Virtual meetings can be a drag! As I write in Effective Virtual Conversations, they don’t have to involve “Death by Conference Call”.

Four to five times a year I offer the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program, geared to provide leaders, trainers, facilitators and other professionals with tools to jazz up their virtual conversations – meetings, webinars and other virtual conversations.

It’s really important in virtual sessions to make things as visual, and visible, as possible. That’s why slides and photographs can be a great thing. While design and photography was probably not on your list of development activities as a leader, think about how photos and visuals shape:

• The stories of the team
• The memories of what you have achieved
• The emotions created
• Team identity
• What photos, images and visuals are you using in your team communication? Is there an opportunity to do more, or incorporate more in these areas?

 
I wanted to share a quick framework you might consider using and adapting for your next team meeting.
One of the things which is important for leaders of all kinds, virtual leaders especially, is to check for understanding in terms of what people are “taking away” from a call. Team meetings are usually our only live touchpoint as virtual and remote teams. Leveraging these opportunities for feedback and learning are key.
As part of my work as a presenter, I often incorporate a slide that looks like this, at the end of the presentation:
 
The icons represent our focus and takeaways.
I always like to build in time to hear from each person around:

1. What are you next steps? (The feet icon)
2. What has your learning been? (The scissors)
   
3. What do you want to keep your eyes on (The magnifying glass)
4. What will you take forward (the briefcase)

 
It’s highly unlikely that we get to hear from everyone, however, I can share this on the screen and have everyone use “annotation” and include their name to indicate what their responses are. We can then take a screen grab and circulate it as key learning from the meeting.

Once people get into the practice of this, it only takes a few minutes, yet it serves as a very powerful reminder of what we covered, and also accountability tool that peers and leaders can follow up on.

How might you use something like this in your work and/or virtual conversations?
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Enjoy,
Jennifer

Welcome back to Monday’s EVC Tip - #63 in the series.

This week’s tip is all about getting you to think about matrix management. In the virtual space it is likely that your team members are part of multiple teams and may be reporting to several different leaders.

Remote team members may have a local leader or supervisor they see on a regular basis, and also a more remote team leader who actually works more closely with them on the macro level.

For example, maybe a person is part of a continent wide marketing team. This team is continent wide in focus, and because they are based in a more remote location, they report into a local office regularly. They are expected to work with both the local and regional leaders. Each team has different ways of working and different cultures. The regional marketing team is more laid back and creative, while the local team is detail oriented and fast paced. It can be a  challenge for the employee to navigate both sets of working relationships, work cultures and leadership styles.

Key to this process is being intentional, and proactive, in discussing many of the issues that may emerge. If three-way meetings are possible – between the employee, the local leader and the regional subject leader, it can be useful to talk through how as a partnership you can be most effective in supporting the employee in getting the results needed for the organization.

Some key issues you will want to clarify early on in your communications within matrix relationships include:

• Clarifying roles, responsibilities and reporting structures
• Identifying overlaps and gaps
• Clarifying goals and priorities (especially if there are different priorities)
• Identifying resources available

You can read more about this on page 334 of Effective Virtual Conversations.

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations |  Coaching Team Leaders  
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of several books including the 2018 Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner & Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) 
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

It’s Monday and time for another Effective Virtual Conversations Tip. This week’s tip takes us into the realm of Virtual Teams. The last section of Effective Virtual Conversations focuses on virtual team issues – developing your team, virtual team leadership and other related issues.
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With the remote and virtual work space continuing to grow, getting clear on the way we want to foster virtual teams is critical
 
Central issues facing virtual teams include:

• Building relationships
• Building Trust
• Creating connection amongst the team
• Providing clarity
• Being intentional

 
Let’s look at each one of these in turn, starting with trust given that people are unlikely to engage if the group does not trust each other. Trust in the virtual and remote space usually exists within the frame of the program. As such, it’s important to think about what you are doing to build trust, and what’s taking away trust.

Going hand in hand with trust is building relationships. Relationships in the virtual space are peer related.

In that light, putting an emphasis on creating connection amongst the team on a regular basis, formally and informally is key. It’s important to remember that as great as technology has become, it’s still hard to replace the intimacy of a face to face experience. With that in mind, is there a way to create a touch point once or twice a year.

Providing clarity around instructions, work flow, requirements is also key. Make sure that assumptions are not being made about project. It can help to focus on end results and be over communicating (without micro-managing). Consider how you want to check in that everyone has the same understanding, and is working from the information that they need.

Being intentional means many different things. In the virtual space it can mean being focused about what you are doing. While there is always a lot of “winging it”, being intentional with the important things can be important.
These five issues are important for the entire team – not just the relationship between the leader and the team. What can you be doing to focus on these issues?

Enjoy!
Jennifer

​We’re continuing to move along with more things you’ll want to focus on this fall with your team, to support them in getting results and building relationships. We know that teams which excel have strong relationships – they know who is who and who does what, what people’s strengths and prefeerenes are, and great teams are also good at getting results.
 
