Building Strong and Confident Teams: A 3-Pronged Approach

We are in a hopeful time, personally and financially. Things were uncertain because most of us had never experienced anything like the last few months, but we got through what I think most of us believe to be the worst of it. Now, we are making up for lost time, working harder, breaking ground on economic avenues we may not have considered, and taking agile and innovative approaches in order to find better solutions to the same consistent obstacles in insurance. To do so, confident teams will be invaluable, if not absolutely necessary.

We have a good footing, but we want it to stay that way. We have shored up our foundations. You have maintained and enhanced your teams to manage the unexpected—to be more resilient, more prepared. We now have to consider ways of maintaining that confidence and, as a result, the confidence your consumers have in you. When your organization, firm or agency moves with purpose, it will in turn inspire all your business connections too.

Confident communicators

In a world that was just tilted, if not turned upside down, most folks have their attention divided by a host of different things and are doing everything they can, not only to keep the lights on, but to keep them burning bright and long into the night. As effective as we are at communicating, delegating and ensuring the quality of work, it never hurts—and I would always recommend—you take the time to check back with your teams just to make sure everyone picked up the finer points, or if they have a concern stemming from an angle you never considered. 

Maintaining those open lines of communication is absolutely essential to growth and to making sure your employees not only have time to grow gradually but to excel in what can be an unfamiliar set of circumstances.

Working on working together

Collaboration isn’t always easy. However, “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself,” doesn’t really work that well in the insurance industry or almost any other industry for that matter. The level of difficulty and complexity some of insurance’s greatest obstacles represent requires a team of experts, all tackling singular parts and coming up with layered, but efficient, solutions. Maintaining a positive dynamic can be equally tricky, but people working remotely or face-to-face must have a rapport, a common ground on which they can exchange information in a timely and productive way, to build deeply rooted and confident teams.

Building those relationships—establishing that trust—can be done through a variety of strategies. Providing time for one-on-one interactions that don’t involve the pressures and stress of work can be a start to building deeper dynamic relationships.

Leading your teams forward

Communication and collaboration lend directly to leading your teams and your business through accurate feedback. Most individuals are not very comfortable getting compliments and being told you need to improve isn’t usually easy, even if it’s true. Many leaders find it difficult to offer both constructive criticism and praise for a job well done, just because the action might make them uncomfortable. However, both are essential to effectively coaching your teams towards improvement in their skill sets. 

Reinforcing talents and taking new approaches to areas where a team or team member is lacking are the only real ways to build real, workable confident teams and to give your business the operating strength it needs during a critical time of growth.

The James Allen Companies will continue to provide the insurance industry leadership and specialized talent you need to reinforce already successful, stable and growing organizations.