Today is the day that Effective Virtual Conversations is released! It's already a #1 at Amazon for Distance and Online Learning. Thanks to those of you who pre-ordered. It is an honor and privilege to bring this book to you.

​I am looking forward to kicking off the first of many launch events this summer and fall. Today at 12 noon ET I will be hosting the first of many 30 minute community calls for the book. I hope that you will join me! No cost, other than your time (and long-distance if you decide to call in).

​Here are the details - July 31, 2017 - 12 - 12:30 pm ET/New YorkJoin from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/2703020415
 Or iPhone one-tap (US Toll):  +14086380968,,2703020415# or +16465588656,,2703020415#
 Or Telephone:
    Dial: +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll) or +1 646 558 8656 (US Toll)
    Meeting ID: 270 302 0415
    International numbers available: https://zoom.us/zoomconference?m=eOz1JLfleT0KeD8H5qWcvBXO-S8R3CAU
 ​The focus of today's call is to give you an overview of the new book. With more than 400 pages, 18 worksheets and templates, I think you will find the book like my others - practical and actionable.

​It's a pleasure to bring the book to you and I hope to see you at noon today. Click here for the schedule of calls coming up. I'll be hosting two 30-minute calls for the rest of the year, all complimentary. Calls will be posted to our resource page here at Effective Virtual Conversations.com. 

​If you are an early reader, I hope that you will take a few minutes to share your review of the book with us here and post your comments to Amazon. 

​See you soon!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

​Connect with us to be the first to know more about launch events around my newest book - Effective Virtual Conversations .
 

For the past several weeks I have been doing a weekly blog post over at my Teams365 blog incorporating several Effective Virtual Conversation Tips from the book. I wanted to start sharing these with you here, starting with Effective Virtual Conversation Tip #1 - Setting Everyone Up for Success. Here's what I wrote a few weeks ago at the Teams365 blog:

In late July, my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, will be released. It's the culmination of tips and best practices for leading teams and conversations in the virtual space, a focus of mine since the 1990s, when I was leading teams across countries in South America connected only by radio.

Today's tip is "Setting Everyone Up for Success". Pre-planning in the virtual space can shift a call from being a time-waster to an expedited conversation.

Some things you might want to consider doing in setting your team or group up for success with your virtual call includes:
1. Thinking through any pre-work or pre-reading people should do before they join the call. This can be shared on your intranet, Slack drive or other file sharing service.
2. Having a clear agenda to follow that everyone has fed into. One of the traps of virtual meetings is that people are often bouncing from one meeting to the next. Being proactive with who needs to be on the call (think decision maker or information required) is important as it's often hard to pull a virtual colleague into a meeting last minute.
3. Keeping accountabilities visible. One of the challenges with today's digital world is that we don't always have the same immediate visual cues in front of us,  as we may have had with team work which was co-located. What are the things you can do to keep accountabilities visible for everyone in different locations? Is there a weekly dashboard you send out? A photo which can be put on as a screen saver? Something else to keep things visible.
4. Being vigilant with follow-up. Follow-up and circling back is even more important in the virtual space. What will help with follow-up for your team? What one on one conversations (voice and email) are important to have? What feedback and update mechanisms are in place so peers can also keep each other in the loop.

As you consider "setting everyone up for success" what comes to mind for you? What will set you up for success as well?

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | GroupCoachingEssentials
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

​Connect with us to be the first to know more about launch events around my newest book - Effective Virtual Conversations - coming out soon! Setting your team up for success is one of dozens of topics covered throughout the book. Eight questions you want to ask your team before every meeting is also covered.

As an author,  I often get questions about what the book writing process is all about. Earlier this week I received two proof copies of the book, printed by two different presses. This is one of the final stages of the book publishing process, where we do one more check for typos, missing parts etc.
I'm really excited for the release of Effective Virtual Conversations which will be out on July 31st. The book is clocking in at 442 pages and like my other books is chock full of tips, ideas and best practices. This book focuses on the range of virtual conversations - webinars, team meetings, coaching, mentoring conversations. It will appeal to a wide range of audiences - leaders, coaches, trainers, virtual team members. If you know of someone who might find it useful, please let them know.
The book will be available for purchase through Amazon in hard-copy and Kindle editions.
Please stay tuned for more behind the scenes stories, photos and videos.
For now, take a look at this short 1 minute video:

I'm excited to launch this new micro-blog to accompany my latest book, Effective Virtual Conversations. As a blogger for more than a decade I know how far a blog can reach, and in lead up to the release of the new book, I felt that it was important to have a dedicated blog for all things related to virtual conversations - webinars, team meetings, etc.
I envision that I'll be posting here on roughly a weekly basis, and will be sharing behind the scenes look at the new book, as well as providing you with a number of "Sparkers" to get you going with your own virtual work.
If you haven't met me yet through my work or previous writing (Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2009) or From one to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013, Jossey-Bass) I look forward to meeting you! You can expect resource rich tips and tools to support you in your own work. You may also want to check out the About page to learn more about me and my work. You can catch up on calls and resources related to the topic at the Resources page.
If you are a leader, you may also want to check out the Teams365 blog, a daily blog dedicated to all things leadership and teamwork!
If you are a coach or trainer, you may also want to check out the Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog, for all things group and team coaching. I've hosted it since 2006 and there are hundreds of posts to sink your teeth into.

I look forward to your feedback and comments, and look forward to your suggestions on what you will find useful here at the blog.