Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#TEAMS365 #2055 – Flashback Friday: Focus, Distraction

8/16/2019

One of this week’s focuses has been about creating more focus in today’s digitally distracted world. For our Friday Flashback, I thought it would be interesting to reach back to a post from earlier this year where I highlighted Digital Distractions. Take a look at it here:

From open office spaces to a focus on collaboration, there can also be a pendulum swing in organizations where sometimes things go too far.

As I mentioned over the weekend, there are a number of studies exploring this topic of distraction including Udemy In Depth’s 2018 Workplace Distraction Survey. You can read it here.

The report asserts that distractions have an impact on productivity. Some of the distractions noted in that study are talkative co-workers, email and others.
Many of the distractions I hear of in the work of my clients are:
Unscheduled meetings
Co-workers dropping by to chat
Email
Social media which takes you “down the rabbit hole”
Materials and information which are not readily accessible and have not been stored in the locations you thought they would be in

What are you doing to minimize the distractions? What do you find distracting?

What conversations are important to have?

Here are some other articles of interest:

Check out this article from Financial Times – “Digital Distractions are Making Us Dumb and Twitchy” which also includes some great tips from Professor Cal Newport.

Suresh Subamdam’s article on Is Your Work's Communication Channel Turning Your Team Into a Bunch of 'Slack'-ers?

Take a look at Digital Responsibility’s website and ideas on Digital Distraction.

Wishing you all the best,
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2051 – Effective Virtual Conversations 106: Minimizing Digital Distractions and Creating More Focus

8/12/2019

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 bcced 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, ccing and bccing (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.

What can you do as an organization or team to create more focus in the digital space?

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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2050 – Weekly Roundup

8/11/2019

This week we’ve taken a look at virtual team culture, stretch, accountability, minimizing distractions. These all seem to be key themes for teams today.
If you missed any of the posts this week, be sure to check them out:
2049 – Saturday August 10 - Weekly Journaling Prompt 62
2048 – Friday August 9 - Flashback Friday: Articulating your virtual team culture
2047 – Thursday August 8 – Team Building Tip 248
2046 – Wednesday August 7 - Teamwork Fundamentals: Minimizing Distractions
2045 – Tuesday August 6 - Remote Teamwork Fundamentals: Five Things to Keep in Mind
2044 – Monday August 5 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #105: Accountability in Focus

What’s going to help you this month as a remote team?

If you aren’t in a remote team, what can you translate to your context?

Enjoy your weekend!
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2046 – Teamwork Fundamentals: Minimizing Distractions

8/7/2019

One of the biggest challenges facing teams today are the distractions. From digital distractions of the ping of an email taking our focus off deeper work like writing, or an Instant Message and request pulling us off our task at hand, distractions have an impact in the digital space.

In the physical space, distractions can include co-workers dropping by our desk to chat, and meetings. Its often said that meeting length should be multiplied by three. It’s not just the time it takes to attend, but the time to prepare and the time to follow up.

Research by Gloria Marks has found that distractions can take upwards of 22 minutes to regain focus.

What implications does this have for us as professionals and team members?

We may not be getting the more strategic, proactive, thinking work completed (i.e. reports, planning, decision making).
Tasks are not getting completed in the time frame needed.
Lack of fulfillment on the part of team members, leading to lower levels of engagement.
Lower productivity and results.

What might we do to minimize distractions, especially if it is having an impact?

Best,
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2031 - Creativity in the Workplace: Six Questions to Reflect On

7/23/2019

As part of the summer series this month, today’s blog post shifts to a focus on creativity. As we unwind from the busy pace of the rest of the year, we may find that our creative juices start to flow. It’s often said that we need space and time to get our creative spirit awakened.

Creativity can take many forms and it can also be incorporated to our every day experience. Today’s post is an invitation for you to consider what creativity means for you, when it occurs and what it can look like more fully in your work.
There are some really good articles which give us a better understanding of creativity. Check out these articles:

7 Surprising Facts About Creativity According to Science from Fast Company

Jillian Groening’s article: 52 Science-Based Facts About the Creative Mind

Here are a number of questions for you to consider as you think about creativity in your work:

What does creativity mean for me?
I’d like to ____ in order to bring more creativity into my work.
My favorite creative outlet as a younger person was….
The time of day I find I am most creative is…./the places I am most creative are….
The ingredients I need in order to be creative is…
I’d like to ___ in order to be more creative.

A few weeks ago I published a 30 minute call as part of my 2018 Coaching Business Builder workbook series entitled “Summer Projects for Coaches”. Even if you are not a coach, you may find that this resource is of interest to you.

Check it out at my YouTube channel.

