Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

TEAMS365 #2273 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 91

3/21/2020

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to consider the prompt of “6 words to describe my home:”. What are the six words you would use to describe your home?

Spacious? Cozy? Homey? Showcase?

Our homes are our sanctuary as well as a purposeful place. How would you describe your home? What’s important to note about your home?

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

TEAMS365 #2268 – Effective Virtual Conversations 136 – Boundaries: When is Off, Really Off?

3/16/2020

One of the remote working myths is that “We are always on”. When we are part of a global team you might think that you need to be on all the time in order to reply. While this can be a short-term strategy, over time it will lead to burnout and other productivity lowering events.

Today’s question gets you as a team thinking about, and in dialogue around the question for the remote working space “When is off, really off?”.

As I have asked in other Teams365 posts, are there core hours of work when people are expected to be on?

What happens when people need to turn off?

What is expected in terms of response time?

If someone is off, how do they signal this?

What communication channels do you have to ensure that people know when people are off, and when they are on?

What do team members understand about workflow and prioritization so they can plan more effectively or workflow and time?

Issues which seem small in the face-to-face context can get magnified easily in the remote space. What’s important to note?

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

TEAMS365 #2257 – Team Building Tip 277: DIgital Detox

3/5/2020

Given my work in the virtual learning space, and with remote work in general, a term that I’ve been using for years is the notion of the digital detox. While many LOVE being online 24/7 for personal reasons, being on round the clock for work reasons may be another opportunity.

In recent years the notion of undertaking a digital detox has become popular. This may involve limiting time online to certain hours of the day, going offline for chunks of time, or totally going offgrid.

A great book on this topic is Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.

Personally, I have two months of the year - usually July and August (plus select weekends between April and SeptmebeR) when I have windows of digital detox (small windows at that). When I work from up north at my cottage I make intentional scheduling choices to block most of my web based work two or three days of the week, leaving several days with the option of being on. Given cell service (thank you Canadian Shield) I usually can't be reached by cell and most people don't have the cottage number.

From a business perspective, I need to put a number of things in place to allow the business to keep humming, but I have to say I look forward to the creative spurts that usually happen throughout these summer months. I'll be stepping into year 16 of my summer routine in a few months and am looking forward to tackling many of my 20 for 20 list, and just "being" for a few days at a time.

This likely doesn't sound as extravagant as longer periods of time, and as I always say in my work, it's not the quantity, it's the quality.

What could digital detox look like for you?

Enjoy your Thursday,
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 #2256 - Boundaries In Remote Work

3/4/2020

A challenge when working in the global space remotely is that there can be blurring of boundaries across time zones, particularly if you work with clients, or customers around the world. While it may feel possible to operate 24/7 with only a few people, over time it can be important to incorporate some boundaries in your remote work. That might entail:

Setting core working hours where people are available to set meeting times, connect and work together
Identifying on your signature lines or website what your hours are

What are the time windows you want to be available around? What are the ways you can communicate that to others? What does it mean in terms of collaboration with others -i.e. getting materials out, and/or getting materials or resources on to others?

Another boundary which most remote workers become aware of quickly are the boundaries around workspace. When we work from home it can be a challenge to focus in on working from home. What are the boundaries you want to incorporate there? It might include:

A dedicated office space, possibly with a door that closes
Scheduling your work so that it occurs when others aren’t around
Dressing like you are going to the office
Communicating to others that even though you may be “home” you are working and aren’t available to undertake their tasks

What are the other boundaries which are important to create?

Best wishes,
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 #2203 – 20 for 2020 – Day 11 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 83

1/11/2020

Knowing what makes us happy can be important for quality of life and work. Many times, we can get so in the flow of life and busyness that we don’t stop to pause and think about what makes us happy. Before we get too far into the year, this weekend’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to think about, and write about, what makes you happy.

What can you be doing to bring more of these happy moments and activities into your work and life? One way to do this might be by creating rituals. As Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr write in the Power of Full Engagement, “Building rituals requires defining very precise behaviors and performing them at very specific times – motivated by deeply held values.”

Perhaps getting outside on the weekends makes you happy, or fitting in a podcast over lunchtime. What are the habits and rituals that are going to support you around this?

I hope that you will enjoy thinking about not only what makes you happy this weekend, but what you can also do to cultivate more of that through habits and rituals.

Enjoy!
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 start 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.

Winter 2019 programs start this week including the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual focus on coaching business development), GroupCoachingEssentials (8.75 CCEs), the Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs) and the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program (8.5 CCEs) - geared to support you in creating more exceptional virtual conversations. Finally the Mentor Coaching Group for Winter 2020 will begin - aimed at coaches who are working towards their ACC, PCC or renewing.

TEAMS365 #2186 – Season’s Greetings!

12/25/2019

It’s one of the few days of the year where most (but not all) people slow down and get to spend time with loved ones. If that’s what you are doing today, I hope that you will enjoy your time.

I’m very grateful that you’ve joined us here at the Teams365 blog this year. I look forward to continuing to bring you tips related to leadership, teamwork and remote work success!

