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:

• Performance conversations
• Delegation
• Prioritization
• Helping you do your best work – strengths conversations
• Mentoring or advisory conversations
• Change – what’s not work and why

As people leaders, we will want to keep in mind these team development and motivational foundations:

• We are motivated by both internal and external factors (Internal factors include= Learning, Growth, Achievement, Mastery - External factors include= Promotion, Reward and Compensation);
• We want support in different ways (regular check-ins vs “let me get on with my work”);
• We want to give feedback in different ways;
• We want to receive feedback in different ways;
• Hearing something once may not be enough;
• Being shown what it can look like, or different samples of work, can be helpful in creating a visible path.

Team development is a process. Different types of team development activities are required throughout the year. From team check-ins to retreats, ask yourself:

• What’s the best activity for the moment?
• What’s the most important thing for the team to focus on right now?
• What’s the best vehicle?
• When do we really need to get together?

In working in a virtual or remote space, all of us have the need to be a good people leader - not only formal managers - as we get work done through others.
 
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

Week 32 Focus – One Percent Rule to Business Development
Focus Question: What are the consistent daily steps you want to undertake?
​
Description
Since 2005 I have been sharing what I call the One Percent Rule to Business Development. I've heard from a lot of entrepreneurs that they like this notion of incremental business action. So here it is!
The 1% rule to business development consists of a series of 8 different stages:
1. Create the Vision: Our vision sets the broad swath of possibility. It gets us thinking about what is possible. It also helps to anchor us when we think about where we want to go and what we want to do. Making our vision detailed and keeping it visible can be important. How are you enshrining your vision?
2. Prepare. During the preparation phase we want to get clear on what the requirements are for our work and projects. We want to know what a successful result looks like. We want to be clear on what resourcing is needed. During the preparation phase we will gather all the information we have so we can pull together a plan.
3. Create an action plan. In my work as a coach, I usually get my clients to create a One-Page Action Plan. The value of the One-Page Plan is that it contains all of the most important information in one page. The One-Pager be placed in a visual location so that you can refer to it quickly AND regularly. What’s on your action plan?
4. Seek out support. What is going to help you achieve the key goals you have set out for yourself? Support can take many forms – financial, technical, people. What do you need to be successful?
5. Take ongoing small steps. As my father, a retired entrepreneur himself, always reminds me that “Rome was not built in a day”. The premise behind the workbook planners is about taking REGULAR, CONSISTENT action. In building a business by ourselves burnout may be a possibility if we move too fast. It can be important to take regular small steps to create the momentum needed for things done quickly.
6. Test, Learn, Retest. In the sixth step were going to test things out. Today's volatility and complexity requires that we experiment regularly.  With the data we receive from the initial test or action we can learn and apply then retest and learn again. This is an iterative process which continues. Throughout the business cycle we may move through different bouts of experimentation. Each cycle creates an opportunity for learning and growth.
7. Learn, Iterate and Act. Each action creates a reaction, which over time creates its own momentum, making it easier to achieve the goal. Along the way learning and feedback will help to shape what we do.
8. Ultimately our goal is achieved. Based on our experience we will further refine the vision that we set out for ourselves, expanding it or modifying it based on our experience. This will further support and shape our actions are we move forward with the next cycle and process.
This cycle may take place in a short amount of time, for example a day or it may be phased over the longer term of a project.
 
Activity
Using your business or a current project, work through the One Percent Rule. What can action and learning look like around one of your most important goals? Map out the 8 steps of the One Percent Rule.

​Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Refer to the One Percent Rule to Business in Section 1 on page 29 of the Coaching Business Builder, or page 31 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
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

This week’s Weekly Planning Hack focuses on the Power of a Post It. From being an important visual reminder, to helping teams focus on what’s important, the power of a post-it can become a colorful way to prioritize and focus.
Here are a couple of ways you might consider using post its to help you with your productivity:

1. Grabbing a set of post-its at the start of the quarter and listing one key activity per post it. Using a whiteboard, then schedule these into each month, or each week of the quarter. Because they are post its, they are easy to move around.
2. Bring post its into your next staff meeting. As you get started have everyone write out the one thing they want out of the meeting on one post it. One at a time have them share their idea/need and have them post this on the wall or whiteboard of your meeting room. If you are working virtually, have each person write up their need/focus on a blank slide using annotation. This approach allows for more time for reflection before speaking, and also ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard and represented.

