Teams365 Blog - Potentials Realized

#Teams365 #1570: Team Building Tip #170

4/19/2018

In today's collaborative space, where working across silos and teams is the norm for many, utilizing the skills of influence are essential. When we need to work through others influence is a critical skill set.

As a team it can be useful to explore the question "Where might the skills of influence be needed"

as well as a related question of "What does influence mean to us?" or "what does it look like.

The term influence can have a very negative connotation in some industries, yet it is a skillset needed by professionals at all levels, particularly those who may not be in positions of formal power, and need to work through others to accomplish their tasks.

In order to be influential, we need to be trusted and reflected. Without this it is harder, but not impossible to influence. AS with so many other skills required to get things done, it is important to constantly reflect on how your relationship skills are working.

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
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Everything DiSC® Authorized Partner
Contact us and let us know how we can support you in helping your team reach its' full potential: (416)996-TEAM (8326)

#Teams365 #1563: Team Building Tip #178: Building In Pause Points

4/12/2018

It's time for Team Building Question #178 this Thursday and a prompt to ask your question "What pauses are we making to stop and reflect on what's working?".

When was the last time y ou took stock of your accomplishments as a team, individually or collectively?

This conversation could be part of your regular team meeting where you generate a team list, or everyone gets to share one success they have had. You can also do this by creating a shared chat board for the team, if you are using communication tools like Slack.

If you are looking for even more prompting questions, check out yesterday's post which included 19 questions to bring into your one-on-ones, planning sessions and project debriefs this spring.

Enjoy!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

#TEams365 #1549: Team BUilding Tip #177

3/29/2018

In today's context of rapid change (think about this week's changes alone!) ongoing learning from others becomes even more critical. Our ability to look beyond our context is critical. This week's Team Building Tip get s you to consider the questions:

What can you learn from other teams?
Other departments?
Other organizations?

When was the last time you as a team slowed down enough to meet with another team at your organization and perhaps share notes or best practices of recent projects or initiatives. AS a former program manager myself I know how important these often informal, and infrequent (think quarterly or one or twice a year) cross-team meet ups served. These can help to:

Build relationships
Learn about what others are doing (inside and outside your organization)
Avoid pitfalls
Not reinvent the wheel
Identify others who might bring expertise or resource suggestions you need around current opportunities and challenges\

Having spent most of the early days in my career in rapidly changing contexts building the habit of outreach with others in the organizations, and contexts, I worked within was critical for success.

What practices or habits can you adopt as a team to become more regular in your outreach and sharing of practices with others?

In some organizations this is know as cross-silo collaboration. Siloed or not, what can you do to build your relationships across teams, departments and organizations this season?

For those who are stepping into a long weekend - enjoy,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Mentor RoadMap(TM)
Looking to spark more conversation with your team? Consider the Conversation Sparker(TM) Cards
Set up a conversation about how we can support you and your team best
(416)996-8326

#TEams365 #1542: Team Building Tip #175: Activities Key For Success

3/22/2018

We are at Team building tip #175 today, and the question to have dialogue around as a team is "What are the activities which are critical to your success and/or your mandate right now?".

These are two different question and get you to consider which activities are high yield, and are helping you both get results but also serve those you are in business for.

In today's business context "busy" can be a badge of honor. But are we always doing the right things, or the things that have highest impact. Failing to take stock of what you are doing, why and what impact it is having can make things appear very busy, but without results.

I've shared the Pareto Principle in past posts here, which asserts that we get approximately 80% of our results from 20% of our activities. In contrast that means that 80% of our activities may only net 20% results.

This week I hope you will "pull on the breaks" and ask yourself:
What are the key activities which are key to our success and/or mandate right now?

Enjoy!

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Host of the Teams365 blog - Celebrating its 5th year of daily blog posts
Potentials Realized - Programs and Supports for Leaders and Teams
GroupCoachingEssentials.com - Programs and Supports for Group and Team Coaching (ICF CCES), and Award Winning Coaching Skills for Leaders
Email us at info{at}potentialsrealized.com
Phone: (416)996-8326

#Teams365 #1535: Team Building Tip #174: Change

3/15/2018

Today's Team Building question #174 gets you as a team to consider the question "What are the ways you have been successful in navigating change? What do you want to keep doing?".

Change is ongoing in today's business context - from mergers and acquisitions to changes in the global economy.

This week, as a team, and as individuals you may want to consider these questions:

What are the changes your team has been facing recently?
How disruptive have these changes been?
What have you done as a team, and as individuals, to be successful in navigating change?
What lessons learned can you apply to future changes that lay ahead?
What do you want to keep doing?

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Looking for practical things to do with your virtual team? Refer to chapters 7, 10, 11 and 12 of my newest book. Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

#Teams365 #1528: Team Building Tip #173

3/8/2018

It's Thursday and time for another Team Building Tip. This one is Teams365 team building question #173.

Elite, and exceptional, performance comes from regular actions, done consistently. If we are not undertaking activities on a regular basis they may not generate enough momentum or movement to create these exceptional breakthroughs.

