Welcome back to another Monday here at the Teams365 blog. For Stand Out Virtually Principle #4 we have CONNECT. Connection has been a central theme here at the Teams365 blog since I started writing the posts back in 2014. Never before has connection been so important.

Consider what’s important for you around connection in your work. A reminder of the blog post I shared on November 10th about the 5 Layers of Connection and the 12 different ways to incorporate it. Be sure to take a look at that post – here.
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The five layers of connection are:

• To you, the host
• To each other
• To the content you are offering
• To the context in which you are having the conversation
• To the technology

Best wishes,
Jennifer

I’m reaching back to Teams365 1245 which covered a number of elements all remote workers need. Given that most of us will be working this way for the next while, it’s a good reminder before we step into the holidays to see what is important. Consider reviewing these items within the team – is everyone clear on them?

• Clarity regarding reporting relationships. Who are they to report to on what issues? When is reporting required? If matrix reporting relationships exist, what do they report to whom? What issues need to be co-reported?
• Clarity regarding expectations regarding working – Hours, approaches, breaks, how to log and share work etc.
• The technology and ability to connect with others in the team and across the organization. Working remote can be a lonely endeavor and just as social time is important for face to face teams, so is face to face for virtual team.
• Regular check-ins and feedback. Regular check-ins and feedback may revolve around the questions:
  
  • How’s it going?
    
  • What’s working? What’s not?
    
  • What support do you need?
    
  • What are your current priorities?
    
  • What resources do you need in order to get the results you need?
• Platforms so they can see each other and connect with their team. This could include regular virtual potlucks where the team actually connects for a meal from each of their locations. It could also include face-to-face time – quarterly or on a regular basis.
• Clarity regarding how to flag issues: What issues to raise and when. Who should they be flagging issues to? When is the team leader available and how?

​Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

Over the last few weeks, I have been undertaking a lot of speaking around virtual facilitation, as well as hosting a number of virtual groups, and virtual train-the-trainers. I’ve also been part of several online conferences, either as a participant, or as in the case of Running Remote, a community sponsor.

One of the key themes which has emerged is HOW do we BUILD connection across the virtual space?

When things are complex, it’s even more important to intentionally be building connections across a group.

Here are two ideas:

1. Have people introduce themselves by asking them to share something that they bring that’s unique to the group. After everyone has welcomed themselves, be sure to ask the group to consider the key themes which have emerged across the group.
2. Add a layer of BINGO to your next meeting – you can see it at play in our Remote Pathways Podcast call around Trust and Connection from May 2020. Check it out here.

​Check out the November 17th blog post which includes links to the topic of trust and connection as well. You can read the November blog post here - TEAMS365 #2514 – Building Connection in Your Remote Team #remoteteams - POTENTIALS REALIZED

This is in addition to a couple of other ideas including:

• Create a virtual co-working group of people inside, or outside of your organization, stating time to meet online.
• Joining communities of like-minded people who are also exploring topic areas of similar interest.

Enjoy!
Jennifer

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to consider the question: “Elements which are important”. As we start winding down the year, I hope that this question is a useful one for you to consider.

Think about the elements in your:

• Work
• Relationships
• Family
• Life
• Home
• Community

What are the elements which are important for you? What are you going to make sure you always have space for?

Enjoy the reflection!
Jennifer

It's the start of a new week and it's time for Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #8. 

​In Effective Virtual Conversations I write:
​"We don't often pause or take time to go deeper into dialogue. When we fail to do this we lose the opportunity for individuals to explore the rich terrain of assumptions, beliefs and other areas." - pp 71, Effective Virtual Conversations

​In many virtual events today - webinars, conference calls - silence and pause points are at a premium, and that's usually what people need. When we are working with virtual, or global teams, taking time to check our assumptions is critical. For example, we may all have a different set of assumptions on what success should look like, or assumptions around quality. Going hand-in-hand with this is the value in exploring, or being aware of, the different beliefs at play. 

​What is the value of taking more of a pause in your virtual programming?
​What will allow you go deeper into dialogue as a team or group?

​Different ways you might consider creating a pause point for deeper reflection could be:
​- pose a question to the group/team and have dialogue around it during your meeting;
​- at the end of your weekly meeting pose a question for team members to reflect on. You can check in around this the next week at the start of your meeting;
​- providing each person on the team with a journal to reflect in
​- posting a daily/weekly reflection question on your Intranet, shared site or Slack

​in order to move into these deeper layers it is important that there is trust on the team. Building trust and connection should be a primary focus for team leaders today. Take a look at what I have written about trust in past Teams365 posts.

