  Week 52 Focus — Tracking, Celebrating and What’s Next? Focus Question: Think about where you were and what you were doing at this time last year. What’s changed? What’s different? Description I want to say a huge thank you for inviting me into your world this past year. Whether you started with us a year ago in Week 1 with this series, or you joined us mid-year. I hope that this week you will take a few minutes to notice what’s shifted for you over time. Take note of your metrics. Also, where do you want to put your attention in the next year? It’s been a pleasure to bring you each of these prompts. Activity Take time this week to stop and pause, reflecting on these questions: Take note of where you started in week 1 of this series. You were asked to create your vision of your work a year from now.
Connection to the Workbook and Planner Review your last 12 months of planning pages. Looking to your annual planning pages:
Let’s stay connected via next year’s 52 Week Series which is going to have a focus on remote business. Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. So now what? This weekly series is wrapping up with this week's post. I'll be continuing to offer the Weekly planning hacks as we move into the new year, along with regular posts related to planning and productivity. If you haven't "heard", I'm also hosting a new podcast called the Remote Pathways Podcast. It airs every few weeks and zooms into the landscape of today's remote workspace. We explore the people, places and pathways to remote work, which is very varied! Check out the podcast and subscribe with your favorite podcast player! Coaches - starting Wednesday January 1st I'll be leading the 60 Day Coaching Business Builder Accelerator. What's possible if you were to focus for 60 days on your business with consistent action? Thanks again for bringing me into your world this year. Best wishes, Jennifer  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram
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  Week 51 Focus — Momentum Focus Question: What is the momentum you are creating in your business right now? What’s become easier as you moved throughout the year? Description Over the last 51 weeks, we’ve covered a range of topics – from onboarding and team development, to growing your relationships. Each week I have also encouraged you to undertake some consistent action on your work/business. My guess is this has supported you in creating some momentum in areas which were not present before. Momentum is a scientific term. It has the following definitions in the Oxford Dictionary:
Activity Consider the area(s) you have created momentum in. What has helped you pick up speed? What do you notice about momentum at different times of the year? Connection to the Workbook and Planner Look back at the daily actions you have been taking in key activities? What do you notice? As you think about your key goals for the end of next year, are there some new daily steps or consistent actions you want to commit to? Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 50 Focus — Experimentation Focus Question: Where might experiments in your work or business support you? Description In the three books I have published since 2017, I make reference to the need for experimentation in today’s VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous – world. Given that things are changing so quickly, trying things out to see how, and if, they work can be an important part of the business process. It may be the things we are not sure of, that give us the greatest impact. Part of experimentation means that are we willing to try something out, and another part of experimentation is tracking our results. In my business, one of the longest experiments I have undertaking is my writing at the Teams365 blog. Born on January 1st, 2014, the blog was an experiment to initially see how I could enhance the readership and visibility of my work and brand. What initially was going to be a one-year experiment in posting blog posts has grown into a six-year experiment (2014-2019) and an important part of my creative process. My regular writing under the Teams365 banner has become an important part of content creation for my client programs, and an important vehicle for me to find and magnify my voice in the areas of leadership, teamwork, remote work and virtual conversations. It’s become a really important repository as well for my work and intellectual property. After six years of blogging, I would say that this has been a success. Website visits have moved from 80 page reads a week to more than 10, 000 a week. What experiments have you undertaking? What ones do you want to plan for the new year? Activity Think about your key goals right now. What are the things which could benefit from more experimentation? What is your hypothesis, or what do you think is going to happen? What do you want to track so that you know your experiments are working? What are the short-term metrics? Long-term? Connection to the Workbook and Planner Consider using one of the Monthly Daily Trackers to track the results of your experiments. Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 49 Focus — Outreach Focus Question: WHO do you want to reach out to, to grow or magnify your work in the next year? Description Collaboration is a critical skill set for all business professionals and business owners today. We don’t operate in a vacuum. Outreach is critical for learning, delivering key business items, scaling your business, and collaborating. Who do you need to be fostering closer relationships with? Outreach can take many forms:
Being an active member of your professional or industry community can create a win-win for everyone involved. As a starting point, consider:
