It’s mid-way through August which is always an interesting month. For some, it’s the last gasp of summer and families are hitting the road, and offices are half open. In some other areas, it’s back to work.

I thought it would be fitting to dedicate today’s blog post to a mid-month systems check. These are all things you might consider doing, and also sharing, with your team.

This includes:

• One-on-ones and coaching conversations – when was the last time you checked in with each team member?
• Team meetings – when was the last time you held a team meeting? What’s scheduled? What’s working with team meetings? What changes are needed?
• Financials - Are all expenses and invoices complete? If budget season is around the corner, what do you want to note, or pull together?
• Reporting - What is the status of reporting? What’s due? What’s over-due? What do you need to review?
• Projects - Where are projects in terms of completion? Resourcing? Impact? Results? Stakeholder engagement?
• Communication -  What items need to be communicated?
• Peer relationships – when was the last time you spent time with your peers? What do you want to schedule?
• Relationships with your boss – when did you last spend time meeting, and updating, your boss? Are you in alignment around projects and priorities for the rest of the year? What do they need from you? What do you need from them? What does the team need?
• Administrative – What administrative systems are working? What’s not? What needs attention?
• Personal Productivity and time management – What do you need to DO? DEFER? DELEGATE? DUMP?
  

What other systems, or areas, could use attention?

Enjoy this mid-month stock-taking!
Jennifer

It’s Friday and a great day to get things done! Here’s what I wrote a few years ago now on Tips for Conquering Procrastination in Teams365 489: Read it here.

“It is the start of a new work week and chances are, there may be one or two tasks on your list that you really, really don't want to do. Procrastination is a challenge for many professionals along the way. Today's post points you to some useful resources if you find yourself in the spot of procrastinating around an important task."

Here are a couple of different articles and other posts to refer to:
Business Town.com's Five Reasons We Procrastinate
Jim Selman's Huffington Post article on Why Do We Procrastinate?
And finally a really interesting article from the App developers of Unstuck. You can read their 9 tips for how to stop procrastinating here.

Consider these strategies:
Set a timer for 15 minutes and just get going - It is sometimes hard to get in the flow with tasks and just like in moving through writers block setting a timer and getting into action for 15 minutes may be  the start of creating some momentum and movement around a task.

Create accountability partners: When we publicly commit to task completion with another person, it can up the ante on getting things done. Mastermind groups are often popular for this reason.

Chunk things down- sometimes we put off tasks when they feel too big or overwhelming. Chunking things down in to smaller pieces can help to make things feel more manageable.

Tackle it first in the day or when you are at your best: Many of us have times of day when we are more productive, clearer and more focused. It can be useful to consider tacking those tasks at the times when you are at your best.

What other tips do you have for getting things done when you are procrastinating?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

​Taking time in this last full month of summer for renewal and mindfulness can go a long way. Whether you have an extended long weekend or a full week off, renewal and mindfulness are important.

What renewal opportunities have you taken this summer? Is there an opportunity to fit in one more renewal burst?

The topic of renewal means many different things to different people. In my work as a coach, this is typically an area we explore together. For some clients it might mean – digitally detoxing – intentionally taking time offline to renew. For others it may mean getting out of the city and spending time in the country or more rural areas. For yet others it can include taking time to purge their own resources.

In today’s hyper-connected world, there may be some initial backlash and discomfort from slowing down…until you get a chance to ease into it. This is what I call the “Decompression” phase, something I experience every summer as I shift my office, and work, from Toronto to the beauty, and more laid-back pace, of Muskoka. This year I’ve been very conscious of the layers of decompression which have occurred. Sometimes uncomfortable, I have found myself more focused, relaxed and productive than I have been for years.

What does renewal mean for you?

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) 
Coaches - check out my new Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner. Now available.
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

This week's Teams365 video addresses the topic of delegation. In today's world of "doing more with less" leaders and team members can benefit from the skill of delegation.  What do you want to delegate? What will make it successful?

Today's post brings to life the 2015 Teams365 post #391 on Delegation.

Be sure to check out other Teams365 videos at our YouTube Channel.

Enjoy!
Jennifer

Today marks a milestone - 1500 blog posts since I started this experiment of what it would be like to blog daily here at the Teams365. On reflection, it's been amazing to see the thousands of readers who have joined us through posts on team building, coaching, leadership, virtual teams and virtual facilitation. As we continue to move through this 5th year of daily blog posts I look forward to continuing to bring you posts which can support you in your every day conversations.

​Today's post is Team Building Tip #168, our regular Thursday series. The question for you as a team to consider today is "What does productivity mean for you as a team?". 

