 | | Becoming a leader DEVELOPING YOUR TEAM | | ||
|  Developing Leadership Skills Communicating Like a Leader Leading Others Making Time to Lead Handling Difficult Employees Developing Your Team Dealing with Stress More Resources | Convincing Independent Contractors to Be Team Players Hal Kahn, of Kahn Inc. REALTORS, Newburgh, N.Y., gives this advice of fostering teamwork among independent, entrepreneurial real estate sales associates. RMO: What’s the best way to convince independent contractors to work as a team? Kahn: To get independent contractors to work as a team, you have to reward them that way. In our company, people team up on listings, on sales, on open houses, and on company goals and objectives. We have a measurable monthly production objective. We don't measure this objective by one associate; we measure it as a team. Then the entire team is rewarded for achieving those goals. The reward could be something simple like everyone goes out to dinner and doesn't talk business. It’s also important that associates understand that customer satisfaction can only be achieved through a team process. If the customer doesn't get satisfaction from the real estate company, it’s unlikely he or she will be happy with the associate. Customer satisfaction for the entire company isn’t easily achievable unless the team is working together. Associates can’t take a “This isn’t my customer” view; they should see every customer of the company as their customer and serve them if necessary. RMO: How do you instill this customer philosophy and sense of camaraderie in the office? Kahn: Both the sales associates and management need to understand that working together is going to be a benefit to each of them. If the administrative people and the management team understand that every day we do work as a team, this attitude gets transmitted to the entire office. If a person can't help a customer, then somebody else should be able to jump into the breach. Whether it's a salesperson helping another salesperson, an administrative person helping a sales associate, or a sales associate helping an administrative person, we make every effort to work together. This approach not only benefits customers, but staff as well. When we do reviews and ask people what they like best about the company, they almost universally come back with the same comment: the people. And that's a function of a team. RMO: What do you do as an office to promote a good working relationship? Kahn: One of the things we focus on when we have a difference of opinion is consensus rather than compromise. That's an important part of this team effort because when there is consensus, it promotes teamwork. People that negotiate a lot tend to compromise. And compromise isn't always best. Consensus is best. To create consensus: 1. First we get commitment on a clearly defined description of what we want to try to get consensus on. 2. Next, we identify the conflicts. 3. Then, we spend some time on creative solutions; there has to be more than one. 4. Finally, we try to develop consensus in terms of the results. Consensus means that everyone agrees, not just a majority. It takes longer, but the results are more meaningful, and no one gets outvoted. TIP: Use a participative management style to enlist others in the importance of teamwork in achieving that common goal. Ask them: What should we do and how will you be accountable to help us get there. Carla Cross, Carla Cross Seminars, Issaquah, Wash. In Real Life: What it Takes to Make a Team Brokers share their own secrets for building effective teams. 1. To build teamwork, you need something that you’re striving to accomplish as an office and that's part of your culture. If your company lacks a common mission, vision, and values, you have nothing to bind people. You’re just a group of people who have an office at the same place and use the same name. You have to have goals that everybody buys into. And then, what incentive do they have to reach them? At Keller Williams, people have an incentive to reach office goals because of profit sharing. You can create a system where they're rewarded for helping you get to your goals. Ultimately, to create a team, we're talking about a covenant relationship where if I help you get to the goal that you've set, you're naturally going to help me get to the goal that I've set for this office as a whole. Roy Chambers, Keller Williams Realty, Everett, Wash. 2. The broker who heads the office sets the tone, and encourages and nurtures the sense of teamwork. One key is communication. If someone gets a new listing, our broker broadcasts it on office voicemail. She encourages us to get together and give advice and input to other staff members. When someone figures out a way to solve a particular challenge, she encourages them to share it with the rest of us. There's no sense that people don't know what's going on or what anybody else is doing. I think that contributes to a sense of mistrust, and problems with feeling that you're part of a team. Sally Thompson, John L. Scott Real Estate, North Seattle, Wash. 3. Our broker is a master of community outreach. We do something at least every other month. This community outreach really builds a sense of team because we're going out as the North Seattle office. We do bowling tournaments to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club, we planted trees along one stretch of the neighborhood. That builds an identity that we all share. Sally Thompson, John L. Scott Real Estate, North Seattle, Wash. 10 Musts for Team Leaders Leading a team isn’t about giving directions, but about nurturing and coaching a team to achieve new heights. Successful leaders: 1. Have and share a clear, precise vision of what you want for their team. 2. Clarify team goals, roles, and processes. 3. Promote a sense of mutual accountability by reminding team members that the team succeeds only if every member achieves his or her goals. 4. Create a positive environment, identifying issues preventing the team from reaching its goals and then addressing them. 5. Know when to give the team room to grow and when to intervene. Recognize that some tension and conflict occur in every team; avoid stepping in unless problems escalate to a destructive level. 6. Focus on the benefits--money, achievement, recognition--of doing a job successfully to motivate team members. When team members see the benefits of success, they buy into the team's goals. 7. Build trust and respect among team members and commitment to the team's goals. 8. Create a winning tradition. Old hands pass on a winning attitude to new arrivals. "This is how we do things. We expect to win." 9. Reward people for assisting teammates. 10. Teach the team how to communicate and exchange feedback. TIP: Set a measurable goal for the team so team members know what's expected of them and know when they’ve succeeded. Measure progress frequently to ensure that salespeople are on track to achieve the team's goals. Harold Kahn Kahn Inc., REALTORS , Newburgh, N.Y. A Team-Building Exercise This quick exercise builds your team’s knowledge about each other as well as buyers’ wants and needs. For more team-building ideas, click here. 1. Divide participants into groups of three or four, depending on how many people are participating. 2. Give each group a large flipchart and a set of several colored markers. 3. Ask each group to spend ten minutes drawing its dream home. Encourage them to include any feature they would ideally want in their own homes, regardless of costs. 4. Next let each group describe their home. Ask each to tell you why they chose the features they did and why those are important to them. 5. After each presentation, ask the remaining groups what strategies they would use to sell this “dream” home to buyers. TIP: When conducting a role-playing exercise, play the role of the salesperson first so salespeople can see the style and methodology you expect. Tips for Building Team Spirit
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