Welcome back to another Thursday Team Building Tip. This week’s tip is “What is the cost of NOT….”

As you think about your vision for the year, what’s important to DO? Focus on? BE?

Consider what you are NOT doing. NOT focusing on. NOT being.

Sometimes it’s as important to look at things through the lens of contrast, and saying NO, not just saying yes.

As you step into your September routine as a team, what might you do to take more of a litmus test around what you ARE focusing on right now?
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Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

FOCUS is a key skill set for all of us working remotely. It’s not only about our ATTENTION, and what we choose to pay attention, as well as what we train our brains to pay attention to. It’s also about what we prioritize.

What we choose to FOCUS on in the remote space not only has implications for ourselves, but also those we work with. Alignment issues have always been key --- Are we all pulling in the same direction? Is the sequence of our work feeding into each other, or creating gaps of time where nothing gets done?

When we explore the topic of FOCUS several things need to be kept in mind:

• The Reticular Activating System is the part of our brain which helps us discern which stimuli we should pay attention to. It really is the part of the brain which helps to sift though all of the data coming at us at one time.
• When part of a team, it’s important that we understand the bigger picture of things. We want to make sure that everyone on the team has information about:
  • WHY – What is the task or goal?
  • WHAT WILL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE – What does a successful end result look like? Without knowing this, we may all be aiming for different things. Instead of creating a 4-page report, I might be thinking we are working on a 40-page report. Be sure to clarify what success will look like.
  • WHAT ARE THE ROLES INVOLVED – With bigger tasks and projects, there is likely to be a number of activities and tasks which need to roll into each other. Does the team understand what those roles are? Does the team understand how they each fit together and what the sequence is? Be sure to clarify roles involved and who is doing what. Also consider if everyone is in the right role or if things should be switched up.

With your current projects and tasks for the next month, what’s important to clarify?

Note that CLARITY is one of the 7 Remote Enablers I write about in the Remote Working Whitepaper. Be sure to pick up a copy here.

Best,
​Jennifer

This week’s Weekly Team Building Tip gets you to think about the question: “Where do you want to get more grounded?”. 2020 has been characterized by uncertainty, massive changes and a lot of disruption. What can be really important in these moments is being grounded. Like a piece of bamboo or a flexible pole, while the outward edges may need to flex, our grounding can help keep us anchored.

Getting grounded may involve several different practices. It might entail:

• Focusing on our routines.
• Taking time each day to reflect on what’s working, and what’s not.
• Reflecting on what things to keep and what things to adjust or iterate. As a team this may involve: Regular conversations about priorities, collaboration and also what to say no to.
• Practices like meditation, or mindfulness techniques where you become more aware of regular activities.
• When working remotely or as a distributed team, focusing in on your practices.

What are the things you want to do to get more grounded? To stay grounded?

Please share with us your favorite resources in the comments below!

Best,
Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Question is number 255 in the series. What do you want to say NO to?

Turning away work, or saying no to a project, may provide the space you need in order to focus on your priorities.

A challenge of the remote work space which many have is boundaries. Boundaries around our time, boundaries around availability.

Another challenge of the remote space is that it can be more challenging to identify what’s important. When our team members are scattered and we don’t get to meet them at the water cooler, how do we know what’s important NOW?
As a team, if you haven’t had a conversation recently around what your priorities are collectively and individually, I hope you will use this as a nudge.

As you look at all the things you have on the go, what do you want to say NO to?

Enjoy your conversation,
Jennifer

For today’s post I am reaching back to a call I did as part of the PlanDoTrack series on Five Key Skills for Productivity. While I wrote these almost eighteen months ago, they are as relevant, and maybe even more so, today, than when I shared them originally. Consider how you are leveraging these in your work and routines.

So today we're going to be looking at some of the key priorities for virtual remote workers today. I think what we're hearing is really the importance of prioritization, strategic planning against the backdrop of VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. On remote teams, prioritization is also key. We can have team members all over as we work more in isolation or across teams in a matrix structure, being able to prioritize our tasks, understanding the weighting of how a request from Shanghai and a request from Tel Aviv and /or Toronto mix, how do they come together as we sit in whatever location? What do I give priority to? How do we as a team prioritize? A lot of this goes back to being clear on our vision and purpose, and also knowing what our core goals are for the quarter, the month, and even the week.
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What are the top 3-5 priorities you have this week?

Also key to productivity is  communication . In the virtual space it’s about communicating across the Matrix, communicating with different people in different languages, different cultures, different preferences in terms of styles - some wanting email, others wanting instant messaging, wanting a phone call and a conversation.

What are you noticing about communication in your work right now? What needs attention? What is working well? What do your partners need from you?
Another area to consider is delegation and hand off. I say delegation and/or hand off because for many of us, even if we are part of a virtual or remote team, we are very much working in not, I wouldn't say an isolation but autonomously.

So, we're going to look at the context. We'll also look at the tools that can help support that. You and them if you are managing a team, a team of one or a team of many.

A key area I wanted to zoom into today is prioritization. It rests on communication, on delegation, on all of these. So as much as I'm breaking these down today, being able to prioritize and bucket our work has dramatic impact and connection with these other areas.

So for virtual remote team members and leaders, we want to be thinking constantly about how do we share things, how do we help people understand the big picture, the time frames, the why, where and how do we incorporate others, what are the things that I need to be communicating to other, what are the things I need to be making requests from each other?
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Many times, when we are virtual, especially only a team member and not a team leader, we really need to use the skill of influence in our teams.

What’s important for you to note?