Area #6 – Building Connections Across the Team
It’s likely that your team composition may have changed at some point during the year. Does everyone know each other?
If you are looking for some quick icebreakers you may want to consider these resources:

Wilderdom’s Group Portal – including their index of different activities and resources. While this is incredibly vast, you may find some that pique your curiosity and can be adapted for your team. Check them out here.

BusinessBalls listing of a variety of exercises under the “recommended resources” column. Find them here.

Since 2005 I have hosted the Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog. One series I have focused on are different exercises and resources coaches will want to add to their toolkit. Take a look at these dozen plus posts here.
 
Using Visual Cards to spark conversation – The 40 Ways to Work with Visual Cards e-book, highlights 40 different ways you can use any visual card deck to spark dialogue and learning across your team. Pick up a digital copy of this resource at our website here.
 
Area #7 – Revisiting Your Vision and Making it Tangible
One of the most important things teams can do to create alignment in the fluid working space, it to have a shared vision. When did you last revisit your vision, and what you are aiming towards? Team vision statements can have different time windows, as well as formats.
This fall, you may want to dedicate some time in your team meetings revisiting your vision and making it tangible. In the realm of coaching, we work with our clients to create STRUCTURES. A structure is usually a visual or tangible item which serves as a reminder.
In working with your vision this fall, what’s the one way you can make it tangible?
Here are some ideas teams I have worked with, have created structures for themselves:

1. A photograph of the team vision/story line they have created together. This has been circulated and in one instance, became the screensaver for the team.
2. Using tinfoil, creating a solar system with each planet representing different elements, and milestones, of the journey.
3. Ringtones to remind the team of key taglines/mottos shaping their vision and aspirations.

What can you do to revisit or create your team vision for the fall, 2019 or the next fiscal cycle?
I’ll be back with more team activities ideas next Tuesday so stay tuned.

Best,
​Jennifer

Last week I started a four-part series of blog posts on 10 Things to do with your team. If you didn’t catch Wednesday’s post on ideas one through three, catch up on them here. 

Today I wanted to cover 3 more things:
​
Area #4 – Mapping out key work flows – Many teams today, especially virtual teams, don’t have a good sense of how work fits together. This is an important area to explore at the macro-level with remote and virtual teams, given the “domino effect” that can happen across a team when one person does not complete work on time, or as planned.
As a team you will want to consider key activities projects you have until the end of the year. One at a time, map out the key tasks of the project or activity. What’s the sequencing? Who is responsible for what? What needs to happen before the next person can start, or complete, the work? 
As you map this out  - and it can literally be a mapping on a white board or white screen, or a set of post-it notes – identify
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Area #5 – Role Clarity
Going hand in hand with work flows, and what people are doing, is clarifying with team members their roles. This is often one of the areas teams struggle with the most. It is common for roles to be undefined, duplicative, and gaps may exist.
In clarifying roles, you may want to consider these types of questions:

• Who does what on the team?
• Where is there overlap?
• Where is there a gap?
• What are the areas which are not being covered?
• Is everyone in the right role (i.e. are people’s strengths being leveraged? Consider who is good at getting things done vs. planning, starting things vs. wrapping them up)

Tomorrow I’ll be spotlighting two more ideas you might want to incorporate this fall with your team.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

This week’s Flashback Friday post takes us right back to year one of the Teams365 blog. What makes a team successful? As you might have noted, I write and speak a lot about the Six Factors of High Performing Teams. There’s not a lot of time in today’s business context for team development, so it’s important that we are efficient and focused with it. This often means returning to the basics, and equipping everyone with the same information.
I thought it would be useful to go back to the basics of some of the elements of virtual team success. What are some of the areas which need to be in place, or can be revisited quickly to do a pulse check to see what needs shoring up?
One area that teams often struggle with is the area of Team Roles. Here’s what I wrote about Exploring Team Roles in Teams365 post #1527.

“An important part of the team building process is exploring and clarifying team roles. There are several great frameworks by researchers around the different roles team members play. For example, you may want to explore the writings and frameworks of Belbin. 
In my work as a team coach I like to build on the knowledge of the team itself, getting them to generate their own framework, and naming the different roles they play in their team. It’s common to hear terms like: Project coordinator, social convenor, initiator, implementer, fact checker, Devil’s Advocate. Each role serves a valuable purpose. 
What are the roles which exist in your team?
Why is this topic important? 
Exploring team roles is important for a variety of reasons. First, conflict often emerges when teams do not have clarity on their roles as a team. Next, role overlap may lead to duplication, and role division may lead to huge gaps that exist. Another layer which is extremely important as a team is to ensure that others understand what roles you inhabit, and what is enjoyable or not. It’s also important to remember that members of a group can get into “role fatigue” when they have to inhabit that role for a long time. The writing of Marita Fridjohn and Ann Rod explores this topic, along with other many useful team topics, . 
Here’s a discussion you can undertake as a team:

• What are the roles which exist within the team?
• Who inhabits the different roles?
• What is the greatest value that role serves for this team?
• How might that role get over-magnified or over-inhabited?
• What roles need to be clarified for the team?
• What roles are missing? What’s needed?
• Which roles are overlapping? What impact does this have?