In today's leadership and team realm we are talking a lot more about the importance of habits. Habits are activities we undertake so regularly that they become almost automatic. When we don't engage in them, we miss them.

A first step in starting to develop the habits that can drive you towards the results that you want it is to identify what results you are seeking, and then work backwards to ask "What has been getting us these results?". What are these regular activities which are helping you as a team?

As with every Thursday team building question, I hope that you will bring this into your conversation this week.

Enjoy,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Looking for practical things to do with your virtual team? Refer to chapters 7, 10, 11 and 12 of my newest book. Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

This month at the Teams365 Leadership Lab we are exploring the topic of Coaching Skills for Leaders. Is coaching a consistent habit you undertake as a leader? What results do you notice because of these regular coaching conversations?

#Teams365 #1521: Team Building #172: Meetings: Where can they be more effective?

3/1/2018

Today's Team Building Tip brings us to Team Building Question #172: Meetings - Where can these be made more effective. With research indicating that leaders spend 35-40% of their time in meetings, and anecdotally some team members saying it's way more time than that, is meetings one area you want to put further attention around to make them more effective, and potentially shorter?

While meetings are an important vehicle for communication they are not the only way to make decisions, share information and create alignment.

In my most recent book, Effective Virtual Conversations, I share the following 8 questions to support you in streamlining your virtual meetings more effectively. These are (and I hope you'll use them and share their impact with us!):

What’s the purpose?
What takeaways do we want?
Who needs to be on the call?
What preparation is needed for us to be most effective in the meeting?
What pace do we want in order to keep it engaging?
What will help keep the focus?
What is absolutely essential (versus what will be nice to cover or where can people go for more information around topics)?
What follow-up might be required?

(Source: Britton, Effective Virtual Conversations, 2017, All Rights Reserved)

Have a great Thursday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Looking for practical things to do with your virtual team? Refer to chapters 7, 10, 11 and 12 of my newest book. Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

#TEams365 #1514: Team Building Tip #171: Systems

2/22/2018

What systems are supportive for you as a team? Systems allow us to automate, and cut down on the repetitive tasks that can become all consuming. Think about the last week and how much time you had to spend on automating tasks.

There are a number of areas we may develop team systems around including team including:

Goals and results – Planning systems and tracking systems can abound. How do you help the team keep focused, and measure progress around key goals? How can you share key results and successes accros the team?

Communication – Communication in virtual teams should be ongoing. Think meeting areas (Zoom, WebEx, Skype), Chat (Slack etc), Instant Messaging

Project tools – i.e. status updates, project requirements. Other project tools like Asana, MindMapping, or Basecamp can help with project sharing

Communication systems – While it might seem old school having a team directory, it’s often only when new team members join us do we realize how invisible our networks have become. Who are the people team members will need to reach out to regularly?

Administrative systems – Whether it is key letters or reports which need to be submitted, or financial and budget systems, consider what are the administrative systems which will work best for you.

As you think about systems on your team, what works and what doesn’t? What new systems are needed?

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

New in 2018 - The Teams365 Leadership Lab - an annual group for leaders which meets every two weeks throughout 2018. We'll be exploring topics like Emotional Intelligence, Team Management, Coaching Skills. Download the call schedule here

#Teams365 #1507: Team Building Tip #170: What relationships need attention?

2/15/2018

Teams365 #170 focuses on getting the team to discuss the question "What relationships are important for us to cultivate internally and externally?". throughout the month of February I have been focusing on the importance of relationships in today's business context. Earlier this week we saw the Team Tool of Relationship Mapping (Tuesday's Teams365 1505), and yesterday's post of 4 Essential Ingredients for Collaboration.

As a team, what do you need to, and want to, put attention around? What relationships need more attention this quarter?

Have a great Thursday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

New in 2018 - The Teams365 Leadership Lab - an annual group for leaders which meets every two weeks throughout 2018. We'll be exploring topics like Emotional Intelligence, Team Management, Coaching Skills. Download the call schedule here

#TEams365 #1500: Celebrating a Milestone and Team Building Tip 168

2/8/2018

Today marks a milestone - 1500 blog posts since I started this experiment of what it would be like to blog daily here at the Teams365. On reflection, it's been amazing to see the thousands of readers who have joined us through posts on team building, coaching, leadership, virtual teams and virtual facilitation. As we continue to move through this 5th year of daily blog posts I look forward to continuing to bring you posts which can support you in your every day conversations.

Today's post is Team Building Tip #168, our regular Thursday series. The question for you as a team to consider today is "What does productivity mean for you as a team?".

I hope that you will take some time this week to discuss this question, along with these related ones:

What are the activities which are giving you your greatest impact?
What are the things that are creating results as a team?
What are the habits which are helping you?

Have a great Thursday,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.

New in 2018 - The Teams365 Leadership Lab - an annual group for leaders which meets every two weeks throughout 2018. We'll be exploring topics like Emotional Intelligence, Team Management, Coaching Skills. Download the call schedule here