The Practice Doctor is IN

Al Depman, CLU ChFC CMFC BH

Here’s a good problem to have, from Tom and his team in Sudbury, Ontario:

“What’s up, Doc? We’re a team of five and business has been very good in 2007. I’m the primary advisor, with Kim as my associate producing advisor. Giles does our case prep while Marti and Rhiannon manage the office and take care of business processing. We communicate well on a daily basis, putting out fires and reacting quickly to new information. Recently we decided to focus on having a team meeting every two weeks. This team is too good to be allowed to drift along. As we implement these formal meetings, we thought you might have some best-practices insight into making them as meaningful as possible.”

Great work, Tom! The number one issue facing producer teams is a lack of consistent communication among members. Many times the team gets so wound up in day-to-day issues, members fail to take a look at the bigger picture. By scheduling this meeting, you have taken that critical first step. Keep the meeting an “A” priority by ensuring that the entire team attends each meeting, and be flexible to accommodate various conflicts that will inevitably arise.

Here are some basic guidelines on structuring this bi-weekly meeting from the PracticeTools library.

Guiding principles:

  • “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” (Stephen Covey)
  • Ensure each team member’s voice is heard.
  • Keep the big picture in mind: this is a time to focus on strategy and direction as a group.

Time : Thursday, Friday or Monday, early morning, or as a working lunch. 45 minutes maximum.

Place : Away from the immediate work space so there are no distractions.

Who : Anyone who makes regular, significant contributions to the business practice: Tom, Kim, Giles, Marti and Rhiannon. Designate someone as a note-taker to record the general points of the meeting and compile a brief summary at the end.

Topics (suggested order):

  1. Specific discussion issues from the team that need addressing. Put them on a white board or separate list to be addressed at the appropriate time. Avoid jumping in and going off on a tangent before the meeting really begins.
  2. Review the previous two week’s production results and overall progress towards stated goals.
  3. Set production expectations for the next two weeks.
  4. Ensure calendars are coordinated for next the two weeks. Review the specific appointments that are scheduled and discuss any preparations needed.
  5. Evaluate your “model week” expectations for the next period (Is it working? What adjustments need to be made?). For example, is the mix of appointment types appropriate? Is Tom being freed up to maximize his face-to-face time with clients, prospects, centers-of-influence and networking opportunities? The rule of thumb is to aim for 25 of these face-to-face hours each week.
  6. Identify production priorities:
  • Review pending business. Are there any underwriting issues or delays in processing rollovers or trades? Who is the party responsible for taking action?
  • Anticipated sales to prepare for: How much paperwork can be filled out beforehand?
  1. Review prospecting flow and activity, especially referral goals. Get updates on current and projected marketing efforts, such as seminars, mail campaigns, client events and other community initiatives.
  2. Review client service issues:
  • Reactive issues (calls-in, stalled service work).
  • Proactive issues (annual reviews scheduled, regular contact update, newsletters, birthdays, special outreaches, events, etc.).
  1. Technology/database issues.
  2. Case development issues.
  3. Financial issues.
  4. Identify team training and development needs.
  5. Discuss any personal issues affecting the team.
  6. Summarize the key meeting points.
  7. Assign a deadline for any actions that need one.
  8. Review who’s responsible for any to-do items discussed.

Who facilitates the meeting? Usually, that would be your role, but explore rotating responsibility for pulling together the meeting agenda. This could be valuable growth experience for stronger associate.

As with a good discovery meeting with a prospect, there are parallel skills for the execution of a successful team meeting. To stimulate discussion among the team members, the meeting facilitator should review the following techniques and strategies to ensure there is open and honest communication and that all the issues that need to be addressed are brought to the table:

  • Ask for feelings and opinions: “What is your reaction to…” “Why do you say that?”
  • Paraphrase for clarity: “Let me see if I understand your question.” “What I’m hearing is…”
  • Encourage participation: “We haven’t heard from Carl yet. Carl, how do you feel about…?”
  • Ask for examples: “Sue, can you give an example of what you mean?”
  • Test for consensus: “Before we go on to the next topic, let me make sure that all have agreed to…”
  • Initiate action: “Frank, how would you suggest we proceed on this?”
  • Explore an idea in more detail: “Are there other things we should consider?”
  • Share you feelings: “I’m frustrated. Let’s take this issue up next week after we do a little research. How do the rest of you feel?”
  • Reflect on what you think someone is feeling: “George, I get the impression you’re not satisfied with that answer. Is that right?”
  • Be supportive: “Let’s give Tony a chance to tell it the way he sees it.”
  • Question assumption: “Your objection assumes that home office will continue to stall on a decision. Is that a good assumption?
  • Role reversal: “Pretend you’re an A-level client. How would you perceive this course of action?”
  • Focus on action items: “We’ve talked about it; now let’s settle on a course of action.”

There are a few situations that the team should be aware of and agree to avoid.

As the facilitator, you are in a position to recognize and put an early end to them:

  • Do not allow one person to dominate the discussion;
  • Do not encourage heated arguments;
  • Do not tolerate side-conversations;
  • All electronic devices and cell phones are to be turned off during the meeting;
  • Do not allow participants to go off on tangents.

All of this may sound daunting. There is an art to running a good meeting and like any artistic endeavor, it takes practice to perfect:

“You need to practice your practice to grow your practice.”

You’re taking all the right steps, Tom and team. Keep communicating!

Until next month,

The Practice Doctor is out!

Al Depman , CLU, ChFC, CMFC, BH, a.k.a. “The Practice Doctor”, is mitchanthony.com’s Business Practice Consultant. He is the creator of “The Practice Management Assessment” tool and materials and has authored numerous articles in professional publications on practice management. Al combined his Liberal Arts studies with 10 years of management experience with McDonald’s Corporation to enter the financial services world 22 years ago. Since then, Al has evolved from an MDRT-level sales rep into a full-time consultant specializing in helping others engineer their business practices to the next level. Contact him at al@mitchanthony.com .

© 2007 Al Depman