 
Here’s what I wrote in a 2008 blog posts on post its called A Facilitator’s Ally: Post Its and Index Cards:


I love post it notes and index cards! Many of you will know that it made my top 10 list of most useful tips and tools for 2007. Today's post, builds on a much older post of mine from last year, about how post it notes and index cards can be a really valuable tool in your toolbox.

Here are some ideas on how you can use post-its and/or index cards:

1. For program development. Using a new post it or index card, brain storm all the ideas you have about upcoming programs. Lay them out on a table or floor to start sorting/grouping.

2. To get quick feedback from all participants during a program. As an evaluation tool, have participants write out their responses to your evaluation questions (1 question/answer per card), and have them post them on the wall.

3. For business planning or strategic planning sessions. The photo above is from a recent team planning session I facilitated late last year. There is nothing like getting people up and moving to boost engagement, excitement and ownership of their work!

4. As a quick poll of the group regarding what questions are popping for the group.

5. To ensure that all voices of the group are being heard. It is quite common for groups to be dominated by certain members. As a facilitator it's important to ensure that all voices are heard. Having participants write out their questions or responses, and then post them, or share them, can provide participants who introverts are, shyer or those who require more time to process questions, the opportunity to participate and "be heard".

6. As a "vote" regarding where to go. Have participants show their support for a discussion item by putting up a post it note. (Different colours can represent different categories.)

7. As a brainstorming tool. You can bring post-its/index cards into exercises where participants want to/need to brainstorm. For example,

• small business owners working on their business vision
• professionals who are in career transition
• stay at home moms who are returning to the workforce
• teams working on their quarterly/annual planning
• couples who are creating their budget or a plan for their year

The possibilities are endless. How would you like to bring post-it notes or index cards into your next program?
Here’s a link to that original post.
 
Enjoy your use of post its!
​Jennifer

Week 27 Focus – Communities on Social Media – Facebook, Mighty Networks, LinkedIn etc.…
Focus Question: What are the communities you want to build on social media?

Description
In early 2018 Facebook announced it was going to place an emphasis on communities in their social media ecosystem.

In addition to having a profile on the varying social networks, building community intentionally on social media has multiple benefits including cultivating connection with like-minded people, sharing resources with people who have a common interest, and also adding value to a community who can refer.

What are the communities you want to build on social media?
​
There are several different platforms you might want to consider including:

• Facebook
• Mighty Networks
• LinkedIn Groups

I’ve set up a number of different community opportunities I hope you will decide to connect around:

1. The PlanDoTrack Facebook page.
2. The Conversation Sparker Zone I host on Mighty Network which focuses on several smaller communities: Team and Group Coaching, Virtual Conversations, Virtual and Remote Entrepreneurship, Virtual and Remote Teamwork and Leadership. Join us there.
3. The CoachingBizBuilder feed over at Instagram. 

Activity
Consider what community you might want to spearhead in social media.

• What is the purpose?
• What are the guidelines?

​What content would you populate your new community on social media with? Consider material you have created, go-to resources from others, and polls to find out what people want.

Consider dedicating each day to a different theme: Throwback Thursday, Motivation Monday…

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Use the Content Daily Trackers, and Content Brainstorm to identify key content you are sharing or plan to share.

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 25 Focus – Building Connection & Community While Strengthening Your Personal Brand on Social Media
Focus Question: What does building connection and community mean for you? Why is this important?

Description
Connection and community are yearned for by many operating in the virtual and small business space. What are the ways you want to build stronger connection with others, and create more community? This week’s focus is on using social media as an avenue to build more connection and community.

As a virtual business it’s likely that many of your days are spent operating solo, bouncing in and out of virtual calls with people who might be hours, and time zones, away from you. Isolation is often seen as a downside to virtual work. Virtual and remote professionals may be more proactive in exploring various avenues for creating community and connection.

In building community consider these questions:

• Who is important to connect with?
• What topics or focus areas do I want to be in regular dialogue around?
• What can I contribute to others?
• Needs I have in order to do my work most effectively are…. I might be able to find them ____________.

