A few weeks ago, I shared a post about potential different summer projects you might want to focus on. This is the one time of the year where we may have a bit more space to focus on projects that are “nice to do” rather than “have to do”. What are the summer projects you have in mind?
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In determining a possible summer creative project, you might want to focus on these questions:

• What’s the one thing you wish you had done/completed, but never have had time for?

• As you consider your career, what is the one area you wish you had more experience in, or knowledge of?
• As you consider your next step in your career, what is one thing that would help you expand your skills, or deepen them?
• What would be a fun project to work on this summer?
• What could be a legacy project to leave at your workplace? One of the projects I worked on in my last year of employment was a training guide for new staff who had to run their own training and onboarding programs for teams. Interestingly enough, it became a baseline for some of the work I have done in the last fifteen years of business. I was able to dedicate a little bit of time every week on that project, which like many things, does add up to something specific, when we are intentional and have a plan (see yesterday’s post around goal setting).

I hope that these questions will be useful as you start to consider what possible projects you could undertake.

The beauty of summer projects is that you likely have 7-8 weeks of work time to complete it. These are rarely projects that can be done in one sitting but are completed over time.

After identifying possible options, take some time breaking it down into more concrete milestones that you can aim for in shorter cycles. Be sure to schedule time in your calendar to work on this. As is commonly asserted “What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done”. Enjoy!

Enjoy the creative process,
Jennifer

This week’s Team Building Tip is all about asking the question “What could you jettison so you move forward”?

​ Jettison may not be a term you are  familiar with, but it refers to tossing something overboard to lighten your load.

We are often in the habit of saying YES to so much that we become overburdened.  What is the one thing you need to let go of this season?

Success in business today doesn’t always mean doing more. Many times it means doing less. In approaching this week’s Team Building Tip, some other questions you will want to explore are:

• What is the one thing which if you tossed, would lighten your load (metaphorically, of course)?
• Is there a course of action you have been taking which needs to be completed? Wrapped up? Refocused?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

This week’s Weekly Journaling prompt gets you to reflect on the question “What I want to say a big NO TO is….”

Whether it is getting a handle on time, or clutter, or something else, saying NO can just be as powerful as saying YES.

This week I hope that you will enjoy journaling around the question: “What I want to say a big NO TO is…”

Kind wishes,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in an digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

​It’s Sunday which means that it is time for another Video Montage from PlanDoTrack. Take a look at this week’s video montage.

In bringing this work out into the world, one of my favorite program offerings at the moment is the four-hour PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreat.  Check it out here.

The program is geared for business owners and professionals who are looking to reconnect or create their vision OR take action on a creative project. We meet throughout the four-hour retreat every hour as a group, leaving you ample time in between our group touch-points to engage in structured activities to help you PLAN, take action (DO) and TRACK your results.

Here’s what two participants from the April session wrote about their experience:

"The PlanDoTrack session was everything I hoped for and more! These 4 hours were a super useful and productive pause to work on my business vision and goals for the year. It was a hands-on approach, very much helped by the worksheets in the Coaching Business Builder and also Jennifer's guidance.
I would certainly do at least one more session!”
- Rute Silva - Organizational Development Consultant/Executive Coach - PCC 

"Jennifer - thank you for creating a space to allow me to focus on the deep work that I am committed to getting out into the world.  On a normal day, the whirlwind of life would have prevented me from putting pen to paper and designing a problem that could have easily been put off until "someday". Today I prioritized the important over the urgent and I feel so accomplished to have created content that will make a difference. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. If you are committed to creating a program, a business plan, content, or whatever is meaningful to you and your clients, but you do not have the space or time to focus, this program is a game changer. Block the time. You will be thrilled with the outcome and the support along the way.” 
- Jacyln M. Bradley

The next one will be held on Thursday May 30th from 10 am – 2 pm Eastern/Toronto.

I hope that you will join us. The cost is $129 US and includes a virtual retreat workbook, structured exercises to work on during the afternoon and access to me during the 4 hours for some individual coaching.

You need to bring a copy of the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner, OR the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner, an idea of what you want to focus on, and four-hours of dedicated space.

Reserve your spot at the next PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreat – Thursday May 30th here.

Look forward to connecting!
​Jennifer

This weekend I wanted to share links to one of my sister blogs, the PlanDoTrack blog which is focused on personal productivity and time management issues, particularly for virtual and remote team members, entrepreneurs and leaders.

