As a speaker I am often asked to speak about remote work. In my presentations I like to share a little more about the pitfalls and opportunities around remote work. I also like to explore some of the myths which exist around remote work. One of the favorite ones I like to talk about is the myth that remote does not equal disconnected.

We might fall into the trap of thinking that those that work remote are more distant and even disconnected. In fact, remote working success requires that we are tied onto others and working in tandem.

Three skill sets are required for remote working success today – curiosity, connection and looking beyond the screen. Let’s look at each in turn:

Curiosity
Being curious and open to learning is a key part of remote working success. Part of adopting curiosity as a mindset is remaining open to not knowing the complete picture. When we “think we know” what the context and world of our remote working colleagues is, we may start making assumptions that are unfounded.

Part of developing more curiosity in our remote work involves LISTENING more, asking more questions and being open to learn. It also involves being open to being challenged on your own biases.

• What are the things you want to learn more about?
• What are the things you want to ask more questions about?
• What don’t you know?

Connection
Connection is part of the 5 Cs I often talk about in my presentations. Connection with those you work with takes place on multiple levels -

#1 - Making a strong connection with the people you work with. We know that relationships can play as important a role as driving for results. What are you doing to get to know the people you work with? Their preferences around work, communication, decision making etc.?

#2 - Connecting your work with others on the remote team. How does everyone’s work fit together? What elements impact and connect in with each other? There is a fallacy that we work isolation, when in fact for many remote projects the pieces do fit together. Spend some time mapping out the way your work connects.

#3 - What is the connection between your values and behaviors? Our behaviors are magnified in the remote space. What do people see when they are with you? Are your values being clearly communicated? What needs an adjustment?

Looking Beyond The Screen
In order to create remote working success and relationships, it’s important that we look beyond the screen. Our window to remote work is often the frame of the screen we see. What is outside of the screen? What’s important to note about the context in which people are operating? While it may seem disconnected from your work, in fact, it’s often an integral part.
In order to look beyond the screen, consider:

• Having a dialogue (two-way conversation) about how you see your work fitting together and synergizing
• How your work does, or does not align
• What your priorities are
• What are the events that are happening outside your window that are having an impact immediately and strategically?

 
Remote does not mean disconnected. What is the reframe you want to undertake?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

As we wind up with our last team essential of the month, I wanted to take us into an area which is critical for team success – the ability to speak up.

When a team feels connected and safe, they are more likely to speak up. The foundation of teamwork is that the fusion of many perspectives, insights and talents is better than one person thinking alone. With this philosophy in mind, it’s very likely that there will be divergent perspectives and insights that emerge from across the team. How do you create a context in which people feel that they can share what might be perceived as oppositional insights, without being shut down?

The ability to speak up was identified as a core component for helping teams excel by Amy Edmonson from Harvard. I regularly recommend her 2011 book on Teaming to Organizations, and she has recently followed up with a new book called The Fearless Organization. Take a look at this article.

From large to small invitations there can be many different ways we foster conversation across a team. This might include:

• Dedicating time to brainstorming solutions/perspectives and alternatives to your most pressing opportunities and /or challenges. In the truest sense of brainstorming, we are welcoming ALL different ideas without shutting them down.
• Ensuring that all voices are being heard. This can be done through participatory facilitation techniques. Rather than just going around a table to verbally share ideas, consider giving everyone a set of index cards or post it notes to share their top ideas. Gather these and post them or go through them one at a time.
• Talk about why it’s important to bring alternative perspectives to the table.
• Watch your language – how is language shaping an “invitation” to connect and collaborate. Is more ME/YOU language being used or WE?

What other barriers are being created around inviting everyone’s voice to the table?

For more on this topic check out Glenn Llopis’ article from Forbes.

You might also be interested in these articles as well:

• John Rampton’s article on 12 Ways to Encourage Your Team to Speak Up 
• From Teams of Distinction

All the best,
​Jennifer

This week we round out our focus on core Team Essentials before turning our attention next month to collaboration, conversations and relationship building.
One of the core elements which team members may struggle with is feeling connected to others on the team. This gets even more augmented when working in the remote space, given that we don’t see each other. As I have shared in recent blog posts this month (ink), connection is key for getting results.

What are the ways we can boost a team’s sense of connection? First, consider what are the visual element which are bringing people together. As I wrote in yesterday’s Effective Virtual Conversations post, making things more visual and visible through the use of structures, images and icons can help create a sense of connection and identity.

Another key part of building connection is to ensure that people know who is on the team, and what roles they play. Do people understand how their work connects and impacts others on the team. This type of connection needs to be linked back to ensuring that there is a clear vision. This vision will help to anchor of what the team is working towards and what’s important to the team. Is your team connected to the same vision? Is everyone working to the same end point? Is it time to revisit this?

