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
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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 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 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 Week 31 Focus – Marketing Review Focus Question: What needs a tweak with your 5 P’s? Description Last week we started to take stock of where you are around dialogue and marketing of your work. Whether you are internal, or external, we are regularly marketing ourselves. Internally we may be focused on personal branding and/or creating and positioning a business case for our work. Externally, we want to offer the best item of value to our customers or clients. When we explore the topic of marketing and program/product design, we often talk about the Marketing Mix or the 5 P’s– Product, Placement, Promotion, People, and Price. Knowing our 5 P’s and reviewing it regularly ensures that we are on target with what our customers or stakeholders want. This week, as review, note what’s worked, and what hasn’t recently in the five different areas of the 5 P’s. Activity Use associated worksheet to note what’s worked and what hasn’t around the 5 P’s around your product or service offering. Undertake a review of your metrics. This could include numbers of subscribers, engagement, posts, views, follows, comments etc. What do you notice? What’s working around your marketing right now? Consider the business which has come in, over last six months. What sources led to it? What is in the pipeline? What has shaped this? Do an audit on your content. Consider:
Connection to the Workbook and Planner Part of doing a marketing review is reviewing metrics and trends. Take a look back at your notes. What do you notice? You may want 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 The mantra for today is for many “Bigger is better” but when it comes to goals in fact it may be that “Less is more”. With workplaces ripe with ever-changing priorities it can lead to a lack of engagement and clarity on the part of employees. When we are pulled into meetings last minute and not able to focus on some of the core tasks we had planned, it can feel disruptive and disempowering. While we may never be able to focus on all the tasks we have planned, being able to focus, and take action on, our top 3-5 goals in a day or a week, can help employees feel as if they have some control. As you will note with the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack, many of the planning templates have space for you to note your Top 3 – 5 goals each week or month. These can serve as anchors in what sometimes feels like a sea of change! Do you already ask yourself every day or regularly, “What are my top 3-5 goals?”? If not, now many be the time to experiment with this practice. See what you notice. Let us know how you are using the different planning resources in PlanDoTrack or Coaching Business Builder in the comments here, or jump into the discussion over at the Conversation Sparker Zone. Enjoy the conversation! Jennifer Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Check out the Weekly Planning Hack Facebook Live each week here. Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013) Welcome back to another Wednesday Weekly Planning Hack. This is #24 in the series. This week’s WPH is about a great prioritization tool using post its. It builds onto last week’s focus of using post its in planning, and in ensuring all voices in a team are represented. In this week’s blog post let us explore another very visual way to prioritize – this time using post its. Here’s what I wrote about the Planning Matrix in PlanDoTrack and the Coaching Business Builder: “The prioritization matrix is a quick visual tool where all you will need is some post-it notes or a white board. First, identify all of the priorities you have, writing each one down on a separate post-it. Then rate them according to their impact and likelihood of getting them done (or other criterion). Place them along the matrix of impact and likelihood. This activity is very visual, and stimulates dialogue amongst the team members themselves. An important part of the prioritization process for teams is about sharing information, and also busting assumptions that might be held. This seems to have the potential to be a great structure for facilitating that conversation.” (Source: Coaching Business Builder, Jennifer Britton, 2018) What ways can you incorporate post its, teamwork and planning? Best, Jennifer Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Check out the Weekly Planning Hack Facebook Live each Wednesday 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) 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:
Activity Consider what community you might want to spearhead in social media.
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 26 Focus – Mid-point Check In Focus Question: What have you achieved so far this year? Description Wow! Here we are in week 26, mid-point of the 52 weeks, and of the year. This week you are encouraged to block off time to take stock of your achievements. First, review your annual plan. You may want to include some information around these questions:
Research/Story Creating intentional pause points is an important part of any coaching and learning process. Being able to stop and reflect is also critical for business success. While we can keep on doing, are we doing the right things which have impact? What is working and what is not? This is the premise of the Virtual Retreats I host throughout the year in the PlanDoTrack series, as well as the month end reflection and monthly planning hacks. 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:
Six Questions
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) |
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 CopyUpcoming Programs
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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