It is the weekend and time for another audio post. Today's post looks at 5 Barriers to Collaborative Leadership Styles, or things that get in the way in terms of our approach to leadership. A great resource on this topic is Morten Henson's book, Collaboration, which goes much deeper into the topic of good and bad collaboration.

Enjoy this weekend's quick audio (6 min 30 sec)!

Yesterday we looked at five pitfalls for virtual facilitators. Ranging from tech challenges, to one participant not being able to get on the calls, to group members not hearing you, I also provided a couple of very practical tips around how to mitigate when these pitfalls happen. In the virtual realm it can be best to operate with the premise that pitfalls probably will occur so you can be proactive.

Today's post includes five more pitfalls and what you might consider doing if they happen. These have been taken from my Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog, where I have been blogging on group prgoram issues (coaching, retreats, and facilitation since 2005. Click on over for lots more posts on this topic!

Pitfall #6 - Technology Breaks down – Check out the services you are using and have a back up. Make sure your connection works from your landline and mobile (and voip). Sometimes there can be a difference as to what you can access and where. Know how to complete quick items like record, mute, unmute, raise hands, chat or work a white board. Practice is usually the only way to master these.

Pitfall #7 - No on, or fewer than registered, shows – Rescheduling can become a slippery slope.  Whether you have 4 people on the call or 40 people on the call, consider how your virtual program (or components of it) can be packaged for future benefit. How will  you record the call? What changes might need to be made to the process and approach? It is likely that people will be running late. A best practice is always to start and end on time, given that people are likely to be calling in at different times of their days. As a facilitation team consider how you are handling missed attendees and last minute cancellations.

Pitfall #8 - Low energy: Virtual programs can be challenging for new facilitators in terms of the energy and feedback you receive. If you are using only a phone based system, other than enabling people to raise their hands in response, or signal on their keypad their agreement, it may feel like you are talking into a black hole. Your energy is imperative in keeping the flow going.  Remember too that it is critical to engage your group members every 5-7 minutes. Without involvement and engagement it is challenging for anyone to continue to focus, let alone participate.

Pitfall # 9 - Lack of connection felt by the group - It is surprising how facilitators overlook how important it is to build connection amongst group members. Connection is an essential ingredient for group coaching, and is an important foundation even with a telesemianr or teleclass which may be more content focused. Engagement levels will be impacted if group members do not feel connected with the host and/or others.

Solution: Consider how you can build connection (as appropriate) amongst group members. If it is an extended program are you giving air time for everyone to speak? Are you encouaging that people send out a bio/photo between calls? For one-off engagements are you posing questions to the group which they can respond to verbally, by email/chat or by using their key pad?

Pitfall #10 - The multi-tasking mindset -  The multi-tasking mindset can be common place for many of us. What can you do to capture people's attention and keep it focused.

Solution: Consider these questions: Are you making a request for people to disconnect from other technologies? Are you changing the pace frequently (ie. every 5-7 or 10 min)? Are you creating opportunities for individuals to pause and engage at their desk? What engagement strategies are you employing? Check out Teams365 #967 for Four Tips for Keeping Virtual Events More Engaging.

What other pitfalls are you concerned about? Let me know and I'll feature it in a future blog post.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
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Join us this fall for a 15 hour Virtual Train-the-trainer in the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive program. We'll be covering the best practices of designing and leading virtual calls. The program will be held on Fridays from 3 - 4:30 pm ET starting September 23. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot.

We're back tracking today to New Team Leader Foundations tip #7 - Take stock of  your skills and knowledge. What else do you need to learn right now. Earlier this week I talked about the importance of the role of a mentor. He or she can also provide valuable insights around what skills are needed.

The shift to team leadership from team member or individual contributor is often seen as the largest shift in leadership given that for many it is the first leadership role they have undertaken.