A third area is helping people connect with each other. Beyond our work, do people know each other and know a little bit more about who each person is as a human being. As we get to understand WHO is WHO on the team, we can develop a more solid working relationship, one that is not just transactional.  Providing time for each team member to share a little more about who they are, their strengths, what’s important to them, or even what’s beyond the screen can help to widen the lens and understanding of who is who on the team.

What can you do this week or month to expand connection across the team – visually, with vision and also as you expand the screen?

Enjoy the conversations!
​Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip takes us into the domain of the matrix team. If you are working remote, it’s probable that you are part of a matrix team. In the matrix work environment where we may have two more or more leaders and sets of teams we are working with, it’s really important that we create strong team culture.

Our team culture (as I have written in other Teams365 posts), is WHO we are and HOW we do things. It consists of our norms (our Team Charter or agreements on how we do things. What’s acceptable and what’s not).

Our team culture is also shaped by our values. If we value quality, we will always make a point to review key pieces of communication before they go out the door. If we value experimentation, we may be very open as a team to things that don’t work as planned (note that I’m not even using the term failure).

Team culture also includes the visual and other elements which make us, us. This might be HOW we hold meetings, or the fact that we provide both positive and constructive feedback around new projects and initiatives. Visual elements might include a mascot or metaphors which help them team identify themselves. For example, a team may associate itself with a firecracker (being bold and making an impact) or a fire pit (bringing people together for collaboration and problem solving). What are the elements of your team culture which you want to make more pronounced or visible?

In a virtual or remote team, it can be key to focus in on being more explicit in taking time to articulate and share our team culture given that we may not be able to see it every day. It may be captured in our slides or stickers that are put on computers or notebooks. What structures do you want to use to make it visible?

For more on the topic of team culture check out these Teams365 blog posts.

Best, 
Jennifer

A large part of the conversations I have directly with team or with leaders is around trust. This seems to be one of the most significant issues in organizations today, helping or hindering what gets done.

As we wrap up to the 20 for 20 series, I want to put some further attention around some of the Team Essentials. These are things that we will want to return back to and explore further with those we work with – even if we work remote. In fact, trust can become an even more important issue for those working in the remote space. It’s our trust levels that often go hand in hand with our sense of connection. When working remote, that sense of connection can have significant impact on our motivation, engagement and even ability to show up and do great work, day in and day out. If we don’t trust, or even know, those in our team, it’s hard to collaborate. This will ultimately have an impact on outcomes and results.

What are the different ways we can build trust? I like to go back to the basics. Trust is seen through behaviors we undertake and choose to share. It includes the things that can seem mundane like:

• Showing up
• Being prepared
• Following through on what we say we will
• Providing feedback (about what’s working, and when its not!)
• Communicating
• Inquiring/asking questions

There are several excellent models around trust that teams may want to explore. Two that I have continued to point to include:

• Reina and Reina’s model around trust – Check out some of their writing here.
• Stephen Covey’s books around Smart Trust and the Speed of Trust 

​What are the books and resources you recommend around trust? Are there any podcasts or other resources you go-to on a regular basis?

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

This week I came across a note I had made myself late last year and never got posted. Having worked to support team leaders for a number of years, I often get asked, “what are some of the key conversations they are having with their teams right now”? Here are five areas team leaders today may be in conversation around:

#1 - Focus - With so much occurring in the workplace today – flavors of the month, shiny red objects, interruptions, course changes, external events, etc…helping our team members focus on what is important RIGHT NOW, today, can be an important message to keep reinforcing. Helping team members with prioritization skills and being able to continue to focus on what’s important without adding to the interruptions and divergence is also key. If you are operating in a team context, the impact of one team member slipping may have a domino effect. What are the things that are going to help with focus?

#2 - Connection - What are the things you can do to help people feel connected? Connected to others in the team? Connected to the resources they need? The information they need? What is important about this topic right now for the team?

#3 - Disruption and Change - Disruption and change is becoming more commonplace across industries. Global events can have local impact. Disruption in a related industry can have a trickle effect. What are you doing to help people understand how they react to change, and also build capability in the areas of strategic thinking and/or contingency planning? Having worked for many decades in the areas of strategic planning, critical thinking and contingency planning, I often take it for granted that people are using these tools. What’s important to explore and have conversation with your team?