For several months now I have hosted a weekly Wednesday series on short productivity hacks - things that you might keep in mind to get more leverage with your time, focus and work. They are posted at the PlanDoTrack blog, and then I also do a quick Facebook Live around them as well.

Here’s what I’ve covered since the start of this series:

1. Pomodoro Technique
2. Color Coding
   
3. Master Minds
4. Accountability
5. Write it down
6. Weekly Journal Prompts
7. Month End Planning Sessions
8. Top 5
9. Themes - monthly, quarterly, annual
10. Relationships

Read more about these here. 

Each Wednesday I post a short blog which often includes a quick activity you might consider undertaking t support your own planning and productivity. Just as the name implies, these are short things you can action right away.

Check out some of the past 3-5 minute Facebook Live posts which include more detail about that week’s hack. If you are on Facebook, do consider liking PlanDoTrack so you can be alerted to the weekly videos.

Wishing you the best,
Jennifer

From open office spaces to a focus on collaboration, there can also be a pendulum swing in organizations where sometimes things go too far.
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As I mentioned over the weekend, there are a number of studies exploring this topic of distraction including Udemy In Depth’s 2018 Workplace Distraction Survey. You can read it here. 
 
The report asserts that distractions have an impact on productivity. Some of the distractions noted in that study are talkative co-workers, email and others.
Many of the distractions I hear of in the work of my clients are:

• Unscheduled meetings
• Co-workers dropping by to chat
• Email
• Social media which takes you “down the rabbit hole”
• Materials and information which are not readily accessible and have not been stored in the locations you thought they would be in

What are you doing to minimize the distractions? What do you find distracting?

What conversations are important to have?

​Here are some other articles of interest:

Check out this article from Financial Times – “Digital Distractions are Making Us Dumb and Twitchy” which also includes some great tips from Professor Cal Newport.

Suresh Subamdam’s article on Is Your Work's Communication Channel Turning Your Team Into a Bunch of 'Slack'-ers?

Take a look at Digital Responsibility’s website and ideas on Digital Distraction.

Wishing you all the best,
​Jennifer

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to consider the question “The biggest distractions right now are…”

Udemy In Depth undertook a study entitled the 2018 Workplace Distraction Survey. You can read it here. 

Distractions abound in today’s world – from digital distractions to other. What distractions are you noticing?

Distractions can take their toll on many levels – on our focus, on our stress levels, or our ability to get things done we want. What is the impact of the distractions you are seeing?

Part of stress reduction and productivity is feeling in charge of, or being able to influence, our distractions. What steps can you take to reduce or minimize some of the distractions right now?

Enjoy your journaling,
Jennifer

It’s March 15th which historically has been known as the Ides of March. My father always has said we can usually expect one more snowfall in Toronto on, or around this date. I’m always happy when it gets to be this time of year as I start seeing that spring is (usually) just around the corner.
 
For today’s FlashbackFriday I wanted to reach back to a former blog post (in fact one from the precursor blog to Teams365 – the BizToolkit blog), on a topic which I think has major significance today – Meetings!
 
Meetings can be the “bane” of most employees existence, and aren’t always held effectively. It’s not uncommon for leaders I work with, scheduled into 30 or more hours of meeting a week, leaving them little time for work they need to accomplish, strategic thinking and other discussions.
 
Here’s what I posted in March of 2014 as Teams365 #86: 

Five Ways to Keep Your Meetings on Track 
Copyright Jennifer Britton, All Rights Reserved, 2013 : Originally published on the BizToolkit blog, 2013

Meetings are a huge time-consumer in today's workforce. What is the state of your meetings? How efficient are they? Today's blog post includes five ways to keep your meetings on track, so you can avoid what Patrick Lencioni describes as "Death by Meeting" syndrome.

Some key tips to keep in mind are:
1. Assign a meeting facilitator. Facilitation comes from the Latin word "facilis" or to make easy. The facilitators role is to keep an eye on the process. As the facilitator, the focus is on:

• starting and ending the meeting on time, 
• keeping the flow moving, 
• summarizing and capturing key discussion points,
• identifying issues which may need to be shifted to other events (use of a parking lot)
• summarizing key action steps

It can be very useful to have a rotational facilitator role if meetings are held regularly with the same group. This supports capacity and skill development, and also recognizes that the facilitator's power is related to that role, not the role people usually inhabit. Who will be the "facilitator" for your next meeting? How will this be rotated?

