Focus Question: What’s been your greatest learning?

Description
And here we are. In the final week of the year. As you look back at 2020, what stands out, or maybe the better question is, what’s not been memorable, or record setting.

What a year! I hope that you have enjoyed our journey together and want to leave you with some reflection questions:
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The one thing I want to remember about this process is:

• I want to acknowledge _______ about myself:
• I am proud of:
• I have gotten clear on:
• I am going to celebrate my accomplishments by:
• Going forward, 1-3 themes which are important to me are:
• As I step into the new year I will…
• Take a look at the word cloud which captures some of our core themes for the year.

 
Enjoy the conversation and focus!

Activity
Review your notes from the year, highlighting for yourself key themes, learning and insights.
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Celebrate. Love. And Keep on Learning.

Thanks for joining us for this 52 week series. We hope that you will continue to stay tuned to the Remote Pathways podcast. Please take a minute to rate and review the podcast in your favorite podcast player!

Jennifer Britton 

Focus Question: What’s important to note about your work right now?

Description
Now, more than ever, teams need opportunities to connect, learn and grow together.
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In earmarking Team Time, you will want to make sure that you are creating a sacred time for the team to connect for getting clarity on the RESULTS they want and the RELATIONSHIPS which are important.

What are you looking to create in your team time?

Teams need a number of ingredients which we explored earlier this year in the Six Factors of High Performing Teams. A reminder that these six factors are:

• Shared mission and vision
• Shared goals
• Shared performance measures
• Clear roles
• Shared team practices
• And shared commitment

Teams excel when they have time formally and informally to get to know each other. While you might have lots of formal meetings, what informal opportunities do you provide to help team members to get to know each other?
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Have you considered virtual co-working as a way for people to get to know each other?
It’s important for teams to engage in ongoing learning. What are the types of learning experiences you have earmarked, both formally and informally? 

Activity
Review where you are as a team.
Consider what team development activities you have planned.

For more on this topic check out: Episode 15 (Team Effectiveness) and Episode 20 (Virtual Co-working) of the Remote Pathways podcast and the associated download. You’ll find it here.
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Also check out Chapters 10 and 11 of Effective Virtual Conversations, Jennifer Britton’s 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, which focuses on Virtual Team Development and Virtual team Learning

Focus Question: What’s important to note about your work right now?
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Description
Every quarter, I’ll be including a pause point to undertake a quarterly checkpoint. In addition to weekly and monthly planning, it can be valuable to spend time doing some quarterly planning. Looking across your goals and achievements over a three-month period, can provide a different perspective.

Activity
Earmark 30 – 60 minutes to undertake your Q3 checkpoint for the last 3 months. If you prefer to do this in the company of others, consider joining me for a quarterly planning session.

Grab a pen and your planner or journal. You may wish to set a timer, giving yourself 3-5 minutes to reflect on and capture your thoughts around each of these questions.
Note the following:

• What have you accomplished?
• What are the things which are still needing to get done?
• What has been your key learning over time?

 
Over the last three months ask yourself:

• What are the patterns you are noticing?
• What has shifted?
• What has stayed the same?
• What are you surprized about?
• What are you doing to leverage your strengths?
• What strengths are becoming overmagnified?
• What habits are helping you? What habits do you want to put more attention around?

 
Note your programming and/or services deliver. Ask yourself:

• Where have you been spending your time?
• What have you done to prioritize? What’s working and what’s not?
• How much volume of work have you been completing?

 
For more on this topic check out:
PlanDoTrack – Quarterly Planning Section
Remote Pathways New Guide – Quarterly Checkpoint (Day 30)

Enjoy your reflections!
​Jennifer

Focus Question: What have you achieved so far this year?

Description
What a year! This week you are encouraged to take stock of what you have been working on and achieving this year.

I’m going to borrow from last year’s mid-point check in which I shared as part of the 52 Weeks PDT series:

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:

• What have you achieved so far?
• What new items do you want to add?
• What can you check off your list?
• What have been key lessons since the start of the year (or the 52 weeks)?
• What’s different about you/your business?
• What’s really important for you to focus on in this last half of the year?
• By the end of the 52 weeks, I want to be sure I….

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.

Activity
Use this as a time to focus in on what you have achieved in the first half of the year.

​Questions you might want to reflect on are:
1. What's important about achieving or completing this goal? (Coaching Note: As we know as coaches, it can be useful to reconnect with the 30,000-foot view and WHY the issues are important. As you step back - or step up - to look at this, what new energy and ideas are generated?)
2. What is the quickest way to achieve it? What's another way? And another way? (Coaching note: as we often see, generating alternative solutions can be invaluable and spur us on to more complete solutions.)
3. What shiny, red objects have shown up? Which are causing a distraction?
4. What's most important to you in your business right now?
5. Who can provide the support and resources you need to be successful?
6. What do you need to say NO to in order to focus on your goal?
7. When did you last pause to take stock (and TRACK) where things were at?
8. What's going to create some momentum for you?
9. What are you doing to note, and celebrate, milestones (and learning) along the way?

