Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2254 - EVC Tip 134: 8 Essential Virtual Meeting Tips

3/2/2020

Last week’s post got you to think about meetings and what’s going to help you keep them on track, especially if they are virtual. Part of the challenge to virtual calls is not only keeping them focused but making sure we also bring everyone’s voice into the room. There are a variety of techniques we can be leveraging to make sure that meetings are interactive and are not just a talking head.

In your next meeting, consider using the following elements:

Visuals – What visuals are going to capture people’s attention? What will prompt or provoke some new thinking?
Media – Have you created some music or video that will stimulate or prompt a different energy?
Breakouts – If you are looking to bring people’s voices into the room, can you incorporate breakouts into the main room? Maybe different groups explore ideas around the varied topics you are exploring? Perhaps sub-groups meet in breakouts according to the topic they are interested in.
Annotation – Annotation is often an underutilized way to bring peoples voices into the room.
Chat – Get people to input and communicate via chat.

Also, like today’s post recommends, be sure to incorporate the 8 Essential Virtual Meeting Tips I share in Effective Virtual Conversations. This may include questions I term as the 8 Essential Virtual Meeting Questions:

What’s the purpose of the meeting?
What takeaways do we want?
Who needs to be on the call?
What preparation is needed for us to be most effective?
What pace to we want to keep it engaging?
What will help keep the focus?
What is absolutely essential to cover?
What follow up might be required?

(Source: Chapter 9, Effective Virtual Conversations, Jennifer Britton, Copyright 2017)

What are you going to do to make the most of your next meeting?

Best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.
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.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

TEAMS365 #2245 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 88 – I feel supported by…

2/22/2020

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

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

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.
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

TEAMS365 #2220 – Team Essential – Connection

1/28/2020

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

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Writing
Phone (416)996-8326

Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

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.

TEAMS365 #2171 – Five ways you’ll want to jazz up your virtual conversations in 2020 (co-working sessions)

12/10/2019

With an increasing number of professionals leveraging the power of virtual conversations and meetings, I thought it would be a good idea to include a post this month focusing on five ways you’ll want to jazz up your virtual conversations. Still too often virtual calls are plagued by poor connection, multi-tasking, being “talked at” rather than being engaged in discussion. It’s what I call the Death by Conference call mindset in my 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at 5 ways to break the habits of bad conversations:

Get everyone on the same platform – We’ve all been there. Too often. In a call where some people are in a room together (physically) with a few outliers who are in the virtual space. The boomerang connection does not mix. Can we either:
1. Bring everyone onto the same platform by moving the conversation completely into the remote space where everyone has their own window.
2. Use a technology which will give a clear, 360 view of the room. I just heard about OWL Labs technology and WOW – what a game changer! (And no, this is not a paid endorsement for them.)
Get people co-designing and co-creating together – using annotation. Given the fact that we are often “Alone with our thoughts” many days, and don’t have the collaborative stimulation of a lunchroom or water cooler, would it be possible to dedicate some time for the group/team to create some learning together. Perhaps it’s doing some visual brainstorming work, or having people identify what they want to explore together. Use annotation throughout your calls and get people to see how co-creating visually may be of benefit beyond your calls.
Use breakouts – Most remote workers are hungry for connection, and to be heard, given the isolated nature of work. What can you do to connect group members with each other for deeper levels of dialogue? Incorporating the use of breakouts, where people can be paired with one or two others for a few minutes to discuss a question or topic of interest, can leave a memorable impression. Check out this 2017 call I did on Breakouts.
Make sure it’s the right type of meeting for the conversation. Also be discerning with whether a large group meeting is the right type of conversation. Does everyone need to be there? Could you connect people in different ways?
Signal it will be different – and make sure it will! Most important, be sure to grab people’s attention at the start of the call. What can you do to signal from the start that it’s NOT going to be Death By Conference call? You may be amazed at how quickly you develop a reputation for a MEH call, or an engaging call.

What type of environment do you want to create? What is important for you to note?

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.

TEAMS365 #2128 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip 117

10/28/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations Tip takes us further into the landscape of the art of Design in Virtual and Remote Work (meetings, conversations, training etc). This week I wanted to zoom into the landscape of graphics which become such a powerful window and door opener for your conversations.

