In early March, I released the Remote Working Whitepaper. If you haven’t picked up a copy of it, be sure to download it here.

In the remote working whitepaper, I share 7 things that help remote work flourish. I call these the 7 Remote Enablers. They are:

• Communication
• Clarity
• Connection
• Culture
• Consistency
• Community
• Collaboration

 
Each one is a lever for individuals and teams to focus on and refine. Building these skills helps us

In this week’s blog post we are going to explore one of them – Communication.

Communication takes a variety of forms in the remote space – from live virtual calls, to one-way passages of info, Slack, to Team Stream comments. With such a variety of channels, it’s important that we ensure everyone is comfortable with these channels, and that there are shared agreements of how we use them, and what’s expected. It can also be useful to have agreements across the team in terms of the pace at which communication is expected.

Given that communication is only as strong as it’s weakest link consider inviting all team members to:

• Consider the best channel for the type of message they are sending.
• Consider highlighting the most important topics – this might be the top 3 bullet points, or soundbites.
• Consider HOW people prefer to be communicated with.
• Consider the Call to Action – What do you want people to do next?
• Consider the visual anchors which can underpin the conversation.

​What are the adjustments you want to make to your communication?
 
Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

I do a lot of writing around remote work on two of my related sites, Remote Pathways.com, the home of my podcast, as well as at the Teams365 blog. I wanted to make sure that you had had the chance to see these recent items:

• Are you making these remote working mistakes? 
• Teams, are you missing any of these core virtual meeting ingredients?
• Virtual Meetings – Keeping Them on Track – Teams365 #2291 
• Back to Basics – Virtualize and Digitize -Teams365 #2396
• Beat Zoom Fatigue with These Tips – Teams365 #2410

Over at the Remote Pathways podcast we’ve been exploring a variety of fun topics including:

• Episode 19 - Remote Working Myths – Listen in here.
• Episode 18 - with Leadership Coach and Consultant, and PlanDoTrack Certified Facilitator Cindy Hooker
• Episode 17 -  Every Remote Professional Needs to Be a Leader
• Episode 16 - An interview with special guest Kim Avery – Coach and Author of the Prayer Powered Entrepreneur 

Be sure to subscribe here so you receive alerts when we release our bi-weekly episodes.

What have you enjoyed reading or listening to at my other sites?

Enjoy your week,
Jennifer

Join me this Thursday to Stand Out Virtually!

I’m super excited to be hosting a one-day virtual learning event called Stand Out Virtually Masterclass. Building onto the momentum created in August with the 5 Day Stand out virtually Challenge I hosted in my new VRVH Facebook Group, I’ll be hosting a live 6 hour virtual masterclass, geared to support you in growing your confidence and tools in the remote space.
​
We’ll be looking at these areas during the day:

• Putting the pieces all together with exceptional DESIGN
• The neuroscience behind exceptional virtual design and facilitation
• The Perfect Virtual Call Formula – PERC (yes, way more detail around that)
• How to REALLY use the ENGAGEMENT tools available to you in workshop
• Quick tips to fluidly frame any virtual conversation
• Exploring your presence – What’s your unique style as a virtual facilitator?
• 6 core virtual facilitation tools to always lean into

 
What’s included:

• A digital participant guide for you to take notes, refer to and mark up with your brilliant ideas
• Worksheets
• Recordings from the Day
• A pre-and post call with Jennifer (15 minutes each)

 
Frequently Asked Questions:
I’ve taken Virtual Facilitation Essentials or Effective Group Coaching from you already. Will this be a repeat?
Each of the three programs are distinct. Just as you’ve seen in those programs, research and best practices guide my training. Just as with the Stand Out Virtually Challenge – we’ll got deeper into a lot of the themes we just touched on.

Who is the program for?
If you are needing to lead virtual calls and are looking to Stand Out with scientifically grounded approaches, embedded in the best of adult learning, coaching and experiential education, this program will be of interest. Those who have attended the Stand Out Challenge have been leaders, coaches, learning facilitators and more.

