Agency Team Building

AGENCY TEAM BUILDING

by Eric Moberg

 

The internal workings of every agency depend on the employees interacting effectively on a daily basis. Cooperation and communication among employees is necessary for them to do their jobs and for the agency to prosper.

None of them can work in a vacuum. The exchange of information regarding changes in the marketplace, new policy provisions, and new underwriting guidelines-not to mention the communication of agency procedures, successes, and failures-is essential for people to perform their jobs. As we gain information, it's very important to communicate it to our co-workers.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

The exchange of information within the agency occurs in numerous ways. One of the most common is through employees' informal conversation; one employee may become aware of some important information and relays it to another employee in normal conversation.

Although this can be an effective method of communication between two people, it doesn't pass the information on to all who may need to know it. To make sure that information is properly communicated to everyone who needs to know it, a more formal method should be used.

Communication between departments is essential to serving the insured effectively. In many cases, an agency's departments don't effectively communicate with one another. They need to, because Commercial accounts can become Personal accounts, and vice versa. Almost all accounts have the potential to become Life, Health, or Group accounts.

Opportunities exist to benefit the agency as well as the insured, but only if departments cooperate. If an opportunity exists with another department, take the initiative and tell the people in it. There should be cross-selling between all departments. If you think improvements can be made in this area, bring it up at your next departmental staff meeting.

AGENCY MEETINGS

Regularly scheduled meetings-for departments and for the entire agency-provide the most effective way to communicate important information to all those who need to know it. This method not only passes new information to those who will use it the most, but provides an opportunity to discuss all of its applications. How will the new information affect the way your agency does business? What will be the effect on customers? Will the information require a change in the way you do business? All these questions and more should be addressed during the agency meetings. If new procedures are required by the change or new information, discuss them during the meeting. All those in attendance should have the opportunity to ask questions and clarify issues.

This forum also gives the attendees a chance to discuss how the department or agency can function better, given the information being presented. Discussion may lead to a decision to try something unique and better suited to specific agency operations. Here are guidelines for meetings, both departmental and agency-wide:

Departmental Meeting Agenda

(scheduled weekly or monthly)

Discussion of any problems resulting from actions taken after prior meetings

Update on current status of agency/department goals and objectives

Future goals and objectives

New items for discussion:

• Market conditions
• Changes in agency marketing direction (such as new programs)
• Changes in carriers, programs, underwriting, rules
• New markets or opportunities
• New business issues (new sales in process)
• Upcoming new accounts (type, size, work required)
• Marketing issues affecting new business activity
• Renewals to be handled (90 to 120 days in the future)
• Potential account problems (market, competition pricing)
• Strategy by account (who will handle and how to be handled)
• Personnel issues
• Scheduling (vacations, education, leaves, and so on)
• Personnel awards/recognition

General Agency Meeting Agenda-All Employees

(scheduled quarterly or semiannually)

 

Current status of agency's performance vs. objectives

• New business sales
• Renewals, premium, and retention

Business and market conditions affecting the agency

• General insurance and economic conditions
• New opportunities or changes in programs and markets
• New or changed agency marketing strategies

Agency procedures

• Changes or additions to current procedures
• Discussion of current procedures

Personnel issues

• Additions, departures, changes
• Personnel awards/recognition

How does communication impact teamwork? Webster's defines teamwork as "Work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole." In other words, several people working together to accomplish a task, with no one person necessarily being more important to the task than the others.

Communication is the cornerstone of teamwork. For people to work together, they must let each other know what they're doing and how they're doing it, and pass this information on to the entire team. Meetings and formal communications provide the means for this information to pass from one manager, supervisor, or employee to a group of employees.

Participation with the team is the responsibility of all those involved. Anyone who decides not to hold up their part of the work will have a negative impact on the rest. Everyone is a necessary link in the chain.

In an agency, customer service may involve a number of people:

• The Agency Principal/Manager who oversees all operations
• The Producer who originally writes the account
• The Department Manager/Supervisor who manages the overall process
• The Marketing Representative who markets the account
• The Customer Service Representative (CSR) who services the account
• The Processor who sets up the account on the computer
• The Accounting Representative who manages the ongoing billing
• The Claims Representative who handles losses

Think about how your agency is structured. Who's responsible for the tasks just listed? Do you have regular communication with them? Can you work together more effectively to meet the needs of the insured and the agency?

Your agency may have separate people handling each of these functions or, as is commonly the case, the CSR handling several functions. Regardless of how your agency is staffed, cooperative interaction between staff members is essential for the business to be handled properly. Each person has a role, and all must perform their part of the process.

Remember, documentation and communication go hand in hand. Effective workflow involves equal parts of communication and documentation! Don't allow verbal communication to be your only means of ensuring effective workflow; make sure you take the time to write down the information that needs conveying. Document your conversations, follow up conversations with memos or notes, and take minutes from your meetings for distribution afterwards.