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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2029 Weekly Roundup

7/21/2019

This week we’ve been focusing on the topic of simplification. A quick reminder of the posts from this week’s dally series:

Monday July 15th - Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 102: Keeping It Simple (Tips for keeping virtual conversations simple)
Tuesday July 16 - Simplification
Wednesday July 17 - Digital Detox
Thursday July 18 - Team Building Tip 245
Friday July 19th - Flashback Friday – Leadership Practice – Feedback
Saturday July 20th - Weekly Journaling Prompt on Appreciation

I hope that you will take a few minutes today to review the past posts and look at what is of interest, and relevance for you.

Enjoy!
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2025 - Digital Detox

7/17/2019

As a business owner I am regularly thinking about systems and processes for the business. In structuring the way I work here at Potentials Realized, I’ve been intentional since the start of the business to earmark the summer months for extended periods of work in my remote northern office. Early on in the business this included a series of short long weekends, and now fifteen years later includes a five to six week block of time. I have found that as the pace of business has increased, these blocks of time have become even more important for focus and recharging.

The nice thing about working remote this that it also provides more of an opportunity to undertake some “digital detox”. This involves:

Shorter, and more focused, periods of being online (helped by a much slower connection speed!)
Changing my work schedule so that I check emails at the start of the day and towards the end of a regular workday
Letting people know that for a certain period of the year, I am working even more remote and won’t be as available (this is key for managing expectations)

While some readers might think – I couldn’t do that – I have come to realize that “I simply CANNOT not do this!”. It’s critical for my own productivity and also satisfaction with my work.

What’s going to help you detox digitally?

For more great resources on this do check out Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism Book. It’s a great read.

Wishing you the best,
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2024 – Simplification

7/16/2019

This week’s theme is emerging to be “simplification”. In yesterday’s post I shared several strategies to simplify your virtual conversations.

Simplification is also a useful strategy in a context where disruption, change and distraction is prevalent. The cost of these things on productivity, and cognitive load is high.

Simplification in work can look like a number of things. Consider the work of Jane a project manager. To her simplification might include:

Dedicating blocks of the day (i.e. the first few hours of each day or all day Tuesday) to certain projects and/or tasks
Delegating tasks that are not essential during critical phases of the project
Creating a series of templates for reporting and/or tasks which need reporting regularly
Batching other “unlike” tasks to certain times of the day when she can move quickly from task to task, without feeling like it is getting in the way of deeper work

Other team members might include these items on their list of simplification:

Unsubscribing from lists that are not of interest anymore
Dedicating certain blocks of time to social media
Dedicating a certain day of the week to a focus on certain tasks – i.e. professional development or networking

During times of change, consistency also plays an important role. This can include consistency of message, consistency of touchpoints, and consistency of focus.

Consistency of message can include reinforcing key messages in several channels - so sharing something in a team meeting, then following up a day or two later with an email, and also reinforcing in a 1-1 conversation.

Consistency of touchpoints can involve letting people know that each month you’ll be scheduling a 1-1 with them for 30 minutes. This can help to get people into the regular routine of meeting and noting their key issues of discussion.

Consistency of focus is not always easy to achieve. This might involve helping the team focus in on certain key tasks, while minimizing others until the bigger projects are completed. It could also involve dedicating certain team members to certain projects, and having other team members focus on a different, unrelated task.

What are that things you can do to create more simplification and consistency in your work?

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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2017 Focusing On A Creative Project

7/9/2019

A few weeks ago, I shared a post about potential different summer projects you might want to focus on. This is the one time of the year where we may have a bit more space to focus on projects that are “nice to do” rather than “have to do”. What are the summer projects you have in mind?

In determining a possible summer creative project, you might want to focus on these questions:

What’s the one thing you wish you had done/completed, but never have had time for?

As you consider your career, what is the one area you wish you had more experience in, or knowledge of?
As you consider your next step in your career, what is one thing that would help you expand your skills, or deepen them?
What would be a fun project to work on this summer?
What could be a legacy project to leave at your workplace? One of the projects I worked on in my last year of employment was a training guide for new staff who had to run their own training and onboarding programs for teams. Interestingly enough, it became a baseline for some of the work I have done in the last fifteen years of business. I was able to dedicate a little bit of time every week on that project, which like many things, does add up to something specific, when we are intentional and have a plan (see yesterday’s post around goal setting).

I hope that these questions will be useful as you start to consider what possible projects you could undertake.

The beauty of summer projects is that you likely have 7-8 weeks of work time to complete it. These are rarely projects that can be done in one sitting but are completed over time.

After identifying possible options, take some time breaking it down into more concrete milestones that you can aim for in shorter cycles. Be sure to schedule time in your calendar to work on this. As is commonly asserted “What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done”. Enjoy!

Enjoy the creative process,
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

#TEAMS365 #2012 - Team Building Tip 243

7/4/2019

Achieving greatness is not always about doing more, it can be about focus. This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to consider the question “What would be possible if you had more focus?”.

Some of the tangential questions to consider this month are:

What does focus mean for you?
What can focus look like?
What do you need to let go of or say NO to in order to focus?
What’s important about creating more focus in your work?

As Bruce Lee wrote, ““It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

Enjoy!
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.