​This week’s Team Building Tip gets you to consider the question: “_____ is strengthening our relationships”.
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Teams which excel are great at getting results AS WELL AS having strong relationships. On the relationship front we want to hone areas such as:

• Knowing each other
• Understanding each other’s strengths and styles
• Being able to understand what supports vs. what triggers others
• Providing feedback and communication
• Being able to work across differences, and difficult issues
• Team Spirit (having a sense of team identity – see yesterday’s post on this)

As a team this week consider the things you are doing to strengthen your relationships. This might include practices such as:

• taking a coffee break together each week,
• ensuring that team meetings happen on a regular basis for virtual teams,
• spotlighting the work and background of one of the team members each month in an internal email and/or newsletter,
• connecting peers in peer pairings to get to know each other, and their work.

​What are the things you are doing as a team to strengthen relationships?
 
Hope that you are enjoying your mid-week,
Jennifer

​I thought I would take a look back to the March 2014 posts to see what I was talking about five years ago here at the blog. What was interesting to me was that that month we were talking about team development and team formation, one of the key areas I continue to get questions around.
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I dedicated five posts in March 2014 to discussing Tuckman’s model of forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. This model to group and team formation has stood the tests of time, and is something that I continue to see in my work in person and virtually.

Here’s what I shared about the first stage of team formation in Teams365 #70:
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The first stage of team formation is the FORMING stage. Whether it's a new project team coming together, or a new leader joining the team, there are several characteristics common at the FORMING Stage:

1. Team is getting to know each other
2. Safety needs are high, trust levels are low or non-existent
3. Goals, vision and values are needing to be created

As a leader it is important to:
1. Clarify expectations you have.
2. Have the group or team create shared expectations of each other
3. Create opportunities for people to get to know each other
4. Ensure that safety needs are met.

What else is important at the forming stage? What have you noticed in past instances where teams are forming?
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Check out what happens in the storming, norming, performing and adjourning stages.
 
What are you noticing about where your group or team is right now? What are they yearning for?
 
Enjoy the conversations,
Jennifer

​Welcome back to another Thursday Team Building Tip. This week’s question invites you as a team to articulate your response to the question “This year our focus has been _____”.

​Consider what you have been exploring and looking at as a team and as individuals. What are the things which are helping you? What are the major projects you have completed? What have you been saying YES to, rather than NO to? How has this been helping you?

The weekly Thursday Team Building Tips are geared to get you thinking about your team’s work and focus.
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Check out other past Team Building Tips here.

You might also be interested in exploring yesterday’s topic of different ways to work with virtual teams around creating their team culture.

Wishing you the best,
​Jennifer

​Welcome to the month of March! This month we are focusing on teamwork, skills, foundations and what’s important in today’s virtual space.
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I write about virtual teamwork, virtual facilitation and collaboration in two of my more recent books – Effective Virtual Conversations which was released in 2017 and the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner (2019).

If you didn’t catch it, be sure to check out some of my earlier calls this year including:

• 5 Virtual Team Builders
• Collaborating in the Virtual Space – February’s Effective Virtual Conversations Call. 

If you didn’t hear, I’ve created an entire on-demand course around the 19 Productivity Tips series. It is now available as a video-based program, where each tip is accompanied by a short video with me, and a one to two-page worksheet/resource guide.

I will also be hosting two live calls a month which started mid-February, to answer questions and also share additional resources. These calls will also be uploaded to the program resource site.

It’s a great value and I hope you will find it beneficial and join us!

It’s the start of a new month, so here are this month’s planning questions-
Reflecting back on the month of February:

• What were my major achievements last month?
• What do I want to celebrate?
• As I consider my goals (and resolutions) I made at the start of the year, how am I doing with these on a scale of 1-10? Which ones are becoming new habits or something I can check off?
• Which goals need to be let go of or changed?
• What habits have supported me this month?
• As a leader, what have I noticed about my team?
• As a leader, what notes should I make about performance issues? (if I haven't done it already!)
• The thing that has helped me be most productive in February was ______
• The thing that has helped me be most successful in February was ______
• The thing that has helped me be happiest in February  ________
• How I’m doing with my theme of the year (how I am living it, embodying it).