Season’s Greetings!
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 #2185 – Traditions

12/24/2019

As many of us wind down for the next few days or weeks, it’s gotten me to think about tradition. Traditions were always important in my family – from weekend road-trips to the cottage and seasonal openings and closings, as well as making a point of celebrating with friends and loved ones at key seasonal holidays. It’s always created an anchor of certainty even in a changing world of work, and locations. In continuing these traditions with my own family, I can see how important it’s been.

On a business level, I’ve also aimed to maintain certain traditions including an annual year end call taking a look back at the landscape of group and team programming. This year was my 15th annual call. That’s a lot of calls and conversations, AND I know that it’s an important milestone marker for my community as well as myself.

What are the traditions you engage with on a personal level? As a leader? As a business?

What are the milestones you want to celebrate? What’s important to note for yourself?

Best wishes,
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 #2102: Remote Work Pathways

10/2/2019

One of my summer projects involved spending a weekend participating in a writing marathon with 39 other writers. In addition to being an inspirational burst of writing time for me, it was for a great cause – adult literacy in my local community.

During my weekend of writing I focused on a new manuscript which explores the varied pathways different remote and virtual workers find themselves working across.

As an increasing number of people find themselves working in the remote space, we find that many different people are attracted to the work.

From start-ups, to remote workers attached to organizations, from those who want to Work From Home (WFH) to digital natives who want to Work From Anywhere.

There are many different pathways which bring us to, and along, the remote work landscape. Let’s look at some of the various pathways. Across the landscape of virtual today we find:

Fully virtual businesses with no physical hub – Consider organizations like Zapier, Buffer and Articulate. Look at Zapier’s article highlighting different companies that are remote.
Digital Nomads who work from anywhere. Marketing specialists, writers and other freelancers can embrace the freedom of the “road” and sky as they continue work while travelling. WFA – Work From Anywhere is becoming the GO TO phrase for those who work anywhere.
WFH - Those who work from home, from customer service, to global team members, to freelancers. Working from home provides unique challenges as well as opportunities.
Remote Solopreneurs - From graphic designers to coaches, many solopreneurs opt to establish a virtual business.
Remote workers for larger companies - Whether they work remote once a week or every day, many companies are looking to provide the flexibility and convenience of remote work. It also can offset the footprint costs of large office space in big cities.
Virtual Team leaders who work with team members across a region or country.

These are just some of the remote workers we see in today's virtual ecosystem. I'll be exploring the adventures and backstory to many of these in an upcoming podcast series I'll be hosting with my colleague Michelle Mullins.

What are the things you enjoy?

Benefits of remote work can include:

Flexibility to work when and where you want
Greater autonomy
Fewer distractions
Reduced commute time
Smaller ecological footprint (yes, flying and driving and commuting does add up very quickly)

As I shared last month, there can be a number of pitfalls to remote work as well (LINK TO PITFALLS article) including unclear boundaries between work and the rest of your life, the challenge of matrix relationships, and the sense of isolation many remote workers feel.

If you work remote, what are the things you enjoy about remote work?

What do you find challenging?

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 #2095 – Remote Working Success Factor: What You Need

9/25/2019

Getting organized and set up with the space and processes you require to work at peak performance is critical for those new to the remote space. It’s tempting to say “I’ll deal with it later”, and it’s likely that later may never arrive. Build in time at the start of your remote work to put into place these items at your new, dedicated work space:

A place with good lighting, privacy and space to work

A place to close the door and have private conversations
Place to secure files – physically and digitally
Cloud based storage for when you need it
Contact list you can access
Back up - where are you saving your files?
Super strong internet
Clear boundaries with loved ones and family about when and when you are not available. What are your working hours? Break times? Just because you are home it does not mean that you can walk the dog, take out the garbage, cook dinner etc. Developing a series of “go-to” phrases for when neighbors ask you to do things that will distract you from your focus can be useful.

What else do you think you will require to help you be at your best in the remote space?

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 #2087 – Remote Working Myth – Boundaries Aren’t Important

9/17/2019

This month we are exploring a number of remote working myths including “Out of sight equals out of mind” as well as other remote work pitfalls.

Today’s post explores the myth that “Boundaries aren’t important” and that remote work is always flexible.

One of the main challenges of remote work is that we are usually pulled in a number of different directions by people who can’t see what we are working on. Not knowing the context can provide a lack of clarity around priorities and workflow. At the same time, we may also want to accommodate all requests and say yes, rather than discerning what is a priority.

On another level, boundaries can become blurred in our home/work life, especially if we are working from home and have not set up a dedicated area for work – be sure to check out my post from last month about “setting yourself up for success in the remote space” and making sure you have what you need.

Consider the different boundaries that are important in your work, this might include:

Boundaries between different tasks and projects you are working on
Boundaries between the different teams you are part of
Boundaries between your working hours and non-working hours
Boundaries between when you are ON and OFF
Boundaries between priorities
Boundaries between your work and home space

What do you notice as you explore these boundaries? What conversations do you want to have?

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.