Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2541 – Stand Out Virtually Principle – Connect

12/14/2020

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.

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

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 #2538 – Flashback Friday – Six Things Virtual Workers Need

12/11/2020

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

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 #2537 – Team Building Tip #273

12/10/2020

This week’s Team Building Tip gets us to explore habits. What are the habits you have been developing this year? What is helping you excel or thrive? Survive?

Habits are things that we do on a regular basis so that they become automatic.

For those in a remote working environment, you may want to experiment with these habits:

Working with periods of no notifications, or on airplane mode.
Setting a timer to get into the rhythm of working on a “heavy” or creative project - Sometimes it can take 10-15 minutes of getting going with a project.
Getting up to walk around every 50 minutes – Too much time sitting has an impact on everyone. What can you do to create more movement in your day? Take a look back to my July 2020 post on the importance of walking in nature.
Wrapping up meetings at 10 to the hour, to give people an opportunity to get moving with their work.
What else are habits which are going to help you as a team, or as a remote professional?

Enjoy the conversation!
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 #2536 - Wednesday Wisdom for Remote Teams

12/9/2020

It’s Wednesday and we’re going to start going back to the basics for remote teams. Given that we are moving into the last few weeks of the month, it can be valuable to return to our look at the Remote Enablers.

If you picked up a copy of the Remote Working Whitepaper I authored earlier this year, you may be familiar with the 7 Remote Enablers:

Communication
Clarity
Collaboration
Connection
Consistency
Community
Culture

As a team, where are you on a scale of 1-10?

What’s important about each of these for you?

What are you doing to support work in all of those areas?

What are the areas which may be a little weaker or not being focused on?

What else is key to have dialogue around? Share elements of work around?

All the 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 #2535 – 5 Things to Always Keep in Mind with Virtual Calls

12/8/2020

Virtual calls will continue to be the norm into the next year. With this in mind, here’s a quick refresh of five things to keep in mind as you are leading or participating with virtual calls:

#1 – Clarity around purpose and outcomes. As Stephen Covey wrote, “Always start with the end in mind”. What is the outcome you are aiming for? What will it look like when success is achieved?

#2 – Leverage the different learning styles which exist. There are many different types of elements of interaction you can participate with – from more auditory listening to more hands-on kinesthetic approaches where we can incorporate annotation.

#3 – Leave time during the call for silence and reflection. Most people are moving so fast right now that there is minimal time to focus on what’s important. What are you doing to create a pause point for people to be able to catch their breath and take notes?

#4 – Make it visual. The power of visuals is often overlooked. What is the journey you want to take people on? What do you want to focus on as you move forward? What are the visual metaphors you want to capture? What else is important to note?

#5 – Leave time at the end for people to name and note their next steps. Before we know it, we are off to another call. What are you doing to ensure that people have the chance to identify and write out their next steps, even scheduling it in.? As Peter Drucker noted, “What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done.”

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 #2531 – Flashback Friday – Teams365 #741 – 4 Core Skills in Virtual Facilitation

12/4/2020

Given that this year has focused so heavily on the virtual world, this week we are going to start to take a look at the essentials of virtual facilitation. As more and more professionals start to operate in the virtual domain it is important to develop not only skills but also confidence in building connection with remote staff, facilitating meetings, and transitioning most activities.

Four core skills in virtual facilitation include:

Reading the environment - Even though you may not be physically present in a room, great virtual leaders and facilitators, are able to read the environment. There is a much to be said through the way people are speaking - their pace and how fast they are speaking; the pitch or level at which they speak.
Part of reading the environment is also noticing the overall energy of the call. I think we can all recollect times when meeting energy was very low (what I often call the "Death By Conference Call") Or when meeting energy was very high.
Next time you are in a virtual meeting, think about how you would describe the energy of the call.

Listening - In virtual environments listening is critical. We want to be listening for the speech patterns, but also what is being said and not being said. Notice the flow of conversation, who is dominating and who is holding back.

Managing the process - In virtual facilitation a strong hand on process can go far. Given that we often don't have the same cues as in the face to face environment, it's important for the leader or facilitator to take a strong hand with process - time allocated, agenda items, making sure you are starting and ending on time, clarifying decisions and where you are going to next.

Engagement - Virtual meetings can feel never ending. It's important to engage people throughout the call. Design with the group what engagement can look like (for example, an expectation that you will hear from everyone) etc. In a future post I'll explore different engagement techniques for virtual meetings.
How are you doing with each of these areas? If you are looking for practical techniques and approach to boost your virtual facilitation, check out the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program where I personally train you to boost your skills as a virtual facilitation.

Consider joining me for the next one-day session next week or in 2021.

Pressed for time? View the Teams365 blog post at my YouTube Channel here.

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 #2527 - Stand Out Virtually Principle #3 - Things Get Magnified in the Remote Space

11/30/2020

Welcome back to another Stand Out Virtually weekly principle. This week I wanted to share the principle that “Things get magnified in the remote space”. That’s the good, the bad, and the not so great.

What are the things you want to showcase? When we have limited time together as teams or others, things become more pronounced.

If things are unclear, it’s likely that they will be even more unclear. If people feel disconnected, their sensation may be even more around disconnection.

What are the things you want to spotlight? What needs volume to be amplified around? To be minimized?

Enjoy the conversation,
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 #2522 – Building Connection in Virtual Meetings

11/25/2020

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:

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.
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

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 #2521 – Remote Working Mindset: Remote Pathways Podcast

11/24/2020

A few weeks ago, at the Remote Pathways podcast we released Episode 24 - Mindsets for Remote Work, with our special guest, Jennifer Grote.

Be sure to check out the podcast on your favorite player or here.

Why is mindset important? In today’s complex, and ever-changing context mindset is critical. It’s important to be intentional with what we want to create in our work.

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

TEAMS354 #2520 - Stand Out Virtually Principle 2 – Take a Stand

11/23/2020

With so much noise in the virtual space, it is not only important to be consistent, it is also important to take a stand around what’s important to you?

What are you committed to creating in your work, no matter what?

What is the stand you are taking?

Late 2019, I put my stake in the ground for creating and holding the space for virtual and remote professionals globally to do their best work. Through training, coaching, the Remote Pathways podcast and my writing, my goal is to reach, and impact 795,000 remote professionals by the end of 2021.

My commitment has not just been shaped in the last year, but rather the last 3 decades of my career. From leading teams in the remote space from most of the 1990s, to establishing a virtual business back in 2004, working in the virtual and remote space has been a big part of my passion and my focus.

Well before this year’s pandemic, my focus on global connections and mitigating environmental impact where driving forces for my choices around virtual work.

My stand is that remote work and virtual conversations are an essential part of the fabric of work. Even when we can work in other ways, I do believe that these are here to stay.

As you consider your work and your calling, what is important for you to focus on? What are you passionate about taking a stand around?

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