The coronavirus pandemic continues to alter the way real estate professionals do business, and what the remainder of the year will bring — well, that’s anybody’s guess. As we continue to navigate this time, it’s crucial to conduct your business with fresh perspectives and flexibility.
Right now, empowering your team to be engaged at a higher level and tapping into their latest insights is important. Coaching your team to approach tasks in new ways will ease their journey — and ultimately, help your business move forward, too. Here are three ways to provide direction and better adapt to the ever-changing business landscape that COVID-19 brought about.
1. Lead first, manage second
A good business leader has a strong foundation and can lead a team through uncertainty with positivity and insight. Coaching your team through this time will increase productivity and motivate them to achieve their business goals.
I recommend spending time with them individually to determine any setbacks they might be experiencing. It’s important to listen to your team members to find ways to break down the barriers that are keeping them from reaching their full potential.
Good leaders help their teams overcome any new obstacles that might crop up when times get tough. When your team members know you’re there for them as a leader, they’ll feel more confident and motivated to take steps forward in the right direction.
2. Create a COVID-19 plan
Coaching your agents through today’s turbulent landscape will help them learn, grow and change. What you can do right now is sit down with your team members and outline a new monthly plan that clearly states their individual goals for improvement and accountability.
These days, things are always in a state of flux. So, make sure to adjust this plan on an ongoing basis to evolve with the current business climate, especially as new work restrictions may be put in place or lifted.
A custom COVID-19 work outline provides a powerful structure which will allow your team to focus on specific tasks, become more efficient and stay on track with their goals. It will also create clarity in workflow and help your team adapt new skills and mindsets so you can get through this together.
3. Over-communicate
If your team members are working differently than they’re used to, over-communication is one of the best ways to lead them forward. We’re all doing our best to work through this difficult time. You can’t expect to get the same results from your old pre-COVID business strategies and structures. In this new reality, you need to get your team up to speed with skills to support new expectations and ways of doing business.
The best way to do this is with consistent feedback and over-communication. Obviously, this can prove to be challenging when you can’t freely interact and work in person together. As a team, we overcame this issue by making a habit of checking in frequently with every single member of the team to support their progress and day-to-day tasks.
Let your team know this isn’t about micromanaging or checking up on them. Extra check-ins throughout the day help ensure people aren’t frustrated with existing tasks due to some kind of roadblock in a new process.
Good leadership is crucial to the success of any organization during uneasy times. Help your team adapt and navigate this new environment by creating custom plans for each member of your business. And of course, encourage open communication between all parties to keep business on track and foster a positive work environment.
David Parnes is a director at The Agency in Los Angeles. Connect with him on Instagram. James Harris is a director at The Agency in Los Angeles. Connect with him on Instagram.