Best, 
Jennifer
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These were questions I included in September 2018: https://www.coachingbusinessbuilder.com/blog/less-than-100-days-to-go-in-2018-what-do-you-want-to-focus-on

​Jennifer Britton
Co-host of the Remote Pathways Podcast
Potentials Realized – Coaching, Training and Consulting Services for remote teams, leaders and professionals 
 
Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode, where we explore the people, places and processes of exceptional remote work. You can listen to the latest episode here, or on your favorite podcast player.

Focus Question: What do you notice about the messy middle?

Description
We’re officially getting to the middle of the series. A term I love to embrace is that of the Messy Middle. As you step into the mid-point of the year, what do you notice? Are things picking up or are you losing some momentum?

In my studies in cognitive psychology years ago at McGill, one of the things I still remember, which has informed my entire career since first hearing 30 years ago is that of the LATENCY and RECENCY effects. Our brains remember the start and end of things. Everything in the middle is “messy”. We may not remember or even know what it is.
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According to Scott Belsky, author of The Messy Middle, the first part of any journey is called the First Mile. It can be useful to return to this regularly. This will include a focus on:

• Why they are there
• What they can accomplish
• What to do next

​It’s likely that at this time of year you may find yourself moving through the messy middle. It may be characterized by less traction, lack of focus or a different energy. 

Activity 
What do you notice about the energy and focus of the mid-point of this year?

Consider what’s going to help you get traction from the Messy Middle?
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What’s important to you at this phase?
 
For more on this topic check out:
The Monthly Daily Trackers are a great visual tool to view what’s happening in your work and business. What do you notice about the data and trends?

There are twelve sets of Monthly Daily Trackers and twelve sets of Monthly Content Trackers in the planner section.

Best,
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Co-host of the Remote Pathways Podcast
Potentials Realized – Coaching, Training and Consulting Services for remote teams, leaders and professionals 
 
Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode, where we explore the people, places and processes of exceptional remote work. You can listen to the latest episode here, or on your favorite podcast player.

Focus Question:  What systems will help you scale and streamline?

Description
Systems help us scale things. They are what helps us magnify our presence, even if we are a small company. Systems may link into automation to reduce the time spent on tasks that are not a “value add”.

In the remote space, systems also ensure consistency. This is critical if we are one of many people in a program. If I am offering something here in Toronto in a certain way, or with a certain promise, things are done the same way via my colleagues in another location.

In order to ensure systems don’t just become a “thing” we will want to ensure that we are also having a discussion around the values that underpin a system. So, for example, if we have a value of being “high touch” our systems for client onboarding may also reflect that. There may be personalization and a human touch behind that part of the work. What might be automated instead are some of the financial pieces of the work. 

​Activity
Think about these four areas of work – learning, project management, financial and communication. What new additions could you add to help amplify your efforts?

For more on this topic check out: 
​Section 3 of PlanDoTrack

All the best,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Co-host of the Remote Pathways Podcast
Potentials Realized – Coaching, Training and Consulting Services for remote teams, leaders and professionals 
 
Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode, where we explore the people, places and processes of exceptional remote work. You can listen to the latest episode here, or on your favorite podcast player.
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Focus Question:  What type of peer support could you benefit from? What are you curious about learning about from your peers? (Knowledge, resources, tricky issues, hacks etc.?)
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Description
Peer support is an often-underutilized component of any learning process inside, and outside, of organizations.

Peer support can take many forms:

Learning partners – Partnerships can be formed with members of the same team or different teams to provide a wider view of the work, role industry and/or organization,  Learning partners may be assigned specific questions that they explore together so they can learn more about each other’s roles, processes, skills etc.  Learning partners can also be used as part of larger training, with partners meeting in between modules to support each other’s implementation of skills.

Job Shadowing – This involves spending time with others and following them through day-to-day operations. Job shadowing provides a “birds-eye view” of how tasks are done.

Action Learning Groups – Groups of peers may come together and work real-time on current challenges and opportunities in an organization.

Peer Coaching – Connected with other learning initiatives, small groups of peers may come together for discussion, sharing and learning about what’s working, what’s possible and what’s challenging with their work and/or their role.
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What else might be possible?

Activity
Consider the different opportunities you have in place for more peer learning and support.
What are the things you are curious about?

• How people do things? (i.e. organizing, systems, relationships, etc.)
• What people do and what they are responsible for?
• How they approach tricky issues?
• What resources they would recommend?

