This month’s focus at the blog is Team Springboards. Teams are the engines of many businesses today and being in top shape is important. Team culture is also important, given the context of virtual and remote work where matrix teams are an inevitable part of the equation. When working in matrix environments, it can be really important to strengthen your team culture and clarify how things are done in your culture. Again, team culture is about HOW WE DO THINGS. It’s our processes, our practices, and what’s acceptable and what’s not.

I thought it would be useful to take us back to a past post on Team Culture which you may want to explore as you go to define the different team cultures you are part of. Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1526:
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“Team Culture: The Every Manager’s Desktop Reference defines organizational culture as “a set of shared values, goals, practices, and management styles that characterize an organization and are expected to be reflected in its public face and member behaviors” (pp 414, Every Manager’s Desktop Reference).

Today’s VUCA business context, characterized by ongoing change and flux, has pointed many teams to the importance of team culture. Our team culture may be different, or aligned with, our organizational culture. Simply put, team culture is “HOW WE DO THINGS”. It is the behaviors, practices and values which shape our every day interaction. Think about a team who has as part of it’s culture “customer service”. Actions and activities around providing exceptional service will be prioritized over ones that value quality and/or time, unless they are linked to customer service.

What are the adjectives that describe your culture?

Team Culture doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, and HR writers like Susan Heathfield reminds us “team members understand that 20% of the problems that they will experience as a team will fall within the context of the task or mission the team is assigned to accomplish. The other 80% of the problems they experience will relate to their team culture and the processes team members establish and commit to for interacting with each other as team members.” Here's a link to her great article Team Culture and Clear Expectations at The Balance.com.

There are many different models of what comprises team culture:

Culture includes our behavioral norms and agreements - How do we do things here? What is acceptable and not acceptable.

It also includes team identity – How do I connect with others, how do we see ourselves?
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What we value: Culture is shaped by our values, beliefs and actions. It also includes our mindset. Consider what some of the mindsets are for you as a team. This might include: “We are able to flow with the changes that come our way” OR “We go above and beyond or “We rise to the challenge every time”.
When cultures are strong new members and external people can sense what our team is like. It’s almost a visible layer to others. This is especially true when we have a culture of collaboration, having each other’s back, or helping each other.

​What's important for you to note and be in dialogue around as a team with respect to team culture?”

Here's the original post.
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What’s important to note about the cultures you are part of right now?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.

This month’s focus is on Team Springboards, things that help teams. Let’s take a look at a laundry list of things that help teams excel. Individually they are quite straightforward, collectively they are powerful. As you review this list you might consider giving yourself a rating on a 1-10, with 1 being low and 10 being high.
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1. Clarity around goals
2. Strong team culture
3. Knowledge of each other
4. Connection with other team members
5. Understanding what people do on the team
6. Knowing who to go to for _____________ (insert issue)
7. Clarity around roles on the team
8. Clarity about how to surface issues
9. Confidence that issues raised will be heard
10. Confidence that issues raised will be addressed/considered/responded to
11. Clarity around how performance is measured
12. Resources needed to do the work
13. Mechanisms to flag resources needed
14. Feedback channels
15. Acknowledgement for work well done
16. A clear vision of what the team is aiming for in terms of this year’s/quarter’s goals
17. Effective Team Meetings on a regular basis
18. Clear channels for communication
19. Opportunities for development
20. Opportunities to have fun and connect with others

What else?

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.

Team identity and culture is something that we all shape. Team identity is critical in the context of virtual and remote teams. It helps us understand who we are and how we do things. A strong team identity helps me know that as a member of this team, I am expected to:

• Raise issues quickly
• Rather than complain, seek for solutions
• Support others and provide information to others on a regular basis about the work I am undertaking, opportunities I see for collaboration

Ways we can start to form a strong team identity include:

1. Having the team identity key values. For example, innovation or respect.
2. For each one of these values, have the team identify the behaviors which illustrate that value. For example, for respect – Consider impact before speaking; take ownership of mistakes; reply to requests in a timely manner (and as a team identify what timely means); when raising issues also offer possible solutions.
3. Having the team own “How we do things here. What’s acceptable and what’s not”. In owning it, we call out behaviors which are not aligned with our agreements.
4. Identifying logos, icons or metaphors of what the team is. For example, a team that is about creating a WOW experience might embrace “The Orange Bird” as their mascot.
5. Creating a drawing or tableaux of what the team is aspiring to. Several years ago, vision boards were very popular. Teams too can have their own team vision board which they can situate in an area of high traffic. If its’ a virtual team, take a photo and include in it any sides you are sharing with your virtual meetings. Review it regularly.

