Welcome back to Sunday’s post! This week we’ve explored a number of different posts including:

• Saturday’s Weekly Journaling prompt getting you to do a review of this last year and think about what your favorite memories have been. Read it here.
• Friday’s Flashback Friday focusing on expectations. Read it here.
• Thursday’s Team Building Tip getting you to explore or revisit communication. Read it here.
• Wednesday’s post with 4 Areas of Team Focus for 2020. Read it here.
  
• Tuesday’s focus for key topics and conversations for teams this year. Read it here.
  
• Monday’s post on Team Practices for the remote space. Read it here.
  

Have a great rest of the weekend!
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing 
Phone (416)996-8326
 
As we step into the end of the year, get your 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.

In my work as a coach, I am privileged to work with leaders (both seasoned and new), as well as teams. At this time of year, I like to pause and take stock of some of the themes I’ve seen and have been working around with clients. It’s been a varied year, but some of the key conversations I’ve been hearing about are:

How do we work most effectively knowing we are a diverse team? This often has involved a deeper dive into helping people understand not only their strengths or styles, but also the flip side of it – what happens when their strengths or styles become over-magnified.

What can we do to focus? Discernment and focus are two areas many teams have been building their muscle in. While the range of what this looks like can be vast, some of the questions teams like to engage with are:

• Where are we paying attention?
• What do we need to say no to (these may be things that are not adding value, are serving as a distraction rather than an important piece of work or….)
• What areas do we need to become more discerning in?

What else is important to note as a team?

What can we do to become more effective as a virtual team? With an increasing number of people going remote, it’s important to think about what is going to make you most effective when working across distance and boundaries. I’m exploring this topic, and several others, in my new podcast series – Remote Pathways Podcast which I am co-hosting with Michelle Mullins. Check it out at https://www.RemotePathways.com
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How do we become better at prioritization? Becoming better at prioritization may be an antidote for some teams, and one way to start dialing back on the pressures they experience. What do you notice about priorities on your team? How do you balance out the varying weight of each?

Best, 
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing 
Phone (416)996-8326
 
As we step into the end of the year, get your 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.

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip brings us to #122 in the series. You can read others here.

This week’s tip also takes us into a Remote Team Tip. As someone who has spent the majority of my career working either leading remote teams, or supporting remote teams, I always know the importance of connecting people. As I often say in the remote space “Remote does not equal disconnected”. While it may seem that people are far away, business is still done via relationships and we need to take time to proactively build relationships. Trust and connection are still key in this work.

Remote team practices are at the heart of communication and relationships. Team practices might mean a consistent Monday morning huddle or a virtual working session every last Thursday afternoon of the month.

What are the practices you have evolved as a team?

What helps you be successful?
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What else do you think is important to take note of?
 
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing 
Phone (416)996-8326
 
As we step into the end of the year, get your 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.

One of the greatest challenges in team work today is leading a remote or virtual team. Helping people feel connected when they may be working at opposite times of the day, and parts of the world, for the same project can seem daunting.

In my work as a team coach, consultant, and author, I love the work that I get to do with remote teams. It may be because I led remote teams most of my thirty-year career, or it may be that the notion of diversity energizes me. If you have met me more than fifteen years ago, you would have found me connecting with my team which was spread across ten countries, with more than fifteen nationalities represented.

What can we do to help our remote teams stay on the same page? Here are three things to think about:
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#1 – Strengthen your team identity and culture. Our team identity and culture clarify WHO we are, and HOW we do things. The stronger our team culture is, the clearer we are about what is unique to us as a team, as well as what is acceptable and unacceptable. In a remote team, or virtual team, being focused on these areas can be important. They create clarity. They help us know what’s expected when we are part of one team. When you are part of a matrix structure (very common in the remote space) it’s critical that we are clear on how doing things on one project may vary from doing things on another project with another team.

Having a strong team culture can also repel or attract. It can help people feel “bigger than themselves” and feel a sense of connection or belonging. At the same time, it may signal to non-team members that this team is different.
What is your team identity?

#2 – Consistency. Consistency is important in today’s VUCA world. As I am going to share in a post tomorrow around VUCA and teams, being consistent with process and practices can also create stability in what can often be perceived as a turbulent business context.

If you have said that you are going to meet bi-weekly, make sure meetings happen. If you are expecting reports weekly, be sure to follow up.

What does consistency mean for your team? What can it look like?