#4 - Building Trust - As Stephen Covey wrote - and I paraphrase – “Trust is the currency of business”. What are you doing to build trust, and erode trust? In today’s fast, and sometimes remote, business context, we may only see people in “small windows” of time.  Comments, and reactions, may get magnified. Certain activities or patterns of behaviors might be perceived as the norm. What are you doing to build trust, particularly in terms of creating an environment where people can be heard, and listened to? Where follow through is modeled? Where communication fits the needs of the team? What behaviors are visible?

#5 – What can people on the team do to be able to do their best work? Finally, we know from strengths-based research that when people are able to do their best work and use their strengths, there’s greater productivity, engagement and quality of life. Check out Gallup’s Strengths Center for the latest research on this.

Asking the team what they can do to do their best work, as often as possible can be a great conversation. It may also open up a debate point of “Why can’t I do this all the time?”. While we may not be able to use strengths EVERY DAY and EVERY HOUR on every PROJECT, what can we do to magnify or expand this?
Enjoy the conversations and let us know what you are exploring in your team. 

Best,
​Jennifer

Creating connection across the team quickly is an important part of building the capacity of a remote team, especially when they only get to see each other infrequently.

Today’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip invites you to consider using the question “What’s on your desk?”, to provide a wider perspective for the team to explore what is important and a priority for each team member. In the remote space, we may only see the backdrop to people’s workspace. What would it be like to have people pan real time their workspace, or share a photo of what’s physically on their desk? It might also be interesting to have people share the top 3 priorities for their week. This can help the team gain a new, and wider, appreciation of what’s important and happening in each person’s world. It can also help the team to make connections between their work and others that they may not have “SEEN” (no pun intended!) before.

What’s on your desk?
​
What would a picture of your desk convey to others? ….here’s a shot of mine right now…

All the best, 
​Jennifer

​In my former world of work as a remote leader with teams across ten countries, and in the last fifteen years of working remote a majority of the time, remote work is second nature, and is the primary focus of our support. As more organizations are gravitating to a remote work approach, it can be important to become more explicit with some of the nuanced differences in leadership and teamwork between in-person work and remote work. Today’s post explores four areas to pay attention to as a remote team:

1. Building everyone’s skill set and leadership capacity – In a remote team, it can be critical to equip all team members with skills and leadership capabilities even if they do not hold the title of leader. Given that remote team members may be the “face of the team or organization” or represent the organization to those locally, ensuring our team members are equipped with the right skills can make or a break an organization that is remote, or is moving remote. What are you doing to invest in team member’s development on an individual level?
​
2. Spending time on team development – 2016 research done by Culture Wizard found that only about 1 in 4 remote teams benefited from any team development. This is an area that is often overlooked in terms of what might be possible. At Potentials Realized, we specialize in remote team support and bring years of experience in supporting remote leadership development, virtual skill development and remote team support. Reach out to learn more about the Remote TEAM DAYS we facilitate. From half day to full day virtual sessions, to strategic planning conversations, team development in the remote space is just as important, or even more important than that in the in-person space. Team development is a blend of both focusing on results as well as building relationships.

At Potentials Realized, we offer a suite of support services specialized for remote teams – from strategic planning, to team development, to virtual training in key leadership topics (link to map of remote team topics) or our Teams365 modules. From one-hour lunch and learns to multi-day sessions we’ll meet up with you in the remote space, designing and facilitating your event, without your team having to travel (unless they want to!). Set up a call to discuss.

Questions to consider:

• What opportunities do we have this year to bring the team together (virtually or in person)?
• What opportunities could be benefit from?
• What needs attention – building our relationships, clarifying our results, or both?
• Making things explicit – All teams may falter if things are not made explicit. When assumptions go unchecked. This is particularly true in the remote space when all of us may have “different pieces of the puzzle – i.e. different contexts we operate within, different skill sets, and different vantage points on the work we are undertaking. Being proactive in sharing our context, priorities and preferences builds trust and connection, and also supports a wider understanding of priorities, practices and approaches.

More questions to consider:

• What are the things that need to be clarified?
• What needs to be shared more?
• What are the assumptions which are not being named or checked?
• What else is not being seen?

3. Proactively taking time to build relationships – In the remote space it’s hard to meet colleagues as you head into the lunchroom or head to the water cooler. We usually only come together for formal events. Given that socializing time looks different in the remote space it can be important to be more proactive in building relationships. As an organization or team, you may want to take some time to create more informal connection points. Whether this is a virtual co-working space which opens up for short windows each week, or whether it’s an informal but facilitated series of conversations at lunchtime by a colleague (think virtual lunch and learns or book club calls). Remote workers need a sense of connection and identity (stay tuned for more on this topic tomorrow).

4. Be aware of what’s below the “waterline” – In my 2019 workbook/planner PlanDoTrack, I provide the metaphor of an iceberg as a valuable tool for self-development and team development. Where teams of all kinds can benefit it by exploring what’s below the waterline of their work.

