​This week’s weekly journaling prompt gets us to consider the question: “This quarter the theme is….”.

Part of the challenge in today’s VUCA context (were things may be ever-changing as well as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) is that there is so much to focus on. Having an annual or quarterly theme can help us to ground and focus on what is most important.
What is your theme for this quarter?
As a coach who has asked my clients (often leaders, teams or business owners) this question thousands of times here are some of the themes my clients have set over the years:

• Acceleration
• Laser Beam
• Harpoon
• Clarity
• Rest
• Waterfall – to signify a trust in continued flow

My own theme for 2019 is magnify. I’m finding that this is a great touchpoint for me to return back to as I make decisions, prioritize and consider where to place my time and attention.

This week I hope that you will engage with the question – What is your quarterly theme?

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Tip #223 gets you to explore the question “Together we can…”

• What are you able to do together better than doing as individual contributors?
  
• What is possible when you collaborate?
• What is feasible when you partner with others?
• What are you able to magnify?

Best,
​Jennifer

​It is Sunday and time for another weekly video montage from the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series. Started in September, on the first day of fall, this is a daily Instagram series I host over at my feed – CoachingBizBuilder

Given that not everyone is on Instagram, I’ve enjoyed bringing this to you through video format.
​
As you explore these questions, take note of the questions which are important to you, and your work, right now. 

Best,
Jennifer

It’s the beginning of another month here at the Teams365 blog. This month I’ll be focusing on wrapping up the 19 for 2019 Productivity Tips, as well as focusing on the topic of team development, relationships and collaboration.
It’s the start of a new month and also time to take stock of what you accomplished in January and also what you have planned for February.  Yesterday I hosted a month end review and planning session. As a monthly event, I am always amazed at how much gets done in any given month, and how valuable it is to take time to do some planning to reflect on lessons learned and take time to plan and focus for the new month.

Reflecting on the month of January:

• What were my major achievements this month?
• What do I want to celebrate?
• As I consider my goals (and resolutions) I made at the start of the year, how am I doing with these on a scale of 1-10? Which ones are becoming new habits or something I can check off?
• Which goals need to be let go of or changed?
• What habits have supported me this month?
• As a leader, what have I noticed about my team this month?
• As a leader, what notes should I make about performance issues? (if I haven't done it already!)
• The thing that has helped me be most productive this month has been ______.
• The thing that has helped me be most successful this month has been ______.
• The thing that has helped me be happiest this month has been ________.
• The thing that has helped me be most healthy has been _______.
• What have I noticed about my work/productivity/results and/or relationships during the winter months (if you are in the northern hemisphere) or summer (if you are in the southern hemisphere)?
• How am I doing with my theme of the year (how I am living it, embodying it)?

Here are some questions you will want to consider as you step into the new month - Looking ahead to February:

• The project I want to get started is…
• The project I most want to wrap up is...
• I want to leave ______ in the month of January.
• My priorities are:
• Our team priorities are:
• My goals are:
• My teams goals are:
• I want to......
• I'll be really happy at the end of February when….

What else is important to note before you move ahead with the new month?

Enjoy your reflections!
Jennifer

​This weekend we’re going to go through the video montage of the 7 questions that made up week 7 of the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series. Take a few minutes to note the questions I explored over at the CoachingBizBuilder Instagram page and consider jotting down your responses to each question. Just like posts on Saturday, these questions are meant to get you thinking about, and into action, around your work or business.

If you enjoyed these questions, you may want to pick up the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner. Two hundred eighty five pages in length, the first 125 pages are a workbook for virtual and remote professionals. Exploring topics including virtual and remote business foundations, your own internal ecosystem, and marketing/positioning, plus success tips, virtual and remote professionals of all kinds – entrepreneurs, leaders and team members - will find it of interest and value. Pick up a copy for yourself, or your team, and bring it in as a resource for your team meetings and team development this year.
Pick up your copy here.

Note the last 160 pages are a series of undated planning pages. With valuable annual, quarterly and monthly resources, the planning pages provide an opportunity for desk-based analog planning.
 
What’s your favorite question this week?

What's going to move your work and focus forward?

Enjoy!

Jennifer

​It’s Sunday and time for another video montage.

This week we are exploring week 6 of the series. These daily prompts have been posted over at my CoachingBizBuilder Instagram site. If you are on Instagram, let's connect!

I have been sharing these daily questions since September 21st, any many professionals have found them a useful prompt for their thinking and action.

What are the questions that capture your thinking this week? What’s important to take note AND action on around your business?

Best,
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (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

This week for the FlashbackFriday post, I am reaching back to a post from last January – Teams365 1465 where I shared tip 4 of the Kickstart for 2018.

In that post I shared more about priorities, a key topic to help us keep on point for the year.

Here’s what I wrote:

"As a leader in my late 20s, responsible for global programming and leading an organization of more than 100 in South America, I learned very quickly that regardless of how many goals were on the place, priorities were critical. I was struck by the concept of Steven Covey’s Big Rocks – or how we need to attend to, and add our big rocks – or priorities first, therefore allowing us to fit in all the smaller things around them.

With this end in mind, I’d like for you to consider the goals you have set out for yourself for 2018.

