Happy Saturday! It’s time for another Weekly Journaling Prompt. This week’s prompt gets you to reflect on, and write about, “I feel supported by….”.

Consider:

• What supports you?
• What does support look like for you?
• Visually, what are the images or icons which represent support for you right now?
• If you don’t feel supported, what’s missing? What’s the type of support you want? What could support look like visually for you in the future?
• What support can you offer others?

Enjoy this weekend’s Weekly Journaling Prompt!
Jennifer

With this month’s focus on partnering and working more collaboratively, a key ingredient of remote work, I thought it might be interesting to reach back to one of the Team Leader Breakfast Café Recordings I did a few years ago in 2017. While this isn’t the entire call, here are the five areas I highlighted as Five Key Ingredients for Successful Collaboration. You can listen into the original audio over at Teams365 #1152. Here’s what I shared in that audio:

What we know about great collaboration and great partnering is that a number of essential elements are in place. Typically partnering works best when we have a set of complimentary skills.

When partners are too similar, or teams are too similar we can create a lot of blind spots. We may have great bench strength in certain areas like the ability to execute results or to build relationships. And we may be missing certain skills that are essential, like strategic thinking.

That's great to drive for results, but if we're not clear on why we're driving for those results or if they're the best ones, then we may find ourselves in some challenges.

Another key principle in making collaboration work is making sure that we're leveraging people's strengths. As I have written many times here at the Teams365 blog, the research done by the Gallup organization points to that when teams that have the opportunity to use their strengths on a regular basis they are more productive and members generally have higher quality of life.
If you haven't had a chance to do any strength-based work with your teams, please reach out and contact me to discuss a Team Strengths Day. I use a number of strengths-based assessments in my work as a coach, as a trainer that can be brought into one-on-one conversations or work with your entire team.

The more we know ourselves, know what we're good at, and also know where we might find struggle, helps us be more effective. We can communicate that to others.

Teamwork is just like an orchestra. It’s not about being the best at everything, or even trying to. Teamwork is about making sure that we have the right people on the right instrument in the right seat, leveraging their strengths as best as possible.

As research has shown, it's much easier for us to do well in our strengths and to try to mitigate against our weaknesses.

Back to collaboration –two other factors really make it work well.

The third one is PLAN. Partnerships, great teams, great collaboration don’t just materialize. It happens with some planning.  In my several of my books including Effective Virtual Conversations, I share more about the Arc of co-facilitation and some of the questions you can ask when you plan.

And number four, I wanted to mention which intentionality. So, as you go about your teamwork and or developing new partnerships, maybe you've been tasked with leading a new project. Maybe you've been tasked with pulling a group of experts together. Think about questions like how do we blend our skills or what do we each bring to the table?

Also, you want to make sure that you're feeling connected because we know that connection creates safety. Psychologically, if we think we are too different, it's very hard for teams in groups to move forward. So, a question around that might be getting people not to think about what they bring that’s unique, but also what is it that they bring that is similar.

In making teamwork and collaboration work take some time to get to know each other. Ask yourself questions around strengths and what's important, what will success look like for each of you as well as what will success look like for you collectively?

The fifth area I wanted to mention in terms of just getting or making collaboration, partnering really work is to make sure that you have deep levels of trust.

Trust is really the foundation of so many things. If we don't have trust, it's very hard to move into the deeper dialogue to feel that you are being supported, to know that someone has your back. Then in building trust, we want to undertake consistent actions that represent our intentions. We want to make sure that it's in proper alignment with where we're going, and we also want to make sure that we have things like transparency in place as well as feedback loops.

So just to quickly run through these five areas, again, things to think about as you're entering your partnerships, future projects, future collaborations.

1. Number one, how do we bring complimentary skills to the table?
2. Number two, what are our strengths and how do we leverage those?
3. Number three, have we built in enough time for planning related to that?
4. Number four, how intentional are we being?
5. And finally, what are our levels of trust?