Much of the training work, and coaching work, we do at Potentials Realized supports new and experienced leaders in the realm of leadership development. Some of the key skill areas for leaders are:

Self-leadership skills - knowledge of self, presence, self-management

Relationship building skills including influence, working with others, relationship building, managing up etc

Technical leadership skills -these are the areas many of us are already good with

Team Leadership Skills - Communication, Delegation, Motivation, Coaching etc.

If you've been following the Teams365 blog for a while, chances are you've developed an affinity for some of our series covering many of these skills. Please check the tags listing on the right.

What are the skills you want to be focusing on developing the rest of this year?

Best
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Looking for more tips and ideas to support you in your work as a leader? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, full of tips, resources and hacks for leaders and team members looking to realize their potential. Sign up at http://bit.ly/teams365news
Phone: (416)996-8326

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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Feeling confident and skilled at holding performance conversations is key for both new and experienced Team Leaders. Yesterday's Six Leadership Questions post went into detail around several questions you might consider bringing into your one-on-ones and other performance conversations. Check out #TEams365 #753.

Today I wanted to share some great resources -web and book based - which you might want to tap into in preparation for your next performance conversation. Check these out:
2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews - Paul Falcone - check it out at Amazon here.

Five Conversations - How to Transform Trust, Engagement and Performance at Work - Nigel Purse and Nick Cowley and Lynn Allison - check it out at Amazon

The Essential Performance Review Book - Sharon Armstrong - check it out at Amazon

Crucial Conversations - Kerry Patterson  - Check it out at Amazon

Fierce Conversations - Susan Scott - Check it out at Amazon

Have a great Sunday! Don't forget to take a moment if you haven't done so to let us know your thoughts regarding topic areas you are interested in reading at the blog and other learning and development needs you have as a team leader this year. Click here to access our First Annual Teams365 Team Leader Survey. It will take five minutes of your time. Thanks!

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

There are a number of things you can do prior to holding a virtual meeting or training that will set yourself up for success Today's post covers these in a checklist approach, which you can download a complimentary copy of here

Six things you will want to do prior to the meeting are:
1 Get to know the participants - what are their needs, learning agendas, where are they based,. The more you know about your group the better able you are to serve their needs. With longer term ritual learning events I schedule a quick 15 minute pre call to meet each person. As I  have written in the past, this is an essential part of building trust and connection with participants, and also gives me a sense of who is going to be in the 'room" (even if its virtual!.

2 Create an agenda - Virtual facilitators play a key role in holding a strong focus on ​​​process. Creating an agenda that meets the needs and purpose of the session is critical. Consider what input meeting participants or learners want/need and how you will facilitate this.

3. Be clear on how much time the meeting is really going to take. Estimating time comes from experience, AND in a virtual meeting sloppy time management can quickly derail meetings. Add time to your agenda and let group members know how much time there is for each section so they can prepare their input.​

4. Consider who needs to be at the table - there is noting worse in a meeting than not having the right people at the table , or having the materials nee

5. Ensure that you have all the materials needed - what will you need during the meeting? Do these need to be sent out to others prior to the meeting.

6. Send out links and materials well enough in advance - I​​​ usually like to aim for 1 week if possible, or at least at the start of the week for a meeting later in the week. Keep in mind people's travel schedules and timezones.

As a bonus - check your technology. double check that you have sent out the right bridge line with access codes and/or that your meeting links work and are set for the right time!

Keeping  in mind these best practices will help you be successful with your next virtual meeting.

Download a copy of these virtual meeting tips here. we'll be covering this and more info on the upcoming Virtual facilitation Skills intensive 'Virtual Train-the-trainer" from February  4 - March 4 (Thursdays 12 -3 pm Eastern by phone, skype and other virtual platforms). Click here to learn more.​​​

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)996-8326l

Back in 2014 I did a post on Meeting Management Faux Pas. you can read it here. Today I thought I would focus on five virtual meeting faux - pas:. Keeping these five points in mind can move your meeting from one characterised by "Death by conference call" to one that is engaging.