Bad behavior doesn’t just happen. It’s permitted. What are you doing to call it out?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

A few weeks ago, I was speaking to a large group of professionals active in the area of team development. We found ourselves getting into the heart of a key topic for leaders, team members and team developers alike – Building Trust and Connection as a Team. What are the different ways you are building trust, and also eroding it?

Trust and connection are essential for team success. This is especially true in virtual and remote contexts. When trust levels are low, we may see behaviors such as:

• Territorialism – Mine vs. Yours. Us vs. them. Headquarters vs. Remote Workers
• Stereotyping
• Lack of accountability
• Lack of ownership
• Blaming

​None of these are productive or positive. Over time these behaviors lead to toxicity and conflict, threatening the fabric of your talent.

What are the things we can do to build trust and connection across the team?

A few years ago, I created a short video which I’ve shown to multiple groups. It focuses on 9 behaviors we can practice as a team to boost trust and connection. I originally wrote about them in Teams365.

These behaviors are:

1. Walk the Talk
2. Fairness
3. Build on Strengths
4. Take Ownership (For What Works and What Doesn't)
5. Fairness
6. Transparency
7. Creating Connections
8. Clear Expectations and Communication
9. Regular one-on-ones/communication

As you read through these ask yourself, where are you on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being low and 10 being high):

If this is a topic of importance to you and your team, consider exploring this additional Teams365 post about Trust and Connection:
Teams365 1184: Team Building Tip #129

Best,
Jennifer
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It’s Friday and time for another FlashbackFriday. I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at April 5th, 2016 to see what I was writing about then.  In March and April of 2016, I was undertaking a series I called the A-Z of Virtual and Remote Team Leadership. On April 5th of 2016, we had arrived at M – which I earmarked as M for MAVERICK. What connotation does Maverick have in your organization today? Is it a good, or a bad thing? Regardless, here’s what I wrote, pointing to the Oxford Dictionary’s definition. How can a dash of “maverick” support innovation in your context right now?

Here’s the post – Teams365 #826:

Today we are at the M in the Virtual and Remote Leadership Series.  One of the most important characteristics I think virtual and remote team leaders can have is that of a maverick. The Oxford Dictionary defines maverick as:
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Maverick: An unorthodox or independent-minded person - Oxford Dictionary
As virtual team leaders our ability to be unorthodox with our thinking, solutions and approaches can be very important, especially if our organization is just starting to embrace virtual teams.

It is likely that developing out of the box solutions will be common place, as is supporting our team members to do similar types of thinking on their own.

As virtual and remote team leaders we are often having to innovate in new areas, and come up with practices and processes that have not existed before. Being a maverick means innovating, AND it also means being respectful in our disruption.

I always think of my last virtual team leadership role where I instituted an annual face-to-face two-day retreat for team members. When I started my role, I asked the office about how often the team got together. The team was based across ten countries, and prior to my start had never met physically in almost 30 years. The lost cost of sharing of experience across these countries, and innovation was apparent. Hobbling together funding from different sources the first year of my leadership, and a lot of flexibility and good will on the part of the team,  I was able to bring people together for three days. The output was immediately recognizable by not only my team but our superiors, and became an easy selling point for the following years' budgets.

Questions to consider:

• What does maverick mean to you? Your organization? Your context?
• What's important about being a maverick?
• What maverick role models do you have?
• What actions would be in service to the team? The organization?

Enjoy your week,
Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Tip #230 is “This year, we will lead from…"
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As a team there are many things you might want to lead from. This includes:

• Practices
• Values
• Behaviors

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Consider what you want to lead from as a team.
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These weekly Team Building Tips are intended to get you thinking as a team and in dialogue around what’s important.

Take a look at other past Team Building Tips here.

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

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?
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If you are interested in learning more or sharing different resources with your team, check out this past Team Leader Café Call I did on the topic of the six factors.

Check out this short video about the six factors.

If you have a copy of my book, Effective Virtual Conversations, check out chapter 11 (Virtual Team Development). 

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

As we step into Quarter 2 it can be useful to do a bit of a review – on the individual level, and also with our teams.