Enjoy the conversation!
​Jennifer

I’m reaching back to Teams365 #140 – 4 Tips for Virtual Teaming back in 2014 where I wrote the following:
 
Teams 365 #140: Four Tips for Virtual Team management
 
For most of the last twenty plus years of my career I have worked in virtual environments, leading teams and working on projects with people who sometimes I have never met face to face. This is increasingly becoming the norm for most people. 

Today's post is about four tips for virtual teaming:

1. Know your people - it is really important to get to know your people in the virtual environment, just as it is in the face to face environment. One on ones - as showcased in the Teams365 comic yesterday illustrates how a quick five minute touch base with each team member is key in building connection. What projects do people have on the go? What support do they need? What space do they need to brainstorm/strategize/talk things through? This last question is often very relevant in the virtual environment especially if team members are working in geographic isolation.

2. Stay Connected in Ways that Work - With today's multi-generational workforce, different workers will have different preferences for connection - a quick phone call, a skype chat, Face time, regular emails or even texts. What are ways that you can stay connected.
What's preferred by each of your team members?

3. Know what your team members appreciate - it is really important to actively solicit feedback from your team member to find out what is working, and what is not with your support. What do your team members appreciate? A quick, unexpected call? Regularly scheduled meetings on skype? What type of feedback do they want? What type of support do they expect?

4. Rotate - Rotating is so important, particularly if you have  a geographically dispersed team over distance or timezones. Is one person always having to compromise in terms of meeting early/late, or having to travel the longest distance. What could rotation look like for your team?


Best wishes,
​Jennifer

This time of year can be a transition for many – with some team members leaving, and others coming on board. How intentional are you with your onboarding of new virtual team members? What do you do? Do you pair people up with  a buddy? Do you create a way for people to shadow others virtually, to get a sense of how things are done on the team. Onboarding and orientation can be a hit or miss for many organizations and teams. Often, it is left up to the leader to make sure new members are welcomed and starting their job off on the right foot. In the virtual space, where a team member may start weeks or even months before they have contact with the main office, providing them with a structured process at the start of their involvement with the team is important.
 
While this list is no means comprehensive, some questions new virtual team members may have, and areas you will want to cover are:

Team Issues:
What is the culture of the team? Remember, how are things done around here.
What are the team priorities?
Who is on the team? What are their strengths?
What could you reach out to them for?
What else should the new team member know about the team and its focus?
 
The new team members’ role
What are the roles and responsibilities of the new team member’s role?
What key priorities and deadlines are there?
Who will they need to reach out to?
What feedback loops are there?
What is expected in terms of performance?
 
Relationship between the team leader and new team member:
 What are your expectations of me as a team member? Team leader?
How do you like to be communicated with?
What are the issues I should surface directly to you? When?
What are the things I should keep in mind in terms of reporting? Connecting with others on the team?
What issues should I call about? Email about? Use the web about?
 
Who should I reach out to around:

• How to do things?
• Technical IT issues

What other issues are important to note?
 
What have you found useful in terms of onboarding new virtual team members? Do you assign a peer partner from the team? How often do they meet? What works well? Feel free to comment below.
 
Enjoy!
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Effective Virtual Conversations |  Coaching Team Leaders  
We provide team and leadership development support through coaching, consulting and training services
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) 
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

​How are you incorporating video to you work? Dialogue? Learning? Virtual Conversations?
 
A few weeks ago I attended a school field trip with my son’s Grade 7 class. We were visiting a historical site and it was the end of the day. To wrap things up the guide asked if we wanted to watch a video or recap the ideas verbally. It was a resounding 100% “Video!”. On the hour long bus ride back to the school you could hear the continued conversation about the video and its’ contents.
 
Video is still at a stage where it’s the memorable and novel approach to recapping or sharing information. How are you using video in your work?
 
Over the last two years I have been experimenting through more use of video, not only here at the blog, but also in presentations and my webinars.   You’ll notice that for most Sunday posts over the last year I’ve included a short 2 minute video, bringing to life a blog post. If you’ve taken the time to read the original then view the video, which do you prefer? Take a look at some of the Sunday videos here. 
 
Most of these short 1.5-2.5 minute videos were made via Lumen5. It’s a platform I find intuitively easy to use, and is great if you have content you want to convert to video.
 
I’ve also experimented with other video platforms – Facebook Live as well as Adobe Spark. In Adobe Spark you can take still photos and add words, plus do a voice over. It’s another great option. Facebook Live, of course, is a different option, and can be a valuable vehicle to connect with your audience in real-time.
 
How might you be able to use more video in your work? What addition would it provide?
 
Enjoy the start to your month!
 
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching(Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2009)
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326​

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