What can I expect?
The Stand Out Virtually masterclass is a combination of content, workshopping (Getting it done during the session), AND micro-masterminding (small group work).

Who is leading the program?
The program will be led by Jennifer Britton, author of Effective Virtual Conversations, who has been leading remote teams and facilitating virtual conversations since the 1990s. Her mission during 2020 is to support 795,000 professionals in having better coaching and virtual conversations.

How often will this be offered? 
This is not intended to be an ongoing program like my others (Virtual Facilitation Essentials). This is a one-off opportunity to boost your skills, connection, ideas and plans for virtual conversations. Be sure to join us!

Questions?
 Contact Jennifer with your questions by email.

Reserve your spot today!

The intent is for you to not only learn but spend time during the day applying your learning to a program or presentation you have coming up. You’ll also have time to network and mastermind with other fellow colleagues. Do join us!

Cost: $697 US which includes the Masterclass, recordings from it, the program workbook, and a post program 1-1 with me. Register with a colleague and each save 25%. Register with 2 colleagues and each save 40%. Contact me to be invoiced directly for these registrations. Register here.

Have a great week AND HOPE TO SEE YOU THURSDAY!
Jennifer

It’s back to work and time to revisit HOW you are working. What are the things that are working? What’s things aren’t?
​
I thought it would be useful to revisit the start of year checklist, given that September is often known as the second new year. How are you doing around these 10 areas:
1. What are your top 3 priorities for the rest of the year? Where are these visible? Does everyone you interface with know about these?
2. When are your 1-1s scheduled with your boss? Your team?
3. Peer time - When have you scheduled meetings and outreach with your peers?
4. Deep work time - What are the times you have earmarked for the heavier thinking tasks and activities?
5. Organizing- What are the things that need to be streamlined? What items need to be organized – physically and digitally?
6. Tolerations - What is the one thing that bothered you this year that you want to fix? Maybe it was something in your office that didn't work, or something on your computer that wasn't configured right?
7. Learning - What do you have earmarked for learning? What formats will it take? Are you building in time to apply the learning you have already taken, or have you become a consumer of learning?
8. Habits - What are the habits that are doing to keep you at peak performance?
9. Boundaries -What are the boundaries around work which will help support you? As a virtual and remote team member it's easy to have the lines blur. What's important to carve out as "your time" or "Family time". When are you available for others? When are you not? Have you communicated this?
10. Renewal and peak performance - The working life of a virtual and remote professional can be sedentary at times. What are you doing to renew, energize and keep yourself at peak performance?
​
Is there anything else you want to add to the list?

Enjoy the conversation!
Jennifer

When I went to write PlanDoTrack two years ago, I would have had no idea just how many people would be moving to work in the remote space right now. What I have loved seeing is how people have made the transition over to remote work smoothly and are now the in mid-term of their remote work experience. With that in mind, the principles and practices which underpin PlanDoTrack become even more important for sustainability. In this week’s blog post I wanted to zoom into five areas you might explore in terms of MAINTAINING productivity in the remote space. You’ll find more on each of these areas in sections 1 and 2 of the PlanDoTrack workbook and planner.
 
#1 - Create or Revisit the Vision
In recent months I’ve been spending a lot of time with groups in presentations talking about the importance of creating or revisiting your vision.
Our vision creates a horizon for us to aim towards. In times of disruption, this is even more important.

What are the elements which are important for YOU to focus on?

What are the elements which are important to keep an eye on?

#2 - Be Crystal Clear on Outcomes
 Leadership and teamwork in the remote space is all about outcomes. It’s about being very clear about:

• What will success look like?
• What is the outcome? What is NOT the outcome.
• What are you doing to stimulate conversations around outcomes?

#3 - Top 3 – 5 Goals
With vision and outcome in mind, what are the core essentials to be focusing on? It’s easy to get pulled into the eddies of other people’s priorities.

Questions:

• What are the top 3- 5 things you need to be sure you get done – today? This week? This month?
• What are you doing to keep your Top 3 – 5 visible and tracked?

