​It’s Thursday which means that it’s time for another Team Building Tip. This week’s question gets you thinking about where you were as a team a year ago, and where you are now.
Think about what you were doing this time last year. 
What was the context?
What were you focusing on?
Now, consider where you are. What projects have you completed? How is your work different? What makes it feel different?

We don't always stop to pause and look at what we've done - what we have achieved and what we have learned. This is an important process for teams. If we don't stop and pause along the way we may not tap into the learning available. Running without pause is also not sustainable and can lead to burnout.

What pauses are you creating in your work right now for the team to stop and look at impact?  How can you do more of what is giving you impact?

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Tip #223 gets you to explore the question “Together we can…”

• What are you able to do together better than doing as individual contributors?
  
• What is possible when you collaborate?
• What is feasible when you partner with others?
• What are you able to magnify?

Best,
​Jennifer

​This week’s Thursday Team Building Tip #222 is the question “We need to say no to….”. While this may be a provocative question in some organizational contexts, it is an important one to ask in highly changing contexts.

Focus and priorities can become even more important in ever changing contexts. It is key to watch for the trap of trying to do it all or trying to respond to every new iteration. If we do, we may run into the danger of spreading ourselves too thin.

In rapidly changing contexts, priorities can also change just as fast. It is important to be able to discern what is truly important.
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Asking the question – We need to say no to…. – can help with FOCUS and PRIORITIES. 

Best wishes,
​Jennifer 

This week’s Team Building Tip #221 is “To Magnify things 10x we can….”.

Magnifying things that are currently working well, and augmenting them, is a great way to accelerate business, and/or augment what you are already doing. When things are working well, it can be important to continue doing what you are doing but doing more of it or magnifying it in different ways. This can be particularly important as it relates to marketing and/or getting your message out.
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What can magnifying something 10x look like?

1. Increase the frequency of doing something – if you do it monthly – consider offering it/posting it 3 x a week.
2. Team up with someone else to expand your reach, or partner with a whole collection of people.
3. Consider what other platforms you can leverage to expand your reach. If something only goes out to your mailing list, could this be posted on your other social feeds – FB, LinkedIn. Does your mailing list sign up have a call to action?
4. Apply the pareto principle to determine what is really important and is giving you value and then to strategically focus on that area only.

Linked with this week’s post around the 3 Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, magnification may only mean small tweaks, building onto what you already have so that you are not starting from scratch.

What can you do to magnify things?

Best,
Jennifer

This week’s team building tip gets you to explore the question “One change which is needed….”

Not every team may be comfortable asking this question as it might surface things that are “out of focus”.

By not asking questions like this we may erode trust and loyalty in the team. How is that you ask?

The skill of “constructive interaction” or debating alternative view points, has been found to be a critical skill for teams today.
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Author of Teaming – Amy Edmonston – calls it “speaking up”. The ability to question and instill provocative conversation is key for strong relationships and also problem solving for teams (and individuals) in today’s business context.

In building a culture where questioning is fostered, it may necessitate a change in the way a team operates, and the level of comfort the team leader has. It may also involve the creation of shared agreements of how debate and discourse will operate, how it may or will feed into any changes and/or what next steps are from any discussion (i.e. will it feed into decision making, or will it influence decisions?
What’s needed on your team in order to have constructive dialogue?
 
This is #220 in the series which started back in 2014. You are invited to check out the new digital licensing option to bring 52 of the first series of tips into your current team meetings. You can purchase a set of 52 of the first of the 2015 series of cards in digital format over at our Potentials Realized Store. Once purchased, you’ll receive a link to access each of the weekly question in JPG format.  You can incorporate these into your slide deck (as is) for your weekly team meeting or send it out as a “conversation sparker” for the team throughout the week.

Over the years I have had teams use the questions in many different ways. Check out the series of 52 questions here. You can purchase a digital license for $35 US -that’s just a little more than 50c a question.

The backstory to this product takes me back to my former role as a virtual team leader. While it would be great to have the time and creativity to do this on my own, I was always looking for great questions to prompt conversation. Unfortunately, I did not find many. When I started my own performance improvement business in 2004, many of my clients started commenting that they really liked having a focusing question of the week. Flash forward to 2014, when I started to “systematize” these through the weekly Teams365 Team Building Tip. Check out series one (which incorporates 52 tips from the 2014/2015 season). We’ll be adding additional ones throughout the year!

Best,
​Jennifer

​This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to think about the question “Key relationships for the year are….”.

In today’s matrix and virtual world, relationships are still a foundational part of business success. One of the challenges  however is that it’s not as easy to “get to know” our partners who might be several time-zones or thousands of miles away.

It is important to be proactive and build in time building relationships with our partners. Where possible, try to stream, so you can see each other, and like face-to-face meetings, spend time listening and learning about their work, their priorities and preferences around how they like to work.