I hope that you'll check out some of our Teams365 blog posts related to this topic. Some of the most popular posts of months have included the six  barriers to collaboration . Also check out making mentoring work virtually. Whether you are partnering with others face to face or in the virtual realm, in the same company or across the globe, these principles hold true.
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Interested in learning more or want individual or team coaching support around this? Looking to have a virtual team day facilitated to do some work around strengths? Please reach out to me by email at info@potentialsrealized.com and let’s set up a conversation.
 
Enjoy your weekend!
Jennifer

This week we round out our focus on core Team Essentials before turning our attention next month to collaboration, conversations and relationship building.
One of the core elements which team members may struggle with is feeling connected to others on the team. This gets even more augmented when working in the remote space, given that we don’t see each other. As I have shared in recent blog posts this month (ink), connection is key for getting results.

What are the ways we can boost a team’s sense of connection? First, consider what are the visual element which are bringing people together. As I wrote in yesterday’s Effective Virtual Conversations post, making things more visual and visible through the use of structures, images and icons can help create a sense of connection and identity.

Another key part of building connection is to ensure that people know who is on the team, and what roles they play. Do people understand how their work connects and impacts others on the team. This type of connection needs to be linked back to ensuring that there is a clear vision. This vision will help to anchor of what the team is working towards and what’s important to the team. Is your team connected to the same vision? Is everyone working to the same end point? Is it time to revisit this?

A third area is helping people connect with each other. Beyond our work, do people know each other and know a little bit more about who each person is as a human being. As we get to understand WHO is WHO on the team, we can develop a more solid working relationship, one that is not just transactional.  Providing time for each team member to share a little more about who they are, their strengths, what’s important to them, or even what’s beyond the screen can help to widen the lens and understanding of who is who on the team.

What can you do this week or month to expand connection across the team – visually, with vision and also as you expand the screen?

Enjoy the conversations!
​Jennifer

A large part of the conversations I have directly with team or with leaders is around trust. This seems to be one of the most significant issues in organizations today, helping or hindering what gets done.

As we wrap up to the 20 for 20 series, I want to put some further attention around some of the Team Essentials. These are things that we will want to return back to and explore further with those we work with – even if we work remote. In fact, trust can become an even more important issue for those working in the remote space. It’s our trust levels that often go hand in hand with our sense of connection. When working remote, that sense of connection can have significant impact on our motivation, engagement and even ability to show up and do great work, day in and day out. If we don’t trust, or even know, those in our team, it’s hard to collaborate. This will ultimately have an impact on outcomes and results.

What are the different ways we can build trust? I like to go back to the basics. Trust is seen through behaviors we undertake and choose to share. It includes the things that can seem mundane like:

• Showing up
• Being prepared
• Following through on what we say we will
• Providing feedback (about what’s working, and when its not!)
• Communicating
• Inquiring/asking questions

There are several excellent models around trust that teams may want to explore. Two that I have continued to point to include:

• Reina and Reina’s model around trust – Check out some of their writing here.
• Stephen Covey’s books around Smart Trust and the Speed of Trust 

​What are the books and resources you recommend around trust? Are there any podcasts or other resources you go-to on a regular basis?

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

This week I came across a note I had made myself late last year and never got posted. Having worked to support team leaders for a number of years, I often get asked, “what are some of the key conversations they are having with their teams right now”? Here are five areas team leaders today may be in conversation around:

#1 - Focus - With so much occurring in the workplace today – flavors of the month, shiny red objects, interruptions, course changes, external events, etc…helping our team members focus on what is important RIGHT NOW, today, can be an important message to keep reinforcing. Helping team members with prioritization skills and being able to continue to focus on what’s important without adding to the interruptions and divergence is also key. If you are operating in a team context, the impact of one team member slipping may have a domino effect. What are the things that are going to help with focus?

#2 - Connection - What are the things you can do to help people feel connected? Connected to others in the team? Connected to the resources they need? The information they need? What is important about this topic right now for the team?

#3 - Disruption and Change - Disruption and change is becoming more commonplace across industries. Global events can have local impact. Disruption in a related industry can have a trickle effect. What are you doing to help people understand how they react to change, and also build capability in the areas of strategic thinking and/or contingency planning? Having worked for many decades in the areas of strategic planning, critical thinking and contingency planning, I often take it for granted that people are using these tools. What’s important to explore and have conversation with your team?