Note that in many of the PlanDoTrack planning pages, there is space for you to track your Top 3-5.
 
#4 - Be Intentional (and ruthless) With Boundaries
As many have seen in recent mots, creating boundaries and routines that work well for each of our individual experiences are critical. Whether we are navigating work-life issues or working in a team that runs 24/7, being intentional and focused on our boundaries is critical for high performance. We need cycles to renew as much as cycles to run.

Questions to consider:

• What are the boundaries you need to employ?
• What are the renewal cycles you need to build in?

 
What’s important to note? Join us for more conversation around this at the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub on Facebook .

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 these Instagram accounts @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways!
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!
​

In recent months, the lockdown globally has led to some very interesting research opportunities. Does remote work, really work? Is it as productive as working in person? Who likes to work remotely and who flourishes?

As with any type of work situation, and one that has been more pronounced, even for those of us who have always worked remotely, I think it’s interesting to explore what some of the initial statistics and studies show. Here are details from five different studies:

Here’s where we were before COVID:

• Approximately 3.4 percent of the population or 7 million people in the U.S. were working remotely
• Remote work had grown by 151% between 2018 to 2019, if job listings are an indicator

(https://media.thinknum.com/articles/remote-job-listings-are-growing-faster-than-office-jobs/)

Today…
Gallup research found that 54 percent of office workers would leave their job, if they could have one with more flexibility. And Gallup further states that “job flexibility increases engagement.”

According to this article by Kellie Wong – 25 Remote Work Statistics:

Gallup puts it all together: “Job flexibility engages remote workers — which drives performance.”
Here are some additional statistics Kellie Wong shares in her article:

• Remote workers can be 20 to 25 percent more productive than their onsite colleagues
• Real estate expenses saved by each remote worker average $10,000 a year.
• Employee turnover in companies that allow remote work is 25 percent lower than in companies that don’t offer that option.
• Employees who work remotely at least one day a month are “24 percent more likely to be happy and productive.”
• 85 percent of businesses say that implementing flexible work locations have made their company more productive.
• 75 percent of people who work remotely do so because there are fewer distractions.
• 77 percent of employees say that working remotely will help their company lower operating costs.|

 
Who is working remotely? According to this HubSpot survey:
Job Types of Remote Workers

• 18% of executives work remotely more than on-site. (Owl Labs)
• 35% of remote workers are individual contributors. (Owl Labs)
• 30% of people report working for a company that's fully remote. (Buffer)
• 46% of C-suite members work remotely at least part-time. (Owl Labs)
• 55% of VPs work remotely at least part-time. (Owl Labs)
• New employees might work remotely less often at their company. Roughly 75% more on-site workers have worked in their positions for less than a year, (Owl Labs)

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/remote-work-stats
 
What are you intrigued by? What’s important to note?
​
Join us for the conversation at the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub on Facebook. It’s a new group I am hosting and hope that you will come and join us to share ideas, resources and insights. Join us here. 

Best,
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 these Instagram accounts @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways!
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!
​

One of my favorite creative projects this year has been creating and co-hosting the Remote Pathways podcast with Michelle Mullins. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, I hope that you will listen in, either at our site, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Little did we know back last fall when we launched in November,  how may people would be working remote at this moment in time.

The Remote Pathways podcast explores the people, places and pathways to remote work. 

Here's a list of where our first 10 episodes have taken us (each one is about 15-20 minutes in length):

Episode 1 - Welcome and Introduction. Listen in here.
Episode 2 - Getting Started with Remote Work. Listen in here.
Episode 3 - Goals, The One Page Plan. Remote Pathways - Serial Entrepreneurs and Coaches. Listen in here.
Episode 4 - Vision, Metrics, Pathways: Project Management and Sales. Listen in here.
Episode 5 - SMART-E Goals, Creative Solopreneurs and Virtual Facilitators - Listen in Here.
Episode 6 - Systems, Mentors and Work From Anywhere. Listen in here.
Episode 7 - Collaboration (In the virtual space); Pathways - Voluntary Sector and Selling Your Start up. Listen in here.
Episode 8 - Special Guest - Jennifer Grote: Strengths, Wellness and Mojo Habits. Listen in here.
Episode 9-Remote. Virtual or Mobile?  Listen in here.
Episode 10 - Susan Combs and Mentoring in the Virtual Space. Listen in here.