For some individual reflection, take a look at the recent Quarterly Reflection Worksheet I created for the PlanDoTrack series of programming I offer around Planning, Productivity and Remote/Virtual Teams. Take a few minutes to complete that before you get too far into the month.
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At the same time, it can be useful to do a checkpoint around these items:

1. How are we going in our progress to our most important goals? Rate this on a 1-10 and get input across the team?  What will help you move the #s upward?
2. Have we had a recent feedback conversation “both ways” – between leader and team member? What’s going well? What’s not? Be sure to provide positive and constructive feedback.
3. What issues need to be addressed, or have the potential to derail us?
4. What team practices are working well? Consider meetings, social events, peer mentoring, 1-1 meetings etc.
5. What systems are helping with information flow and knowledge sharing?
6. Projects – Where are projects at? What is the status of communication? What project issues require attention? How are they doing according to the spotlight (Red, Yellow, Green)? –Check out this spotlight blog post for more!
7. Matrix relationships 
8. Reporting
9. Finances
10. Other Systems which need attention..

And ANYTHING ELSE?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Yesterday’s Teams365 post #1905 focused on virtual team culture. Be sure to check it out if you haven't done so.

Today I wanted to explore three different ways you might support your team in identifying their own virtual team culture.

As a reminder, team culture usually points to three things - who we are, how do we do things and what is important to us.

Here’s a quick listing of different activities you might consider incorporating:

Who we are:
Virtual teams which excel know each other. They have strong relationships across the team, which allows them to call on others, and “have each others’ backs”. To strengthen your connection, consider these activities:

Have the team create a list of words/adjectives which describe who you are. Shape these into a word cloud which can be visible to the team.
Discuss the question “Who are we when we are at our best?”. Again, use the words to create a graphic about who you are.

At your next team meeting, have each person share one thing others may not know about them.

At your next team meeting, have each person share something that is unique to their location (this works especially well if you have a global team).

In your next meeting, share your screen which includes a variety of photos or icons. Have each person select the photo or icon which represents what they bring to the team.

How we do things:
Each team will have its own unique practices and ways of doing things. This will vary from team to team. Spending time discussing how you do things, and what the expectations are, creates clarity and builds trust, boosting both performance and results.

To explore this topic further consider:
Discussing “how we do things” (communicate, make decisions, work across differences, address conflict) can be a series of different discussions and activities. It might include a Rules of the Road which everyone has signed off on.

What makes you unique and distinct in terms of how you do things?

Another tool is to look at the IS/IS NOT table. This can include it is, it is not…
 
What is important to us:
Clarity around priorities and goals for the entire team helps with alignment, prioritization and decision making. Spending time on a regular basis discussing what is important to us may also involve:
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A list visible to the entire team (ie. Think Intranet or other post on)

• Top 5 Goals for the month
• Top 5 Priorities for the week
• Top 5 Priorities for the quarter
• Enshrining your Team Agreements or Ways of Working into something that is visible. Some teams have enshrined this into a plaque, a screen saver or other.

For more on these topics, and a demonstration of what some of these can look like (photos), take a look at my January 2019 Virtual Team Builders call which I did as part of the Effective Virtual Conversations series. You can check it out here.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

​As we continue our journey through this month’s exploration on virtual teams, I couldn’t not talk about team culture which forms the bedrock of any team, especially one that is virtual. Our team culture points to:

who are we, how do we do things and what is important to us.

Being clear about what our team culture is as a virtual team is critical, given that many, or all of our members may be members of multiple teams. Let’s look at how we can explore these three elements as a virtual team:

1. Who are we – What do we do? Why do we exist? Virtual teams excel when they have a clear identity about who they are. This helps to differentiate how they do things on one team versus another. Virtual team members may be members of multiple teams. Spending time as a team to connect, and "get to know each other" - who we are, what are roles are, what we do -is critical for virtual team success.
   
2. How do we do things - What are our agreements around communication? Task completion? Follow-through? Flagging issues? Communicating with each other?

All of these elements can vary dramatically from one team to another.
Taking time to discuss how we do things is an important part of identifying and focusing in on who we are as a team.

3. What is important to us? All members of the team should be well versed with what’s important at multiple levels.  This can entail:

• What’s important to us this week?
• This month?
• This quarter?

Ensuring that everyone is clear on what’s important helps with decision making. It also helps with negotiating where focus goes, especially if you are members of multiple matrix team.
 
Having discussion is one way of working with team culture. There are also some other creative ways which we’ll explore in tomorrow’s post. I hope you'll join me tomorrow

Stay tuned!
Jennifer