Here are some questions you will want to consider as you step into the new month –
Looking ahead to March:
My priorities this month are:

• The one thing I want to make sure I get accomplished before the end of this quarter is….
• The one thing I want to check off before the end of winter is….
• The project(s) I want to get started...
• The project I most want to wrap up is...
• I want to leave ______ in the month of February.

Our team priorities this month are:
My top 3- 5 goals this month are ________.
My teams goals this month are ________.
I'll be really happy at the end of March when ________.

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

This month our focus is on relationships and team work. What are the things we can do to help build relationships? Here’s what I shared in the 2016 post entitled “Four Keys to Building Stronger Relationships at Work” in Teams365 #771.

In light of this week's focus on relationships, today's post focuses on Four Keys to Building Stronger Relationships at Work. Even if we work virtually it is key to have a strong network of people around us, to collaborate with, and who have our back.

Four keys to building stronger relationships at work include:

1. Put a focus on it - In today's busy world what doesn't get focused on, often doesn't get done. It is important to put a focus on relationship building and dedicate time towards it. What does building relationships mean for you right now? Getting to know your team members better? Widening your network? Getting to know a person's role you are collaborating with?
Consider what your goal is in building stronger relationships at work and focus on it - schedule in some time this week around it.

2. Consider what is the win-win - Many of us don't just build relationships for relationships sake. Consider how your work/roles connect and how a stronger relationship can boost BOTH of your work. What is the common ground of your worlds of work? What would a win-win look like for both of you? Really get to understand how your roles align, overlap and how you can support each other.

3. Be Genuine - Building stronger relationships should not be seen as another "to do" on your list. Be genuine in fostering connection. Be interested in who the other person is. I think we can all think of people who build relationships without being genuine....

4. Consider how the sum is greater than the whole of the parts - In true collaboration and synergy today the sum is greater than the whole of the parts. Key to collaboration is knowing when to collaborate and when you are better doing things yourselves. Get clear on each of your relationships and when it is important to lean into them, and when it's important to go alone. What can you create/accomplish in collaboration? How is this greater than when you go it alone? When is important to go it alone?

What other tips do you have for others around building relationships?

If you prefer, take a look at the short video I created around the same topic in Teams365 #1503 here. 

Best wishes,
Jennifer

​It’s Thursday which means that it’s time for another Team Building Tip. This week’s question gets you thinking about where you were as a team a year ago, and where you are now.
Think about what you were doing this time last year. 
What was the context?
What were you focusing on?
Now, consider where you are. What projects have you completed? How is your work different? What makes it feel different?

We don't always stop to pause and look at what we've done - what we have achieved and what we have learned. This is an important process for teams. If we don't stop and pause along the way we may not tap into the learning available. Running without pause is also not sustainable and can lead to burnout.

What pauses are you creating in your work right now for the team to stop and look at impact?  How can you do more of what is giving you impact?

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

The business context today is increasingly calling for collaboration – many times across time, distance and culture. What can get in the way of great collaboration? I thought it would be interesting to go back to Teams365 #1135 to explore six factors that can get in the way of collaboration. Let’s take a look at what I wrote back in this 2017 post. 


"Politeness is the poison of collaboration." - Edwin Land

“Let’s collaborate more” is commonly heard in organizations, and it may be easier said than done. As part of our February posts around collaboration, today’s post explores six barriers to collaboration, along with some possible ways to address these topics:

The six barriers we are going to explore in today’s blog post are:

1. Ego
2. Power
3. Lack of Candor
4. Inability to work across differences
5. Different End Goals
6. Lack of Trust

 
Barrier #1 – Ego – One of the biggest barriers which can get in the way of collaboration is our ego. In collaboration it is important to “park our ego” as much as possible so that we can truly be listening and hearing for what is needed to really synergize. Another commonly used term for parking our ego is “becoming unattached”. When we become too attached to our end result we may not hear or see possibilities which will actually end with a greater end result.

