Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2409 – Remote Skill in Focus: FOCUS

8/4/2020

FOCUS is a key skill set for all of us working remotely. It’s not only about our ATTENTION, and what we choose to pay attention, as well as what we train our brains to pay attention to. It’s also about what we prioritize.

What we choose to FOCUS on in the remote space not only has implications for ourselves, but also those we work with. Alignment issues have always been key --- Are we all pulling in the same direction? Is the sequence of our work feeding into each other, or creating gaps of time where nothing gets done?

When we explore the topic of FOCUS several things need to be kept in mind:

The Reticular Activating System is the part of our brain which helps us discern which stimuli we should pay attention to. It really is the part of the brain which helps to sift though all of the data coming at us at one time.
When part of a team, it’s important that we understand the bigger picture of things. We want to make sure that everyone on the team has information about:
- WHY – What is the task or goal?
- WHAT WILL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE – What does a successful end result look like? Without knowing this, we may all be aiming for different things. Instead of creating a 4-page report, I might be thinking we are working on a 40-page report. Be sure to clarify what success will look like.
- WHAT ARE THE ROLES INVOLVED – With bigger tasks and projects, there is likely to be a number of activities and tasks which need to roll into each other. Does the team understand what those roles are? Does the team understand how they each fit together and what the sequence is? Be sure to clarify roles involved and who is doing what. Also consider if everyone is in the right role or if things should be switched up.

With your current projects and tasks for the next month, what’s important to clarify?

Note that CLARITY is one of the 7 Remote Enablers I write about in the Remote Working Whitepaper. Be sure to pick up a copy here.

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 #2387 – Effective Virtual Conversations 158

7/13/2020

Welcome back to another Monday Effective Virtual Conversations tip. This week’s tip takes us back to a reminder of six elements I write about in part 3 of EVC which help remote teams thrive. I call these the Six Factors of High Performing Teams in my work. It’s a framework I have used for several years, especially when teams are looking to pinpoint some of the ‘levers’ they can use to make their teamwork better.

Together these six areas create a dynamic set of levers which can be focused on and adjusted. In my experience of working with teams, especially remote teams, it’s likely that some areas are doing well, and one or more need attention.

I’ve shared quite a bit about the Six Factors during the seven years of the post several times, including this post back in 2014 – # 8 in this daily blog series.

As you read through these, consider what are the elements or levers your team could benefit from some attention around:

1. Shared purpose or mission - Your WHY? Why do you exist? How might this have changed? What are you doing to reconnect everyone into this on a regular basis?

2. Shared performance goals - What are the goals you are working on for Q2? How do they connect in with others?

3. Shared behavioral norms - What are the ways you do things? What makes your team unique in terms of how you do things? What’s acceptable and what’s not? Our norms define our culture and help to differentiate us.

4. Shared team practices - What are the things you are doing to keep things moving as a team? How have your meetings evolved? What are you doing to focus on both relationship development and results?

5. Shared commitment - What are you committed to, NO MATTER WHAT? How do you have each other’s backs?

6. Clear roles - What are the different roles required on the team to do your best work? Who is best suited to play what role?

How do you rate as a team on each of these six factors? You may want to rate them on a scale of 1-10 with one being low and 10 being high. Which areas do you need to work on or create together?

What are the levers which need attention? Where would you like to focus as a team, going forward?

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 #2367 –Back to the Basics with Teamwork: Roles

6/23/2020

It’s Tuesday which means that we are heading “Back to the Basics” with teamwork. One of the areas which gets really magnified in the virtual and remote space is that of roles. With matrix relationships being the norm for many teams who operate remotely, it’s not uncommon to have two, three or four different line managers. Someone who might be your “main” boss, someone who supports you on one project, and another who supports you technically.

At the same time, it’s likely that in addition to having different bosses, you also likely inhabit different roles. On some teams you might be a project lead, on others an activator and on others a person who gets things done.

