This week's Saturday quote comes from Steven R. Covey who writes:

​"Without trust we don't truly collaborate: we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people, into a team".

​What is the state of trust right now on the team? How are you collaborating effectively? 

​Take a look at some of the posts here at the Teams365 blog relating to trust as well as collaboration.

​With best wishes,
Jennifer

It's #FlashbackFriday and with team development as our focus this month here at the Teams365 blog, I thought about what questions do I consistently get asked by leaders, trainers and facilitators the most? It was an easy answer - TRUST and CONNECTION.

​A few weeks ago I did a 35 minute call on Building Trust and Connection - Virtually  as my Feb/March Effective Virtual Conversations Community Call. You can view it here on YouTube.

​I also wanted to reach back to Teams365 #1123 which touched on TRUST and Connection and linked to a Pulse Post I wrote last  year. Here's what I shared about a year ago at the Blog in Teams365 #1123:

​"One of the themes that always arises in the dialogue I have with leaders is "what can I do to build more trust and connection with my team". This is an issue for virtual team leaders, and in-person team leaders alike.

​Given how important this issue is, I dedicated my most recent LinkedIn Pulse posts to the topic of Building Trust and Connection with your team. One reader recently commented that she really liked how practical the tips were. So, if you are looking for some practical, actionable approaches to further build trust and connection with your team, I hope you will check out my pulse post - Building Trust and Connection with Your Team - here.

​A couple of generic reminders to keep in mind about trust  before signing off today:
​1. Trust is usually not a static thing. It fluctuates over time, which means we always want to be paying attention to, and fostering trust.
​2. Until we feel safe in a team, it's likely we will engage and show up to do our best work. What are you doing to boost connection across the team? What intentional activities are you undertaking with your virtual team to help them connect?
​3. As quickly as trust is created, it can be eroded. As Steven Covey writes - you can have trust deposits, and trust withdrawls. What's your balance right now?

​Click on over to LinkedIn to read my latest Pulse posts on Building Trust and Connection with your team. "


​Practically, and tactically, what are the things you can be doing this month to build trust and connection?

​With best wishes,
​Jennifer

Today's quote captures something I share regularly through my writing and my work as a team developer:
​"Trust the foundation of any great team. It allows us to raise difficult issues, tackle issues head on, and stretch as a professional". - Jennifer Britton

​Without trust, it's hard to really excel as a team. We may get things done, and it's likely in today's context that many important issues, which could get us working better and in different ways, never get raised.

What's the level of trust in your team right now?

​Earlier this week I hosted the February Effective Virtual Conversations call. In my most recent book, Effective Virtual Conversations, I write about the importance of building trust in virtual teams and other virtual conversation spaces, particularly given that it's easy to skirt the issues which really need discussion virtually. On this week's call I shared many different ways that you as a leader, or virtual facilitator (coach, trainer or consultant), can be boosting trust and connection with the virtual groups and teams you are working with.

​I'd invite you to check out the 35 minute February 2018 Effective Virtual Conversations call here.

​What specific steps are you going to take this month around building the trust in the teams you work with? What are the difficult issues which need to be surfaced so the team can excel?

Have a great weekend,
​Jennifer

One of the key topics of teams today is building trust. Without trust, it’s impossible to raise the issues which need to be raised. Without trust, it  is unlikely that a team will ever move beyond being a collection of individuals and form into a team.
What can we do to build trust in virtual teams? Here are a few ideas:
Trust doesn’t just form. Be intentional in creating opportunities for team members to meet and get to know each other. This may include creating both formal and informal opportunities. On the formal stage, team members may be paired with others on a quarterly basis, or in an informal sense, virtual teams  may make a point of coming together for a monthly meeting
Share what you are working on – Unlike the opportunity to rub shoulders every day, out of sight means out of sight. Being more focused and proactive in sharing your work is an important part of the process. What can you do to share what you are working on with others? Do you dedicate part of your monthly planning to this? Do you each take photos of key projects and share these internally to give a visual? Consider what mechanisms you have to share what you are working on.
Talk about your working preferences – in an intact face to face team it is possible to learn more about each other every day, through the conversations we have, and how people show up at work. In a virtual team, getting to know more about each other’s preferences and styles can be more difficult, especially as we may not see each other. Our styles and preferences influence how we communicate, make decisions, innovate, approach conflict and provide feedback. As a team member what do you know about each other? What are the questions you’d like to ask? What notes would you like to compare about your preferences? One area we do a lot of work in is around this area. From offering the Everything DisC to working with partners to offer the Hermann-Brain Development Index, contact us to explore how we could support your team.
Map out resources (see team tool post) – One of the team tools I shared last week was the Relationship mapping tool. You can apply the same principles to resources, helping people locate and identify resources available in the network. Spend some time this month mapping out the resources (which might include human resources, financial, material, technical etc).
Provide opportunities for issues to be raised and discussed. In today’s business context most team members are running hard daily. Unless time is created for a pause we usually won’t take one. How are you as a team creating that pause to raise and discuss issues. Doing this before issues get magnified is essential. It’s also important to note that not every one on the team may be comfortable with raising issues, so one-on-ones will continue to be important. If conflicts do emerge be proactive, and ensure people have the space and time and tools to work through disagreements.

