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REALTOR® Emeritus | | 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 | The essence of teambuilding is to inspire people to work toward the organization’s goals, while pursuing their own aspirations. This is possible even if the goals of the organization and the individual salespeople aren’t always the same. 10 Ways You Can Tell You’re a Team Your sales associates and staff are working as a team if they: 1. Have a sense of unity. 2. Have a common vision and purpose that they helped develop and take pride in. 3. Have the ability to work toward a common goal. 4. Feel responsible for the team's work, not just their independent contributions. 5. Trust one another, communicate openly and honestly, and air differences constructively. 6. Respect each other's diversity, and match each person's skills to the tasks necessary to achieve the team's desired outcomes. 7. Speak freely and feel free from personal attack. They act respectfully toward each other. 8. Have a way to constructively resolve conflict and avoid destructive behaviors. 9. Respect the qualities of their teammates and encourage them to succeed. 10. Find team meetings efficient and productive and look forward to their time together. TIP: Look for salespeople who have had some prior experience in teamwork—such as sports or musical groups--to be part of your first team. They’ll be more likely to feel comfortable with team dynamics. Carla Cross, Carla Cross Seminars, Issaquah, Wash. 10 Tips for Creating a Dynamic Team A team doesn’t just form itself. You have to provide leadership, direction, and support. 1. Create opportunities for team members to build relationships. The activity is less important than what team members learn about each other. Ask sales associates to identify a charity they would like to support and get involved in organizing an event such as a food or winter clothing drive. This will give them an opportunity to develop team spirit while they provide a service to community. 2. Make sure that sales goals and contests are win-win. Salespeople are accustomed to working independently and competitively. You need to foster collaboration and team spirit. 3. Tell workers what’s in it for them. Let employees know how being on the team will benefit them personally. A study of teams found that "Above and beyond an organizational goal, the purpose of the team is to launch individual members, much as a rocket booster launches the space shuttle.” Clotaire Rapaille, “What Makes Teams Tick?” Executive Excellence, March 2000. 4. Divide your larger team into several small, manageable teams. These small teams could each have their own goals in areas such as prospecting, marketing, or listings, while reaching toward a major shared team goal such as a percentage share of the total market. 5. Give team members a sense of ownership in the process. Communicate company goals to the entire team and explain what is needed for the company to achieve its goals. Then allow team members to have a voice in how the goals are reached. 6. Create a sense of shared purpose. Coach team members toward a common goal with recognition and appreciation. 7. Teach team skills and decision making. Start with small decisions--the dress code, how you'll handle listings--and work through them with the group. Gary Keller, Keller Williams Realty, Austin, Texas 8. Set a conflict resolution policy. Recognize that conflicts are inevitable and agree on a method of resolving conflicts before they arise. Communicate openly about style and personality issues. Focus on problem solving rather than blaming. 9. Use team-building exercises. These can range from simple to elaborate. For example, take a simple jigsaw puzzle that has been put together. Divide into section and give the pieces for each section to a participant. Have each participant put together the pieces to make a section, then find the participants with connecting sections until the entire puzzle is complete. Then discuss what techniques were helpful in solving this challenges. (Exercise from Even More Games Trainers Play, Edward E. Scannell and John W. Newstrom, Mc-Graw-Hill Inc., New York City, 1994.) 10. Provide regular productivity training for salespeople. In this way, they will associate their personal success with the group. Gary Keller, Keller Williams Realty, Austin, Texas. Convincing Independent Contractors to Be Team Players > | |