With membership on so many teams, it can be important to clarify ROLES as well as be really intentional with building out the culture of your organization. Tomorrow we will look at the different components of building out a vibrant remote team culture where people feel connected with their team and help to shape the culture of it.

Spending time focusing on the roles which exist in a team is important. It’s important on several different levels:

First, what are the roles needed in order to get things done?
Second, who is ideally suited for each role. Consider who might be good at setting a vision, versus executing things and getting things done. Who is better at the granular detail versus the strategic view of things? Consider who is best placed for which role. Consider who gets put in a role by default – they do it just because they can, not because they want to. While this will work in the short-term, what happens in the long term?
Third, how do the different roles connect and fit together? Where is there overlap? Where are their gaps?
Fourth, what are the different roles and responsibilities? Who needs to do what, when? What happens if this doesn’t happen? Helping team members understand the bigger picture is essential for performance.
Fifth, what are the feedback loops from one part of the team to another? Take a look at Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip on Team Feedback. What can you be doing to amplify your team feedback?

Roles are an often-overlooked part of team experience. What’s important to note?

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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

TEAMS365 #2366 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 151: Team Feedback and the REVET Model

6/22/2020

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip, which you can usually find under the hashtag #letstalkvirtual, is all about Team Feedback. With many teams opting to stay Working From Home for the foreseeable future, team feedback is an important loop to help teams excel.

What are the processes you have in place to keep team feedback moving?

We know that feedback is best when it’s specific (detailed about what the person did well or not well, behaviorally – via things that we can see or tangible outputs). Feedback is best when it’s regular, and as close to the event as possible. The longer between feedback and activity, the less valuable it is.

Feedback can be useful when we receive it from those around us – our bosses, our peers and those we interface with on projects, or stakeholders. Who are you receiving feedback from?

For many years I have written about, and talked about, the REVET™ model of feedback. We want to make sure that feedback is:

R – What are the roles the person inhabits; what projects are they involved with? What are their goals?
- Considering these questions helps us to make sure that feedback is relevant for the person.
E – Reflect on performance expectations
- What have been the expectations set about performance? What are the key issues they are focusing on, and most likely value feedback around?
V - What do they value?
- Some people value feedback delivered frequently and off the cuff. Other team members may prefer to have feedback offered in a structured fashion, or by writing, with some time between receiving the feedback and then having the performance conversation.
E – Specific examples. Providing specific examples is absolutely essential for an effective performance conversation.
- Always make sure you have specific examples which you have personally witnessed. If not, you may not be the person to provide feedback in that manner. You could facilitate the discussion with the person and those who seem them every day 1-1.
T – Timing. What is the most appropriate time for the conversation? Is it a mid-morning? Evening? Lunchtime conversation?

(Copyright 2020 – Jennifer Britton, VRTWL)

If you have a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations, you’ll also want to check out what I write about Appreciations and Acknowledgements on pages 257 – 258. It’s important to take time to pause and share appreciations with each other. This serves to boost trust, and connection, across the team. I recently have included this activity in my latest mini-course for teams – the Remote Team Builders. You can find it here.

What are the things you are doing to create a team feedback loop?

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

Check out our Digital Resources to support you in your work and conversations

TEAMS365 #2327 –Team Building Tip 244

5/14/2020

Welcome back to another Team Building Tip. This week we are at Tip #244. A few months ago, in early March, I released a new Remote Working Whitepaper. In it I share what I term the 7 Remote Enablers: 7 Things that help remote work flow. One of them is Clarity. Another is Communication. As a team, it’s often the things metaphorically “below the waterline” which aren’t visible or explicit.

Things that might require some clarification are:

The assumptions we’re making about the projects we are jointly working on – “I’m working on this…No you are.”
What are our roles and responsibilities?
Who needs to do what, when?
What am I reporting out to others?
What do we do if we have a disagreement?
If I have a problem, I should work through it versus if I have a problem, I should raise it for discussion.
Resourcing.
Authority – Who is able to do what?

