Category: Project Management

TEAMS365 #2534 - Stand Out Virtually Principle #4– Strong Hand on Process

12/7/2020

Welcome back to another Stand Out Virtually Principle – Strong Hand on Process. Key to remote work success is having a “Strong Hand on Process” or in others’ words, being very clear around elements such as:

Expectations
Agreement
Purpose
Clarity
Focus

What else would you add?

Enjoy!
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

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TEAMS365 #2529 - 8 Activities To Be Sure to Slate in This Month

12/2/2020

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This month’s focus at the blog is going to be all about winding down the year. While it’s not a usual year by any means there are a number of key activities you might want to undertake this month. Consider if you have scheduled the following:

Team one-on-one meetings – check out the recent post on 10 areas to explore in your year end 1-1s
Time to wrap up the most important projects for 1-1
Reflection time to consider learning
Planning time for 2021 (even though your planning window may not be the same as always, it is important to connect around these). Consider business and personal goals.
Budget time
Outreach to customers (virtually)
Outreach to stakeholders and other partners (virtually)
Time to downshift and recharge. I think we’d all agree that this year has been anything but usual. What do you want to do to create a pause and renewal time for yourself?

Is there anything else you want to make sure you leave time for this year, other than time with your loved ones?

Best,
Jennifer

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TEAMS365 #2506 – EVC Tip #175: Keep It Simple!

11/9/2020

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Keep it simple has been a mantra of my work for three decades now. Whether it’s been navigating complexity in leading post-disaster management programming with the UN or supporting thousands of coaches to develop their own group coaching programming, “keep it simple” is key.

Think about today’s virtual context. People don’t want another slide or tidbit of information. They likely want to spend time in conversation and connection with others.

What are you doing to what I call “distill things down to the core” so the most important elements are present?

This may involve invoking the three-part rubric of “Need to Know, Nice to Know and Where to Go” (which I originally picked up as a great train-the-trainer tip from Bob Pike back in 2000 – thank you Bob!)

This week consider what you can do to keep things simple in your virtual programming. This might entail “keeping it simple” around:

Process
Instructions
The number of questions you ask
Post Work
The number of goals people are focusing on

I first wrote about “keeping things simple” back in Effective Group Coaching, and then again in From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching.

What else can you do to keep things simple?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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TEAMS365 #2409 – Remote Skill in Focus: FOCUS

8/4/2020

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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

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TEAMS365 #2326 – Remote Team Development – Process Mapping

5/13/2020

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As teams have settled into how to work best, it’s likely that while some tasks are getting completed, there may still be many areas which are not as effective. These may be tasks that aren’t getting completed as planned, things that are getting backlogged on a regular basis, or tasks where there is confusion as to who needs to do what.

One area which can be of benefit for teams to explore is the topic of process mapping. Process mapping is a visual way of mapping out what needs to get done, when, and by who.

If you were to meet in person, process mapping would have us map out the different tasks and activities, who needed to do them and when. An easy way to do this is by using post-its and having people identify what the activities are, then listing them out, and assigning task responsibilities and also timelines.

If you are doing this in the virtual space, you can also make sure that you share a whiteboard and have the team discuss and complete the different steps needed. I’ve taken a screenshot here of a task that was created around a report.

Note who needs to do what as well as the timelines required, plus the flow. This was made on zoom whiteboard using annotation.

While this may not be comprehensive it does help to identify resourcing, timelines, and where there may be gaps.

What do you notice?

How might this support you and your work and projects right now?

Enjoy!
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.

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TEAMS365 #2307 Flashback Friday

4/24/2020

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As I recently shared in an article about remote teams, questions form an important backdrop for professionals today. Questions are the things that open up the conversation. They are the things that provoke new insights, or prompt connections.

This Friday I wanted to take us back to an earlier Team Building Tip from July 2019. Here’s what I wrote:

This week’s Team Building Tip gets you thinking about the questions “What questions do you need to ask?”. This is a valuable way to expand our thinking and get out of the rut of how we might be looking at things.

