Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
The leader of our advisory firm, let’s call him “Mark,” is a smart guy, a CFA with many years of experience in our business. But he’s a poor communicator. He will often have these ideas he wants to implement, gets all excited about them, and assigns one of us to work on something. Then he forgets about the initiative and moves on to something else. Or, conversely he will ask weeks later about progress and act like what he has assigned is the most important thing we should be doing.
The other people on our team (the nine of us most significantly impacted by his behavior) get so frustrated because we’re either wasting time or in trouble because we didn’t do something he expected we would do. Our operations manager, who has been with him for 17 years, tells him, “We’re not mind readers!” But it doesn’t make a difference. He keeps doing this on a regular basis. It is more extreme now that we are virtual, because we can’t get together in our conference room and pin him down on specifics or try and get him to share more details.
Is there a way to help someone understand they are a poor communicator? Should we be more direct – I think our ops manager is clear, but he will laugh in response and maybe go into more detail at that moment. But the change doesn’t last.
R.K.
Dear R.K.,
Have you tried organizing Mark’s thoughts for him? In other words, when he assigns something, put it into writing – what’s required, when it might be due, who is going to work on it and what steps need to be taken to get it done. Mark might be a “shiny penny” leader, meaning that he is high-spirited, high-energy and has new ideas regularly, but moves to the next thing very quickly. This is a common behavioral style for many entrepreneurial leaders. They have an idea, but something else attracts their attention so that idea dies or lays dormant until they turn their attention to it again.
The best way to shift this type of behavior is to capture it. For example, let’s say three of the nine of you have been given a new initiative by Mark over the last couple of weeks. The three get together and create an action plan that outlines the three initiatives, deadlines, steps, who will do what and the timing on milestones. Communicate to Mark as you make progress, learn new information, hit obstacles or learn along the way that the initiative cannot work for one reason or another. Set times you will proactively update Mark so there is a standing time for the communication.
This approach would obviate the need for Mark to check in with you, or for you to wonder if the request is real and if Mark is going to have you follow through.
You might believe this is you and your colleagues compromising or doing more work because of Mark’s ineffective communication style, but consider how inefficient it is now. You are playing a guessing game – sometimes you are right, sometimes not. Wouldn’t it just be easier to create a system that removes the need for Mark to communicate and puts you in charge of the process and the outcomes?
Dear Bev,
Should we just let our team stay home even when it is deemed safe to return? I always thought clients appreciated our nice office and pleasant environment. But they don’t seem to mind WebEx calls.
K.B.
Dear K.B.,
I am aware of a number of advisory firms who are moving permanently from the, “you must be in the office,” perspective to, “it’s up to you where you are most effective and efficient.” Many clients are comfortable with the virtual experience.
There is a lot lost when people are not in the office together – quick conversations, collaboration in meeting rooms and offices, the sense of belonging and even having a separation between work and home life. There is also a lot gained virtually – lack of a commute gives people more time in the day and a better quality of life, and efficiencies are gained when people focus on what they are doing with fewer distractions, provided the work-home life balance is achievable. What is the right answer? It depends on your culture, employees and style of working.
Survey your clients and ask them about methods of communication they would enjoy. I call this, “developing a menu” of choices. Lay out several things you could be doing in the ever-changing world and ask clients to pick the ones that mean the most to them.
There are certainly longer-term give-ups if you were never able to meet a client in person. Most advisors would have to change the way they do events, entertain clients, meet friends and family members of clients (and other potential prospects they might know) and so on. We don’t know where this pandemic will go in the longer term. Do scenario planning and have a few options that might work for your firm.
Ask team members. Ask clients. Use it as an opportunity to reach out and open the lines of communication. Every change brings a chance for something new and different!
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here. 
