In my work as a coach, consultant and trainer I am in regular contact with a wide variety of team leaders. For many it’s a thankless job at times. Often feeling squeezed in the middle of their team and their own bosses, many times they are seen as the flywheel of organizations. In today’s Flashback Friday post I’m reaching back to #Teams365 #1026: #TEams365 #1026: 10 Reasons Why Team Leaders Play a Key Role in Organizational Success

While in the thick of things, team leaders sometimes forget the critical role they play for organizational success. Here's ten ways team leaders contribute to organizational success:
1. They translate the organizational objectives, KPIs and vision down into the tactical team realm;
2. They are the conduit for feedback and information up the leadership and organizational ranks;
3. They play a key role in creating a coaching culture (see above);
4. They are often the eyes and ears of what is really being spoken about in an organization;
5. They are the human face of the organization for team members, especially in larger organizations;
6. They are often the link and relationship with external stakeholders;
7. They often get called into be the voice of the organization for customers or clients when things go wrong;
8. They are able to share best practices quickly across their web of peers;
9. They have direct impact on the morale, culture and spirit of the teams they lead;
10. They play the unique middle role of being a conduit up and down the organization. This role is often overlooked by teams and leaders above them alike.

Based on this, what support are you providing right now for your team leaders? How are you involving them in communication and decision making? What development opportunities are they getting?

If you are a team leader looking for development opportunities, consider joining me at the Teams365 Leadership Lab, a virtual learning space for team leaders, focusing on your own skill and knowledge development. The resource consists of a growing library of learning videos, live calls and resources to share with your own team. We meet twice a month on Fridays from 8:45 -9:30 am ET. Click here to learn more and join me in May for our calls the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

For today's post I am reaching back to Teams365 #376 and a 22 minute audio I recorded on 10 Questions Team Leaders should be asking. One of the themes we have been exploring this week has been communication and questions in the virtual realm. Whether you are leading face-to-face, or virtually, powerful questions provide an important frame to the conversation..

​Take some time to think about the type of questions you are asking your team members.

​Click on over to listen to Teams365 #376 here.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Over the last month I've been focusing on issues related to virtual and remote teams. Today's audio post will be of interest to not only virtual and remote teams but anyone who has partaken in virtual meetings - conference calls, webinars etc. Today's audio picks up on #Teams365 #560 on Creating Powerful Starts and Ends to calls.  Listen into this five minute call to get a reminder of some practical ideas you can use to make your starts and ends more crisp and impactful!

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Since the start of the year our focus on Saturday's has been on different teamwork skills. This weekend I wanted to take us back to an audio post I did a while ago as part of the Teams365 Team Leader Breakfast series on the Six Factors which are essential for teams to thrive.

Click on over to our Team Leader Breakfast Series page and check out this October 2014 post.

As you listen, how are you as a team doing in terms of these six factors? What could use some attention?

Enjoy your long weekend,
Jennifer

On LinkedIn this week I published a refresh of on of our articles from earlier this year - Five Areas for Team Leaders to Focus on in 2017. If you haven't seen the blog post from earlier this year or read the LinkedIn article, be sure to check them out. Reading time - 5 min.

​The focus areas I continue to see in my work with leaders include, virtualization and supporting remote teams. I'll be talking more about this on February 1st at this year's HRPA Annual Conference.

​Also, there is great opportunity for team leaders to continue to leverage strengths. This year I will continue to offer strengths based team and individual coaching programs incorporating some of the best strengths tools like StrengthsFinder 2.0.

​Another key focus area will continue to be the need for regular and ongoing conversation. This is a stretch point for many team leaders yet is essential in today's ever changing context. Earlier this week I did a number of presentations on enhancing your conversations, focusing on some of our core communication skills (listening and questioning) as well as goal setting and accountability.

​My hope is that for many teams this year is the year that there will be a regular focus on team development. Part of the intent behind continuing to offer a daily blog is that it will provide leaders and their teams with questions, content and other resources to spark conversation in your team. What are your plans this year for regular team focused activities to boost connection, trust and focus?
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​Finally, I believe that continued flexibility and fluidity is going to be needed for success in today's VUCA world - Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

What do you see as key focus areas for you and your team this year?

Have a great Sunday,
Jennifer

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I love the start of a new year and the opportunity to work on what sometimes can be a blank canvas. Of course, our actions are always infused by what's preceded us, which leads me to today's post regarding five focus areas for team leaders to keep an eye on during 2017. The main focus here at the Teams365 blog is around teamwork and leadership issues, helping teams and leaders leverage their abilities.