​What can you do to create more of a pause and opportunity to go into deeper conversation space? 

​With best wishes,
Jennifer

There are many different types of calls we have during the week, with most not having as much connection and dialogue as they could. The beauty of the virtual space is that conversations and connection can take place in a number of ways. 

As I shared this summer in the Stand Out Virtually Challenge, we want to connect people on five levels:

• To you, the host
• To each other
• To the content you are offering
• To the context in which you are having the conversation
• To the technology

 
Consider these 12 different possibilities for creating more connection:

1. Doing a pre-call with each participant to learn ore about them
2. Sharing a welcome video message instead of/or in tandem with a welcome email
3. Having group members share a welcome video introduction
4. Using Breakouts to connect people
5. Assigning an accountability partner or buddy during the process
6. Taking a poll to see where everyone is thinking around a topic
7. Using annotate to have people stamp where they are in agreement around a question or topic
8. Doing a scavenger hunt during the call
9. Using an icebreaker like BINGO during the call to find things in common
10. Using Kahoot to connect people into the content you covered
11. Using MentiMeter to take a poll
12. Using mural to help people connect and share ideas

What else can you do to incorporate more connection on the five levels?

Enjoy the conversation!
​Jennifer

As someone who has had the privilege to coach entrepreneurs for more than 15 years, I love working around the topic of Personal Branding. This is now a topic of critical importance to everyone in the remote space. Since we are not being “seen” live in the same frequency, things can get pronounced. What are you noticing about how you communicate who you are, what you stand for and how that gets translated on the screen?

Enter personal branding.

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” - Seth Godin

What is the message you want to communicate through your colors, tagline and visuals?

Brands are like a fingerprint for a business. They are unique. They communicate to the external world on many different levels – who you are, what you do, what they can expect.

Brands are linked to our business, or focus, and signal a lot without us even saying a word.

This month you are invited to explore the different elements of your brand. Brands consist of several elements including:

• Colors
• Images and Icons
• Your Tagline
• The slides you use
• The Typography
• Musical Elements
• The words you use

Questions you will want to explore around your brand include:

• What’s important to communicate to others? What’s the look at feel about your brand?
• What type of brand do you want – Playful? Serious? Minimalistic? Colorful?
• What do you want to communicate through your brand? – Speed, service, reliability?
• Do you use any taglines? The tagline for the CBB is Daily Steps + Consistent Action = Momentum
• Colors – What are the colors of the brand you want to signal? Check out this article from 99 Designs on Branding and Colors 
  Or Marketo’s What Brand Colors Can Reveal About Your Business
  
• What’s your name?
• Are there any other elements – sounds, movements?
• What images and icons represent your brand? (More on this later this week)
• What typography represents your brand – Bold, flowery?

What’s important to note about personal branding for you right now? This is a topic we explore in the Incubator program, which starts quarterly.

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

It’s Friday which means it’s time to take a look back at an older blog post. Today’s post brings us back to a post from 2018 - #1533: Empathy and Building Connection in Virtual Teams. I think it’s just as relevant today as it was when it was first published. What do you think?
 
One of the skills which is important to develop in the virtual world today is empathy. One of the challenges is that we don't get to see beyond the screen.  What are some ways we can be building more empathy and understanding with other virtual team members?

​What comes to mind in terms of ways you can boost more connection and understanding amongst team members?

​Empathy is a skill set critical for teamwork and leadership. In fact, I probably could do a series of post on this topic.  In today's post I want to zoom into the question of "what are some practical ways to build more empathy across virtual teams, while also boosting connection?". 

​There have been some great writings by others on the topic of empathy. Consider these articles -Empathy in Leadership - 10 Reasons Why It Matters by Tanveer Naseer. Read it here.
​Matthew Taylor's Empathy in Leadership: Coaching Leaders to Manage Their Stories. Read it here.
Center for Creative Leadership: Empathy in the Workplace. Find this here.

