Are You Playing by Old Agency Management Rules’

Isn’t it time to break the old rules and create new ones?

According to Scientific Mind Magazine, “the human mind excels at creating fears and preserving them. We have more fears than we need.”

So, Tabula Rasa, which is Latin for ‘cleansing your mind.’ Get rid of any preconceived thoughts. Fight your fears. Banish the “old rules” and head into dangerous but rewarding territory. After all, Benjamin Franklin said, “I didn’t fail, I just had 10,000 ideas that didn’t work,” and Thomas Edison related that “for each of the 200 light bulbs that didn’t work, I got closer to success.”

Let’s explore some new rules. This starts by examining what exists now.

• Do you know how your team members feel about working for you?
• Do team members really know what their jobs are?
• Do team members know what to expect from you, the boss?
• Do you, the boss, know what to expect from each team member?

If you can’t answer “yes” to these four simple questions, then read on. Let’s add some intrigue.

Do you have an employment agreement for each employee laying out the ‘big picture’ of expectations? If not, shouldn’t you develop an agreement? May be I’ll answer for you—yes, you should have one.

So, now that we agree, what should be covered in the agreement?

Template of the employment agreement

Vision. The agency vision focusing on the goals of the agency should be specific. Brainstorm and build a vision that benefits the entire team.

Roles. Each team member’s role should work toward the vision.

Promises. Each team member promises to keep focused on working toward the vision.

Agreement length. This includes how long the agreement remains in effect before being reviewed and renewed.

Values. The value each team member brings to the vision, and the rewards each team member receives. Is each team member satisfied with the value received? How do team members earn increases?

Keeping score. Continuously measure results. Keep track of the percentage of client policies renewed, client complaints, and the round out of accounts. Where else can you keep score?

Fears. Be open and express all fears that will sabotage work toward the vision. What must be overcome to succeed?

Consequences. What happens when someone breaks a promise? Do they donate money to the agency-sponsored charity? Dance in the town square? Volunteer for two hours at a nonprofit? Be creative.

Renegotiation. Be open to modifying the agreement at any time.

Conflicts. Decide how to resolve conflicts that occur.

With your employment agreement, you build expectations. But, getting back to the very first question asked … do you know what your team members think about working in your agency? When was the last time you asked them? That’s the first step to understanding where to start.

Here are a few questions to ask team members. Be sure not to ask for names on the answers. You want 100 percent participation. It doesn’t matter who says what.

1.) Compared with other businesses you know, would you say our agency is:
a. About the best
b. Much better than others
c. About the same as others
d. Not as good as others

2.) How satisfied are you with your job?
a. Very satisfied
b. Somewhat satisfied
c. Neither satisfied or dissatisfied
d. Somewhat dissatisfied

3.) How do you feel about your current rate of pay compared to rates paid for similar work?
a. Higher
b. About the same
c. Lower

4.) How informed are you about what goes on in the agency?
a. Very informed
b. Usually informed
c. Seldom informed
d. Poorly informed

5.) As time goes by, do you feel more satisfied or less satisfied working for the agency?
a. More satisfied
b. No difference
c. Less satisfied

The answers to these five simple questions will get you started.

Make sure to publish the results for all to see. Then form a committee of three or four non-management people. Pick the names out of a hat to determine who’s on the committee. The committee analyzes answers. Then form a team to build the plan.

The plan should cover two areas.

One area should promote your strengths. How can you get stronger in what you’re already strong at? That’s where to concentrate your efforts. Which weaknesses truly threaten the agency? Address them. When your staff knows management cares, only then can true improvement take place.

As you start “KAIZAN” … continuous improvement, determine when you’ll continue your team member survey. For 27 additional questions to ask your staff, e-mail pdiamond@workcompadvisors.com.

Now you have a game plan to follow … the employee survey. You also have an agreement that guides the results. What else is there to add?

Try this on

No overtime … don’t be hijacked by overwork. Yeah. You’ve heard it and said it more than a million times, but you must “work smarter, not harder.” When one defines what that means, it says, “one must change.” Just think how much you’ve changed in the past few years. Start with automation and electronic mail or the Internet. Think of how many market changes and company consolidations you and your team members have survived. Now step back. Look at your business from the outside. You can now do that because you’ve asked your staff to help by knowing how they feel about working for you.

If all team members in one department agree, can’t those in that department set their own hours within parameters? What has to happen to accomplish that? Those in the department must agree that phone calls must be covered and no messages taken for the account manager who is off. The only other stipulations are that whatever happens must conform to the Templates of the Employment Agreement.

Of course you’ll cover the timely completion of work, the renewal cycle, maintaining agency integrity, preventing and squashing lurking E&O claims, education and more.

Does this sound too hard? Well, success is breaking old rules. Success is making new rules. Success is separating your agency from the competition. And success is having fun doing it. Do you have a Director of Mirth to insure that fun?

Ask your staff. If they buy in, why not try. A study reported in the book The Power of Decisiveness indicated that people who analyze before making decisions, make about two bad mistakes a year. Those who experiment without analyzing deeply, make about two bad mistakes a year. So, take one department and experiment for 90 days. Tweak as you go … then scrub it or roll it out to other departments. Implementation doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Now to put all this into action, you’ll probably have meetings. What is your agency meeting strategy? Don’t ever hold a meeting without following these strategies:

• Will you receive three times the value for the cost? Take the income of those attending and divide by the one hour of the meeting. That’s your hourly cost. Can you envision a three times return?
• Will you develop answers to the questions raised at the meeting and solve the problems noted on the agenda?
• Will you make decisions and not delay? Remember, you can experiment with a small group of team members.
• Will everyone at the meeting participate?
• Will you establish understanding?
• Will you create teamwork?

Ok, now you agree to hold the meeting. Follow these strategies.

• Post agenda three days before meeting.
• Post minutes on your Intranet so all in agency knows what transpired. (Am I making too big … an assumption about Intranet?)
• Start on time and end on time always.
• Last person to arrive takes the minutes.
• Each late person contributes money donated to the agency charity of choice. Promote your charity with press releases. Each agency person works two hours a month during agency working hours at the charity. Not only will you receive good PR, you’ll meet high-payoff prospects. After all, who sits on boards of nonprofits?
• Let the receptionist know what time the meeting is over so callers receive realistic times to expect return calls. Leave precise messages on voice mail.
• Agenda starts with priority item first—musts before wants.
• Before adjournment evaluate meeting with a meeting scorecard so you can maximize meeting productivity. For a sample meeting scorecard, e-mail pdiamond@workcompadvisors.com.
• And, most of all, everyone at the meeting stands except the person taking minutes. Serve no coffee or food. That’s the easiest way to maximize your time and make meetings productive.

Recap. Survey team members. Build an employment agreement. Experiment with new ideas in a small way. Add humor to your agency. Hey, even be silly at times. Change your meeting strategy. Follow Kaizan … continuous improvement. And manage by agreements. Your team members will know what to expect and so will you. And, of course, you and all of your management team should also sign and follow employment agreements with all your other team members.

Preston Diamond started his insurance career selling life insurance while at UC Berkeley. He later ran his own shop from 1963 until 1986 when he sold all but one niche book of business that he still operates with a partner. Diamond is an invited speaker and seminar leader for many state and national meetings. For more information visit www.workcompadvisors.com or www.insuranceproposals.com.