Five faux pas to watch for include:​
1. Not having an agenda and sticking to it - as I wrote in yesterday's post, it is important to have a plan which you share with others (so they can input into it before the meeting), and one that you refer to throughout the call so people know where you are and where you are going.

2. ​​Not starting and ending meetings on time. This is critical in the realm of virtual meetings, particularly as it is common that people will be at different parts of their day.

3. Not calling on people you haven't heard from - Virtual Meetings, particularly  when you can't see each other - are a ripe opportunity to multi-task and sign out. Let people know what's expected so when you do call on people ​ it's part of the norm and not being seen as "being picked on". Engagement approaches will be another topic addressed in the next week or two here at the blog

4. Not rotating meeting times - when you do lead a global team it can be important to rotate meeting times so it's not always the team members in Asia or somewhere else who are calling in at odd hours. Be aware of time of day considerations when scheduling virtual meetings. Where feasible rotate this.

5. Not being clear on what's been agreed and who is accountable - Make sure you remind people throughout a virtual meeting about agreements,, key points and also where you are going to next. It's easy to say a lot of "yeses" and then forget or not be clear on what was agreed upon.​

What other virtual meeting faux pas do you see?​

I'll be going more into detail around all of these, as well into strategies and best practices to avoid them during the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive starting February 4th. this five week Virtual train-the-trainer provides you with information on best practices and practice in virtual facilitation. Leaders who are responsible for leading virtual meetings, or leading webinars and other virtual learning events will find this course useful.  Click here to learn more.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

​​​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
​

This week we are going to start to take a look at the essentials of virtual facilitation. As more and more professionals start to operate in the virtual domain it is important to develop not only skills but also confidence in building connection with remote staff, facilitating meetings, and transitioning most activities.

Four core skills in virtual facilitation include:
Reading the environment - Even though you may not be physically present in a room, great virtual leaders and facilitators, are able to read the environment. There is a much to be said through the way people are speaking - their pace and how fast they are speaking; the pitch or level at which they speak.
Part of reading the environment is also noticing the overall energy of the call. I think we can all recollect times when meeting energy was very low (what I often call the "Death By Conference Call") Or when meeting energy was very high.
Next time you are in a virtual meeting, think about how you would describe the energy of the call.

Listening - In virtual environments listening is critical. We want to be listening for the speech patterns, but also what is being said and not being said. Notice the flow of conversation, who is dominating and who his holding back.

Managing the process - In virtual facilitation a strong hand on process can go far. Given that we often don't have the same cues as in the face to face environment, it's important for the leader or facilitator to take a  strong hand with process - time allocated, agenda items, making sure you are starting and ending on time, clarifying decisions and where you are going to next.

Engagement - Virtual Meetings can feel never ending. It's important to engage people throughout the call. Design with the group what engagement can look like (for example, an expectation that you will hear from everyone) etc. In a future post I'll explore different engagement techniques for virtual meetings.

If you are interested in learning more, and getting more experience with virtual facilitation, I'll be hosting the Virtual facilitation Skills intensive, an online train-the-trainer, on Thursdays from 12 - 3 pm ET for five weeks from February 4 - March 4th. I hope that you will consider joining me for this immersive online program. We'll be exploring facilitation on many different platforms - from bridgelines, to skype, to zoom and webinars. More information about the program here. Register with a colleague and save 15% on your registrations.

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

​​​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Supporting Team Leaders to do their best work, one conversation at a time
Coaching Skills Training | Teamwork | Leadership
Join us in January for a Teams365 Coaching Group
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
The Teams365 Team Leader Cards are now available - put some jazz in your 201 meetings with better questions

Today we are revisiting one of the Teams365 Cartoons, this one which focuses on several of the core skills for team leaders. These skills have been a primary focus at the blog.

Take a look at the skills mentioned - influence, collaboration, relationship building, emotional intelligence, building trust and respect.

Identify which ones are your strengths.  Ask  yourself:

Which ones could benefit from some attention?
What actions could you take to increase those that need attention?
If you chose one area to place attention around to "move the needle", what would it be?

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or performance support you or your team