#3 – Create regular connection points. What are the touch points team members have, both formally (through team meetings) and informally (through mentoring, peer partners and other ideas)? Consider as a team what “regular” means, and what the right frequency is. Again, connection points create a sense of belonging and team. If we say we are a team, but don’t ever connect, how do we know what people are doing?

Connection points can be digital (like Slack), virtual (like Zoom team meetings) and in-person (quarterly or annual get togethers for the team).

​What is the best frequency for your team?

Best wishes, 
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

There is a fallacy in today’s remote team context that everything can be done remote. Remote does not mean out of touch. Remote does not mean we don’t see each other or need to.

Where possible, it can be very useful to come together as a team for events – team meetings, team connection and/or team retreats.  While this may not occur every week, month or quarter, aiming to bring people together for face-to-face activities can deepen the connections, and extend the conversation, which can be more challenging when we try to it virtually.

Here are some possible ways to incorporate more face-to-face time:

#1 – Be sure to stream where you can. Many teams today are opting to move to platforms like Zoom or Facetime where it’s literally like you are seeing each other. Have people share something from “outside the screen” to help build a greater sense of “Who is Who”, and the context in which they operate within.

#2 – Block in time and budget to focus on face-to-face meetings. Some teams will bring people together each month or quarter, whereas for some teams it may only be once a year or every two years. With the sub-regional team I lead years ago, we got together every year for a FULL 1.5 days. The amount of time we spent formally, and informally, had a positive residue all year long. Consider what is going to be the best balance of work, sharing, formal and informal time for longer retreat meetings.

#3 – Make a point to rotate meeting time. Inevitably it is often one or two people who are asked to meet at a different time. Frequency and consistency around meetings are important for everyone. What is the best rhythm for your team?           
 
For more on this topic, consider reading these posts:
Teams365 1224 - Visuals in Remote Meetings
Teams365 #1911 - Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 87 
Teams365 #1773 - Five things to get on the calendar right now 

Not sure what to do when you get there?  Check out the 20 Focus Areas for Remote Team Development Ebook. It includes facilitated instructions to 20 different things you can do with your remote/virtual team. Purchase and download a copy here.

Have a great week,
Jennifer    

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

Welcome to a new month here at the Teams365 blog. Our focus for the month of November is going to be on getting you prepared for year end, navigating disruption, and also continuing with our remote teamwork tips.

Today’s business context can be very volatile. With this in mind, we’re going to focus in on a number of key topics you have probably been hearing about:

• VUCA
• Focus
• Attention
• Systems

In addition to this, we’ll explore:

• Year End Vision
• Year End Team Acknowledgements
• Vision for 2020

It’s also the start of the month which means that it’s time to spend a few minutes reviewing October and doing some planning for the month of November.

As you think about October:

• What were your main accomplishments?
• What skills and strengths helped you?
• What distractions got in the way?
• What surprized you?
• How did you navigate the changes you were faced with?
• What projects, tasks and activities are going to carry forward?
• What Q4 goals have been achieved? What’s shifted already?
• What else is important to note?

As you look ahead to November:

• What are your top 3-5 priorities?
• What’s important to take action on and wrap up this month?
• What key activities are important to put boundaries around?
• What distractions do you want to minimize?
• What relationships are important to note?
• What habits to you want to count on?

What else?

If you have a copy of PlanDoTrack or Coaching Business Builder take note of the metrics you have been tracking in your Monthly Daily Trackers and be sure to complete the Month in Review as well as your Monthly To-Dos, and new month in review.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

In yesterday’s post I covered a range of different team development tools which professionals in the remote space may want to build or further develop. This could include tools in the areas of supporting the team to connect with each other, get to know each other and focus in on the work and results you want.

Area A: Activities/Resources to help the team to get to know each other
What’s outside your window? – As I wrote in Effective Virtual Conversations, we often only see people in their screen but aren’t able to see what’s beyond the screen. Have people share what’s outside their window or call in from a different location so you can learn more about their context.

Earmark 3-5 minutes to a fun opener/icebreaker in your next team meeting so people can get to know each other better.

Area B: Tools to help with focus
Minimizing the impact of digital distraction is a key issue for teams today. See what I had to say about reducing digital distractions a short while ago here at the Teams365 blog. 

