Today is back to work and school for many adults and students and September can almost be like a "new year" for many of us. As you get back to the "back to work routine" it's an opportunity to continue on with some of the positive and healthy summer routines which might have found you exercising differently, getting outside more, spending time travelling or more time with loved ones. As you think back to the summer, what were one or two things you did differently this summer that brought you more happiness and satisfaction? Are these things you usually fit in during the rest of the year?

As many of us get back to work this week, it's an opportunity to explore these areas for ourselves and with our team, in service to having the most productive time possible.

1. Is it time to revisit goals or clarify what the key goals are up to the end of the year? Is everyone clear about what these are?

2. What is resourcing like for team development? Is there some extra budget available to dedicate to some development opportunities for the team - whether it's an away day or some work around the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive team?

3. Now that many are back to work, what are you doing about regular team meetings? We know that teams which have effective "Team Practices" which support information sharing, and connection, usually have higher productivity and satisfaction. What is working well with your meetings? Is there an opportunity to reintroduce a short weekly or bi-weekly team meeting, focusing on information sharing and connection? What would the most effective meeting look like for you and your team?

4. What do you need to say no to? As you consider your goals and priorities, what needs to be put aside for now? Is this to be deferred? Delegated? Deleted?

5 What's the right balance for work and life for you right now? What routine is going to help you be most productive?

6. What's going to help you be at your best  this fall- more sleep?  More exercise? Better eating? Take note of what you want to commit to doing differently in your routine this fall. Who can support you in holding you accountable for getting to the gym, or getting out of the office earlier, or....?

Enjoy your day back to work!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

We are almost complete with all twenty-six different team activities as we arrive at W. Today I wanted to share a couple of different ways to facilitate dialogue with teams around core skills and/or their thoughts on balance. Listen in as I share with you a little more about using the metaphor of a wheel in sparking conversation with your team.

How night you use the concept of a wheel to facilitate some dialogue in your team?

Some leaders and organizations mistakenly feel that coaching may not be a good fit because it takes too much time. In fact, I like to assert in my work with leaders around coaching skills is that we need to find those micro-moments where we can stop and have a meaningful dialogue.

​Micro-moments aren't 30 or 60 minute blocks, they are those 5 to 10 minute windows we all can find in our day if we CHOOSE to. AND, those micro-moments usually create the space for many more possibilities.

​Positive psychology has now found how micro-moments of connection can have significant impact in relationships. Anecdotally I've seen how this translates into the leadership and team realm. Consider with your team - what are the micro-moments this week when you can:
​PAUSE
Renew
COACH
​Provide positive and constructive feedback
OTHER?

What do you notice when you take those micro-moments? What impact do they have?

​Thanks for joining us for another weekly team building tip and question for you and your team to be in dialogue around.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Join us this fall for a 15 hour Virtual Train-the-trainer in the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive program. We'll be covering the best practices of designing and leading virtual calls. The program will be held on Fridays from 3 - 4:30 pm ET starting September 23. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot.

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In keeping aligned with this week's back to work rountines, my weekly  lLinked In post was entitled "Getting Ready for Back to Work Routines: Four Focus Areas" . You can read it here.

​This week's focus at the blog has also included these posts on gearing up for the fall back to work and school routines:

​Teams365 #980 - Six Back to Work Routine Areas You'll Want to Keep an Eye on. Read it here.

​Teams365 #981: Four Ways to Focus Your Back to Work and School Goals. Read it here.

​Teams365 #979; Gearing up for back to work. Read it here.

​Have a great weekend, getting back to the late summer routine of things!

Best
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Join us this fall for a 15 hour Virtual Train-the-trainer in the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive program. We'll be covering the best practices of designing and leading virtual calls. The program will be held on Fridays from 3 - 4:30 pm ET starting September 23. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot

Today marks a back to regular working routine for many of us and our teams today, with Labor Day behind us, it is full throttle until the end of the year. Today may be the first time your entire team is together after a summer hiatus. As you get back into the swing of things here are six routine areas you may want to look at, or re-establish:

​1. Team meetings
​2. Lunchbreaks
​3. Start and end times of the day
​4. Workout routines
5. Regular learning opportunities
​6. Time with loved ones

​As with anything, you'll want to also keep in mind current priorities and goals you have for the rest of the year. These may influence the weighting and importance of each of the six routine areas. ​Let's look at each one of these in turn:

​1. Team meetings - If team meetings fell by the wayside over the holidays, now's the time to get them back on track! Have you as a team committed to meeting weekly, bi-weekly, monthly? Schedule these in everyone's calendar before the week gets away from you. It's likely that there will always be competing priorities and it's harder to be made to shift if it's in everyone's calendar.

​2. Lunchbreaks - Some organizations are great at having a fixed culture where lunch breaks are encouraged, whereas at others, people work through them, eating at their desks. Lunch breaks can be a great time to clear your head, connect with others and renew. Whether you spend lunch getting to the gym or pool (something I do on a regular basis), out for a lunchtime walk, or connecting with colleagues in a lunch room, consider the benefit of grabbing some mid-day brain breathing!

​3. Start and End times of the day - Also common in many organizations is the creep of start and end times. What is expected in your organization? What's going to support a healthy work-life balance, while ensuring things are getting done efficiently and effectively. Remember that hours logged in does not always mean they are productive hours. This week consider what you would like to establish around your working hours, and how productive you really are throughout the day, and the week.

​4 Exercise/Workout routines - What is your commitment to exercise and workouts? We know that the sedentary lifestyle of many office workers today has the potential for health risks. What commitment have you made to yourself, and your loved ones, around exercise? This week, what's the groove you want to get into around working out? Who and what will help you support this?

5. Regular learning opportunities - from mentoring relationships to on-demand courses, to certificate programs, and job shadowing, learning opportunities abound in many organizations. What are the skills and experiences which will help you and your team do their best work today? Over the next year? Consider what learning opportunities you have scheduled in, or want to schedule in, for the rest of the year.

​And finally, making sure you have prioritized quality time with your loved ones. It's easy for work and commuting to become the dominant times of our day. What is your commitment with your loved ones around spending quality time this fall? What support do they need from you as they get back to work and school?

​Have a great back to work day!

Best wishes,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Check out our newest on-demand course: Teams365 Teamwork Foundations
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Join us this fall for a 15 hour Virtual Train-the-trainer in the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive program. We'll be covering the best practices of designing and leading virtual calls. The program will be held on Fridays from 3 - 4:30 pm ET starting September 23. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot.

This week's Sunday audio is dedicated to finding some time to refresh and renew. Many are celebrating a long weekend on both sides of the border in Canada and the US. July and August see me with my workplace moving the office to the beautiful northland of Mukoska. Although I'm back and forth to the city on almost a weekly basis for program deliveries, knowing that my base is up in Muskoka for these months with a natural playground at my doorstep makes a world of difference.
Listen into this week's audio on renewing and recharging - enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Coaching Skills Training | Leadership Development | Teamwork
Growing Team Leaders, One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Contact us to discuss coaching or performance support you or your team

Renewal is such an important process for us as leaders. Without regular attention to renewal it is very easy to move towards burnout, and depletion (mental, physical)

What do you do to renew? What energizes you and allows you to "turn off" even for a short while.

Digital detoxing is becoming more mainstream, with companies encouraging leaders to "turn off" during holiday time. Many studies over the past few years have shown that upwards of 50% of people don't shut off during holidays and continue to work through their vacation.

AS you think about the upcoming summer months (for those in the northern hemisphere), what are your plans for renewal?

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats
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Contact us and let us know how we can support you in helping your team reach its' full potential: (416)996-TEAM (8326)