For more on this topic check out:
PlanDoTrack – Quarterly Planning Section and related questions.
Effective Virtual Conversations – chapters on peer learning.

Wishing you the best, 
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton
Co-host of the Remote Pathways Podcast
Potentials Realized – Coaching, Training and Consulting Services for remote teams, leaders and professionals 
 
Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode, where we explore the people, places and processes of exceptional remote work. You can listen to the latest episode here, or on your favorite podcast player.
​

Focus Question: Who can you learn from? What new insights do you want to gain more information around?

Description
Mentoring is an extremely important relationship for professionals at all stages of their career. Mentors can help you see below the waterline of how things operate, understand what is needed, identify conversations you need to have, and also help you avoid pitfalls based on their own experience.

Mentoring is usually a different relationship than coaching and supervision. Mentors provide insights and advice based on their own work experience.

Mentoring has been found to have multiple benefits for both mentor and protégé including more confidence, clarity about what’s required, and some studies have even found reduced turnover and higher compensation. What do you see as benefits to mentoring?

Activity
Consider the areas you could benefit from having a mentor support you around.

Making Mentoring Work
There are several items which makes mentoring work including creating a roadmap of where you are going to go, having a plan, and being clear around your roles.

Mentoring typically has a fixed start and end. It can be beneficial to have clear GOALS around what the mentoring conversations are going to cover. Consider creating consistent meetings and a timeline or roadmap of where you are going.

Finally, it should be clear who is setting the meeting agenda, and what you want to accomplish in each conversation.

Be sure that you are clear on the roles the mentor and mentee or protégé will play.

Mentors can provide an important “inside track” of how things really get done in an organization or industry. They may also be someone you can take tricky issues to or seek alternative perspectives around.

While mentoring used to be seen as something only seasoned professionals offered, today the concept of “Reverse Mentoring” has taken root. Younger proteges are often teaching seasoned mentors’ key elements around new ways of working, technology and other topics. This serves to ensure that there really is a beneficial two-way relationship.

For more on this:
Check out sections 2 and 4 questions around Collaboration in both PlanDoTrack and Coaching Business Builder. These sections will provide you with possible questions you will want to ask in establishing your mentoring relationship. There are also multiple blog posts on the topic of mentoring over at the Teams365 blog at PotentialsRealized.com. 

All the best, 
​Jennifer

​Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode which covers the topic of Strengths. You can listen to Episode 8 here, or on your favorite podcast player.

Focus Question: What are the skills you want to grow into?

Description
There are many skills which can help you stand out as a remote professional – here are the ones I shared in Effective Virtual Conversations for remote leaders. In fact, for most remote professionals we can benefit from skills in these areas.

What do you need to focus on in as it relates to skills in each area? What can help you grow? What areas have you had not exposure to?

As a remote worker it may be even more important to revisit these skills on a regular basis. Ask for feedback from others.
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Looking back to last week’s post on the ecosystem of learning where we explored the different ways you can learn in the remote space, what can you do to expand your skills in these different areas?

Activity
Take look at your skills in each of these areas. Rate yourself on a 1-10 with 1 being low and 10 being high. Note what your focus is going forward, including how you want to grow or develop your skills in each area.

Note your ratings and consider what you want to do to grow in these areas you have highlighted. My top 3 areas of focus are:
1.
2.
3.

Take a few minutes to download this week's 52 Week for Remote Work one-pager on Remote Working Skills.

All the best,
​Jennifer

​Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode which covers the topic of Mentoring, Working from anywhere and systems. You can listen to Episode 6 here, or on your favorite podcast player. Also be sure to take a look at the episode download.

Focus Question: What learning do you want to undertake?

Description
Learning can take many forms. As a remote professional, it can be very important to build in time for ongoing learning.
As I wrote in Effective Virtual Conversations, consider the following approaches to learning. It might include:

What are the things you are wanting to learn? What are the best modalities to learn these? Where else might you explore these learnings?

Activity
Identify the learning needs you have to do your best work. What type of learning is going to help you? Where can you access this learning? What do you need to schedule in? What else do you need to note?

Need to Know
In addition to the different types of learning, there are many different areas and bands you can be exploring around learning.
Just like this week’s quote, we will want to explore the various layers: actions, habits, values and destiny.

So what? – What’s important about this topic?
There are many different ways we can learn tasks. What’s going to support you with learning as you need it, when you need it and how you need it?

For more on this:
Check out the PlanDoTrack call on the Forgetting Curve – Spring 2019.
Check out chapter 3 of Effective Virtual Conversations, Jennifer Britton, especially page 11.

Best wishes, 
​Jennifer

​Check out the most recent Remote Pathways Podcast Episode which covers the topic of Vision. You can listen to Episode 4 here, or on your favorite podcast player.