A tipping point around remote work seems to be starting to occur - with more and more organizations realizing that a key part of the talent equation is more flexible working arrangements. With large and small companies embracing remote work arrangements, we are seeing very compelling research and data around how remote work can support employee engagement and productivity. Read about what Craig Thornton of Telus shared recently about how remote work benefits both employer and employee.

This was a focus of my 2017 writing in my book Effective Virtual Conversations and continues to be a significant part of the work I am focusing on with teams and organizations today.

As someone who has supported remote workers and teams for several decades now, it’s great to see the tide turn again back to putting the flexibility in workers’ hands.

Today’s post and tomorrow’s post will explore what organizations and teams will want to do in setting themselves up for remote work success this fall.
Today’s post looks at it from the macro, organizational level. Tomorrow’s post will look at it from the employee’s perspective.
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Four things organizations will want to ensure they do are:

1. Specify expectations around work output and quality – What gets measured in any work space should be the work output. Unfortunately, what often gets equated with success is how much time goes into making something happen. In the remote space, the success unit is OUTPUT.

Therefore, consider questions such as: What will success look like with work output for each employee? What are the expectations in terms of work, use of materials, security etc.

2. Provide connection with the office and other team members. Collaboration is just as important – and sometimes even more so – in the remote space. Be sure to spend time focusing in on orienting people across the organization and provide virtual events so people can get together. Invest in remote team development.How are you connecting people formally and informally?

Beyond meetings, are there virtual events people can join – lunch and learns; co-working opportunities etc?

3. Adopt the mantra that “out of sight does not mean out of mind”. One of the pitfalls to the transition to a remote work environment is that people can feel that they are not connected. Out of sight does not mean out of mind. Look at how you communicate and value connection and teamwork. Think about how communication and meetings can become more intentional and focused. Think about how you are bringing people together and connecting them with the communication which is needed.

4. Provide the tools and resources to make this happen – The transition to working remote arrangements takes time. It also requires a mind shift in many instances. What tools and resources are needed? What changes in the way you work is required?

For more tips on working remote be sure to check out my 2017 book Effective Virtual Conversations. Part 1 focuses on the ecosystem of the virtual space where conversations take place (from education to coaching to teams), Part 2 explores HOW you can work more effectively (meetings, program design etc), and Part 3 focuses on virtual leadership, and virtual teams in the remote space.

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Remote and virtual teamwork has been something I have supported for the bulk of my 30-year career. While not every team I led in my early days was remote, over the years my own remote leadership experience continued to open doors to new roles and opportunities. When I started my own business, Potentials Realized, in 2004, it only made sense to have a virtual business.
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While remote and virtual teamwork is becoming more common today than it was, it’s still an area which a lot of leaders (and team members!) are not comfortable with. I explored many of the topics I am touching on here in my 2017 book – Effective Virtual Conversations – and I continue to write and support remote teams in these areas.

Here are five key areas you will want to pay attention to, in your work and conversations:

1. Trust and Connection
2. We don’t operate in a vacuum – relationships are important
3. Understanding Context (everyone’s) and Big Picture
4. Strong Team Culture
5. Regular team practices

 
Let’s look at each one in turn:
#1 - Trust and Connection: Trust and connection are essential for exceptional virtual teamwork success. If we don’t have it, it’s likely that information does not flow, people don’t know each other or where to go, collaboration does not occur. Check out this past Teams #65 post to learn more.
#2 - We don’t operate in a vacuum – Relationships are important in the virtual space. Knowing our peers and who to reach out to, as well as having colleagues and connections across locations, is key. What learning could you do in the area of context or connection?
#3 - Understanding Context (everyone’s) and Big Picture – One of the challenges of virtual work is that we only see what’s on the screen. We usually don’t get a sense of the bigger context. What is the bigger picture we need to know about – priorities, gaps, roles, etc?
#4 - Strong Team Culture: Having a strong team culture helps us understand how we do things. It also helps us differentiate how we do things on this team, rather than other teams. Culture is manifested through sayings values, behaviors and practices. What’s important to clarify and/or communicate about your culture?
# 5- Regular Team Practices: Remote does not equal alone. Communication and regular team meetings are critical for performance, alignment and cohesion. What are the efficient ways you can keep each other informed?

As a virtual or remote team what’s important to note and focus on this quarter?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

​This month’s theme is about teamwork in complexity. One of the more complex areas can be the virtual and remote space. Let’s look at mistakes made by new and experienced virtual and remote team leaders.
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I also thought it would be interesting to reach back to a skill-based post as well. Here’s what I wrote about virtual and remote leadership skills:

Today we reach the W in the A-Z of Virtual and Remote Team Leadership. As virtual and remote team leaders, having a wealth of skills and experiences to draw on can be invaluable.  Given the need to lead across distance and ever-changing contexts it can be useful to have a broad base of skills to draw up on. Many of us are Jacks or Jills of all trades. The ability to lead confidently in uncertainty and across issues we are often unfamiliar with is key. Our ability to empower our team members to take the lead and advise on issues is also critical.

​Questions to Consider:

• ​When you think of your skill base as a team leader, what broad skills do you bring really help you lead effectively?
• What new skills would you like to add to the table?
• ​What experiences add to your mix?
• ​What new leadership experiences would help you round out your style?

https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-850-virtual-and-remote-team-leadership-w-is-for

I also wanted to remind you of some of the more common mistakes new and experienced virtual and remote team leaders make:

Today’s post explores common mistakes virtual and remote team leaders can make. In this post we are going to look at five different ones.

1. Not enough 1-1's – As I have said many times, being out of sight is not the same as being out of mind. Not spending enough time in one-on-ones can be detrimental to the levels of trust team members feel, the connection they feel with others, which will have an impact on levels of engagement. What is an appropriate frequency of meeting time with team members? What does it look like – phone calls, video streaming, onsite visits, or bringing staff into the office regularly?
2. Not learning on your feet – Part of being an effective virtual and remote team leader is your ability to be shifting, learning and adapting. Given that there is much less levels of control and greater span, the ability to learn on your feet and expecting this rather than feeling you will have all the answers, can make a big difference with team members.
3. Not being clear with goals – Goals can be a little different with virtual and remote teams. Whether people are matrixed and reporting into different areas, or whether goals can become competitive, providing opportunities to be clear with goals is important.
4. Not helping people connect with the bigger picture – Because virtual and remote team members are working with different levels of autonomy and independently, helping team members connect with the bigger picture is essential. This could include helping them understand more about corporate and departmental goals, giving them more access to strategic or corporate plans, and making goals and achievements more visible. Making goals more visible might include making the reporting structures more shared and visually appealing, or mapping out team goals on a weekly basis or other.
5. Not providing team members with the necessary responsibility and authority – A final mistake virtual and remote team leaders can make is not providing the necessary responsibility and authority to their team members so they can make the decisions they need to autonomously.

https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-1177-common-mistakes-made-by-virtual-and-remote-team-leaders

What can you do to avoid these common mistakes?

Pick up a copy of the entire A-Z series at the Potentials Realized Store here. It’s a downloadable ebook format for $19 US.

All the best,
Jennifer

​In this week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #94, consider using a map to create more engagement in your virtual sessions. Maps create a visual anchor for group members.

Maps can take a variety of forms, from:

• Geographic maps (i.e. map of your region, country, the world)
• A roadmap of where you are going
• A process map – what the steps are

Incorporating a map into your next call, may help people:

• Get a sense of location and context
• Identify where they are in relation to each other
• Visualize what a process can look like
• Remember what a sequence is

It is likely that I will incorporate a number of maps in a virtual call including:

1. A geographic map (Where are you calling in from today?)
2. A process map – Identify the area which is the one you find most challenging
3. A roadmap of our call sequence (shown at the start and possibly the end)

​What type of maps could you incorporate in your next call?

Best,
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.

​This week’s Team Springboard gets you thinking about the value and practice of virtual co-working sessions. For those that are remote workers, a virtual co-working session might connect people on zoom or Skype for a one -hour or half-day session where team workers work live throughout the session, or meet at the top of the hour, checking in on progress.
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These virtual co-working sessions can provide many benefits including:

• A focused time to get things done – when was the last time you scheduled a block of time that was “meeting free” to get things done?
• Making a list of things that just need to get checked off
• Using the power of peer accountability in ensuring that you do what you say you are going to do in short bursts
• Connecting with others – the isolation effect of remote work can wear on many remote workers. This isolation may lead to a lack of focus, prioritizing “house” items over work items etc.

Questions to consider:

• What would be the benefit of scheduling a virtual co-working session?
• When could you put a 1-4-hour block in the calendar with one or more colleagues?
• What would you put on your “To Do” list?

Schedule it now and send out your invite! You’ll be happy you did!

Enjoy your week and your productivity,
Jennifer

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip focuses on the question “On what platform will connection between calls work best?”. In coaching we have a saying that the “’impact of coaching happens in between the calls”. It is often the actions, insights and connections made in between your virtual sessions where people put ideas into practice, connect the dots, pass ideas forward, that learning and momentum happen.

The platform which connects group members in between the calls can be instrumental in enhancing this. There are many options which are possible including:

• Private Community Groups such as Mighty Networks
• Secret Facebook Groups (non-searchable)
• Chat groups on your own Learning Management System – we use Teachable as our e-learning portal
• Text

​What is going to keep the conversation going for the groups you are working with?

As you go to select your platform, consider these items:

• The purpose – is it to share successes, resources, links, files, other
• Accessibility and mobility
• Confidentiality

Best,
Jennifer

Yesterday’s Teams365 post #1905 focused on virtual team culture. Be sure to check it out if you haven't done so.

Today I wanted to explore three different ways you might support your team in identifying their own virtual team culture.

As a reminder, team culture usually points to three things - who we are, how do we do things and what is important to us.

Here’s a quick listing of different activities you might consider incorporating:

Who we are:
Virtual teams which excel know each other. They have strong relationships across the team, which allows them to call on others, and “have each others’ backs”. To strengthen your connection, consider these activities:

Have the team create a list of words/adjectives which describe who you are. Shape these into a word cloud which can be visible to the team.
Discuss the question “Who are we when we are at our best?”. Again, use the words to create a graphic about who you are.

At your next team meeting, have each person share one thing others may not know about them.

At your next team meeting, have each person share something that is unique to their location (this works especially well if you have a global team).

In your next meeting, share your screen which includes a variety of photos or icons. Have each person select the photo or icon which represents what they bring to the team.

How we do things:
Each team will have its own unique practices and ways of doing things. This will vary from team to team. Spending time discussing how you do things, and what the expectations are, creates clarity and builds trust, boosting both performance and results.

To explore this topic further consider:
Discussing “how we do things” (communicate, make decisions, work across differences, address conflict) can be a series of different discussions and activities. It might include a Rules of the Road which everyone has signed off on.

What makes you unique and distinct in terms of how you do things?

Another tool is to look at the IS/IS NOT table. This can include it is, it is not…
 
What is important to us:
Clarity around priorities and goals for the entire team helps with alignment, prioritization and decision making. Spending time on a regular basis discussing what is important to us may also involve:
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A list visible to the entire team (ie. Think Intranet or other post on)

• Top 5 Goals for the month
• Top 5 Priorities for the week
• Top 5 Priorities for the quarter
• Enshrining your Team Agreements or Ways of Working into something that is visible. Some teams have enshrined this into a plaque, a screen saver or other.

For more on these topics, and a demonstration of what some of these can look like (photos), take a look at my January 2019 Virtual Team Builders call which I did as part of the Effective Virtual Conversations series. You can check it out here.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

​As we continue our journey through this month’s exploration on virtual teams, I couldn’t not talk about team culture which forms the bedrock of any team, especially one that is virtual. Our team culture points to:

who are we, how do we do things and what is important to us.

Being clear about what our team culture is as a virtual team is critical, given that many, or all of our members may be members of multiple teams. Let’s look at how we can explore these three elements as a virtual team:

1. Who are we – What do we do? Why do we exist? Virtual teams excel when they have a clear identity about who they are. This helps to differentiate how they do things on one team versus another. Virtual team members may be members of multiple teams. Spending time as a team to connect, and "get to know each other" - who we are, what are roles are, what we do -is critical for virtual team success.
   
2. How do we do things - What are our agreements around communication? Task completion? Follow-through? Flagging issues? Communicating with each other?

All of these elements can vary dramatically from one team to another.
Taking time to discuss how we do things is an important part of identifying and focusing in on who we are as a team.

3. What is important to us? All members of the team should be well versed with what’s important at multiple levels.  This can entail:

• What’s important to us this week?
• This month?
• This quarter?

Ensuring that everyone is clear on what’s important helps with decision making. It also helps with negotiating where focus goes, especially if you are members of multiple matrix team.
 
Having discussion is one way of working with team culture. There are also some other creative ways which we’ll explore in tomorrow’s post. I hope you'll join me tomorrow

Stay tuned!
Jennifer

Today’s Effective Virtual Conversations prompt is “Who is driving the bus?”. Some of the most common questions I receive from virtual leaders are “Am I coaching? Am I training? Am I facilitating?”.
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While the focus on this question for the people we are hosting the call for is usually “it doesn't matter as long as I am learning”, it can be important for the person who is leading the call to be aware of what they are doing - training, coaching or facilitating. A key question the “facilitator” can be asking to dig a little deeper is  - “Who is driving the bus?” Who is the one that is shaping the direction, and content of the call?"
 
While this may be overly simplistic, a great starting point for understanding the “director” of the call is to consider who is “driving” and shaping the conversation.
 
In coaching, a fundamental premise is that the person being coached should create with the coach (and others) the direction of the call, and their content knowledge should form the foundation of the conversation. The coach is not there to share a lot of content, but rather use any content to “Spark” the conversation. Coaches focus deeply on Goal Setting, and supporting the deepened awareness around “things below the waterline”, things like values, beliefs, assumptions, perspectives. Coaching is rarely a one-off conversation, and usually has multiple touch points.
 
In training, or a webinar in the virtual space, we lean into the content we bring. We are measured on this, and while we want to poll our group members for what they want to learn, the content may also be shaped by the organization. Training is typically content-rich, and in that respect the trainer may be driving the bus a majority of the time, handing off the “wheel” as new skills are acquired, so that bus members get practice.
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Facilitation comes from the Latin word “facilis”. It means “to become easy”. Part of the facilitator’s role virtually is to help people clarify the focus of the conversation, and how they want to move from a to b. A facilitation may be more apt to be a one-off conversation, and usually uses process to help engage the conversation, especially with bigger groups.
 
Who is driving the bus in your virtual conversations? Are there any changes you want to make to this?
 
For more on these distinctions between coaching, training and facilitating, check out any of my first three books – Effective Group Coaching (2010), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) or From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). 
 
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer

​Welcome to the 85th Effective Virtual Conversations tip. This week’ tip is “Be clear on expectations”. This is particularly important when you are working in the virtual space, given the diversity of location, experience and past experiences which can exist within any virtual teams or groups you are working with.

This week let’s discuss the many ways we start to create expectations around virtual experience.
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If it’s a virtual team you are working with, you will want to have shared or co-created experiences as it relates to your virtual meetings as well as your virtual processes.
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Virtual team and group meetings will want to have shared expectations or agreement for meetings. For example, as a virtual team or group you might agree to:

• Start and end on time
• Be present and be focused during meetings
• Follow-through

With virtual events our expectations start before the process begins. This may be from the moment people read something on your website, or the first email they receive from you. If there is anything you want the group to do before a program or process, let them know.

Make a list of any items you want people to complete or take action on prior to a conversation.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder (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 we explore topics related to productivity, teamwork, coaching, business development and leadership. ​