Barrier #2 -  Power – When power differentials are too different it can be very difficult to collaborate. In those instances where one group/person may have more “power”  whether due to resourcing, or information, it is important to design the boundaries of collaboration and be clear with intent.

Barrier #3 – Lack of candor – Candor is defined as “the quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness” in the Oxford Dictionary. Candor is a critical ingredient for collaboration. Without it there will be  a lot of wasted effort, and the true essence of collaboration will not be possible. Being able to share ideas without concern for judgement, the ability to be frank and open with feedback are all essential ingredients for collaboration

Barrier #4 – Inability to work across differences. In collaboration synergies, and differences, are usually harnessed. The ability to work across differences, making changes with one’s own style, is another essential ingredient for collaboration.

Barrier #5 – Different End Goals – When end goals are too different it can be very difficult to have collaboration. For example, if one member is aiming for an end result that is about quality and the other solely on speed, it may be more challenging to find the middle ground amongst the two. In these instances the end result needs to become an AND rather than an OR. So A AND B, rather than A OR B.

Barrier #6 – Lack of Trust. The one essential which will usually arrest collaboration before it starts is lack of trust. When trust is low, or non-existent, it is difficult to collaborate. Collaboration requires honesty, feedback, listening, candor, and bringing your best work to the table, in service to something greater. When trust is low or non-existent, these skills are usually not present.
As you consider your upcoming collaboration, how are you doing with these ingredients?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Last month I took at look at core teamwork skills, a critical area for success in any team. At this stage of the year, your budget allocation may still be available. With that in mind, I wanted to take us back to what I wrote only five weeks ago about key themes and ideas for your own team development. Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 1736.
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“This month we are going to focus on teamwork skills. Whether you work as an intact team, a project team or a remote team, teamwork skills are cross-cutting and help professionals at all stages of their careers do better work.
The context of teamwork has changed. In the past, teams were together for longer windows, with much more stability. Today most teams experience ongoing change and team composition. Researcher Amy Edmonston terms this “Teaming” and writes, “actively building and developing teams even as a project is in process, while realizing that a team's composition may change at any given moment.” (Teaming, Edmonston 2013)
She flags four behaviors as essential in the teaming context:

• Speaking Up
• Collaboration
• Experimentation
• Reflection

What are you doing to foster these areas?
The teamwork skills we are going to explore this month are:

• Trust
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Working Across Differences
• Relationship Management
• Conflict Management
• Emotional Intelligence
• Change Management
• Influence

For each of the areas we’ll explore what the skill is about, why it’s important. What some of the differences are in the different types of teams today. I’ll also point you back to some of the many posts I’ve already written on these topics.”
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If you weren’t with us last month, I hope you’ll  take some time this weekend to look at some of the blog posts I shared. You may also want to build in time to think about WHAT SKILLS your team could benefit from more resources, conversation and training around.
 
Enjoy your weekend,
Jennifer

Today’s Sunday video takes us back to one that I posted this time last year, entitled “Six Ingredients for Teams in Today’s VUCA World”.
Recently I attended a conference here in Toronto for business leaders and educators. While I’ve been talking about VUCA for many years, I was surprized that this is not a term everyone is aware of. If you haven’t heard of VUCA, it was originally a term that was coined by the military to describe the context.
Think about these four words for a minute and how they are showing up in your work right now:
Volatility
Uncertainty
Complexity
Ambiguity
These factors require that we really embrace new ways of leadership, teamwork and conversation. While we still need planning, we also need to track what’s working and what’s not. Past successes may not guarantee the same results a second time. Working in ambiguity calls for new skills for leaders and teams such as being able to see the patterns across a range of data. Working in complexity means that we want to also consider simplification and synthesis.
What are the things you want to be focusing on as a leader? What skills do you want to be building in your team during 2019?
Here’s a link to the video I did last year in Teams365 #1188.
 
What’s important for you to note about VUCA right now?
What’s important for your team to note about VUCA?
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Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer