Real Estate Team 2008: Deepening the bonds that bind

What is a manager and what should a manager's relationship be with the team. Typically you have an owner and the owner hires out management or becomes the owner/broker/manager. A team of highly functioning people doesn't need typical management and the "broker" relationship is basically a legal matter. The idea of coach is a better model, in that the role of coach is in service of team effort , simply a part of the team-- management hierachy is removed. When I spoke of reserves for the company, the reserve would be for the team; however, risk has to be taken into account, so percentages have to be divided to account for risk. The reserve should grow over time if the company is profitable and any amounts over the prudent amount should be divided with ownership risk being taken into account. It would probably be smart to have a plan for buy-in for team members who want to have part ownership -- the buy-in could be accomplished through the team members share of the reserve, over time. Cash-in or buy-in. All financials should be transparent and every team member should get reports monthly.

By having financial knowledge of the team's earnings and expenses, each player understands the financial situation and is more likely to make better decisions that affect the bottom line. It's a "we are all in this together" model.

No one on the team should feel like there is a "we" and a "they" -- no management against worker situation should arise if it's built to avoid that awful (but sometimes necessary, although not here) division. Any financial division based on risk is a common sense division that everyone will have knowledge of and a chance to be a part of.

Team unity will be an internal goal that is taken seriously and monitored on a regular basis through team get-togethers for open discussion, and no topics will be out-of-bound. If someone is not pulling their weight, it will be disscussed. each player will know ahead of time that complete effort is expected and anything less will be addressed by the team, and anyone not working out will be let go if all remedies fail. The team has a feel-good spirit, but the feel-good stops with performance matters -- providing excellence is a serious business.

I have to go show houses and run other errands, but this afternoon I want to write about how the coach in integrated into the team.