This July, Inman’s editorial theme is Teams — what it takes to build and join one, how to optimize your team for summer 2020, and even when to consider leaving one. And if you’re not already a subscriber to our Teams Beat email newsletter, sent every Thursday, sign up now.
Even before COVID-19, at times, putting a positive spin on life events often seemed difficult. So, now that we’re in the middle of a pandemic, which has taken the world by storm, it’s more than understandable if you’re feeling a little pessimistic.
If you’re running a team, you have to remember that your agents need to stay motivated, inspired and positive in order to be as successful as they can be.
It’s not healthy for anyone’s mental health to dwell on the negatives of living in today’s world. So, the question is — how do we keep this negativity at bay, for the sake of our teams?
1. Create a grateful environment
We all have our own personal visions, but it takes the support and influence of the other individuals around us to help us achieve them.
If you sit back and reflect on all the goals you’ve completed successfully, you’ll find that, more often than not, it’s difficult to remember a situation where there weren’t other people involved in helping you succeed.
This is especially true when you’re a part of a real estate team. In order for you to prosper and grow, you need each other’s support and influence.
The environment you create for your team is vital when it comes to cultivating support and nurturing capability, leading to productive results for your business.
A simple and effective way to create a grateful environment for your agents is to share how someone else on the team has excelled at helping and supporting the team. Celebrate them and their contribution to everyone else’s success at the end of your next team meeting — which brings us to this next point.
2. Celebrate success
We’ve been facing COVID-19 — and the many challenges it brought with it — since March, and so, it’s OK if your team’s morale is lower than usual.
What better way to improve your overall team morale than by celebrating your team and their successes? Start your group chats or virtual meetings with a positive affirmation or an inspirational quote to kick off the day on an encouraging note.
In team meetings, prompt your team members to share their wins of the week. Encourage them to introduce a new goal they have lined up for the week ahead. Don’t forget to tell each other what you’re grateful for as well.
It’s important to celebrate your wins, plan your goals and share what you’re thankful for. This process will help you stay on track with your ultimate goals, all while coming together and embracing positivity.
If you step back and celebrate the wins you can control, it’s going to be a lot easier to enjoy the journey toward your destination.
3. Don’t focus on what you can’t control
From a business perspective, metrics are absolutely vital to your team. Metrics are how you run and sustain your business, but right now, it’s really easy to get caught up in those metrics that possibly aren’t where you want them to be.
Our minds might begin to spiral in the wrong direction as soon as we see the smallest bit of evidence that shows our metrics aren’t what we’d pictured at the moment.
If you recognize your success based on metrics, you might be feeling as though you’ve lost track or purpose. But that’s not at all how you should look at things. Don’t focus on the delay. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be a harvest in the future.
Even during a slow quarter, as long as you are prospecting, following up and nurturing your relationships with your CRM, you will rebound from this stronger than before.
You need to shift your focus from the metrics, and into the why behind the metrics. Figure out where the actual value is, and that way, you’ll have more control.
By focusing on the skills that create results, and taking those into consideration, you’ll appreciate the opportunities that are presenting themselves right now.
Kathleen Black is the CEO of Kathleen Black Coaching and Consulting in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Connect with her on Instagram at @kathleenblackcoaching or through her website ItTakesa.Team.
