Member Login
Football season is in full swing and as I’m writing this just three of the 2 teams remain undefeated (Atlanta Falcons, and Houston Texans).
What makes those two teams different? Plenty of factors, but if you narrow it down, all good teams share a few very vital features – the same features that can convert your real estate team into a money-making machine.
Let’s tackle this in a problem-solution format. In his book, “5 Dysfunctions of a Team,” Patrick Lencioni tells the story of how a CEO transforms a troubled executive team into a well-oiled, productive powerhouse by adeptly addressing each dysfunction.
The five dysfunctions:
1) Absence of trust – When agents and brokers are unwilling to open up with one another about their mistakes.
2) Fear of conflict – When team members are afraid to engage in open, constructive debate.
3) Lack of commitment – When agents and brokers demonstrate no buy-in to the team’s vision and goals.
4) Avoidance of accountability – When brokers hesitate to call out agents on poor performance.
5) Inattention to results – When both brokers and agents put their individual needs above the team’s collective goals.
Now the five solutions:
1) To create lasting trust – Reward agents when they open up and admit their mistakes. Be an example by sharing your own mistakes and how you corrected them. Shakespeare said it best: “To err is human.” We all fail. What we often don’t do is accept those failings. Yet, when we do accept them, we’re immediately back on the road to success because shining a light on them helps us avoid making them again.
2) To overcome fears of conflict – Teach agents how to resolve conflict productively. If this is a weakness, hire a consultant who can demonstrate healthy and practical conflict resolution. I promise you this, there will always be conflict, and many times in an office, when conflict goes unaddressed, it festers into turnover among other issues. Show me an office with a revolving door, and I’ll show you a leader who’s not addressing problems effectively. When a challenge hits, a good broker will find out who’s involved, bring the parties together, brainstorm solutions, choose the best one and then monitor the results.
3) To improve commitment to vision and goals – Open up communications like water from a fire hose between you as the broker and each agent and among all the agents and the support staff. Meet regularly with each agent to see how they’re doing. Give them attention and communicate with them often. And communicate the vision and goals regularly.
4) To accept accountability – Make the team’s goals and standards well known and institute regular progress reviews and reward team achievement. And embrace professional development like you’ve never embraced it before. Good agents want to improve at every turn, so help them by scheduling training for your team’s needs often.
5) To improve attention to results – Set the tone that results are key and vital to a better future for everyone on the team. Regularly seek and find behaviors that are aligned with results and highlight those behaviors often. And again, communicate. Communicate the team’s goals via posters, e-mails, newsletters, meetings, everywhere you can. And celebrate accomplishments with reckless abandon.
Of course, getting those good agents on your team in the first place is an essential start. E-mail me at Article@CorcoranCoaching.com and I’ll send you the eight best interview questions for sales agents.
What’s on your mind? How much success have you had in building a team? What challenges are you facing as you develop the kind of team you want? What do you need to do next to create a strong team? Please share your thoughts, comments and questions with me at Article@CorcoranCoaching.com or http://www.facebook.com/CorcoranCoaching.
Bob Corcoran is a nationally recognized speaker and author who is founder and president of Corcoran Consulting Inc. (CorcoranCoaching.com, 800-957-8353), an international consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and the implementation of sound business systems into the residential or commercial broker or agent’s existing practice.
We look forward to hearing from you. Sign up TODAY for your complimentary business consultation. http://www.CorcoranCoaching.com/bpw.php