Activity Return to your vision and think about WHO you need to help you grow your business. Connection to the Workbook and Planner Revisit your Relationship Web and List of 20 Key Business Relationships. Networking and outreach are two-way streets. What are you bringing to the relationship as well? Review the sections around collaboration in Sections 3 and 4. Consider integrating some of the questions posed in the collaboration section. Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 48 Focus — Boundaries Focus Question: What are the boundaries which help you do your best work? Description As a solopreneur, time is one of your greatest resources. As a business owner, especially if you run a remote business, there may be demands on your time and attention throughout the day. For some, we continue to say “yes” even when our plate overflows. Activity Reflect on the following questions:
Connection to the Workbook and Planner Our time is precious and cannot be recreated once it is gone. Take a look at your daily planning, or weekly planning. What time blocks are you earmarking for your most important tasks? What boundaries do you want to put around when you start, and stop, work? Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 47 Focus — Paper & Office Organizing Focus Question: As you look around your office what do you notice about paper? The office space itself? Description Coaching Business Builder’s subtitle is “Putting the pieces together”. Part of an exceptional business is clearing the clutter in order to focus on what’s important. While not a central focus of the book, paper and office organizing is a key part of keeping things moving and growing What are the elements you want to get organized with? Research/Story Sometimes we can feel like we are sinking in our paperwork. Here’s a post from the Teams365 blog I wrote back in 2014 about a great organizing tip called RAFTS: “Today's Check It Off tip is geared to help you clear off your desk, or your drawer! Even in today's digital age, paper clutter, and e-clutter bogs us down as leaders. Years ago, I ran a program with former HGTV NEAT host, Hellen Buttigieg of WeOrganizeU to support professionals to get more organized. Hellen always shared this acronym of the RAFTS in terms of dealing with paper clutter. As you look at your paper touch it only once and decide if you are going to: R- Read it A- Act on it F- File it T- Toss it OR S- Shred it When you go to sort your big piles of paper, you may want to set up five separate baskets/in-trays so you can move it to the respective pile right away and keep moving it along. I first heard about this tip from Hellen and I know others have written on it. Before you head out this week, block of 15 minutes and tackle that pile of papers! (Originally published as https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-234-check-it-off-tip-3-rafts) Activity Set your timer for 15 minutes and grab a set of papers. Apply the RAFT formula. You might even want to do this again every day for a week! Connection to the Workbook and Planner If clearing up and decluttering is an area you want to focus on, track your 15-minute blocks using one of the Monthly Trackers. Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 46 Focus — Email Management Focus Question: What is the state of your inbox? Description/research The Front Blog indicates that “The average worker spends 28 percent of their work week on email, more than 11 hours a week! With the average person sending and receiving 124 work emails every day, or 620 emails every week, we're spending an average of 1.1 minutes on each email.” https://frontapp.com/blog/2018/07/20/how-much-time-are-you-spending-on-email/ “The average professional spends 28% of the workday reading and answering email, according to a McKinsey analysis. For the average full-time worker in America, that amounts to a staggering 2.6 hours spent, and 120 messages received per day.” – How to Spend Way Less Time on Email Every Day – Harvard Business Review by Matt Plummer 2019 https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-spend-way-less-time-on-email-every-day According to Matt Plummer - The team at Zarvana realized professionals could save more than one hour and 21 minutes per day by addressing these five time suckers. Here’s what Matt Plummer shares in his Harvard Business Review Article (https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-spend-way-less-time-on-email-every-day): According to Zarvana our time is spent in five main areas, taking up the following time: “1. Over checking email wastes 21 min/day. 2. Full inboxes waste 27 min/day. 3. Using folder to organize and find emails wastes 14 min/day. 4. Archiving emails into many folders with mouse wastes 11 min/day. 5. Reading and processing irrelevant emails wastes 8 min/day. (Source Matt Plummer and Zarvana – in HBR article). The article he has written provides a lot of detail around just how much time is spent and what you can do about it. I strongly encourage you to check it out! You will find it at: https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-spend-way-less-time-on-email-every-day Activity This week spend time applying one or two of these “fast fixes” to your inbox, or to the way you process email. While setting up a quick step or rule may take time in the short-term, it can save time in the long-term. Connection to the Workbook and Planner Consider tracking the amount of time you are spending on email over one or two weeks. Notice how you are replying and what changes could be made. Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 45 Focus — Renewal Focus Question: What does renewal mean for you? Description The fields of sports and business shows us that teams that excel, are great at both “playing hard” and also resting hard. Just as physical renewal is essential after a long race, periods of renewal are key in business to help us remain at our prime. What does renewal mean for you? When is the last time you took time to renew? Decision fatigue, social media burnout, task switching and cognitive overload, take a toll on us as professionals. When things become unbalanced it can also become luggage we bring into our family life. As solopreneurs, keeping ourselves “at our prime” is key as the business relies on you. Without you there, it’s unlikely that it can keep going for long. Therefore, renewal should take a priority. Here are some different ways to consider renewal:
Activity Consider your skill base right now. What is one skill area you could become more effective in to boost your impact as a people leader? Connection to the Workbook and Planner Take a look at your calendar. What have you done to build in renewal periods on a WEEKLY, MONTHLY and QUARTERLY basis? Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 44 Focus — Circadian Rhythm Focus Question: Consider the rhythm of your day. When can you do your best work? Around what tasks? Description When are you at your best? There has been a lot of research done on our natural body rhythms. The study of chronobiology explores our natural rhythms. While some of us are “early birds” and love to get things done in the early hours of the morning as the world wakes up, others may find they get their “next wind” in the evening. What do you notice about when you are at your best for completing different tasks? There may be different times of the day when it is good for you to complete different tasks such as:
Activity In an ideal state, what would your ideal day or week of work look like? WHAT would you do WHEN? Make a list of the different tasks you need to complete in the next 1-3 weeks. What time of the day might you be best placed to complete them in? Connection to the Workbook and Planner Consider using the time trackers (Monthly Planning Tools) to track when in the month you are completing core tasks, but also the time of day. Instead of tracking by one color per activity, you may consider tracking by M, A, N – Morning (M), Afternoon (A), Night (N). After tracking your time of day rhythms (could be a week or more), what do you notice? What adjustments could support you in maximizing your work routine? Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore program design, productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 43 Focus — Delegation Focus Question: What are the tasks which you need to let go of and have others complete? Description There’s usually never enough time to get things done in our work. One area which most professionals struggle with is delegation. This is particularly challenging when working in the remote space as we need to be even more specific and strategic in what we can delegate, to whom and what it can look like. Delegation is successful when we are clear about the task that needs to be completed, when we ensure that the person doing has the resources and authority to get it done, and that we also follow up regularly with the task. Throughout the last three decades of my career, in teams large and small, intact and remote, I’ve found delegation to be a growth edge for everyone – leaders and team members alike. In the spirit of keeping things simple, I have had people reflect on the 5Ws and an H of delegation as they think about:
Activity In this week’s post, I’m inviting you to take stock of all the things that are on your plate. As you consider past focus areas like the 80/20 Rule, what do you notice about where you are getting your impact and results in your work? You may recall that the 80/20 Rule – also known as Pareto’s Principle - indicates that we tend to get 80% of our impact from approximately 20% of our efforts. Key Tasks I need to do (or delegate): _____________________________ Identify one or two tasks you would consider delegating. Using the following chart, work through the associated questions:  Connection to the Workbook and Planner Delegation is covered in Section 4 of the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack. Review the sections in either these. Review your current Monthly To Do List – you’ll find 12 of them in the Planner Section at the back. Each month be sure to make a list of all the tasks, projects and activities you have on your plate. While this can feel overwhelming you may get good at “triaging” the list early in the month, so that there is ample time to delegate tasks, schedule and defer others. Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. Best wishes, Jennifer Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track  Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues. Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326 Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course. Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram |
AuthorJennifer Britton is the blogger behind the popular Teams365 blog, a daily,blog for team leaders and members since 2014. Her latest publication is the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner. Pick up a copy at Amazon. Pick Up a Copy
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Join us for the 21 For 21 Virtual Co-working Sprints - $21 US. Want to access the recordings and bonus worksheets? Join us at the Booster Pack $79 US early bird rate. Sign up at 21for21 Virtual Co-working - STAND OUT VIRTUALLY! Stand Out Virtually - Incubator - Running an online, virtual or digital business and want to get the word out to organizations? Join us for the 8 week Stand Out Virtually Incubator. Next group starts April 2021. Build out your brand, offers and proposals. Virtual Facilitation Essentials (8.5 CCEs)- Expand your toolkit for better remote and virtual conversations. This is a virtual train-the-trainer - 5 weeks: Fall 2021 programming starts in October $495 US Learn more and register. Coaches! Register for the 60 Day Coaching Business Builder Accelerator. Join us for 60 Days support and ACTION for coaches wanting to grow their businesses. On-Demand Course. PlanDoTrack Facilitator Training Program (24 CCEs) - Starts again in October. Contact Jennifer to discuss. Month-End/Quarterly Planning Session: Thursday September 30th - 8 -9 am ET Archives
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