who is in charge of doing what? When will you meet to review how things are going and make adjustments?
3. Agree on regular feedback loops. Feedback can be a challenge when you don’t know each other too well. What are the touchpoints you are dedicating to feedback? Creating formalized quarterly or mid-point check-ins can be valuable to earmark. Take a look at some of the mid-point or evaluation questions I have pointed to in the past.
   
4. Be clear on what you are each bringing to the relationship. What are the things that are going to help your next collaboration thrive?

Best of luck!
Jennifer