Let us know what is your FAVORITE episode so far? What other topics would you like to hear? Use the comments listed below, or share with us over at the Remote Pathways Facebook page.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

​​Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
You can now pick up a digital PDF copy of PlanDoTrack at our Potentials Realized Store.  Download and print at home!
Let's connect to discuss the virtual and remote support needs you have for your team or organization. Phone me at 416.996.8326 (M-F 8 - 4 pm ET)
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar - Virtual Events of course

With most work having gone virtual or remote overnight for those who can, what is needed in order to lead and be a great team member? Now's the time to get up to speed quickly.

For those who have been following along my writing for a while, you'll know that for the last 3 years I've done a monthly call related to Effective Virtual Conversations. You can find them here on YouTube. These are focused in on what it takes to have a great conversation in the remote space. Teams who shifted last week are going to need to have productive virtual working sessions this week - check out these videos for tips on how to lead virtual calls, skills needed, tricky issues (and how to avoid them).

A reminder that I'll be leading a group through the one-day Virtual Faciltation Essentials program this Wednesday March 25th from 10 - 530 pm Eastern/Toronto. Throughout the program you'll get a chance to learn, and practice, the various virtual facilitation tools which are available. 5 spots still open. Check it out here.

For those that are leading remote teams, you may want to focus on some of the remote work and remote team PlanDoTrack video calls I've done including:
Collaboration Virtually - No person is an island (February 2020). View it here. (30 min)
​Five Key Skills for Virtual and Remote Professionals (June 2019) - View it here.
Remote Team Skills (September 2019) - View it here.
Navigating the Matrix of Virtual and Remote Work (Spring 2019) - View it here.

Finally, for those who like to read, check out these latest articles I've posted on Thrive Global - 
Working from Home - In Focus. This article explores five areas to keep in mind as you work from home - Read it here.
Listening in the Virtual Space - Read it here.
Keeping your virtual meetings on track - Read it here.
3 Areas to Consider when your team makes the shit to remote work. Read it here.

If you haven't downloaded the Remote Working Whitepaper I did earlier this month, please check it out here.
Enjoy your Sunday!

With 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

Other resources to support you:
Check out these Instagram accounts @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways
Check out upcoming virtual learning  programs on our calendar
Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player

In response to the current COVID 19 context, I'll be hosting a 12 noon ET call each day this week (Friday's call will happen at 1 pm ET), sharing a tip, tool or idea about working remote and having virtual conversations. These will come from my 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, or my new (and still in manuscript form) Remote Pathways 90 Day Guide. These 12 pm ET calls will be held in zoom room 270-302-0415 (use this link -https://zoom.us/j/2703020415)

Please join us for a 20 minute call to connect and glean a tip or two for working and conversing in the remote space. I'll also be hosting 2 complimentary 1-1 calls each day with anyone who wants to use 20 minutes to drop in and "ask me anything". You can sign up and register here. I'll get an alert and we'll meet at your scheduled time in zoom. 

As someone who has worked in the remote space for three decades, as well as facilitated thousands of hours of calls with remote professionals, I look forward to supporting you as you make this transition and/or magnify your work. Please share with others.

THanks in advance, and be sure to check out the various resources I've created around PlanDoTrack and Effective Virtual Conversations. 

Pick up a copy of both, or one of my other books at Amazon.

Download a copy of my spring 2020 Remote Working Whitepaper here.

Jennifer Britton - CEO, Potentials Realized
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019)
Provider of specialized resources for remote professionals and teams (Coaching, Training and Consulting Services)
Co-host of the Remote Pathways Podcast
​

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