2.  Have an agenda, and assign timelines to it. Does each meeting have an agenda, which has been circulated before the meeting to ensure that nothing else needs to be added? Putting time-frames on each item, and sticking to them, helps to manage time, as well as identify issues which may need to be carried into other venues. What does the agenda for your next meeting look like? How much time will it take? 

3. Ensure who you need is at the table. A common challenge in effective meetings is not having who you need at the table. This may be someone who has specific information, background on  a topic, or authority to sign off/give approval. Who needs to be at your meeting, based on the agenda?

4. Confirm Action Steps and Responsibilities - A common pitfall is that action steps, and who is responsible for moving things forward, is lost in the dialogue. Key action steps, and those who will take responsibility for making sure they are done, should be summarized at the end of each meeting. What are the major next steps? Who will be responsible for them?

5. Circle Back to Make sure Actions are being Actioned. What is the status of the action steps? How are they being moved forward immediately, and in the longer term. Who needs to know? Who is accountable? Action Plans are only as good as they are tracked and followed. What will support the implementation of decisions, and the reporting out of these actions? 

As you consider your upcoming meetings, in which context might you be able to incorporate some of these ideas?
 
As much as the meeting content may have changed in the last six years, I think a lot of these pointers remain the same. What’s the one tweak you could make to your meetings which would help them become more productive and efficient?
 
Enjoy your conversations,
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.
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PS - ​Tip #18 – What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done

“The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.”- Oswald Chambers

Scheduling and tracking are key parts of business productivity. Time management in a virtual business includes:

• Discernment – Knowing what is, and what is not important. In the big picture, in the immediate. For you. For the business.
• Prioritizing – Being clear on your Top 3-5 activities. Today, this month, this quarter.
• Scheduling it in- Making sure the big tasks and smaller tasks are scheduled in, particularly those things which are important to you and the business (review time, planning time, renewal time, maintenance, systems etc). Some research has also started pointing to the need for significant enough blocks of time being required to help you focus. For some this may be 90 minutes, others 3 hours.
• Saying NO - tactfully!  Given that we are usually operating in isolation, negotiation skills are key. Being able to say “I can help you with this, however, that may not be feasible…”, being able to delegate, defer or even say no, are all key skills. It’s not surprising that training I deliver on Communicating and Negotiating for Impact is popular!
• Being ruthless with your time.  Time is non-renewable. How do you choose to spend it?

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Activity
Consider the questions listed above. What do you notice about Discernment? Priorities, Scheduling, saying no, being ruthless with time. What is important for you in staying the course?
Take 15 minutes to make sure your schedule is up to date and includes time for the important activities in the short, medium and long term.
Add an additional 10% of time to projects or tasks which are not yet visible but need to get done.
Consider what your line in the sand is around tasks and new requests. Are you operating at 100%? If you had a new request come in, what would you do? How could you defer other tasks?

• What your successes have been?
• Where your focus has been?
• What products or services have you been focusing on offering?

Schedule it in. If you have not left space now, it’s unlikely it will emerge on its own!

Conversation Sparkers

• What projects, tasks or activities are important to schedule this month?
• What is your line in the sand around what more you can take on?
• What are the Top 3-5 priorities for you today? This week? This month? This quarter?

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Best wishes,
Jennifer

PS - If you have enjoyed these tips, do be sure to check out the new on-demand, video based course I have created around these. The program can be taken at your own pace, You can stretch the tips out daily, weekly or monthly. Join me this year for bi-weekly calls as part of your registration. Cost: $129 US. Learn more and register here. 

​This week’s Thursday Team Building Tip #222 is the question “We need to say no to….”. While this may be a provocative question in some organizational contexts, it is an important one to ask in highly changing contexts.

Focus and priorities can become even more important in ever changing contexts. It is key to watch for the trap of trying to do it all or trying to respond to every new iteration. If we do, we may run into the danger of spreading ourselves too thin.

In rapidly changing contexts, priorities can also change just as fast. It is important to be able to discern what is truly important.
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Asking the question – We need to say no to…. – can help with FOCUS and PRIORITIES. 

Best wishes,
​Jennifer