​As we step into 2018, the first Teams365 series of the year is the Kickstart Your 2018 - 8 in 18. 8 days of reflective prompts to get you thinking about, and writing about what you want to create this year. Check out the other posts in this series here, and I hope you'll follow along by grabbing a pen and a journal (you can start at any time!):

Day 4 questions in the series get you to think about the most important priorities. Consider these questions today:
1. Looking at my list of goals (for the year, month, day), what is most important?
2. What time have I scheduled to get these done?
3. When will I be most effective on working on my priorities? 
4. What could get in the way of me attending to these priorities?
5. What do I need to say YES to, in order to knock these priorities out of the park?
6. What do I need to say NO to, in order to focus more on my top priorities?
7. Who can support me in being successful with these priorities?
8. What other resources do I need for my priorities?
9. What do I need to delegate, or defer, to get the priorities attended to?
10. What’s the hard end date to get these done? As we know, many tasks expand to the amount of time we give them. This is commonly known as Parkinson’s Rule."
 _________________________________________________________________


 
What are your top 5 priorities this month? This quarter? Where are these visible to you?
 
Enjoy your weekend,
Jennifer

Tip #9 – 8 Essential Meeting Questions
 
"The majority of meetings should be discussions that lead to decisions." -Patrick Lencioni

We can spend upwards of 40% of our time in meetings. Spending time to get focused on what make meetings work well can mean the difference between things getting done and decisions made, versus a sense that things were not working well.

In Effective Virtual Conversations, I shared 8 Essential Meeting Questions to ask at the start or end of any meeting. These include:

1. What’s the purpose?
2. What takeaways do we want?
3. Who needs to be on the call?
4. What preparation is needed for us to be most effective in the meeting?
5. What pace to do we want in order to keep it engaging?
6. What will help keep the focus?
7. What’s absolutely essential? (What’s essential, versus what will be nice to cover? If you can’t cover it, where can people go for more information around topics?)
8. What follow up might be required?

(Reference: Jennifer Britton, Effective Virtual Conversations, pp 304, 2017)

Meetings don’t have to be an ineffective use of time. In fact, a verbal meeting or call (face to face, or one held virtually) can replace a series of less effective emails. 

Activity:
Consider the upcoming meetings you have. Work through the 8 Essential Meeting Questions. Note any changes you want to make.

• What is working well about the meetings you hold?
• Who do you need to be meeting more frequently with?
• What meetings need to be retooled?
• What followup would be more effective?
• Are you always clear on next steps?
• What meetings do you need to say NO to?

Track how much time you are spending in meetings on a regular basis. What changes would you like to make?

Conversation Sparkers:

• What changes do you want to make to your upcoming meeting?
• What changes do you want to ask your meeting participants to make?
• What is your commitment to making meetings more effective this year?

Enjoy your conversations!
Best wishes,
Jennifer

This week we’re taking a look back at the Teams365 January 2018 posts where I kicked off the year with the 2018 kickstart. Over the first month I included tips around creating momentum and boosting your productivity through 18 posts. January posts last year covered 8 days of focus on your goals.
Today we are going to take a look back at Teams 365 1469.

Here’s what I wrote:

“In today’s busy world, it’s very common to get on the treadmill of doing, without taking time to stop, and reflect on what’s working and what’s not. While we might not have a full day to dedicate to planning regularly “micro-bursts” of 5-15 minutes regularly can make a difference.

Peter Drucker wrote “Follow effective actions with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”  Peter Drucker

Over the last 8 days we have explored:
Take stock of your achievements and successes from the year that was – Day 1. Read it here.
Create a clear and compelling vision of your year – Day 2. Read it here
Be specific with your goals – Day 3. Read it here.
Identify and focus on priorities first – Day 4. Read it here.
Create habits and practices that will support you in what you want to achieve – Day 5. Read it here.
Be ruthless with your time and scheduling – Day 6
Develop a community of support around you – Day 7
In the same vein, building in time to celebrate is Day 8

Consider these questions for today’s prompts:
1. As you think back to the last 8 days, what have you achieved?
2. What needs a change from the original goals you mapped out last week?
3. What momentum have you created for yourself? 
4. What are you most surprised about?
5. What have you learned about yourself, your vision and your goals?
6. What have you noticed about your pace of action and reflection (i.e. when do you do this best – early morning? Late at night? In chunks?) 
7. What time do you want to build in to make planning, and “quiet reflection” a regular part of your world?
8. What will you do to celebrate your movement forward?
9. Complete this sentence, by the end of January I will have…..
10. By the end of the year I will have….

We will be continuing our journey through the 19 for 2019 Productivity tips.. Check out # 1 – 7 here.
 
Enjoy your first weekend of 2019,
Jennifer

​Today is Boxing Day here in Canada, and in the years before Black Friday also became common place in our shopping malls, Boxing Day was the day of the year to scoop up great savings. I was told as a child the reason for why it is called Boxing Day is because of the focus on filling the boxes with goodies for the end of the year. Regardless, for most of us, our attention is now turning to the end of the year and reflections on the year that was.
​
In today’s post I wanted to provide you with several questions to support you with your year end planning. Today, we are going to start with taking a look back at the year that was, and in another few days we’ll look at planning for the year head. To get some inspiration (and leverage) I reached back and took a look at what I wrote a couple of years ago, on Boxing Day 2016. Read it here.  

Here are ten questions to support you in reflecting back on the last year:
1. What's been your biggest success this year?
2. What are you most proud of accomplishing? OR What were your greatest results?
3 What habits have most supported you this year?
4. What three adjectives sum up the year for you?
5. What were key relationships instrumental to your success and experience this year?
6. What has been your biggest, and most important, learning this year?
7. If you were to give this year a book title, what would it be?
8. What do you want to make sure you keep doing in the new year? What do you want to stop doing?
9. What do you want to acknowledge yourself for?
10. How and when will you celebrate the successes of 2018? With whom?
​
Do make a point to take some time today to reflect AND WRITE these ideas down. If you have not created a journal for yourself for the new year, perhaps today is he day to grab a new book, or start a new file. As I wrote several weeks ago, there are many benefits of journaling, check them out here. 

Best,
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (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