In building connection within the virtual space, it may be a mix of:

• Push versus Pull: Here’s what I have to offer (PUSH) VS. Tell me what you need (PULL)
• Social Media vs. In-person Environments: Social media often gets a bad wrap for the time involved, yet it may be the communication flow for many virtual professionals. Different platforms can serve different purposes and historically have attracted different audiences. For example, consider LinkedIn’s focus on professional issues vs. Instagram’s visual story telling. We’ll be exploring tips for leveraging these two platforms in the coming weeks so stay tuned.
• Building time for meaningful connection: On a regular basis, consider having an offline conversation with people you are meeting. This might involve having a virtual coffee for 15 minutes or connecting around a shared interest to swap resource tips.
• Social media community involvement: What’s the purpose of joining different groups? What can you contribute? What time do you want to offer?

Six Questions

1. How much time do you want to dedicate to social media?
2. Which platforms do you want to be present on? (Consider your strengths, passions, clients etc)
3. What’s the message you want to share?
4. What do you want to track?
5. What does value add and engagement look like?
6. What is important to keep in mind?

Activity
Review or create your strategy around social media. What’s the purpose? What are you doing to do, WHEN?

What can you do to magnify your message? Consider how you can magnify and repurpose. What can you share different spins on the same item across platforms? For example, if you have written an article on something, could you pull out a couple of quotes to make it a tweet, or serve as a quote graphic?  Could that same article become the seeds of a presentation?
Review visibility tips.
Consider what your strengths are and what your key message is.

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
The Monthly and Daily Trackers in the planner section of the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack can be used to track how much time you are spending on promotion, the different channels, as well as what impact you are getting.
Use the Content Planner to make a plan you can execute on.
Check out the Don’t Just Do it Once! Tool in the content section so you can think about magnifying your message.

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
Check out the Weekly Planning Hack Facebook Live each Wednesday or Thursday here. Be sure to like our page to be updated each week!
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)

We operate as part of a larger web. As Buddha wrote:
“As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in this world is connected by a series of ties. If anyone thinks that the mesh of the net is an independent isolated thing he is mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series of interconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to other meshes.”
​

• What are the relationship webs or meshes you are part of?
• What are the ties you have made in your business?
• Who do you rely on to make things happen?

Even as solopreneurs or someone working remote we are a bigger part of a web. Being clear on how we connect and interrelate can help us be more focused and intentional in our messaging, marketing and communication.

This week take some time to draw out your web of relationships.

• Who are the people you connect with internally? Externally?
• Who are the people in your web that are influencers? Connectors?
• Which relationships need attention? Which new relationships do you want to develop?

Have a great Wednesday!
​Jennifer

Over the last month we’ve been exploring different skills and practices for virtual professionals. This week’s post focuses in on five people virtual team members need in their network. Given the more autonomous role of the virtual and remote employee, five people virtual team members will want to make sure they have strong relationships with, are:

• Their direct line supervisors - Given that matrix relationships may be more common, it’s likely that the virtual or remote employee is reporting to one, two or more leaders. It  may be someone local, someone on the project, and someone geographically.
• Mentors – An internal or external mentor can help navigate the waters of work and industry. Mentors provide valuable insights and stories about their own experience. They may also be a person you can take specific questions to who you cannot ask anyone else.
• Peers – Having a variety of peers to “go to” virtually is also important. Sharing best practices and resources to do your work more effectively is critical in today’s matrix environment. What are you doing to proactively build connection with other peers you work with?
• Connectors – People who can connect them to the necessary resources and people which will help them be successful. This could be a supervisor, a mentor, or it may be someone else…
• A community network – Remote work can be isolating. Having a local community network can be very important in providing support and an anchor.

Relationships in the virtual space do not “grow on their own” and earmarking time to have conversation can be important. It’s when we don’t have the answers that we realize we don’t know who to turn to. If you are new to a team, ask others, “Who else would you recommend I connect with?”. You’ll usually get a range of answers. Then the challenge becomes, when do you fit it in? Schedule a virtual coffee to meet others on a regular basis. All meetings don’t have to happen in your first few weeks!

Best, 
Jennifer

Week 18 Focus – Projects – Partnerships (RACSI)
Focus Question: We usually don’t operate in isolation. Who do you want to/need to liaise with to ensure successful projects and activities?

