Avoid the "Task Trap"

In our studies of advisor time habits and productivity, we found that many advisors fail to effectively delegate and as a result don't get nearly the productivity they can from their staff. One problem we frequently see is advisors falling into the trap of assigning tasks rather than responsibilities. With a slight adjustment, advisors can both empower staff and use their own time more profitably.

Let's look at a simple example. It's the end of June and the advisor sees that six clients have not been scheduled for their semi-annual review. He asks his assistant to call the six and schedule them. The assistant checks back after each call to make sure the schedules are coordinated.

As an alternative, consider expanding the assignment from "Schedule these 6" to "One of your primary responsibilities is to coordinate our client review system. This includes making sure that all of our A clients are scheduled for quarterly reviews, our B clients for semi-annual reviews, and our C clients for annual reviews. At 8:00 AM on the first Monday of each month, we will review the status of clients from last month and which clients are due for reviews this month. Your responsibility includes sending out written confirmation of the appointment along with a meeting agendas and preparing the necessary documentation for the review. I will let you know at that first Monday meeting which clients will need special agendas or documentation and which reviews will be conducted by phone along with which days and times this month I will be available to conduct reviews. Your responsibility also includes making sure that a summary letter is sent to the client within two business days after the meeting. I will dictate the meeting summary immediately after each review or brief you in-person. If I haven't already given it to you, ask me for the meeting summary after each client review."

When you assign larger responsibilities rather than tasks, your staff can take greater ownership of the responsibility and are more likely to be proactive in suggesting process improvements. Seek out their ideas. The more ideas of theirs you use, the more ownership they will have. They will feel greater pride in their work. You can more easily structure bonuses based on the successful execution of primary responsibility areas. And you get out of the way of your staff so they can focus on execution, rather than waiting for instructions from you.

A mentor of mine once told me, "This business is very fair. You get paid for the work you do. If you do $500 per hour work, you will get paid $500. If you do $5 per hour work, you will get paid $5." Delegate, outsource, and hire staff to do those things that don't require you. Then let them execute to the full extent of their training and capability. Focus your time on executing the critical activities that drive income and create marketing advantage.

For a free copy of "Tips for Effective Delegation", e-mail your request to mike@referralmastery.com

See also
You may want to reference the earlier issues of the Referral Mastery Tip by clicking here. In an earlier Referral Mastery Tip and Tele-seminar, we reviewed the importance of understanding your clients' objectives and securing client agreement on the structure and the strategy of the portfolio. We also covered how to use client reviews to address client disappointment and re-affirm the portfolio objectives, structure, and strategy. (Or risk management objectives, strategies, and policies)