#4 - Building Trust - As Stephen Covey wrote - and I paraphrase – “Trust is the currency of business”. What are you doing to build trust, and erode trust? In today’s fast, and sometimes remote, business context, we may only see people in “small windows” of time.  Comments, and reactions, may get magnified. Certain activities or patterns of behaviors might be perceived as the norm. What are you doing to build trust, particularly in terms of creating an environment where people can be heard, and listened to? Where follow through is modeled? Where communication fits the needs of the team? What behaviors are visible?

#5 – What can people on the team do to be able to do their best work? Finally, we know from strengths-based research that when people are able to do their best work and use their strengths, there’s greater productivity, engagement and quality of life. Check out Gallup’s Strengths Center for the latest research on this.

Asking the team what they can do to do their best work, as often as possible can be a great conversation. It may also open up a debate point of “Why can’t I do this all the time?”. While we may not be able to use strengths EVERY DAY and EVERY HOUR on every PROJECT, what can we do to magnify or expand this?
Enjoy the conversations and let us know what you are exploring in your team. 

Best,
​Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip focuses on “Embracing Your Differences”. When we work in the remote space, it’s likely that our conversations are going to take us to a place that may be more diverse and varied than if we were working face-to-face. Time zone differences, role differences, industry differences, geographic and cultural differences, provide the opportunity to learn more about the wider world, and also ourselves.
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As someone whose career over the last three decades has spanned countries, cultures and industries (along with the face-to-face and virtual worlds), one thing that is important in creating effective virtual conversations is to “embrace your differences”.

Part of a great virtual conversation is that there is sufficient trust and connection amongst group members. Without this it’s likely that we are all going to disengage. In a virtual conversation we want to provide opportunities for individuals to both celebrate and honor the differences that exist, while also finding the common ground. While some people might think that this is a dichotomy, it really is more of a creative tension.

Practically it will involve you providing a series of different types of focus:

• A focus on self, and a focus on the group
• A focus on who I am uniquely as a group member, and a focus on what’s common with other group members

When we help group members explore these various layers, they are able to lean into the conversation with each other, creating more trust and connection.

Chapter 7 of Effective Virtual Conversations provides a variety of instructions on different types of exercises you might incorporate across your virtual calls. Most can be adapted to have a focus on these areas for exploration.

Best, 
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing 
Phone (416)996-8326
 
As we step into the end of the year, get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.

For many years, I have shared the research with teams that they excel when they focus on both relationships and results. The same holds true for remote teams as well.

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip gets you thinking about what you are doing to help remote teams explore both their results and relationships.

A focus on results can include:

• Their goals
• Their vision
• Clarity around communication, tasks and focus
• How we measure success
• Leadership
• Roles

 
Relationship focus may explore:

• How much we know and trust each other
• Understanding our connections
• Understanding what our styles, and preferences are
• How we work across differences, conflict and difficult issues

​What are the things you need to focus on as a team?

In the remote space, taking time to build out the relationship focus is essential. We want to make sure that we are exploring who we are, what our strengths are, how we prefer to work, what helps and what hinders our work. No person is an island in any work context today. What opportunities are you creating to ensure that there is a focus on relationships in the team?

Could there be a component that you build into your next team meeting that focuses on having people share what they are working on and/or a little about their work. You might even consider undertaking some work around strengths or other areas.

What are the things you want to focus in around as a team right now?

Best wishes, 
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing 
Phone (416)996-8326
 
As we step into the end of the year, get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.

This year teams of all kinds have been finding micro-windows for conversation. The business context is not slowing down, change is ever present, and teams are needing to manage uncertainty. When we have a context like this, it can be really important to zoom into connecting with our bigger picture, and also focus on prioritization and systems.

As a team, it may be useful to invest time focusing on revisiting or discussing:

#1 - Our Ways of Working/Team Agreements: What are the norms and ways we work together? What’s acceptable? What’s not?

