When I was in the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's master's program I read a great book about successful management; honestly I can't remember the name of it but I remember its message and it has stuck with me for several years. I read it while on a train from Crystal Lake, IL to downtown Chicago, it was on the way to the NAR leadership summit. The book was not very large and very, very good and I read the entire thing on the train. Its basic message was this: An effective organization is balanced by three legs on a stool: personnel, processes and systems.
This morning I received a WONDERFUL email from a member who was very happy with one of our MLS services and took the time to write me. I emailed back and got an even more enthusiastic reply about how great the staff is and he credited me for bringing insightful energy to the organization. After I got over patting myself on the back- my arm got sore- I thought about what he commented on. I realized that small little book, read on a quiet train ride, had really driven so much of what I have done at OKCMAR in terms of administration. The first thing is personnel. You can have the most wonderful leadership in the world, refined processes, great systems but if the personnel is not good, none of that matters. I pride myself on the great team I have been allowed to build at OKCMAR. We have had negligible turnover in the last 2 years and I believe our staff is top notch.
The second is processes. Over the last three years the senior staff & I have worked relentlessly on developing a defined, written process for every single thing we do at OKCMAR & MLSOK. Every action has a standard and we define it, evaluate it and measure it on a regular basis. It is this particular area that I will take a small modicum of credit, my education in Project Management has been invaluable in creating processes. The leadership has been wonderful in investing in excellent systems to support the processes and personnel. As I remember from the book, great people and great processes can be felled by failing systems. If the phone system drops every third call all the effort in the world is lost if the systems fail.
I am so happy that members recognize what the leadership and staff have been trying to accomplish. As a follower of Deming's Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophies there is no resting on past successes. Every day we need to examine the three legs of our business stool and look for & implement improvement . Is everything always perfect? Absolutely not but we strive for that constant and continuous improvement every day.
My hope is that by sharing my views on this subject perhaps it may help the blog readers in pushing past a barrier to greater business success. If you are doing everything right and you have the best people in the world- perhaps your systems need to be upgraded. If you have invested in great systems and have wonderful people, perhaps the processes are not defined. Does everyone in your office process a new listing in the same manner to your broker's standard? People want to do a great job but if they aren't sure of the expectation and process they are doomed to disappoint. Remember that systems include such simple things as office supply systems, utilities management and even compensation structures. Finally one can not stand tall, sturdy and above the rest on a crooked stool; balance is crucial.
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