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 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.

​This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip explores the topic of building team culture. Creating a strong team culture as a remote team is of benefit in many ways. First, it helps boost a sense of identify and belonging. Many remote workers today feel isolated or disconnected. A strong team culture can be one element in helping people feel connected to others and to a bigger purpose.
Team culture consists of several elements including HOW we do things. Our team culture includes our agreements, our norms – what’s acceptable and what’s not, our values (which help with decision making, prioritizing, as well as the more visible elements of culture – the way we sign our emails, how we hold meetings, plus any other team differentiators.

In addition to boosting a sense of belonging, team culture is critical when remote team members may be part of multiple teams. For example, if I am part of a Central North America Team, as well as being part of the learning team. The learning team may have values around communication, expedience, learning and experimentation. This may translate to agreements around how fast we communicate, how we share alternative points of view, and how much autonomy we have in getting things done. A strong team culture will help us understand these elements as well.

Given that my learning team culture is distinct from the North American team culture, I can differentiate in the different relationships, meetings and tasks what’s important. In contrast, the NA team may value metrics, efficiency (different than expedience), business cases, and brevity. What is prioritized and what is expected will be different.

Culture in a remote space can be invisible unless we make a point of making it visible and tangible. It can be seen in our processes, our communication, our language and even branding. Making it as explicit as possible, and naming it is also an important part of remote team success.

What can you be doing to make your remote team or organizational culture more visible and intentional?
​
For more on culture, check out the past posts I have written on Team Culture.

Enjoy!
​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.

As we move into 2020, it’s easy to get swept up into the “doing” of work right away. Before the year gets further ahead, take a few minutes to be sure that you get these items scheduled in…

#1 – Team Meetings – Make them consistent and regular. It’s likely that you won’t be able to have everyone at the table (or the screen). Make sure that you create shared team agreements of what team members need to do if they are not present for meetings.

#2 – Meetings with Your Boss – Have you scheduled in time with your direct line manager? Keeping visible and being in regular communication is essential in today’s workplace. Corporate priorities can change quickly as can your boss’ priorities. How often are the two of you meeting? What format are you using? What’s important for them to know?

#3 – One-on-ones with The Team – While group and team meetings are great, team members still need some 1-1 time. Be sure to schedule in some time with your team on a regular basis. Are you aiming for monthly 1-1 conversations? Quarterly deeper dives? Daily touchpoints? As a team talk about expectations and make agreements about who is responsible for scheduling and follow up.

#4 – Team Development Time – As I shared in yesterday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tip, team development time is critical and is often overlooked for virtual teams. Teams don’t just excel by osmosis! They need time to get to know each other, clarify how they are operating and focus in on what’s important.

#5 – Strategic Thinking Time — Are you leaving yourself enough time for reflection and thinking? Be sure to leave in enough time for strategic thinking. This can include creating, or revisiting your VISION, MISSION and MANDATE. Taking time to think strategically is important so that you have a clear big picture with a longer-term horizon. With things changing rapidly, the strategic horizon of 1, 3 or 5 years down the road can be invaluable in helping us keep moving, and not getting too set back by the small changes which can feel frenetic.

#6 — Time to Get Things Done — With meetings, communication and email taking a lot of time, what time are you leaving for yourself to get things done? For some professionals, it means coming into the office early to tackle key tasks for 30-60 minutes before others arrive. For others, it means booking a conference room and closing the door. Notice when you are most productive and when it’s important to get things done.

# 7 – Learning Time – What are your learning and development goals this year? Embracing ongoing learning has never been more important. What are the skills, processes and approaches which are going to help you do your best work? Note that learning can take many forms: including in-person programming, virtual learning as well as on-demand learning. Finally, peer learning (see #9) is another set of approaches.

#8 – Feedback Time – What feedback touchpoints are you building in throughout the year? Feedback in many organizations has moved to an ongoing cycle, and it can be important to make sure that it is happening regularly. Block off time in your schedule to get it done.

#9 – Peer Learning Time/Mentoring Time — What is the peer learning you want to undertake this year? Is it possible to do some job shadowing or pair with a peer partner throughout the year to compare notes, share resources and learn from each other?

In addition to peer learning, what about identifying a mentor in your organization or industry who can share their experience in order to help you understand “what’s below the waterline”?

#10 – Time Within Your Industry or Outside Your Regular Scope of Work — Finally, industry connections are key. Keeping current in your area of work may be as important, or more important, in the medium- and longer-term. What connection into professional associations are going to support you this year?

As you think about this year, what is going to support you best?

Best wishes, 
​Jennifer