Remote Team Support - 5 Areas

Remote Teams need support right now. As they move into month seven of the year of working remotely, many are struggling to feel connected and focused on their results. 

This year, I've continued to create and provide resources for remote teams, and those who work with remote teams. I thought it would be a great idea to highlight several that you might want to tap into:

#1 - Remote Teams Want to Feel Connected -  when teams can't congregate near the watercooler on a regular basis, an important informal channel of communication gets lost. As my Remote Pathways podcast host and I shared in our most recent community call, remote professionals benefit from a range of virtual co-working experiences. Check out the 8 different remote co-working experiences we highlighted in our call last week. You can view it here (30 minutes)

#2 - Signal that it's different - We all get in ruts, and one of the big ruts right now is ineffective team meetings. Make sure you co-create expectations in your virtual calls, signaling HOW it will be different than a usual call. Be clear on what you want to create in your virtual space together.

#3 - Help teams focus on results - A continued challenge for remote teams is alignment around results. What is everyone aiming towards? What are the things that are aligned? Are different. What are you doing to make goals visible for all? How are people tracking the?

#4 - Jazz up your repertoire of tools and resources - This summer I launched the Remote Team Builders on-demand program. Consisting of 9 micro-learning modules, this on-demand course takes you into key areas of support for remote teams. We explore the 7 Remote Enablers (I cover in the Remote Working Whitepaper I launched earlier this year), as well as exercises you can use in your work around openers and closers, collaboration, styles and strengths. The program also includes several worksheets and templates for you to build upon to create your own remote team experiences. Find out more and start today over at the Remote Team Builders course. You'll find it here.

#5 - Build on the foundations - With complexity being the norm today, it is even more important that we go back to the basics on many items. This includes the foundations of team success. This includes getting crystal clear on the goals, roles, vision and several other performance factors. Check out the 6 Factors for Team Performance I share in Chapter 10 of Effective Virtual Conversations OR over at the Teams365 blog.

What's going to help the teams you support excel?

What are the conversations you want to have?

If you have a copy of my 2017 book Effective Virtual Conversations, do check out Chapters 10 and 11 which focus on Virtual and Remote TEam Development and Leadership for more ideas. You can pick up a copy of EVC in Kindle or hardcopy at Amazon. 

Have a copy and are using it? Please leave a review for others to benefit from on Amazon or where you purchased your copy!

Enjoy your discussion,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton - Group Coaching Essentials | Effective Virtual Conversations | Potentials Realized
Instagram @Remote Pathways (for remote workers) and @CoachingBizBuilder (for coaches)
Author of Effective Group Coaching (2010), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Check out my author page on Amazon for all publications.
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com

Join us at the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub on Facebook

Upcoming programs include:

Mentor Coaching Group for ACC/PCC - starting on Monday September 28th - Mondays 8 - 9 am ET September 28 - December 28 (4 spots open)

Stay tuned for the next Stand Out Virtually 5 Day Challenge - I'm building on the success of the August Stand Out Virtually challenge to bring you another new one! This will be a NEW challenge. Sign up here to be on the list of alerts

Four Activities for Opening Group and Team Coaching Sessions

Having a robust toolkit of activities in your back pocket is a must have for team and group coaches.  Building onto other posts here at the Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog (Four  Ways to Create Coaching Closure with Groups etc), today's post covers four of my favorite activities for opening group and team coaching sessions.

Trust and connection is key to successful coaching conversations, and in a group setting, it is likely that people will not know each other. In a team setting, history, roles and power differentials can also impact trust and connection.

These four activities can be adapted for the different groups and teams you work with:

1. Personal Logos: I've used this activity with multiple groups and teams. With teams it is always really interesting to see what themes emerge from the logos people choose. Instructions are simple, ask people to create a logo which represents what they bring to the group or team. Have them write it down as part of their name card. Get each person to introduce themselves according to their logo. Have the group or team notice the patterns, similarities etc.

2. Visual Cards -
Visual cards can provide a new "spark" for conversation. Lay photographs (your own or a photo deck like Conversation Sparker Cards) out on a table and have people select the card that either:
1. Represents that they bring to the group;
2. Represents their hope for the work together;
3. Signifies where they see the team right now (for teams)

If you have time, you may want to ask people to select a second photo which represents:
1. What they hope to gain or achieve through your work together
2 Where they would like to see the team going (for teams)

Check out one of the blabs I did last fall, dedicated to working with visual cards. As I mentioned in my July Team and Group Coaching Newsletter (subscribe here), one of my biggest sellers at last month's ICF Mid-West Conference was the 40 Ways To Work With Visual Cards E-manual. Check it out here.

3. Patrick Lencioni's Personal Histories
 - Many coaches and trainers love the resources included the Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of Team Playbook. One you will want to look up and consider using is his Personal Histories exercise. I have used it with executive teams from mining, full teams involved in television, and also with teams in customer service. When time has been available, it's been a valuable exercise in building connection at the start of one day and longer sessions.