It’s often the unspoken, or unclear, that creates confusion or even conflict.

As a team get into the practice of checking your assumptions and also seeing what needs to be made explicit.

Enjoy the conversations!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2298 Mid-Month Checkpoint for Virtual Teams

4/15/2020

It’s mid-month and a great time to do a check point for your team. Many teams may now have been working from home or remotely for at least a month. It’s also mid-month which is always a good time to stop and pause and consider how things are going.

Take a few minutes to reflect on these questions:

What’s working for us as a team right now?
What ways have we been able to pivot successfully to meet our business needs? Our team’s needs?
How are we doing in terms of our results for the quarter?
What routines are working well for us?
How are we doing on the foundations of team effectiveness? Rate on scale of 1-10 and have discussion on what shifts might be needed:
- Clear vision, shared by all
- Clear goals and understanding of what success looks like and how goals are measured
- Clear roles – Who does what?
- Shared team practices – regular meetings, and other touchpoints

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2289 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 139: “What does the virtual team need?” and “What’s beyond the Screen”?

4/6/2020

Depending on where you are in the world, it’s likely that your team has been working remotely for a few weeks if you have had to Work From Home. With this is in mind, it can be difficult to know “What’s Beyond the Screen?”. We see everyone in little windows of their world and life, and sometimes only see a virtual background. As I write in my 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, it’s key to explore what is beyond our little boxes.

Getting into the regular practice with remote work about “What does the team need?” is a proactive practice for teams to adopt.

“What does the team need?” may spark conversations around key elements of team effectiveness, which, as I have shared, usually include these six factors.

These six factors of high performing teams include having them develop:
1. Shared purpose or mission
2. Shared performance goals
3. Shared behavioral norms
4. Shared team practices
5. Shared commitment
6. Clear roles
(Source: https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams-365-8-high-performing-team-factors)

What the team needs is a foundation of trust and connection. How is the team self-assessing on these levels? What do they need?

The team may also have a need to feel that they can put conflict on the table and have it be addressed. As Patrick Lencioni writes, ¨If we don’t trust one another; then we aren’t going to engage in open, constructive, ideological conflict. And we’ll just continue to preserve a sense of artificial harmony. ¨ - Lencioni

Research continues to point the fact that teams which excel are complimentary in their skills, not the same. In order to harness the diversity of thought, approaches and perspectives which exist, it is critical to be able to have “spirited debate” to figure our how we need to augment and minimize our perspectives to shape an approach that works for us along both relationship and results lines.

Enjoy your team conversations!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program
Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.
Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

TEAMS365 #2200 – 20 for 2020 - Day 8: Accelerating Your Teamwork This Year

1/8/2020

Today’s Milestone post (#2200!) is all about accelerating your teamwork this year. While the context of teamwork has shifted dramatically, the fundamentals of great teamwork has remained the same. I thought that it would be great idea to revisit what I term the 6 Factors of High Performing Teams: six core ingredients for team success. (Six Factors of High Performing Teams – Copyright Jennifer Britton 2017 - 2020)

Regardless of if you are a remote team, or an intact team, taking time to focus on these elements will help you go faster in the medium- and long-term. I write more on this in part 3 of Effective Virtual Conversations.

As a team, have you taken time to clarify and agree upon these areas?
(as built upon from Teams365 #1920)

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? What are people doing to keep the vision and priorities VISIBLE?

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? Is it time to revisit your shared agreements or TEAM charter and how you operate?

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? How do members of the team have each other’s backs?

4. Shared performance goals
What are key goals for the team this year? What are key individual goals? How do your goals align across the team? Overlap? What needs to get done by one team member and then passed on to another? What is contingent upon another task completion? 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 which support both a focus on RESULTS and also a focus on RELATIONSHIPS. This might include team practices such as a Monday morning huddle, a Thursday night out or a daily check in at 3 pm ET for a team that needs to get things “out the door” by 5. What practices support your relationships? Your results?

