Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2557 – The Year in Review – Key Themes for 2020 at the Teams365 Blog

12/30/2020

As we go to wrap up the year, I wanted to take a look back at the many different focus areas here at the blog during 2020. Some of you may know that this blog started as an experiment for me back on January 1st, 2014. I wanted to see what would happen if I dedicated time every day to writing. More than 2500 blog posts later, and several other books which were borne through this writing, the Teams365 blog continues to go strong.

As someone who has written about remote work for many years, 2020 brought it in, in volume. If you didn’t take a look at yesterday’s post around the Top 10 podcast episodes from the Remote Pathways for 2020, please take a look.

Some of the key themes we touched on this year included:

Team Effectiveness in the Remote Space
Virtual Productivity
Leading in Disruption
Leadership
Standing Out Virtually in the Remote Space
Remote Work Foundations
Team Essentials

I also continued with the regular weekly series as well, including:

Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tips AND the more recent Stand Out Virtually Ideas
Thursday’s Team Building Tips – Questions to incorporate into your work
Friday’s Flashback – dipping into more than 52 past posts
Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompts – what have you enjoyed about these?

I look forward to continuing to provide blogs and posts into 2021!

With best wishes,
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

TEAMS365 #2556 – Top 10 Remote Pathways Podcast Episodes for 2020

12/29/2020

One of my favorite creative projects this past 18 months has been the creation and launch of the Remote Pathways podcast. It’s been warmly embraced by listeners globally. The Remote Pathways Podcast explores the PEOPLE, PLACES and PROCESSES to REMOTE WORK.

I thought it would be interesting to share with you our top 10 episodes for 2020. Here’s what we, and our listeners, LOVED listening to:

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

TEAMS365 #2552 – Happy Holidays!

12/25/2020

Wishing you and your loved ones a very wonderful holiday season!

Thank you for joining us throughout the year for the focus on all things virtual and remote leadership, teamwork and conversations.

We look forward to continuing to serve as a resource for you.

Enjoy your day!
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

TEAMS365 #2550 – 10 Posts You Will Want to Check Out from 2020 on Remote Teams and Leadership

12/23/2020

Yesterday I spotlighted posts on effective virtual conversations. Today I wanted to share ten posts from 2020 about remote work, teams and leadership. These were definitely popular posts from 2020:

Check out these three articles I published over on Thrive Global as well:

What are you going to continue to focus on as you move forward with your work?

Best,
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

TEAMS365 #2540 Weekly Review

12/13/2020

Where did the week go!? This week we covered a wide range of different posts including:

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
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

TEAMS365 #2519 Weekly Review

11/22/2020

What a week it’s been! We’ve covered the terrain of Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompt of which elements are important, to Friday’s post on 10 things to fit in before the end of the year.

Other posts this week have included:

Enjoy the reflection and catching up!
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

TEAMS365 #2515 - Celebrating our first season of the Remote Pathways podcast

11/18/2020

Next week signals of our first year of the Remote Pathways podcast. When my co-host Michelle Mullins and I started this journey a year ago of exploring the people, pathways and processes to remote work, we would have had no idea how the year would be placing such an emphasis on remote wok.

We’ve released 24 great episodes exploring the terrain of the remote workspace. From entrepreneurial pursuits to project managers, sales professionals, to virtual facilitators, the landscape of remote work is vast. We have also focused on helping people explore some of the key areas that help people thrive, for example, our episodes with:

Check out some of my other favorite episodes:

We are looking forward to having you join us for season 2!
Enjoy your conversations,

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

TEAMS365 #2514 – Building Connection in Your Remote Team

11/17/2020

One of the challenges of today’s remote team is that of connection which has implications for results and relationships. When people don’t feel connected it has impact on productivity, teamwork and also results.

What are the ways you are connecting your team?

Many teams these days are incorporating some, or all, of these:

Weekly or daily huddles (as time zones permit)
Virtual Co-Working Sessions (Check out The Remote Pathways podcast episode on Co-working
Peer partners who meet around key accountability measures

What are the things you are doing to help people feel connected and aligned with your purpose?

What are the best vehicles for you as a team to stay connected?

For more on the topic of building trust and connection, check out these other Teams365 blog posts:

Enjoy your conversations!
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

TEAMS365 #2498 - Week In Review and Monthly Planning Questions

11/1/2020

Welcome back to this week’s week in review. This week we explored:

It’s also the first day of the month so time for monthly review questions and setting up for the new month:

What were your successes and accomplishments this past month? So far this year?
What are you most proud of?
What are your key priorities for November?
What needs to get completed by the end of the month, no matter what?
By the end of November, what are the top 3 goals you want to have accomplished? What will success look like around each of these? What do you need in order to be successful? What support do you need to make this happen?
What key relationships have helped you so far this year? Which ones need more attention?
What has helped your successes? What has hindered?
What does your team need to be acknowledged for?
What are you going to do to acknowledge and celebrate your hard work?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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

TEAMS365 #2496 - Flashback Friday – #1533: Empathy and Building Connection in Virtual Teams

10/30/2020

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?

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

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