A reminder that much of the recent research, including Google’s project Aristotle, has validated what many of us as team practitioners have been doing for years – helping teams articulate HOW they want to operate. What’s acceptable and what’s not on a team?

#2 – Our Vision: Vision helps us move through the ups and downs of business. When things are changing at the micro-level, our vision may become more static, and can act as a guidepost. What are you doing to revisit your vision? How aligned is everyone around the vision? Does everyone see how they fit into the vision and how they contribute? Note that the time window around vision may be shorter than it was – rather than focusing on a 10-year window it may be 36-month vision.

spending a few minutes as a team at year end to reconnect around what your vision is for the upcoming year can be a valuable exercise.

I wrote more extended posts around working with vision back in 2015, and here are some of the questions I included at that time for discussion as a team in Teams365 #366. Here are some of those questions I included at the time:

Before you get back to work for the year, spend a few minutes reflecting on these key questions for your 2015 goals:

• What are your key goals for the next year - personally? As a team?
  
• On a scale of 1-10, how easy are these goals? Which ones are going to be the most stretch?
• What will keep these goals at the forefront for you this year?
• How do you want to track them? What are key milestones along the way?
• What do you need in order to achieve them (people, resources, finances etc)?
• What are you committed to achieving this next year, no matter what?
  
• How do your individual, team and organizational goals align?
• Who will you be accountable to?

• How will you celebrate them along the way?

Take time to write these down in  a place you can refer back to. When you get back to work, share and discuss these with your team members, those you collaborate with, and other stakeholders.

#3 - Systems and Processes become important given that we may need to shift our role even more. When we leave a role often our knowledge leaves with us. Savvy leaders know the importance systems and process play in helping to build on the learning that people bring. Even if they are moved to a new project, good systems and processes will help capture the learning.

#4 – Relationships. As I write in my latest work around Remote Pathways, “no person is an island”. Relationships play a critical role for team members, especially in the remote space. Remote does not equal disconnected. What are you doing to bring people together regularly to build trust and connection?  With low levels of trust, it’s likely that people will not be willing to bring their best self to work. With low levels of trust, it’s unlikely that the big issues will be surfaced. When people do not feel connected, it’s also unlikely that the real issues get surfaced. We want to make sure we help team members, especially remote team members, see their connections with each other.

For more on trust, check out this earlier Teams365 blog post and related cartoon around 9 different ways to build trust or Teams365 1512 for Building TRust in a virtual team.

Check out this blog post on creating connection and building community across the team.

Enjoy your conversation!
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing 
Phone (416)996-8326
 
As we step into the end of the year, get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip brings us to #122 in the series. You can read others here.

This week’s tip also takes us into a Remote Team Tip. As someone who has spent the majority of my career working either leading remote teams, or supporting remote teams, I always know the importance of connecting people. As I often say in the remote space “Remote does not equal disconnected”. While it may seem that people are far away, business is still done via relationships and we need to take time to proactively build relationships. Trust and connection are still key in this work.

Remote team practices are at the heart of communication and relationships. Team practices might mean a consistent Monday morning huddle or a virtual working session every last Thursday afternoon of the month.

What are the practices you have evolved as a team?

What helps you be successful?
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What else do you think is important to take note of?
 
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing 
Phone (416)996-8326
 
As we step into the end of the year, get your planning on with the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner or Coaching Business Builder
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations? Webinars? Pick up a copy of Effective Virtual Conversations at Amazon.

This week has had some very meaty blog posts. Each Sunday I use this as an opportunity for you to take a look back at the blog posts you might have missed. Here’s what I covered:

• Saturday – This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt around Trust
• Friday – Welcome to November and Monthly Review
• Thursday – Team Building Tip asking “What is the cost of not….”
• Wednesday – Focus on a Remote Team Toolkit
• Tuesday – Focus on Getting Started with Remote Work
• Monday – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #117 focus on Design Tips for more Effective Virtual Conversations

What else do you want to make sure you accomplish this Sunday?

Enjoy your weekend,
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 a digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.
For those looking for tips, tools and ideas about remote work and support for your remote teams, be sure to check out these tags and resources. ​