Be sure to check out this past weekend's Teams365 video which highlighted different ways team members can build, and destroy, trust. You'll find that video here.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Our focus this month is on relationships and a key element of strengthening relationships involves having a strong degree of trust. A couple of years ago I had a series of cartoons designed for the blog. One of my favorites is the Duality of Trust cartoon from illustrator Steven Ro. This was the fourteenth in the series. View the others here.
I thought it would be fitting to spotlight this post – Teams365 #512 with this
Here’s what I wrote:
https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-512-relationship-destroyers-the-duality-of-trust-teams365-cartoon-14

Today's blog post is a "repeat" of the Teams365 Cartoon #14 called the duality of trust. Nothing erodes relationships faster than a lack of trust.
This cartoon highlights activities which can build trust such as:

• Walk my talk
• Regular, open communication
• Recognition that is real
• Follow-through
• Trusts Others
• Clear Expectations

On the flip side activities which erode trust include

• No follow through
  
• Little or no feedback
• Team Favorites
• Lack of transparency
• Gossip
• Doesn't listen

What activities are trust builders and trust destroyers on your team right now? What impact are they having?

This is a topic we explore in the Teams365 Conflict Management and Coaching Skills Training programs, as well as with our offering of the DiSC Predictive Conflict assessments. Contact us to learn about our upcoming virtual and on-demand offerings of these programs, as well as customized coaching skills training for your organization.

This month at the Teams365 blog we’ll be diving into the topics of relationships, collaboration and trust. The “softer” side of leadership and teamwork often gets a bad review as being “too fluffy”, “kumbaya-ish”, too soft. As research has continued to show the further up the leadership chain we go Emotional Intelligence skills which include relationship management, influence and teamwork, the more important these skills become. While I have yet to find a lot of definitive research I can point to around VUCA and EI (and please let me know if you can direct me to it), I know as a practitioner and leader myself the more uncertain the context is, and the more it changes, the more important relationships, empowering and working through others becomes.

This month at the Teams365 Leadership Lab we are exploring the topic of Emotional Intelligence. This program is an annual group geared for leaders at all levels (new, experienced, and those who want to be). We meet twice a month on Fridays for live calls which focus on a different topic each month.  On of the two calls each month are focused on looking at these key leadership topics from a high level overview, and also include a focus on tools for you in the arena of leadership and teamwork.  The second call is more of a mastermind/Action Learning process where you are encouraged to bring one of  your current business challenges or opportunities for further exploration.

You can join the Teams365 Leadership Lab at any time and also get access to a rich resource portal of past presentations, articles and posts I have written around the many topics I cover here at Teams365. It’s a great virtual meeting place and group coaching space. It’s a supplement many professionals find useful to continue to focus on their own development, at a budget friendly price. I hope that you will consider joining us this year.

As you step into the month of February, be sure to check out yesterday’s month end review and planning post – encouraging you to take 10-15 minutes to stop, pause and look at your key goals and achievements.

Today's Sunday video brings us back to Teams365 post #769 on 4 Ways to Build Trust in Your Team. Trust is an essential element for teamwork today, and with teams becoming more dispersed, remote and virtual, trust takes on new meaning. Without trust and perceived safety, team members are unlikely to bring their best to work. That means the likelihood for disengagement, poorer quality, and lack of connection. It also means that issues may not be surfaced as early as they could, and mistakes may not be identified.

What are you doing to build trust in your team. Watch this quick 2 minute video for four other ideas, be be sure to check out more videos at our YouTube Channel.

Today's Teamwork quote brings us back to the topic of trust in teams. David Armistead wrote "Trust each other again and again. When the trust level gets high enough, people transcend apparent limits, discovering new and awesome abilities of which they were previously unaware".

I have focused on the topic of trust through many of our blog posts, and weekend quotes, given how important the topic is for teams of all kinds. Take a look at past posts related to trust here.

Trust, and lack of trust, starts on day one of any team. As team leaders and team members are you:
* Taking time to get to know each other - who you are, what you offer, what you bring to the team?
* Clarifying what's expected of you?
* Creating shared agreements around how you will operate?
* Identifying the things that can erode trust?
* Name/point to actions and behaviors that minimize trust?
* Make sure that your actions are in alignment with your values. So, if you say you are valuing teamwork, yet reward and recognize individual performance, how does that help with trust?

What other behaviors are helping to build trust? Erode trust on your team?

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

I love today's weekend quote which comes from Erin Meyer who wrote:
"When you meet your workmates by the water cooler or photocopier every day, you know instinctively who you can and cannot trust. In a geographically distributed team, trust is measured almost exclusively in terms of reliability".

What are the behaviors that are building trust on your team right now? (Virtual or other)
What are the behaviors that are hindering, or breaking, trust?
What's does reliability mean on this team?

One of the key themes in Effective Virtual Conversations is the need for virtual facilitators and virtual leaders to take time to build trust and connection with their groups and teams. Otherwise, it's hard to realize the potential of the call or team itself.

What needs attention in this area? What do you want to do?

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

This week''s Effective Virtual Conversation Tip #11 is about the importance of boosting the trust, connection and safety needed in virtual conversations so that they can go to the level needed. Without the required trust, safety and connection it is likely that virtual calls will suffer from disengagement and multi-tasking on the part of attendees/participants.

In recent months as I have started speaking on my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, I've been asking groups the question "What do you do to boost trust, connection and safety in your virtual calls"? It's been interesting to hear the range of responses around these three areas. Some of the common approaches mentioned include:

Trust:
Be clear on expectations
Walk my talk
Create Safety
Trust begets trust

Creating connection:
Introductions
A fun warm-up
Pairing people for introductions

Create Safety:
Work with the group to create their own agreements
Confidentiality
follow-through
Connection with others
Knowing where we are going on the call

In Chapter 2 of Effective Virtual Conversations I cover many different ways to build trust, connection and safety in virtual events. What do you notice about how people engage and interact when these factors are present? When they are not?

For more about the research base around this topic you will want to refer to the work of Amy Edmonston, author of Teaming, as well as refer to the research Google has done into their most high performing teams. Common ingredient - safety on the part of teams.

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer