We're stepping into a new month and May's focus is going to return to virtual conversations and teamwork. This continues to be a key focus in my work and writing. It's very connected to key themes facing so many teams right now in terms of leading through complexity, change and challenge.

​Over the month of May we'll be exploring the topics of change and challenge, against the backdrop of all things virtual. Whether it's virtual teams we are supporting or virtualizing our relationships and working with others many miles away - or just across the city - we're going to explore several of the key skills and themes we need to leverage. Be sure to also check out Monday posts which focus on Effective Virtual Conversations.
​Over the course of the month we're going to be exploring skills required such as Listening, Curiosity, Experimentation and Open-mindedness. Problem solving and Prioritization also round out the set.

​The first skill I wanted to look at today is the skill set of experimentation and rapid iteration which is being embraced by so many organizations and teams today. With the rapid pace of change, projects that used to take years, may now be scaled down to months, given the speed at which things are changing and becoming obsolete. Working in micro-windows vs. macro intiatives are becoming more common place. The role of "Specializing Generalist" is being sought out regularly within some teams. While the role may vary it is often defined as someone who brings expertise but can also work across functions or in different roles as a generalist would. Many virtual team members have already developed these capabilities, in part due to their autonomy and need to  often rely on themselves, or a much smaller team, to get things done.

​What are you noticing about change, complexity and how this is impacting your teams and work right now? How is the conversation changing? What is shifting?

​I hope that you will enjoy our conversations this month,
​Jennifer

Virtual teaming is increasingly a common activity. While the elements of team development remain the same, what are some of the nuances of virtual team development.

This week's Teams365 video brings to life an earlier blog post on 4 Virtual Teaming Tips. In it we explore the importance of knowing your people, and also rotating activities and elements so that it is not always the same person to has to "flex".

What are the areas which require focus on your virtual team right now?

Enjoy this week's video and be sure to check out our other Teams365 videos at our You Tube Channel. How might you bring one of them into your upcoming team meetings to spark some discussion?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

This week's Teams365 Video brings to life a Pulse post I wrote last year over at Linked IN, entitled "Building Relationships in Your Virtual Team". I spend a lot of my time as a coach and trainer working with virtual teams, helping them get clearer on their goals as well as boosting the connection amongst them which is essential for deeper levels of trust and support.

​Take a look at this Linked In post through the eyes of video. What are some things you can do to boost your relationships? Stay tuned here at the Teams365 blog as this coming month's focus (March 2018) is all about team development - for both virtual and intact teams. Enjoy!

Best wishes,
​Jennifer
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

It's Monday and time for another Virtual Facilitation Conversations Tip. Today we are at Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #20. Today's tip comes from my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, page 331 where I write "In virtual teams, it is also imperative that we build capability in the skills of new team members".

While capacity development is critical in many teams today, it can be absolutely essential to high performance in virtual teams, given that people are working independently in many instances.

As a team leader, consider how you can be building capability within your team around:
Goal Setting
Reporting
Coaching Skills - particularly peer coaching skills
Feedback
Business Acumen (as appropriate to the work you do)
Difficult Conversations
Relationship Building
Emotional Intelligence
Conflict Management
Influence

For many remote team members they are having to utilize these skills each and every day.

Just as onboarding of new team leaders is important, the onboarding of new team members can be just as critical. Some of the areas you will want to focus on in the onboarding process for new team members are:

• Team culture - who you are
  
• Who to Go to - Key resource people - other members of the team, internal resources, external stakeholders
  
• Reporting requirements - budget, resources, status updates
• Team meetings
• Understanding your role
• Key Goals, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and Corporate Priorities
• Goal Setting (whether you use a one-page plan or other)
  
• Feedback and Performance Management issues
  
• Expectations around:
  
  • Surfacing important issues
    
  • Availability (when you are on and when you are off)
    
  • Quality and completion of tasks
    
  • Navigating Conflict
    
  • Work-life (again boundaries around when you are on and off)
    
  • Reporting
    
  • Collaboration with others on the team
    
  • Meeting focus
    

What other issues are important for you to brief new team members on? How do you want to undertake your onboarding. Do you spend a day together onsite and/or virtually? Do you spend a few hours together several times during the first week or month? Let us know what you do to onboard new team members using the comments below.

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

This week's video brings to life Teams365 #741 which explored several factors of virtual team success. Check out the different tips and consider how you might incorporate these into your work.

Enjoy this week's video which runs for approximately 4 minutes.

 This fall I have been speaking a lot on virtual and remote team success, given the release of my most recent book (Effective Virtual Conversations) and the expanding interest in this topic in many industries. It's also more likely that virtual team leaders may be tasked with their own team's development. A 2016 study by R3 found that only 22% of virtual teams participated in virtual team development. Take a look at this survey here.

Here's a past post I thought many of you would be interested in - 4 Areas for Virtual and Remote Teams to Focus On. While these are not the only 4 things to explore and shore up with your team, they are four very important areas.

Take a look at what I wrote back in #Teams365 #1161:


Virtual and remote teams continue to spring up for a variety of reasons  whether it's a project team that is weaving together skills and expertise from across geographic locations, or whether it's a global team, it's important to invest in the development of virtual teams just like we do for in-person teams. This post explores four separate areas you may want to put more attention around.

Clear goals  - Goals create both focus and alignment. In a virtual team, it is important to help the team look at things from both the individual and the team level. Make sure to stimulate conversation/focus on the individual level and also the team level around questions such as
What are your key priorities?
How does each team member connect into the larger interface of the team?
What is the overlap or gaps between individual and team goals?
What resources are needed?
In terms of sequencing, what needs to be completed first before another person can start?
Being clear on what success looks like and what is necessary to achieve this (resources, feedback loops, reporting structures)

Roles and responsibilities – In virtual teams it is important to spend time being crystal clear and granular in terms of what the roles and responsibilities of each team member are. Clarify issues such as:
how their work intersects with others.
Who they report to,
Who they receive feedback from and when.
Being detailed on this helps to clarify, and bust, assumptions which may be held.

Matrix relationships – It is likely that the employee will have a series of matrix relationships in some instances, especially if they are global. Being clear on what the reporting structures are and how and when issues should be flagged with each leader. Being intentional around the feedback loops are also important.

Creating Connection - In virtual teams it is very easy to overlook the fundamentals like creating connection across team members. In future posts we will explore different approaches and activities to create connection across the team. For now, take a look at these past posts which address the issue of creating connection.

Where are you as a team in all four areas? Take note of what needs attention.

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

While assumptions are dangerous for most teams, they can be the "kiss of death" for virtual teams. Without the ability to see each other every day, structured communication touchpoints take on a new meaning. At the same token, there are a variety of layers of assumptions that can be made across a virtual team. Consider these different types of assumptions we may be making:
Assumptions about priorities - that my work is at a certain level of priority. How clear is the entire team about priorities.

Assumptions about how we like to work - when we can't see each other regularly we may start thinking that everyone likes to work the way we do. Consider your own style in terms of questions like:

• Are you a big picture person or details oriented.
  
• Do you like to get things done now, or think about things before getting them done.
• How does my work style vary with my colleagues?
  
• What adjustments do I need to make in order to work more effectively with others?
  

Cultural Assumptions - Throughout my entire career I have managed muti-national teams. Even for neighbouring countries like Canada and the  US (note the Canadian spelling of neighboring), a lack of understanding of the cultural nuances can mean success and failure. What are the cultural assumptions and biases you are bringing to the table? What assumptions are you making about other team members from other countries.  As much as we are influenced by our own culture, we also need to keep in mind that for many working on virtual teams, we may have worked in a number of different countries which has also influenced our own cultural norms. For example, don't think that because I am Canadian I'll always act a certain way, especially given that throughout the years I have worked for British companies, the UN and other global entities.

Generational Assumptions - There is much talk today about the different generational styles of the workforce - Boomers, GenXers, Millenials and Gen Z - and how we prefer to work and what we value. Where are assumptions getting in the way of looking at each individual as an individual.

For your own work, consider how assumptions are tempering your approach to virtual leadership and/or virtual facilitation. I go more in-depth to this topic in my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations.

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

One of the main themes here at the Teams365 blog is helping team leaders and their team members thrive. Yesterday's post looked at six elements new virtual teams need in order to thrive. Today’s post covers several core areas new team leaders require for success as they assume a new role. These items include:

1. Support and dialogue around what changes might be required regarding their new role
2. Mentoring by someone experienced who can share best practices and their experience in leading virtual teams
3. Budget to travel out to meet with their team and bring them together on a regular basis. Out of sight does not mean out of mind, as just as we invest in co-located teams, investing in the development of virtual teams is also necessary
4. Necessary tech support for the team in order to connect effectively, efficiently and real-time. This might involve using a combination of Web Ex or Zoom for virtual meetings, and portals such as Slack for keeping people connected and sharing documentation/materials on a real-time basis.
5. Regular development opportunities and check ins with their peers and staff to share best practices and also to be able to enhance their skills

While we are often keen to offer more training for our leaders, in the case of virtual team leaders, consider how training can be supplemented by both mentoring and coaching (group and/or 1-1).