​As virtual teams, what are some ways we can build our skills in empathy while building connection:

​1. Provide opportunities for team members to get to know each other - online and offline. While some virtual teams will never meet, building in time for "getting to know" each other is critical. This could entail dedicating some time to sharing "What's outside your window?" or "…on your desk" as I describe in Chapter 7 of my new book Effective Virtual Conversations.

​2. Create formal learning partnerships with others on the team. Many virtual teams benefit from having peer partners to meet with on a regular basis. This helps us to learn more about each other, what projects we are working on. As we listen and learn more trust, connection and understanding is created.

​3. Be present and listen. We continue to see how important the ability to focus on virtual conversations is. Nothing will destroy trust and connection faster than hearing other person on the end of the phone or streaming typing away, writing an email while you are speaking together. What will it take to be present, focus, and deeply listen in your virtual conversations?

​4. Listen for the deeper layers - Typically in listening we may be staying at the surface. Hearing with one ear and thinking about what we are going to say back to the other person. In the deeper listening needed by virtual teams today, listen to what the person is saying. Notice the pace, pitch of the conversation. Notice what is the emotion behind the words? What is being said? 
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​5. Take time to share more about your world, your work, your priorities. An important part of empathy is understanding. It's a two-way street - being open to share, and being receptive to listening. how much are you sharing about your world, your work and your priorities?

​There are multiple ways be can be focusing on the skills of empathy as we build connection on teams. What are some approaches you as a team want to focus on?

​With best wishes,
Jennifer

Last time this year I shared the following post on skills needed for remote work. As you read through this given your experience in 2020, what are your thoughts and experiences:
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This month we’ve continued to focus on helping you build your remote team skills. Many professionals new to remote work are curious about what they want to add to their toolbox. This may include things such as:

#1 Systems to Keep You Focused – Systems may range from financial systems (budget, expenses), communication systems – voice, text, email, instant messaging, knowledgement management systems. (Where do you get information?, How do you share information?, How do you file and access information for others across the team?)

#2 Team Development Tools – Having a variety of team development tools to help the team connect, get to know each other and focus in on the work and results you want. More on this topic in tomorrow’s Teams365 blog post.

#3 Relationship Management Tools – What is going to help you build relationships with both internal and external stakeholders? If you are part of a remote team, it’s likely that you are also navigating matrix relationships, and are part of a team.

#4 Planning Tools – As a team, what are your key goals? What are you needing to focus on?

#5 Planning Tools as an Individual – As professionals, it’s likely that we will all have different preferences for planning. Some remote workers want to keep in all in the Cloud, others want an analog paper-based planning tool. In addition to the daily plans, are you taking time to focus on the quarterly and annual plans in your business? This is what I designed the PlanDoTrack Planner for. It’s an analog (i.e. paper-based) workbook and planner to help you (and other team members) get clear on what’s important to you along planning, personal productivity and skills levels.

#6 Getting Organized – Having a well set up office which functions is a big part of the equation. Check out this past post about what elements you will want to have in place.

#7 Performance Tools – Business is about getting results, and it’s important that the team is clear on what needs to get done and what success will look like. What is the current state of performance on a team and individual level? What conversations need to take place?

#8 Coaching Tools – Going hand in hand with performance tools are coaching tools to have great conversations. There are a range of different conversations which need to take place on the team level. From performance conversations (What’s working well and what’s not?)

#9 Project Management Tools – It’s likely that in your work as a remote professional you are regularly navigating projects. What is important to note about your project management skills and tools? Considering the projects you are navigating, how are they going along SCOPE, TIME and BUDGET? What needs attention? Who can help you with this?

#10 A Focus on Team Culture and Identity – While it might seem out of the norm to include this, team culture and identity is critical in today’s workspace. Our culture is WHO WE ARE, HOW WE DO THINGS and WHAT WE VALUE. When was the last time you spent time having a discussion around your team identity and how you do things? If you have team agreements around how you do things, when did you last explore these? If you don’t have them, is it time to create them?

Let us know where you have focused some of your effort this year.
 
Enjoy your mid-week!
Jennifer

It’s the weekend which means that it’s time for another Weekly journaling prompt at the Teams365 blog. This week our prompt is “Relationships which are important to me are….”.

One of the more challenging parts of 2020 has been the physical and social isolation felt during times of lockdown, quarantine and social distancing.

What are the relationships which are important to you?

What are you doing to celebrate them?

What’s important for you to dedicate some time to right now?

Enjoy the reflection!
​Jennifer