Looking at some of the 2016 trends, five areas teams and team leaders will want to keep an eye on this year include:

1. Leveraging virtual opportunities. With an increasing number of people wanting to work remote, this may be a defining year for many organizations to strike a better balance of what virtual and remote work arrangements can mean for their organization. We see the range of organizations embracing this - from organizations that are completely virtual with staff spread across regions and the globe, to organizations which have brought people back in house.

Part of leveraging virtual opportunities means making your virtual events more effective. I hope that you will take a look at some of our past posts on virtual facilitation, an area we are increasingly providing support around, building on our decade plus experience.

2. Continuing to leverage strengths: The business case for strengths based leadership is quite clear. Allowing team members to capitalize on their strengths through projects and main pieces of their work can help with productivity and engagement. Take a look at this Gallup research.


3. Continued need for impactful regular conversations. even in our Just-in-time world, and perhaps even moreso, there is need for regular one-on-ones. This holds true for both virtual and in-person teams. These conversations have different names in different organizations - from one-on-ones to huddles, to coaching. Impactful conversations focus on goals, action, awareness and results. Later this year I'll be publishing a new book entitled Effective Virtual Conversations to support those leaders who are leading virtual teams.

4. Regular and ongoing focus on team development - Having been involved in team development for almost three decades now I continue to be amazed at how some organizations feel that the once a year offsite will be the pancea for all team development needs. Teams are living, breathing entities. They need feedback, support and ongoing focus throughout the year. The good news is that this doesn't have to take a lot of time. Here at the Teams365 blog you've got hundreds of ideas you can pull on - from our weekly Thursday team building questions which you are encouraged to bring into your team meetings, to incorporating some of our recent A-Z activities.

Remember, teams that excel usually have both great relationships with each other and also are clear on results. Take a look at this past post which explores Essential Ingredients for High Performing Teams.

5. Flexibility and fluidity to work in today's VUCA world. It is no surprise that organizations are embracing agile approaches. With continued Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, it is even more important for leaders today to be comfortable with flexibility, and fluidity. The ability to change course midstream, lead in uncertain environments, and empower your team to make decisions has taken on new meaning in many organizations. This also requires a mindset of ongoing learning. What do you see as the areas you'd like to grow in this year? What's essential?

As you consider your context right now, what is important for your team and leadership this year?

Have a great start to 2017,
Jennifer

Earlier this week I was part of a panel discussion on Team and Group Coaching at this week's Columbia University's Coaching Conference. As a coach, when I come into work with teams, team leaders play a key role in creating the conditions for success in building and maintaining a coaching culture. This was a precursor for success in work I undertook last year in developing a coaching culture with The Scarborough Hospital here in the Toronto area. This work just won a PRISM Award for Coaching Excellence from the International Coach Federation Toronto Chapter earlier this week.

While in the thick of things, team leaders sometimes forget the critical role they play for organizational success. Here's ten ways team leaders contribute to organizational success:
1. They translate the organizational objectives, KPIs and vision down into the tactical team realm;
2. They are the conduit for feedback and information up the leadership and organizational ranks;
3. They play a key role in creating a coaching culture (see above);
4. They are often the eyes and ears of what is really being spoken about in an organization;
5. They are the human face of the organization for team members, especially in larger organizations;
6. They are often the link and relationship with external stakeholders;
7. They often get called into be the voice of the organization for customers or clients when things go wrong;
8. They are able to share best practices quickly across their web of peers;
9. They have direct impact on the morale, culture and spirit of the teams they lead;
10. They play the unique middle role of being a conduit up and down the organization. This role is often overlooked by teams and leaders above them alike.

Based on this, what support are you providing right now for your team leaders? How are you involving them in communication and decision making? What development opportunities are they getting.

As you may know here at the TEams365 blog most of our work is geared to supporting teams and team leaders in dong their best work. If  have questions about how coaching skills training, or some of our other leadership development programming could be of support, please reach out and let's set up a time to talk.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
Check out our Foundations of Teamwork on-demand course here

Accountability in today’s environment means many things. In some organizational cultures the word is shunned, whereas in others it is held up on a  pedestal as something to aspire to.

Accountability can be influenced by many things including the culture of the organization, how it is modelled at all levels, and how organizations hold the space for accountability.

What does accountability mean in your organization? How is it modelled? When you think of it being modelled positively, what comes to mind?
Accountability within teams occurs at several levels, the individual, team, department and organizational. It is possible to have a team with a strong accountability culture within a weak organizational accountability environment.