6. Clear Roles
How do our roles overlap, align and connect? On the team, what are people’s strengths? Who is good at initiating things? Completing things? Checking for quality? Innovating things? What changes, if any, are needed this year around your roles giving your priorities?

As a team what’s important to note? What areas need further clarification?

All the 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 start 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.

Winter 2019 programs start this week including the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual focus on coaching business development), GroupCoachingEssentials (8.75 CCEs), the Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs) and the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (8.5 CCEs) - geared to support you in creating more exceptional virtual conversations. Finally the Mentor Coaching Group for Winter 2020 will begin - aimed at coaches who are working towards their ACC, PCC or renewing.

TEAMS365 #2170 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 123: Remote Teams

12/9/2019

For many years, I have shared the research with teams that they excel when they focus on both relationships and results. The same holds true for remote teams as well.

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip gets you thinking about what you are doing to help remote teams explore both their results and relationships.

A focus on results can include:

Their goals
Their vision
Clarity around communication, tasks and focus
How we measure success
Leadership
Roles

Relationship focus may explore:

How much we know and trust each other
Understanding our connections
Understanding what our styles, and preferences are
How we work across differences, conflict and difficult issues

What are the things you need to focus on as a team?

In the remote space, taking time to build out the relationship focus is essential. We want to make sure that we are exploring who we are, what our strengths are, how we prefer to work, what helps and what hinders our work. No person is an island in any work context today. What opportunities are you creating to ensure that there is a focus on relationships in the team?

Could there be a component that you build into your next team meeting that focuses on having people share what they are working on and/or a little about their work. You might even consider undertaking some work around strengths or other areas.

What are the things you want to focus in around as a team right now?

Best wishes,
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.

#TEAMS365 #2102: Remote Work Pathways

10/2/2019

One of my summer projects involved spending a weekend participating in a writing marathon with 39 other writers. In addition to being an inspirational burst of writing time for me, it was for a great cause – adult literacy in my local community.

During my weekend of writing I focused on a new manuscript which explores the varied pathways different remote and virtual workers find themselves working across.

As an increasing number of people find themselves working in the remote space, we find that many different people are attracted to the work.

From start-ups, to remote workers attached to organizations, from those who want to Work From Home (WFH) to digital natives who want to Work From Anywhere.

There are many different pathways which bring us to, and along, the remote work landscape. Let’s look at some of the various pathways. Across the landscape of virtual today we find:

Fully virtual businesses with no physical hub – Consider organizations like Zapier, Buffer and Articulate. Look at Zapier’s article highlighting different companies that are remote.
Digital Nomads who work from anywhere. Marketing specialists, writers and other freelancers can embrace the freedom of the “road” and sky as they continue work while travelling. WFA – Work From Anywhere is becoming the GO TO phrase for those who work anywhere.
WFH - Those who work from home, from customer service, to global team members, to freelancers. Working from home provides unique challenges as well as opportunities.
Remote Solopreneurs - From graphic designers to coaches, many solopreneurs opt to establish a virtual business.
Remote workers for larger companies - Whether they work remote once a week or every day, many companies are looking to provide the flexibility and convenience of remote work. It also can offset the footprint costs of large office space in big cities.
Virtual Team leaders who work with team members across a region or country.

These are just some of the remote workers we see in today's virtual ecosystem. I'll be exploring the adventures and backstory to many of these in an upcoming podcast series I'll be hosting with my colleague Michelle Mullins.

What are the things you enjoy?

Benefits of remote work can include:

Flexibility to work when and where you want
Greater autonomy
Fewer distractions
Reduced commute time
Smaller ecological footprint (yes, flying and driving and commuting does add up very quickly)

As I shared last month, there can be a number of pitfalls to remote work as well (LINK TO PITFALLS article) including unclear boundaries between work and the rest of your life, the challenge of matrix relationships, and the sense of isolation many remote workers feel.

If you work remote, what are the things you enjoy about remote work?

What do you find challenging?

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
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