While I am not an expert with graphical design, and I rely on the trusted services of others to help me round out in this area, I am very cognizant in my own virtual presentations how much my own preferences and styles have changed in recent years.

For many years I used to teach a Presentation Skills training program and one of the things that always stuck with me was the importance t of not cramming too much content onto a slide. We used to call it the Six by Six rule. This rule stated that a slide really shouldn’t have any more than six words across and six lines of text. Today, the Six by Six rule leads to very bulky slides, and we’ve moved in many industries to a focus on minimalism.

Photography has become even more common place and we can create much more of our own imagery through our phones and cameras. If you do need to use someone else’s photos, be aware of licensing use and be sure to purchase commercial rights if you are a business. Unsplash has a great portal of stock photography as do other places.

For each of us, our market may be different and what is visually appealing to one group may not be attractive to another.

With this in mind, here are some questions to consider as you go about designing your slides for your next presentation:

What is the message you want to communicate through your images?
What are the main colors which represent your brand (or your messaging)?
What are your clients inspired, touched, or moved by?
What is the emotional message you want to communicate?
What images would communicate these messages?
What icons describe the story you want to communicate?
What else is important to check out around color?

For more on color use check out:

Enjoy the focus on color this week,
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.

#TEAMS365 #2098 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 69

9/28/2019

It’s Saturday which means that it’s time for another Weekly Journaling Prompt. Each week I share a different question which I hope will provoke and prompt some new ideas for you.

This week’s question is “My favorite time of day is…”

Take a few minutes today to capture your thoughts around your favorite time of day.

Why is it your favorite time of day?

What do you do?

What are the special events of that time of the day?

Capture some photos, sounds or images of your favorite time of day to make a collage as a reminder.

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 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.

#TEAMS365 #2097 – #FlashbackFriday – Remote Work – Team Builder

9/27/2019

This week’s Flashback Friday takes us back to a post which kicked off a series on remote team or virtual team builders. With an increasing number of teams moving to the remote space, there is likely to be the need for more support and resourcing in these areas. I hope that you will consider turning to our services here at Potentials Realized, given our experience and grounding in these areas.

Let’s look at #TEAMS365 #1892 – Virtual Team Builders #1 – Creating Connection – Part 1 – Through Images

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing a variety of Virtual Team Builders to support you with quick activities that are going to support virtual and remote teams in focusing in on results and/or relationships.

Virtual teams benefit from time spent in getting to know each other – who is who, who does what, and what priorities they are working on. Virtual team building activities don’t need to take a lot of time.

Something most teams will want to build in across time are quick warm-up exercises to create connection.

The first exercise I wanted to share (which will be followed next week by 2 more), is by creating connection through Icons.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, creating trust and connection across a group is critical. If it’s a virtual and remote team you are working with, you might be working across geographic locations. You may have a team member calling in from Asia, one from Australia, one from Africa, one from New York, one from Europe.

Part of creating connection and team success is ensuring that people get comfortable and feel confident on the call, especially if they might be using a working language that is not their first language.

In my work over the last several decades, I’ve liked to incorporate photos and icons as “door openers” and metaphors for conversation.

Before I started Potentials Realized, one of my last roles was as a sub- regional manager. I had staff in 10 countries and, out of our team of about 30 at one point, there were 20+ different nationalities.

In creating connection across a virtual team, we want to give the team an opportunity to:

Get to know each other,
Understand who we are as a team,
Explore what's important to us,
And understand how we are similar and how we are different.

These questions and the exploration of these questions is a really critical component of the virtual team leader's role.

Back to the Icon exercise, using your access to stock photography find a photo that offers a selection of icons. Have each person select an icon that they connect with, which represents what they bring to the team.

As you go around the table, this is a fun way to share a little bit about yourself in a way that hopefully is not too threatening. Select a graphic that has enough icons which provide enough variety to invite people into the conversation.

Best wishes,
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.

#TEAMS365 #2076 – Flashback Friday: 7 Keys for Virtual Facilitation

9/6/2019

This month’s theme here at the blog is all about becoming more fluid as a remote worker. This is one area which is critical. As someone who has offered training in virtual facilitation for several years, I’ve noticed that more professionals are equipping themselves in these skills. I go into greater detail around two dozen skills which masterful virtual facilitators employ in my 2017 book – Effective Virtual Conversations.