As you go about thinking of your most important questions, ask yourself the 5 W's + H.

Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?

To expand your thinking this week, consider asking yourself questions along the lines of…

Who is important?
What is the one thing that might work best for you?
What are the elements that could distract/detract?
When do you want to focus more?
Where do you need to look?
What do you need to embrace?
Where do you need to let go?

In addition to these questions, you may also want to consider the questions of:

What do we see as common ground?
What’s important to connect or what’s connected?
What’s missing?
What’s another way of exploring this?
What assumptions are we making?
What is the outcome we are looking for?
What else?

I hope that you enjoy your conversations and have a few minutes to focus in on what’s important for you as a team.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

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TEAMS365 #2303 Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 141

4/20/2020

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With teams everywhere focusing on remote work right now, many teams are looking for something different to do to gain clarity and help them focus on their results. This week’s tip is the IS/IS NOT framework, which helps us all get clarity around what we are focusing on and/or what we need to do. For example, let’s say as a team we are tasked with rolling out a new process for serving customers in the remote space.

We could use the IS/IS NOT framework to help frame out the following:

What it is…
Quick
Virtual
Flat (people can make decisions)
Flexible by using a decision tree
Iterative
Informed by feedback

What it is not…
Multi-layered decision making (we want people to be able to make their decisions themselves, hence the decision tree)
Slow
Not focused
ETC ETC...

Where do you need more clarity around your projects and end-results as a remote team? Where could you use this process?

All the best,
Jennifer

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TEAMS365 #2292 – Team Building Tip 282: What needs more alignment?

4/9/2020

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Alignment on teams helps ensure that the team is harnessing their best, and therefore maximizing their flow towards results. Teams hopefully are aligned around many different areas including:

Values
Vision
Processes
Communication

Let’s look at each one of these briefly in turn:

Values – Teams, especially remote teams need to be aligned around values, and also be clear on where their individual values may be different than their collective values. This is imperative on a remote team given that our values shape our behaviors. So, for example, if we as a team value customer service, I am going to prioritize a phone call before spending time on an internal report. If we value quality, we may have a process where someone else (even virtually) reviews our content before it goes out. As a team, what are the three or four values which are important to focus on? What are the values which need to anchor everyone’s behaviors?

Vision is another piece which is important to bring the team back to, particularly in times of disruption. What is the horizon you are moving towards? What are the things which are going to anchor your work? Vision helps us to prioritize.

Processes – Our processes also need to be aligned. These include things such as how we do things, what the process flow is, who passes to who, when does it need to be done.

Communication – Finally our communication needs to be aligned. What are the ways we commit to keeping conversations flowing? What is the minimum in terms of content and time?

What can you do to support alignment as a team?

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

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TEAMS365 #2282 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 138: Iterate

3/30/2020

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This weeks Effective Virtual Conversations Tip is all about iteration. As we move into the virtual space, it’s likely that experimentation, and on-going action with adjustment, is the norm. Technology can “happen” and things that worked in the in-person world, may not work the same way in the virtual space.

What does iteration mean for you?

Here’s a definition from StoryBoardThat.com:

Iteration in a business is the concept of repeating a process, analyzing the outcomes each time, and modifying for ultimate efficiency in hopes to achieve a certain objective or outcome. Iterate.

As you consider your business goals for the second quarter, what are the things you can do to get things out more quickly, get feedback and iterate? This might be a new program you have been thinking about offering, a new product for your customers or clients, or a new system or process that could benefit from some feedback.

With many of the programs I run, there is an element of iteration. It often includes writing first here at the blog, then incorporating into a program I am running, and then looking at the metrics and feedback from both readers and group members. These two streams of feedback always help to strengthen programming.

Consider what iteration could look like in your work right now.

With best wishes,
Jennifer