4. And the generic go-round - Who are you, what's brought you here. For virtual shorter calls giving people an opportunity to connect and hear each other's voices can be important and can help with boosting engagement and ownership of the call. When people come to a virtual call and realize that something is a little different with their introductions, it may be easier to cut through the assumption that your program is goingt to be another experience of "Death by Conference Call"

People remember the start and end of things and a memorable kick off can be very important.Taking time to focus on creating the space for trust and connection helps people feel safe to take the conversation to a deeper level, and really bring themselves into the conversation.

What's going to help you feel confident around that? What are your next steps around this?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC

Group Coaching Essentials | Potentials Realized  

Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)

About Us: Jennifer Britton is author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) andFrom One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) . Since 2004 she and her company, Potentials Realized, have supported thousands of coaches, trainers, and leaders, design and create more impactful team and group programs (in-person and virtual). Jennifer offers customized programs for organizations, as well as virtual public training programs. Our areas of specialty are team development, leadership and coaching. Our 2017 programming starts during the week of January  9th and will include: The Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar (8.75 CCEs), The Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs), and the Mentor Coaching Group for ACC/PCC portfolio routes. Our 2017 Learning Lab and Design Studio Group for Coaches who want to build their business and expand their group and team programs starts January as well (2 group calls on Fridays throughout 2017)

Six Ways to Bring Visuals into your work with groups and teams

For many years now I have seen the transformative power of integrating images in my coaching work

Team and Conversation Sparker(TM)Decks - www.conversationsparker.com

with individuals, teams and groups. It led me to launch my own photo deck called Conversation Sparker(TM) in the spring of 2014, a product which is now being used by coaches and leaders in industries as wide ranging as music, health care, financial services, the legal profession, publishing and transportation.

Visuals can create a new entry way into insights and ideas. I continue to hear from and group members I get to work with how the photos unlock new ideas for them, as well as help them articulate their ideas.

there are many ways we can be using images in our work. From visioning, to using images as an opening activity or closing activity, visuals can deepen awareness for an individual, create synergy in a team, or lock in the learning from a workshop or retreat.

Here's six different ways you may want to use visuals - taken from a brochure that accompanies the Conversation Sparker Cards (a 72 card deck which includes 50 photos and 22 questions. You can download an 11-page brochure here and enjoy these different ways to use visuals.

My blab this week - on Wednesday November 25th from 930-10 will be focusing on real-time ways to work with cards (so drop in a be ready to play and perhaps glean some new insights). You can find out more about this week's blab here.

Six Quick Activities for the Conversaton Sparker(TM) Cards - Jennifer Britton, Copyright 2014.

The Conversation Sparker Cards™ can be used by team leaders, facilitators, coaches and trainers. Just as the name implies, it is our hope that the Conversation Sparker Cards™ will create the spark for deeper dialogue. The cards can be used in a team meeting, workshop, retreat or coaching session. This brochure includes six ways you may want to incorporate the Conversation Sparker Cards™ into your next program.

1. Select a Card

The facilitator/leader, coach or trainer will lay out the cards on a large table or in an area where all the cards can be seen by participants. It can be useful to lay them out on a freestanding table so people can move around it and see the photos from different perspectives. You may want to include cards with photos or also include the cards with questions.

A virtual twist - Have group members select a photo from those that you have shown on your whiteboard, or sent as PDF form. A digital license can be purchased online at http://www.conversationsparker.com.

Give each person a few minutes to select the card. For those that have purchased the deck, you can download a Worksheet to use with this activity.

 2. Create a Vision:

For individuals - Have individuals select a photo which represents their vision (for their work, leadership, business, career etc). Give them time during the session to make notes on it, dialogue around it or have them journal their ideas before your next conversation point.

For a team - Have a team create their own story line using the photos included in the deck. What are significant milestones in the past and/or future?  Team members can also create their own drawings of their vision using blank index cards.

3. Conversation Sparking Questions

The main Conversation Sparker Card deck comes with 22 questions , some with photos, some plain. You can use these questions in several ways:

1. Have each person pick a card for individual reflection

2. Team leaders can select a card for the team to be in dialogue around that week at their staff meeting

3. Each team member can select a card which they want to spark conversation in the team around.

4. Creating Connection:

At the start of the program have individuals select the card which represents what they uniquely bring to the group. Have them introduce themselves to the larger group sharing the card they selected and  providing their story behind it.

5. What’s Possible?

If you could make a change right now and follow your dream, what would be possible? Select the card which represents what’s possible! Have each group member select their own photo and share their story. What would it take to make this happen?

6. Celebratory Closure

The old adage says “All good things must come to an end”. Our group and team members remember the start and tend of things. As part of your closure activities, get people to select the card which represents what they are leaving the program with. Alternatively, you can have them select a Question card which they want to carry forward.

I hope that you have as much fun as I do in bringing visuals into your work. I'd love for you to check out the Conversation Sparker Cards here, or our Teams365 Team Sparker Deck - 52 questions for team leaders and others to bring into conversations with teams. You can order either deck here. Coming in the next week or two is a new digital product which will include 40 Different Ways to Work wtih Visual Cards. Stay tuned!