Best,
​Jennifer

Welcome back to another Teams365 Team Building question. This week’s team question is “What needs more discernment?”.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines discernment as “the ability to judge people and things well.”

Discernment is always a term that we used to use a lot when leading in highly variable and complex contexts (for example, when there are a lot of competing demands, or things are changing quickly.)

Discernment may be a key skill to foster within your teams.

Here are some questions to consider this week:

• What are the things that need to be looked at more closely?
• What are the things that can be focused on more? What needs clarification (think in terms of information, purpose, process, other…)?
• What needs discernment in terms of priorities?

Enjoy the focus!
Jennifer

Welcome back to another weekly installment of the Team Building Question.

​This week is #252 in the series. Today’s prompt is:
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What needs to go under the microscope?

In the spirit of the mid-year review we’ve just done, what do you notice about what needs attention?

What needs to be looked at more closely?

What needs to be examined more?

As you zoom in, what do you notice?

What are the conversations you need to have going forward as a team? With your stakeholders?

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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

In this week’s Flashback Friday post, I am reaching back to one of the earlier posts from January 2020 – Five Focus Areas for Team Leaders. In hindsight, with all that we have moved through in recent months, it’s interesting that I chose these five areas back in January. Take a look at think about what you might want to continue to focus on going forward. Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 blog post Teams365 #2213.

This week I came across a note I had made myself late last year and never got posted. Having worked to support team leaders for a number of years, I often get asked, “what are some of the key conversations they are having with their teams right now”? Here are five areas team leaders today may be in conversation around:

#1 - Focus - With so much occurring in the workplace today – flavors of the month, shiny red objects, interruptions, course changes, external events, etc…helping our team members focus on what is important RIGHT NOW, today, can be an important message to keep reinforcing. Helping team members with prioritization skills and being able to continue to focus on what’s important without adding to the interruptions and divergence is also key. If you are operating in a team context, the impact of one team member slipping may have a domino effect. What are the things that are going to help with focus?

#2 - Connection - What are the things you can do to help people feel connected? Connected to others in the team? Connected to the resources they need? The information they need? What is important about this topic right now for the team?

#3 - Disruption and Change - Disruption and change is becoming more commonplace across industries. Global events can have local impact. Disruption in a related industry can have a trickle effect. What are you doing to help people understand how they react to change, and also build capability in the areas of strategic thinking and/or contingency planning? Having worked for many decades in the areas of strategic planning, critical thinking and contingency planning, I often take it for granted that people are using these tools. What’s important to explore and have conversation with your team?

#4 - Building Trust - As Stephen Covey wrote - and I paraphrase – “Trust is the currency of business”. What are you doing to build trust, and erode trust? In today’s fast, and sometimes remote, business context, we may only see people in “small windows” of time.  Comments, and reactions, may get magnified. Certain activities or patterns of behaviors might be perceived as the norm. What are you doing to build trust, particularly in terms of creating an environment where people can be heard, and listened to? Where follow through is modeled? Where communication fits the needs of the team? What behaviors are visible?

#5 – What can people on the team do to be able to do their best work? Finally, we know from strengths-based research that when people are able to do their best work and use their strengths, there’s greater productivity, engagement and quality of life. Check out Gallup’s Strengths Center for the latest research on this.

Asking the team what they can do to do their best work, as often as possible can be a great conversation. It may also open up a debate point of “Why can’t I do this all the time?”. While we may not be able to use strengths EVERY DAY and EVERY HOUR on every PROJECT, what can we do to magnify or expand this?

Enjoy the conversations and let us know what you are exploring in your team. 

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. ​

Welcome back to another week which of course brings us the Monday Effective Virtual Conversations Tip. Tip #143 is “Don’t Assume”.  When we can’t see each other face to face, our window to everyone’s world becomes the small boxes we live within. Given that we can’t see people’s context, it can become very easy to not see their context.

Today’s post is “Don’t Assume”. What are the assumptions you are making?

It might be…

• Your priority is my priority…
• You have more time than me…
• You don’t have the distractions I have…
  • Listen into a short daily reading I did (link to day 23 or 24 I think Lindsay), which covered the Assumptions around Virtual Conversations and Learning we can hold.  Two of the ones I hear all the time:
  1. Everyone understands what I am saying – Be sure to pause regularly and use polls or chat to check for understanding.
  2. People will follow up – With back to back calls becoming the norm, it’s not uncommon for people to forget their stream of thought from hours earlier. Be sure to leave time for people to NOTE and SCHEDULE their follow up.
• Everyone is going to have the same needs – Learning styles, preferences and focus is usually going to be radically different from person to person. Be sure to vary your approaches and techniques for engagement – from voice, to chat, to things that are hands on. This will ensure that you are meeting the different learning styles in the group.

​What are the assumptions you are making? What changes do you want to make?

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. ​

​One of the most important things in a team context, particularly a virtual team context, is how our values translate into action. When we work face to face, our values are translated through behaviors we can see and notice every day. So, a value of customer service will translate into prioritizing a quick follow through with a customer, while a value of speed may translate to a series of behaviors which resemble more of a checklist approach to work, with the "first past the post" the winner, regardless of quality.

Our values shape the behaviors our team undertakes, regardless of whether we are in person or virtual. A reminder of our behaviors can take many forms - from discussing them, to having them as a screensaver or a poster on the wall.

What is important for you to note as a team right now about your values? Where are they aligned? Where are they not? What's important to further clarify? Define behaviorally?

Values (What we value) and Behaviors (What we Do) play a key role in shaping our team and organizational culture. What is important to explore as you consider these elements this week?

With 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 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
​