There are a number of things we can do in fostering greater accountability including:

• Having it modelled at all levels of the organization, especially at senior leadership levels. Accountability involves demonstrating respect, follow through and ownership for things that are going well, and not going well.
• Encouraging feedback – genuinely. If a feedback loop is not encouraged/modelled it is difficult to grow a culture of accountability. When everything is “fine” and no one is addressing the elephant in the room, it’s hard to start building a culture of accountability.
• Being responsible, and taking responsibility – How often is the “passing the buck” behavior happening? If a culture of this sort has developed, how do you break the habit?
• Walking your talk – if you say you are going to follow up, do it! Otherwise, it just becomes lip-service.
• Making sure that performance measures and goals are clear. If people don’t know what is expected, performance is not going to measure up.
• Be clear on roles and connectivity. Who is responsible for what? If person A does not get something done, what is the impact? What is appropriate for person B to do if person A does not complete?

Over the next few days I’ll be looking at accountability as a follow on to the Foundations of Goals we just wrapped up.

​Have a great Friday,
Jennifer
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Jennifer Britton
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Join us this summer for a Teams365 Coaching Group
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365


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I would like to hear from you! What are the topics keeping you up at night? What support are you looking for in terms of your development? What budget do you have available. For the next 10 days I'm launching a team leader survey and would love your input (as well as your peers!). Please spread the word so we can tailor our blog posts to your most pressing needs in the area of leadership. I would also welcome your feedback in terms of what type of support and development you would find most useful.

Click here to participate in the First Annual Teams365 TEam Leader Survey. It will be open for the next 10 days to February First. Please spread the word to other team leaders you know by tweeting and using the Facebook share below!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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

 I love the start of a new year, especially reading articles on predictions or possibilities for what the year might have in store. Given that we've just moved into our 3rd year of daily blogging about topics related to team leadership and teams, I thought it would be fitting to put out a couple of possible theme and focus ares team leaders may find themselves working around this year. I wouldn't put these in the category as strong as probabilities or predictions,

Here are four areas I think will continue to be very important for team leaders in 2016:
1. Virtualization and mobility - Whether we are called upon to lead a virtual team, or our team members become more mobile in their workplaces and workflow, honing skills as a virtual team leader is important. I'll be doing an upcoming series of blog posts on this topic and you can also check out past posts I've written on virtual team leadership here.

Also connected to this topic is the idea of leading meetings and hosting training or development opportunities for your team. Virtual Facilitation is a skill set that is increasingly important for so many team leaders today. I'll be holding the next 15 hour Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive training program online on Thursdays from 12 - 3 pm Eastern/New York from February 4 - March 4th (five weeks of 3 hour blocks). During this 15 hour course you get ample practice and exposure to creating and leading engaging virtual training, meetings and other discussions suing a wide range of platforms including zoom, skype, and several of the mainstream platforms. Learn more about the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive program here and reserve your spot.

2. Continued focus on honing coaching skills - As it is often said "Conversations are the currency of business". Supporting  your team and yourself in having better conversations can payoff in dividends. Your skills as coach as leader are key, and  you may also place a focus on honing peer coaching skills so team members can support each other.

Coaching skills training is one of the mainstays of our business and in the last twelve years we've trained thousands of coaches and leaders in coaching skills. Learn more about the in person, virtual and e-learning programs we have on coaching skills by contacting us.

3. Supporting Team members in working across differences - Workplaces today are incredibly diverse. Whether the diversity exists because you are  cross-functional team, a gene rationally diverse team, or a global team spanning multiple cultures, team members can benefit from knowing more about their styles and preferences, how this impacts others positively or negatively, and also how they may want to learn to flex their styles.
We use a number of different assessments in support of developing self-awareness and skills in these areas including the Everything DiSC and the Team Diagnostic Survey for teams, partnered with team coaching.

4. Strengthening Relationships - Just as conversation is the currency of business, business is done through relationships. Whether relationships are virtual, in person, team leaders will need to continue to navigate a variety of relationships from their team, to their boss, to other peer team leaders, stakeholders etc. I'll be focusing more on relationship management skills in the month of February, and also check out past posts on the topic of relationship management.
Skills in the areas of influence, motivation and negotiation will continue to be important areas to focus on for team leaders.

What do you see as key challenges and focus areas for team leaders in 2016.

Have a great back to work start for 2016!

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Join us in January for a Teams365 Coaching Group
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

Join us tomorrow, Tuesday January 5th, at 12 noon ET for the January Teams365 Team Leaders Lunchtime Blab. The focus will be on Goal Setting with Your Team. Join us here.