Have a great week,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Group Coaching Essentials | Potentials Realized  
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Join us for an upcoming CCE approved program including the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar starting December 1st (Tues/Thurs Dec 1, 8, 10, 15, 17 - 8.75 CCEs with the ICF) - 4 spots open
 (416)996-8326

Did you catch my announcement in this month's newsletter about our newest on-demand course? Earlier this month the Coaching Business Builder was released. Just like our other on-demand programs, the course includes several hours of video based content and more than a dozen worksheets and activities to support you in growing your coaching business. Both experienced and new coaches growing their businesses will find the program of interest. You can learn more about the Coaching Business Builder here at the Learning Lab and Design Studio(TM), our new online portal for all of our on-demand programs.

Four Ways to Use a MindMap in Your Group Programs

MindMaps are a terrific tool for learning, brainstorming, and review. In this short audio post, I share four

ways you can use MindMaps in your group programs.

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Which approaches would you want to bring into your next program?

Best
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
(416)996-8326

Join us for an upcoming program - the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar starting July 17th (Thursdays at 10am ET)- 6.75 CCEs. You can also join me in beautiful Huntsville, Muskoka on July 10-11 (Thurs/Friday) for the Group and Team Coaching Intensive (15 CCEs)

New Video Post - Visual Tools

I've just posted a new Video today on three visual tools I love using with teams and groups that I am working with. Whether it's a retreat, a group coaching session, or a strategic planning session, I continue to see the positive impact these three resources have in stimulating dialogue and conversation.

In this 2 minute 40 second video I speak briefly on:
Visual Explorer from Center for Creative Leadership. More info from their site here.
The JICT Images Deck available at CoachingToys.com. More info from their site here.
The Coaching Game - Points of View. More info from their site here.

I hope that you will check these out and consider how you might use one, or all three, during your 2014 engagements with teams and groups.

Enjoy the video:

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Potentials Realized | GroupCoachingEssentials.com
(416)996-TEAM (8326)
Join us for an upcoming program including: The Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar (6.75 CCEs starting Fridays at 12 noon ET Jan 10th), the Advanced Group Coaching Practicum (8 CCEs, starting Fridays at 10:30 am ET Jan 10th), the Mentor Coaching Group (starting Fridays at 9 am on Jan 10th).
I'll be hosting the 2014 Virtual Business Planning Retreat day again on Tuesday Jan 7th from 10-4 pm ET in case you missed it this  month. More info here.

Group Facilitation Tip: Creating Ground Rules with Your Group

Building in time at the start of your next group program (workshop, retreat or group coaching program) for the group to create some groundrules, ways of working, or terms of engagement, creates a safe and even playing field for all group members.

I typically spend 5-10 minutes with each group I am working with in creating a group charter or set of ground rules which we will all follow for the time we are working together. It is very similar to designing the alliance in an individual 1-1 coaching session, however, in the group context it facilitates the design of a group alliance. I use this exercise with groups that are just forming, as well as intact teams that may be joining me for a half day program or longer.

I like to have the group come up with their ways of working - how they will be together. Some of the ground rules I will propose for the group to consider include:
* Starting and ending on time
* Respecting each other's ideas, thoughts and opinions
* Respecting confidentiality (so what is discussed in the room, stays in the room)
*Agreeing to play fully during the course of the program

It's also amazing to see what group's come up with as well -- often suggestions like only having one person speak at a time.

Some of these guidelines/ways of working may seem very basic, but people are people, and groups are groups. I will post the Group Charter/Ground Rules/Ways of Working in the venue setting so we can refer back to them as we move forward with the program. It's interesting to see how we sometimes need to refer back to them even six weeks into a multi-week program.

You can also facilitate this process in a virtual environment during teleclasses or teleseminars.

What are some of the ground rules you usually propose, or have seen with groups. Feel free to share your comments below.

Have a wonderful week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP
Potentials Realized
Group Coaching Essentials
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960

Team Building Resources

I've spent part of the morning putting some of the finishing touches on a one day program I am running for a team in a few weeks time. I work with this team on an annual basis and so they have already experienced some of my favorite exercises for exploring team relationships, team possibilities and business planning.

As I always say, the Web is a great resource for juicy team building resources. If you haven't checked out these sites already, I hope that you will -- they are jam packed with great exercises you can adapt for the different teams you are working with - whether you are wearing a coaching, training or facilitator's cap.

Teach Me Teamwork - Tom Heck's Amazing Site
Wilderdom.com - Great site out of Australia -- I love the outdoor experiential slant as these are my own roots from the late 80s.
Business Balls - always getting updated, business balls has been a site I've enjoyed for the last 6 years -- always gives you some great ideas.

And of course I will be bringing in some of the great relationship systems coaching tools from the Center for Right Relationship.

What are some of your favorite team building resource sites? Feel free to comment below.

Have a great week,
Jenn

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Group Coaching Essentials