​I hope that you will take some time this week to discuss this question, along with these related ones:

• ​What are the activities which are giving you your greatest impact?
• What are the things that are creating results as a team?
• ​What are the habits which are helping you?

Have a great Thursday,
​Jennifer

It's time for another Sunday Teams365 video, and in the spirit of this month's theme here at the Teams365 blog of goals, today's post brings to life Teams365 post #629 on Managing Interruptions.

Notice how many interruptions you face this week at work. What are some strategies you would like to employ in managing interruptions?

Have a great Sunday,
Jennifer

Most teams are fully getting back to work this week and it may be apparent how much time is being spent in minimizing distractions. As  I wrote in one of the Teams365 blog posts last year, studies by Gloria Mark have found that it can take up to 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return to a focused state. 

​Distractions abound in today's workplace from:
​Open concept work areas where visual distractions abound
​Regular bings from email arrival, updates, Instant Messaging 
​Being called into meetings which may not be as effective as necessary

​All three of these areas can be quickly assessed if you are committed to minimizing distractions for you and your team.

​Some initial ideas to minimize distractions may include:
​Creating "focused work" periods. Whether it's 30 or 60 minutes a day, focused times, which have no immediate distraction allow us to get things done. Many studies find that our immediate productivity can be boosted by giving projects time windows and a time frames. The Pomodoro technique is one example of accelerating productivity. It posits that focused activity for 25 minutes can be followed by a 5 minute break. Read more about the Pomodoro Technique from its' creator here.

Become ruthless with meetings. Moving the needle on meetings may be a goal for many teams today. If you have not yet downloaded a copy of my bookmark for my newest book - Effective Virtual Conversations - on making virtual meetings more effective, download it here. It includes 8 Questions you will want to ask yourself before every meeting. 
An initial question to ask your self this year is "is a meeting the best way to communicate this information or is there a better way?

Closing email and other app windows at different parts of the day. While it may not always be possible to turn off email for extended periods, it is important to have blocks of time where we are able to focus solely on the task at hand. Providing small work areas for individual and/or groups to meet in for the important pieces of work are critical. It may take a few minutes to get into the flow of these projects, and scheduling in time on a regular basis to have focused work time, is useful in breaking the cycle of ongoing disruption.

​Ask yourself if you need to interrupt someone before you immediately hit send on an email which could be delayed, or bundled with some of the other questions you have. 

Where does your team get distracted at present? What small, but consistent changes would make a difference to the way you are working?

​Stay tuned throughout the year for more productivity tips.

Best
Jennifer

If you haven't been here recently, I hope that you'll check out the first 8 days of 2018 posts - the Kickstart Your 2018 posts, a series of reflective questions to get you started for 2018. Check them out here.
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Time is a non-renewable resource. We can’t get it back when it is gone. Think about last year and how much time was spent in tasks which didn’t add the value you wanted. This might include things like – ineffective meetings, email chains which could have been more effectively dealt with.

Consider these questions for today’s prompts:

1.  Where are you spending the bulk of your time? (If you haven’t done so, track your time using a Time Tracker. Contact me to receive a template around this so you can track your time for a week and see where your time really goes)
2.  As you notice your time usage, what are the patterns you see?
3. What are the activities that are truly giving you the results you want in your work? Note these down.
4.  What activities are not giving impact? What do you want to do with these?
5.   What are any items you can delegate and/or share with others?
6.   What are the activities you need to start saying no to?
7.   What resources could help you get things done quicker, differently or more efficiently?
8.   What do you notice about the time you are spending on proactive and strategic issues (i.e. relationship building, personal development, team development, other)?
9.   What amount of time are you spending on yourself?
10.   What is the one thing you want to commit to doing this year around time? This could be something you continue to do or do differently?
    

Time management and personal productivity is an area I continue to provide teams and individuals support in. Take a look at the past Teams365 posts related to this topic.

This week's quote comes from Chris Bailey, the author of The Productivity Project. He writes "Working deliberatively and purposefully throughout the day can make or break how productive you are".

This week I was traveling and popped Chris' book in my briefcase before heading out. I really enjoyed reading it and appreciate the practical exercises he suggests for readers to undertake as they explore their own productivity experiments. As someone who regularly gets requests to speak on issues related to time management and personal productivity, this is going to be a new book addition to my suggested reading list!

What's important for you to notice about your time, productivity and energy this week? What needs to get done before the holidays? What will you be doing to renew when the holidays come?

Have a terrific weekend,
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

​You can grab a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon. You can also purchase an autographed copy direct from our site