Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2557 – The Year in Review – Key Themes for 2020 at the Teams365 Blog

12/30/2020

As we go to wrap up the year, I wanted to take a look back at the many different focus areas here at the blog during 2020. Some of you may know that this blog started as an experiment for me back on January 1st, 2014. I wanted to see what would happen if I dedicated time every day to writing. More than 2500 blog posts later, and several other books which were borne through this writing, the Teams365 blog continues to go strong.

As someone who has written about remote work for many years, 2020 brought it in, in volume. If you didn’t take a look at yesterday’s post around the Top 10 podcast episodes from the Remote Pathways for 2020, please take a look.

Some of the key themes we touched on this year included:

Team Effectiveness in the Remote Space
Virtual Productivity
Leading in Disruption
Leadership
Standing Out Virtually in the Remote Space
Remote Work Foundations
Team Essentials

I also continued with the regular weekly series as well, including:

Monday’s Effective Virtual Conversations tips AND the more recent Stand Out Virtually Ideas
Thursday’s Team Building Tips – Questions to incorporate into your work
Friday’s Flashback – dipping into more than 52 past posts
Saturday’s Weekly Journaling Prompts – what have you enjoyed about these?

I look forward to continuing to provide blogs and posts into 2021!

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™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2556 – Top 10 Remote Pathways Podcast Episodes for 2020

12/29/2020

One of my favorite creative projects this past 18 months has been the creation and launch of the Remote Pathways podcast. It’s been warmly embraced by listeners globally. The Remote Pathways Podcast explores the PEOPLE, PLACES and PROCESSES to REMOTE WORK.

I thought it would be interesting to share with you our top 10 episodes for 2020. Here’s what we, and our listeners, LOVED listening to:

Enjoy!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2552 – Happy Holidays!

12/25/2020

Wishing you and your loved ones a very wonderful holiday season!

Thank you for joining us throughout the year for the focus on all things virtual and remote leadership, teamwork and conversations.

We look forward to continuing to serve as a resource for you.

Enjoy your day!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2550 – 10 Posts You Will Want to Check Out from 2020 on Remote Teams and Leadership

12/23/2020

Yesterday I spotlighted posts on effective virtual conversations. Today I wanted to share ten posts from 2020 about remote work, teams and leadership. These were definitely popular posts from 2020:

Check out these three articles I published over on Thrive Global as well:

What are you going to continue to focus on as you move forward with your work?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2545 – Flashback Friday – Stand Out Virtually – Teams365 #2395

12/18/2020

The Stand Out Virtually micro-brand was birthed this past summer in June. I first started writing it here at the blog on July 21st with the Flashback Friday post I shared. Here it is again in case you missed it:

The digital space can get very crowded, with one Zoom call looking like another.

Today’s post gets you thinking about different ways you can stand out virtually. If you are a leader, coach or business owner, what can do you do make sure that your call stands out virtually?

#1 – Be clear – From the start, let people know what they can expect. How long is the call? What’s being covered? What is the process going to be?

#2 – Create expectations – From the start, let people know what they can expect. What is the process you are going to follow? A lack of clarity creates a lack of certainty.

#3 – Consider the visuals which will create a WOW – Our brains process visuals faster than text. What are the visual elements you want to use to help anchor your work? What is the environment you would like to create?

#4 – Create a pause – One of the common characteristics of a lot of virtual calls these days is that there is no space to breathe. Literally. There’s no pauses or chance to catch your breath. Part of creating memorability is doing something different or novel.

#5 – Create connection – In my remote working whitepaper I shared the 7 Cs – Remote Enablers. Connection (along with clarity) is one of them. We want to make sure that we are creating CONNECTION on multiple levels, in multiple ways. What is the connection to the topic? What is the connection to a person’s world? What is the connection to others on the call? What are you doing to create connection?

#6 - What’s your call to action? What is the call to action you are making? What will people do after the call? Are you building in time for people to note their next steps? Articulate or share their next steps?

As you think about your upcoming conversations in the year ahead, What’s your favorite tip? Share with us in the comments below.

Enjoy the conversation and reflection,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2541 – Stand Out Virtually Principle – Connect

12/14/2020

Welcome back to another Monday here at the Teams365 blog. For Stand Out Virtually Principle #4 we have CONNECT. Connection has been a central theme here at the Teams365 blog since I started writing the posts back in 2014. Never before has connection been so important.

Consider what’s important for you around connection in your work. A reminder of the blog post I shared on November 10th about the 5 Layers of Connection and the 12 different ways to incorporate it. Be sure to take a look at that post – here.

The five layers of connection are:

To you, the host
To each other
To the content you are offering
To the context in which you are having the conversation
To the technology

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2531 – Flashback Friday – Teams365 #741 – 4 Core Skills in Virtual Facilitation

12/4/2020

Given that this year has focused so heavily on the virtual world, 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 is 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.
How are you doing with each of these areas? If you are looking for practical techniques and approach to boost your virtual facilitation, check out the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program where I personally train you to boost your skills as a virtual facilitation.

Consider joining me for the next one-day session next week or in 2021.

Pressed for time? View the Teams365 blog post at my YouTube Channel here.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2527 - Stand Out Virtually Principle #3 - Things Get Magnified in the Remote Space

11/30/2020

Welcome back to another Stand Out Virtually weekly principle. This week I wanted to share the principle that “Things get magnified in the remote space”. That’s the good, the bad, and the not so great.

What are the things you want to showcase? When we have limited time together as teams or others, things become more pronounced.

If things are unclear, it’s likely that they will be even more unclear. If people feel disconnected, their sensation may be even more around disconnection.

What are the things you want to spotlight? What needs volume to be amplified around? To be minimized?

Enjoy the conversation,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS354 #2520 - Stand Out Virtually Principle 2 – Take a Stand

11/23/2020

With so much noise in the virtual space, it is not only important to be consistent, it is also important to take a stand around what’s important to you?

What are you committed to creating in your work, no matter what?

What is the stand you are taking?

Late 2019, I put my stake in the ground for creating and holding the space for virtual and remote professionals globally to do their best work. Through training, coaching, the Remote Pathways podcast and my writing, my goal is to reach, and impact 795,000 remote professionals by the end of 2021.

My commitment has not just been shaped in the last year, but rather the last 3 decades of my career. From leading teams in the remote space from most of the 1990s, to establishing a virtual business back in 2004, working in the virtual and remote space has been a big part of my passion and my focus.

Well before this year’s pandemic, my focus on global connections and mitigating environmental impact where driving forces for my choices around virtual work.

My stand is that remote work and virtual conversations are an essential part of the fabric of work. Even when we can work in other ways, I do believe that these are here to stay.

As you consider your work and your calling, what is important for you to focus on? What are you passionate about taking a stand around?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2515 - Celebrating our first season of the Remote Pathways podcast

11/18/2020

Next week signals of our first year of the Remote Pathways podcast. When my co-host Michelle Mullins and I started this journey a year ago of exploring the people, pathways and processes to remote work, we would have had no idea how the year would be placing such an emphasis on remote wok.

We’ve released 24 great episodes exploring the terrain of the remote workspace. From entrepreneurial pursuits to project managers, sales professionals, to virtual facilitators, the landscape of remote work is vast. We have also focused on helping people explore some of the key areas that help people thrive, for example, our episodes with:

Check out some of my other favorite episodes:

We are looking forward to having you join us for season 2!
Enjoy your conversations,

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326