In this week’s FlashbackFriday I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at an earlier article I wrote entitled “7 Keys for Virtual Facilitation”. Think about how these items can support you in your work this season:

Seven Keys for Powerful Virtual Facilitation - Jennifer Britton

From Webinars, to virtual meetings which bring together teams scattered across a country or the globe, virtual facilitation skills are increasingly becoming an important skill set for leaders and team members alike. Chances are you have recently participated as part of a virtual meeting that was less than optimal.

This article explores seven keys for powerful virtual meetings. These seven quick items used together can be very effective in amping up your next virtual event success.

1. Engagement is key - Helping group members connect regularly with the WIIFM (What's in it for me) and engaging them in the dialogue is almost more important than it is in the in-person realm. Competition with emails and your desktop is often the reality. Keep pace moving, encourage reflection and dialogue and take the pulse regularly to see where people are at.

2. Connection is the foundation - While you might not be able to see each other feeling connected with others is an important foundation for virtual meeting success, particularly if these meetings will continue for some time.

3. Trust is critical - Just as in the in-person environment, trust is critical. Given that we don't have the regular touch-points where we can be "seen" building trust in the virtual environment can be even more pointed. Consider how you are building your reputation and ask what others think of you.

4. Good design - Good design is especially important in the virtual domain. Consider what the overall blocks of the meeting or event are and how they fit together or are sequenced. More focus on process rater than less can be of benefit in the virtual domain. What are the design elements which will support the most effective virtual event? Consider breakouts, polls, use of a whiteboard, keeping it simple if technology is going to be a hindrance.

5. Leverage technology - Use the technology you have available and which is accessible to all. I often go to the "lowest common denominator" so we are not creating any new divisions based on technology available. If you can use more interactive supports such as breakouts to engage everyone, use them. Consider what support will help you - for example, have a co-facilitator who can set up breakouts while you are facilitating. Don't try to do it all alone!

6. Visuals are an important boost - Having a virtual anchor point, even on a phone call is important in the virtual realm. visuals can create a focus, and grounding point. If you are only meeting by phone consider sending out a one-pager prior to the call for meeting participants to download, print and use. Make sure they are provided this well enough n advance of the call.

7. Be nimble as a facilitator - Being flexible as a facilitator in the virtual realm is essential. Expect technology to happen because it will. Have a number of "back ups" available which you can draw upon. Think through the various scenarios which may happen and how you will deal with them.

What other tips would you suggest to others who are starting out with virtual facilitator? Please feel free to comment below.

Enjoy!
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 Season 2 of 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.

#TEAMS365 #2044 – Effective Virtual Conversations Tip #105

8/5/2019

This week’s Effective Virtual Conversations post takes us to #105 in the series. The focus this week is on the skill set of Accountability. It’s much harder to track things in the virtual space, given that our time windows of synchronous moments when we are together can be limited. At the same time, our work may still be interdependent.

With this in mind, it is important to discuss what accountability can look like on your team, and how you want to support it.

Consider these ideas for supporting virtual or remote accountability:

Make it visible – Keeping things visible allows us to keep things top of mind. If there are key goals are there dashboards or visible measurement items, you can create and share in your intranet or team portal?
Create peer accountability partners – In the virtual space, relationships are essential, and we may not take time getting to know our peers. Creating peer accountability partners where everyone has one or two buddies, helps with information flow across a team, and also can boost the needle on accountability.
Help people see the bigger picture and connections – Many times team members don’t realize how interconnected things are, and that their work may directly impact another team members. Help teams members see the bigger picture of tools and also how their work flows into another's.
Build in time to check in – What doesn’t get tracked, doesn’t get done. What time are you building in for tracking and check in? This might be 5 minutes in a weekly team meeting, or via one-on-one calls.
Model accountability – If leaders are not following through it’s hard to ask team members to follow through. Model accountability and walk your talk!

Best wishes,
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.

#TEAMS365 #1931 – PlanDoTrack Video Montage 16

4/14/2019

It’s Sunday, which means that it’s time for another Video Montage from the #90DaysPlanDoTrack. If you have not seen these Instagram gems before, they are short questions I pose on a regular basis to encourage some consistent action in your work or business, to create more momentum towards your most important goals.

Take a look at the Video Montage #16 here.

If you haven’t viewed the earlier ones, take a look at those posts here.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (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 you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.