​Description
Partnerships are essential for coaches, virtual professionals and others. For most of us, we interface regularly with external partners and stakeholders, who are often located in some distance away from us.

As virtual and service-based businesses, we may create a wide variety of partnerships in our work. We don’t always do it alone. As soon as we expand our work to others, it can be useful to think about what partnerships look like.

From co-coaching, to Joint Ventures, bringing on sub-contractors to co-designing programs. What can partnerships look like for you?

Given that we are interfacing with different stakeholders around projects at any given time, it can be useful to think about how different stakeholders need to be updated and “kept in the loop”. 

Research/Story/Six Questions
Who are the partners you want to keep in the loop? What are the key tasks and responsibilities?

One of the more common frameworks for stakeholder engagement is the RACSI. RACSI stands for:
R – Responsible
A – Accountable
C – Consulted
S - Support
I – Informed.
Let’s look at each one in turn.
Responsible = person or role responsible for actually doing or completing the item. Who needs to do the work? This might be the team leader who has to gather the expense information in the new format and submit it.
Accountable = The person who is accountable is usually the person responsible for undertaking the task. Who has ownership of this? Typically, the "responsible one" is accountable to this person.   The accountable person might be the General Manager, the Team Leader's boss.
Consult = the person or role whose subject matter expertise is required in order to complete the item. Consulted - Who needs to be involved and asked for input? Those consulted may involve other team leaders who have gone through the change, and team members.
Support = Who needs to support the work? What type of support is required?
Inform = the person or role that needs to be kept informed of the status of item completion Who needs to be told about the change or informed along the way? Individuals who are not part of teams may need to be informed so they know what changes are happening.

The value of reflecting on a RACSI for each project is that it helps you consider who you want to involve and keep in the loop. Projects sometimes are not successful when they have not engaged different players or stakeholders appropriately.

Activity
Consider one of your upcoming initiatives/ programs/projects. Who are the key stakeholders? Who is responsible? Who needs to support? Who needs to be consulted? Who needs to be informed?

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Any time we bring shareholders on or work closely with a community, or membership site, it can be important to be focusing on the RACSI, as we consider how to communicate our messages.

Great partnerships are usually co-designed with intentionality. To help guide you through these conversations, I share a variety of questions to consider at different times of the partnership journey – pre-design, during design, during implementation and after the project.

Be sure to also download the Co-Facilitation Chapter. This link is found on page 93 of PlanDoTrack and page 89 of the Coaching Business Builder.
​
Leverage the tools including the Partnership Questions on Pages 93 and 94 of the PlanDoTrack or pages 89 and 90 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

In a virtual team it is critical to build capacity given that people are working more autonomously. Time spent equipping team members with the tools to influence, be proactive and also communicate is key.
​
This week I wanted to zoom into three skills related to coaching that may be valuable to your virtual or remote team. These skills are:

1. Goals
2. Listening
3. Questioning

I often am amazed at how many organizations have not invested time, or resources, into helping team members work around goals. While there are many frameworks including:

• SMART Goals
• CLEAR Goals – see John Whitmore’s Coaching for Performance writing
• WOOP Goals

I usually encourage organizations to consider what’s going to work best for you. A majority of clients I work with are aware of SMART Goals, which we morph into SMART – E Goals, E meaning Exciting. If our goals are not exciting or motivating, it’s unlikely that we will get them done.

As a quick refresher – SMART goals are goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound.

What is important to note around GOALS right now?

Best,
​Jennifer

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” – NAPOLEON HILL
​
No person operates alone. Relationships are key to our success in business. Our customers can be great advocates of our work. Likewise, fellow professionals may also be a powerful source in sharing the word and testimonial of our work.
What time are you dedicating to building, and maintaining, relationships with others?
​
There are several tools included in the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner (for virtual professionals and remote/virtual teams) to help you focus on relationships. From the Top 20 list, to exploring collaboration more intentionally, I hope that you will put more of a focus on relationships this year.
Be sure to check out related posts on relationships and business in February 2019 at the Coaching Business Builder blog, as well as relationships and virtual business/teams at the Teams365 blog. 

Best,
​Jennifer