Several different tools which help team members focus in the virtual space include the:

• Urgent/Important Matrix
• Strategic Issues Mapping (link to past Teams365 posts)
• SWOT: The trusty strategic planning tool (link to past Teams365 post )

Area C: Helping teams connect
Helping teams connect with who is who and who is working on what is of critical importance to a remote team. IT’s an area we often don’t think about on the surface, sometimes given the diversity of roles and locations. IT can be very useful in the medium and long term to facilitate regular conversations with the team around who is doing what, and to also earmark time for the team to regularly connect and get to know each other. Discussion in this area might include:

• Undertaking inventory of projects people are working on so that lessons learned can be shared.
• Identifying key strengths and experience bases which exist in the team – there may even be a “go to” team resource person around different areas – i.e. technology questions, resource around different themes/focus areas you work on etc.
• Short team openers and closers such as BINGO. (with team members asked to find someone who – insert different categories like – has visited 3 different continents, speaks multiple languages, is a twin etc.)

For more on this topic check out the 20 Focus Areas for Virtual and Remote Team Development ebook which is available at the Potentials Realized site and provides you with facilitated instructions of 20 different activities you can facilitate with your team. Pick up a copy here.

If you have a copy of the Effective Virtual Conversations book, check out chapter 7 on Tools and Resources.
​
Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

​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?

As you consider your work right now, which areas could benefit from more attention? Stay tuned as we dive a little deeper into these topics and be sure to check out the related tags for other things I have already written on them.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​

Yesterday we explored some of the key ingredients for helping teams thrive in the remote space. Given that many team members in the remote space are likely to be part of several matrix teams, it’s good practice to have them identify what is important to them.

Some of the additional ingredients teams require in working remote are:

• Understanding around how their roles work together
• Clarity around what they need to do
• Resourcing required
• Knowledge of, and connection with, the people who can support them in getting things done
• Knowledge of who is who on the team, who they can go to for what, and how their work interfaces or connects in with others
• Focused time to work on getting to know their team members, and build trust (check out the past Teams365 posts on building Trust)
• Authority to complete the work that they have been tasked with
• Feedback around what is working, and what is not with their actions

What are the things which you see as being important to ensure for your team members?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Put a bunch of people together and think that they will become a team immediately? Think again! Teams don’t just become exceptional overnight, especially if they are in the remote space.

With remote work becoming more common place today, it’s key that we start spending more time exploring what it means to be an exceptional team in the virtual space.

As I shared in Effective Virtual Conversations, “High-performing teams – in both the virtual and in-person realm – don’t just happen. They require work, focus and support. Whether it’s training, coaching, or mentoring, virtual team leaders and virtual team members benefit from focus.”  (Britton, 2017, pg 348).
Today’s and tomorrow’s posts are going to explore what can set a virtual or remote team up for success. Just as I do in Effective Virtual Conversations, let’s return back to the basics with what helps teams excel. If you have followed along here at the Teams365 blog for a while, you will know that I often refer to the foundational elements of team development as the Six Factors. Here’s a reminder of what those are again:

#TEAMS365 #1920: Team Development: Revisiting the Six Factors

This month's theme here at the Teams365 blog is Team Springboards. Where do you start the conversation about how the team is doing?

​​One of the frameworks I continue to share with teams is what I call the Six Factors of High Performing Teams. These are six things that teams need in order to excel. The ingredients come from the research of professionals including: Katzenbach and Smith (The Wisdom of Teams), Hackman and Wageman (A Theory of Team Coaching) and others.

As you step into the new month, as a team you’ll take the pulse of where you are on a scale of 1- 10 in each of these six areas:

1. Shared purpose or mission (Your WHY)
What is your purpose? Your mission? Why do you exist? Does everyone hold the same understanding? What does this mean practically for your work? What priorities does your purpose or mission naturally create?

2. Shared behavioral norms
How do you do things? What is acceptable and unacceptable on the team? What behaviors and habits exist? Which ones are supportive of exceptional performance? Which ones aren't?

3. Shared commitment
What are team members committed to? What will you get done, no matter what? Is there anything that needs to be dropped off the list?

4. Shared performance goals
What are key goals for the team this year? What are key individual goals? How do your goals align? Overlap? What does success look like for each member? For the entire team? Does everyone have an understanding of the key goals of others on the team and how they feed into them?

5. Shared team practices
Teams that work together effectively share common practices such as a Monday morning huddle, a Thursday night out or some other regular event. What practices support your relationships?

6. Clear Roles
How do our roles overlap, align and connect? What changes, if any, are needed this year around your roles giving your priorities?
 
Prefer to listen to an audio – check out this 2014 Team Leader Breakfast call I hosted or view it as a video here.

Best,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development.
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​