Teams365 Blog - POTENTIALS REALIZED

#Teams365 #3105: Supporting Work-Life Integration Across the TEam

7/6/2022

Work life issues are playing an increasingly important role in today’s war for talent. Even with current economic pressures (inflation, gas prices etc), many employees are driven by creating more work-life integration.
Here’s what I share in Chapter 18 of Reconnecting Workspaces:

"As Covey wrote decades ago, before virtual was known as virtual, “. . . driven by an addiction to the
urgent and continually respond to the four Ps—those things that are Pressing, Proximate, Pleasant
and Popular—leaving very little time to do those things that are truly important.”250
In the virtual space, everything can take on an urgency that really is not grounded in your reality.
What is most important for you to focus on right now?
In creating positive work-life:
1. Know what your triggers are. What creates stress?
2. Understand your priorities.
3. What does renewal mean for you?
4. What boundaries do you need to set for yourself?
5. What gives you satisfaction?
6. What creates chaos?
7. What gets in the way of success?
(Excerpt, pages 319 and 320, Reconnecting Workspaces, © Jennifer Britton, 2021)

What do you notice as you consider these questions?

Enjoy your flow this summer,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized |Reconnecting Workspaces | Group Coaching Essentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
Follow us on Instagram @ReconnectingWorkspaces
Phone: (416)996-8326

Check out my TEDx talk - Virtual, Remote and Hybrid Checklist

Looking to bring your workplaces back together, whether you are remote, hybrid, or face-to-face? Pick up a copy of my new book, Reconnecting Workspaces, at Amazon.

TEAMS365 #2518 – Weekly Journaling Prompt 130

11/21/2020

This week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt gets you to consider the question: “Elements which are important”. As we start winding down the year, I hope that this question is a useful one for you to consider.

Think about the elements in your:

Work
Relationships
Family
Life
Home
Community

What are the elements which are important for you? What are you going to make sure you always have space for?

Enjoy the reflection!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2430 – Are you making these remote work mistakes?

8/25/2020

Many professionals are now 6 months into the global Work From Home “real time experiment” since countries stated locking down months ago. In my work as a coach, consultant and author around remote work, productivity and high performance, I have had a LOT of conversations in the last six months about what’s working and what’s not. When it comes to remote work, there are several core areas and pitfalls professionals can find themselves in. Are you experiencing, or creating, any of these remote working mistakes?

Not creating firm enough boundaries - Working from home, and remote work in general, can be very fluid at times. Without some of the social and practical cues of office work, it can be easy to flow from one task to another, without firm boundaries. While this may work for some, it can lead to overwork, and work-life friction, particularly for those of us who are not only workers and bosses but also parents.

For many, the routine of life and work may be changing again as some schools reopen – What are the boundaries you want to create around work and life this fall (or spring)?

Not communicating enough or in the way people need - Whether we are communicating with our team members, or our customers, it’s likely that you may not be communicating enough, or in the best way. Just because an email is sent, doesn’t mean that is it read, or interpreted as it was intended, let alone actioned!

Consider the key messages you want to communicate this week. What ways do they need to be sent, on what channels, and what follow up is needed?

Not renewing by working around the clock – Related to boundaries is a major pitfall of not renewing. While our traditional ways of relaxation and winding down may not be possible, renewal is key.

Before you get back into the regular routine of fall, what’s important to build time in for? As you step back to the office, what are the habits and routines which are important to foster?

Not planning – With many feeling that the disruption we’ve experienced due to a pandemic is uncontrollable, it doesn’t mean not planning. Having a clear vision of where you want to be at the 30,000-foot view is still important. Operational plans are likely to have shifted, and contingency planning may have become a way of life. Instead of having one plan you may have a cubed plan – A3.

What are your contingency plans for the next week?

As you consider the way you are working right now - What’s important to note about your planning? Your productivity?

All the best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time™ in the Remote Space
Contact us to discuss leadership, coaching or performance needs for your and your team
Phone: (416)996-8326

TEAMS365 #2336 – Weekly Journaling Prompt #100

5/23/2020

We made it to milestone Weekly Journaling Prompt #100. It’s simply PAUSE.

I hope that you enjoy this week’s prompt and that it provides you some time to SAVOUR!

If you want, you may want to take a look back at all the entries you’ve written in sets of 10 perhaps. Note what the themes are and how they arc together.

Enjoy your time to PAUSE and relax!

Jennifer

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

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program

Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

PDF copies of PlanDoTrack now available! Get yours here.

TEAMS365 #2287 – Journaling Prompt 93

4/4/2020

Recent weeks have found a majority of the population in one place – their homes. For most it’s been a renaissance of found time to get things done that we haven’t done around the house for a while – get things fixed/in order, catching up on book reading, spending time connecting with friends we have not talked to in a while.

I’ve been using what extra time I have to continue learning. No surprize as “LEARNER” is one of my strengths. It was my ongoing learning as a young leader in South America that anchored me in earlier days when the context I operated within was turbulent. Today, I have found solace again in the simple art of learning. Of reading. Of hearing someone else speak.

From podcasts to on-demand courses, learning can take many forms. I can see by the metrics that our Remote Pathways podcast downloads have gone up. I can see that web visits are up. I can see that more people are completing on-demand courses over at the Learning Lab and Design Studio as well as over at the Teams365 portal.

This week’s prompt is “I want to learn about….”. What do you want to learn about? What is important to explore right now?

I hope you will enjoy this week’s Weekly Journaling Prompt!

Have a great Saturday,
Jennifer

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

Get your Q2 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, or join me for the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program
Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.
Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar

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.