This week as a team, make a list of relationships which are key for the year. Think about your biggest projects and also what relationships can help you move ahead in the longer term. Building in time for yourselves as a team to get to know each other better as well.

Enjoy the conversations,
Jennifer

It’s Thursday and time for a Team Building Tip. It’s number 218 in the series. Today’s question is “Our pacesetter is…”

In today’s world of complexity and ongoing change, one area we still have control over is our pace. A great question to consider is “Who is our pacesetter?” OR “Our pacesetter is….”.

As you consider the landscape of your work, who is setting the bar?

• What are the practices or examples you can learn from, or aspire to…?
• Who on your team is going to set the pace and get things moving?
• Who are the people on the team who can keep moving you forward?
• There may be people on the team who are inclined to keep going?

 
Best wishes,
Jennifer

Welcome back to the first Teams365 Team Building Tip for 2019. A reminder that every Thursday I include a question to bring into your weekly team or project meetings, to spark conversation. You can review the past 200 here. 

The first question of this year gets you to think about, and be in dialogue around, the question “By the end of this year, we will…”. Take a few minutes in this first meeting of the year to discuss and dream. Capture your ideas, and perhaps take a photo of it which you can circulate and share with the entire team. As I have written in past blog posts, it is important to keep your vision visible throughout the year.

I’ve also made available in a digital license format a series of 56 Teams365 Team Sparkers.  This brings together a majority of the first year’s weekly questions in a card format. You can purchase a hard copy set here, or order the digital set. The digital step includes a couple of bonus resources to make up 56 jpegs you can copy and paste into your presentations and meetings. Check out Volume 1 here which is bundled with the Conversation Sparker cards.
 
Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

This year marked the fifth year of daily blog posts for me here at the Teams365 blog which is geared for professionals interested in leadership and teamwork issues. Writing regularly has become a large part of my professional routine.

There’s no doubt that you may not have caught all 365 of the daily posts this year. Here’s a high level overview of the monthly focus areas:
January - Kick off for 2018 – Read them here
February – Relationships, Trust and Connection – Read them here
March – Teams and Team Resources – Read them here
April – Styles in a Team, Productivity Tools – Read them here
May – Complexity, Productivity and Planning Tools – Read them there
June – Feedback and Performance Conversations – Read them here
July 2018 - Team Development in focus – Check out the July posts here
August 2018 – Gearing up for back to work - Read them here
September 2018 - Virtual Work, Things to do with your teams – Check out the posts 
October 2018 – Teamwork Skills in focus-  Read through October posts here
November 2018 – Turning our attention to year end with posts including 5 things to get in your calendar for 2019, right now!, Planning for Year End Activities for your Team, Bringing Projects to a close  – Read through November posts here
December 2018 – the start of the 19 Productivity Tips for 2019. Read through December posts here

These joined our regular series:
Monday – Effective Virtual Conversations Posts
Thursday – Team Building Tip Posts 
Weekend Journaling Prompts
And Friday Flashbacks

As I reflect back on the year that was, I am very thankful for the many milestones which included:

• The launch of two workbook and planners (Coaching Business Builder, and the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner) 
• The launch of both the Teams365 Leadership Lab and the Coaching Biz Growth Lab - two annual programs that joined the Learning Lab and Design Studio as year-long group coaching  and group learning programming options for professionals and their own virtual development.
• Training more than 300 coaches in the areas of Group and Team Coaching via the Group Coaching Essentials and Advanced Practicum programs. 
  
• Leading three sets of Virtual Learning Training for professionals to become more proficient and confident leading webinars, virtual coaching and virtual training and team development sessions via the five-week Virtual Facilitation Essentials (approved for 8.5 hours of CCEs).
  
• Supporting a wide variety of teams and leaders this year from health care, education, to financial services, to global leadership, in the areas of team effectiveness, virtual leadership
  
• Continued growth of readership here at the Teams365 blog. Page views most weeks surpassed 10,000 views a week.
  

I look forward to continuing the conversation with you in 2019!

Happy new year!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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​216: A year from now, at the start of 2020, we will have ________________
As the final Team Building Tip of 2018, prompt #216 is “ A year from now, at the start of 2020, we will have ______”
For those that are working this week, my hope is that it’s a quieter week to get things in order and wind down projects for the year.
Here at the Teams365 blog we are wrapping up 5 years of daily blog posts. I’ve enjoyed bringing you Thursday Team Building Tips. 
 
Thanks for joining us for this journey.
Many of you have been enjoying the Team Sparker Cards so much that I am now offering the first 52 as a digital license. You can bring these into your team meetings, incorporate them into your next meeting slides, or use them at town halls. Click here to order a copy. You’ll receive the download link to the digital files which are housed in Dropbox.

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Coming December 14, 2018 – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner . Pre-order a copy today
Join us for a year-end virtual planning retreat!