  Week 42 Focus – Prioritization Focus Question: What do you want to focus on today? Description There are many competing priorities in a business. What are the things you want to focus on today? This week? As solopreneurs, it’s unlikely that our To-Do list will ever be complete. We can overwork ourselves to the point of burn out. As virtual and remote professionals the issue of prioritization takes on immense significance given that we are likely to be part of multiple teams, working across different time zones, with each team and leader having different priorities. Having to work more autonomously, and independently, we also can benefit from prioritizing what’s important from the “bigger picture” of what’s on our desk at any given moment of time. In Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack, I share four different prioritization tools which will help you identify what is going to give you more focus:
Activity Work through the relevant tools for your work and business right now. If you are doing some longer-term planning, refer to the SWOT and/or Strategic Issues Mapping. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stuck or working on immediate priorities consider using the other prioritization tools. Connection to the Workbook and Planner You will find the prioritization tools listed on pages 114 to 119. You might consider exploring:
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
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  Week 41 Focus – Chunk It Down to Gain Momentum Focus Question: As you consider your big tasks right now, what are the chunks, or discrete packets, at the core? Description There are many different models of time management and one of them is about chunking. Chunking invites us to break tasks down. In chunking we may put tasks of a similar nature together. Chunking can create momentum so we may be able to quickly get those items off our list. One of the other areas that I've touched on in this book already is the notion of finding the times of day that work best for you. What does momentum mean for you? What are the top 6 you can get off your list quickly? What are the things that will help you gain some momentum and get things done on a consistent basis? Businesses are often built in spurts. Parkinson’s Rule asserts that tasks expand to the amount of time we give them. Sometimes it can be useful to “corral” a task, giving it a very fixed timeline in order to ensure that it gets one. Here are some examples of what you might do in spurts or by chunking:
Activity What are the elements you need to break down? Connection to the Workbook and Planner In your monthly planning process, break down your activities and projects into smaller chunks – tasks, activities. Use the To-Do pages to start drilling into the core packets of 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 40 Focus – Team Development – Building Your Team Focus Question: What is going to help your team excel? What does building your team look like? When are you dedicating time to this process? Description Team development is a process. It is not something that happens overnight. It’s not a one-off. Teams are like elephants – big and bold. They take time to move and shift. Teams need several elements to perform at their peak. I commonly call these the Six Factors of high performing teams. From different research (Katzenbach and Smith, Hackman and Wageman, Carr and Peters) we know that teams require:
Activity As a team, consider where you are on a scale of 1-10 (1 being low and 10 being high) around each of the Six Factors? What needs attention? Be sure to schedule in time for your team development activities. (Note the S in activities. Team development is not just a one-off! It’s a process.) Connection to the Workbook and Planner Share resources with you team from the workbook plan. Could they benefit from having a copy themselves? 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 39 Focus – Team Development: Understanding How Teams Operate Focus Question: What does your team need right now? Description In growing a team, it is important to understand the arc of team development. Teams naturally move through the process of what is commonly referred to as Tuckman’s Model. This series of stages from Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. At different stages team and groups have varying needs. Here’s what I shared about the five stages of Tuckman’s model in a Teams365 blog post: The forming stage occurs when groups or teams are coming together, and/or are being joined by new group/team members. Key needs at this stage include safety, connection and understanding what expectations are. As coaches, it is important at this stage to encourage dialogue around expectations, group or team agreements (or "how we want to operate/get along") and connect people with each other as well as with you. By the second conversation, groups are often into the Storming Stage where they are asking themselves "What? So, who are we? What's this all about?". This is where conflict starts to emerge and can be very overt (visible) or under wraps (i.e. people choosing not to engage and double-booking themselves). Conflict is a normal and healthy part of group development when they have the tools and skills to learn to work across differences. We can support groups and teams as coaches sat this stage by supporting them with a process and tools that help them gain clarity about who they are and what it's all about. As groups and teams move through Storming and start to create their own identify they move to the Norming stage. We may start seeing the group really start coming together in the second or third group coaching conversation, or even in the morning of a multi-day program. As coaches we can support the process by encouraging dialogue around roles, key goals they are working towards collectively and the purpose of the group or team. The next stage in Tuckman's Model is Performing. At this stage, the group or team has everything they need and clarity around what they are doing so they can get the work done. As coaches, we can support teams and groups at this stage for pausing to reflect on what's working, what's not, what needs a tweak and what's going to support their results. Groups and teams will end - whether it is a team member leaving, a project team winding down, or a group disbanding. In the Adjourning stage we want to create the space for people to acknowledge their achievements, learning and start looking at next steps. Activity Questions to consider:
Connection to the Workbook and Planner As you consider the different relationships you are in, what stages are you at? 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 38 Focus – Onboarding New Team Members Focus Question: What is important to communicate about your business? Description In bringing people onboard to your team it's really critical that you:
Story Onboarding New Team Members: It’s likely that you may be bringing on new team members, and also doing this in a virtual setting. As you approach onboarding your new team members consider sharing:
Activity This week make a list of all the things you want to cover in onboarding new team members. What materials are needed? What support? Connection to the Workbook and Planner Going back to your values and vision as a business, what is important to communicate? Many of the areas we explored – values, strengths, can be explored with 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   Week 37 Focus – Building Your Team Focus Question: What are the roles that are going to help you as a business? What are the roles that are non-negotiable? What else is going to help your team? Description There are many elements which make teams work. We often call this team effectiveness. From leveraging your people’s strengths to the Six Factors, team development is process which occurs over time. Many of the topics we explored earlier in this series (i.e. values, strengths, vision) can also be applied to your team. Take a look back at some of the earlier sessions. We know that teams excel when they have clarity around both the results they are working on, in addition to having strong relationships. In future weeks we will be exploring additional areas. As a starting point, consider:
Activity Return to your vision and think about WHO you need to help you grow your business. On an immediate level, make a list of all the things you have been involved with recently or have on your list. Are there any things which could be done by others? Connection to the Workbook and Planner Check out the Time Management and Personal Productivity sections. These will be useful in exploring what tasks you are doing and where they are in terms of urgency and importance. As your business grows you will want to consider what tasks could be delegated to others. This will be a signal of the types of work which could be handed over to part-time or full-time staff. Use the chart connected to the 4D model to capture the tasks required by others. This can be found on page 120 of the Coaching Business Builder and page 122 of PlanDoTrack. 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 Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram   Week 36 Focus – Weave it Together: Quarterly Check In Focus Question: What have you achieved? What’s needed in this next quarter? Description Taking time to pause and undertake a quarterly checkpoint is important. Here we are at our next quarterly checkpoint. What are you noticing each time you undertake a quarterly review? What are common themes across the quarters? The book’s subtitle is “Putting the pieces together”. What are the elements you want to fuse or combine? Activity For this week’s activity, you are invited to consider some, or all, of the questions I posted in my March 2019 article for the Coaching Tools Company: Help Clients Pause, Take Stock with a Quarterly Review or Retreat https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/create-a-pause-for-clients-via-quarterly-reviews-or-retreats-by-jennifer-britton/ Start by reviewing the past quarter:
Looking ahead to the next quarter: My priorities are: 1. __________ 2. __________ 3. __________ Our team/business priorities are: 1. __________ 2. __________ 3. __________ My goals are: 1. __________ 2. __________ 3. __________ Other questions to consider:
Activity: Part 2 Depending on your style you may opt to:
Connection to the Workbook and Planner Refer to the Quarterly Tools including:
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 35 Focus – Presentations 101 Focus Question: What is important to communicate in your next presentation? How do you want to capture people’s attention? Description As a solopreneur, it's likely that you'll be giving presentations to a wide variety of audiences from webinars, to lunch and learns, to speaking at conferences. Section 3 goes into many different ways you can be thinking about creating content and positioning presentation. Fear of public speaking is usually listed as a Top 10 fear of adults. So how can we prepare to give a WOW presentation? As a starting point, take 5 minutes to brainstorm. Make a list of everything you could possibly talk about. What are the topics that your clients or customers would really appreciate? As someone who's been involved in presentation skills training for almost 2 decades, here are a couple of key things to keep in mind:
Research/Story One of the biggest pitfalls you can experience as a presenter is that no one wants to participate. Tips to get participation happening:
Activity Consider an upcoming presentation:
Connection to the Workbook and Planner Refer to Section 3 of the Coaching Business Builder and the section specific to presentations. Take a look at the textbox on presentations which you will find on page 77 of the Coaching Business Builder. 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 34 Focus – Systems in The Business Focus Question: What’s working and what’s not as it relates to your systems? Story Systems help us to replicate things on a consistent basis. They also help us to:
Consider these systems for your business:  Activity Note what’s worked and what hasn’t around the different systems in your work or business. Do an audit on your systems. Consider:
Connection to the Workbook and Planner Refer to part 3 of the book and what is noted around systems. Part of doing a review is noting metrics and trends. Take a look back at your notes. What do you notice? You may want to: Review the Annual Planners and Quarterly Tools Review the Monthly Daily Planners – what do you notice? Use brainstorm lists to capture these ideas around systems. 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 33 Focus – People Management 101 Focus Question: What makes your people exceptional? Description People are at the heart of any great business, or team. People management is a critical element for success. If you are a first-time team developer there’s lots to learn. It is often said that the move to first time supervisor or manager of people is the largest step you’ll ever undertake during your career. In PlanDoTrack, I explore core skills needed by both team leaders and team members. Given the autonomous nature of virtual and remote work, it can be beneficial and valuable to build these skills across an entire team – not just with the leader. As a leader of people, there are a variety of different conversations you will engage in. Here are several of them:
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 Complete the Wheel of Virtual and Remote Work in PlanDoTrack and review the skills listed in Section 1 of PlanDoTrack. What do you notice? Where can you improve? 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: April 12, 19, 26, May 3 and 10. $475 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 April. Contact Jennifer to discuss. Month-End/Quarterly Planning Session: Wednesday March 31 - 8 - 9 am ET Archives
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