Coaching Corner

By Richard Flint, Real Estate Business Magazine, December 2006/January 2007

Inspiring Teamwork

Begin 2007 with a Common Agenda

When I ask those inside any company, "What do you see as the No. 1 issue in this company," the answer is always the same — "the lack of communication." No matter what the situation, lack of communication creates the majority of the confusion people face — especially at work.

Most people don't understand the journey that goes with allowing confusion to control the internal spirit of any environment. Confusion leads to conflict, which gives rise to frustrations, resulting in disappointment and fueling anger. Confusion can create a non-functional environment filled with emotional collisions. These collisions halt communication and resolution. The result, instead, is a spirit of disconnect among people.

The real issue in conflict is not a lack of communication; it is the fact that there is no common agenda guiding people who live or work together.

In the past, I worked on a church staff as a marriage counselor. When a couple came to me for marriage counseling, they had to agree to attend five sessions. The first 50-minute session was the most challenging. During that session, I would pick a fight between the two and just let them argue. At the end of the session, I would tell them, "I will see you next week." The next week when they returned I always asked, "How was your week?"

The response never varied: "It was terrible. We fought all week."

My response was, "Is that how you want to live?"

The response was normally, "No!"

My advice was, "Then, learn where conflict comes from. Conflict is the result of two people trying to communicate without a common agenda."

The lesson here is simple, but profound: All human lives collide at the point of agendas.

Without a common agenda confusion exists; that confusion leads to conflict, which feeds frustration, and creates disappointments, ultimately resulting in anger.

How many times has this been your experience? Without a common agenda to build upon, there is not a pathway to resolution. As long as each person is battling for his or her own way and not listening to what the other is saying, confusion continues. Because of this the conflict remains and because it is not resolved, it has continuation. By perpetuating the conflict, continuation guarantees more confusion.

Recently, a broker asked if he could talk to me about the turmoil in his office. As I sat and listened to him describe what was happening, I asked him one question: "Do you think you and your associates share the same agenda?"

The look on his face told me he wasn't sure what I was talking about. "Peter, do you think your agents listen to you and share the same commitment to selling that you do?"

He leaned back, thought for a moment and with a look of concern on his face said, "No! No, they don't. Some of them do, but they are mostly the new people who haven't been around long enough to be influenced by those who have their own agenda."

"Peter, that's it. What you just said is the real issue you are dealing with. You have one agenda and they have another. Until there is a common agenda with your associates, there is going to be division and confusion. The office environment is being guided by confusion."

All human lives collide at the point of agendas. Issues bring us together, but agendas determine the outcome. If there is not a common agenda when we are connected and striving to achieve the same goal, there will be chatter, not communication, leading to resolution. If the conversation ends without resolution, the confusion is strengthened and the company environment weakened. A weakened environment affects the presence the people have with their clients. Confusion is a cancer that can suck the positive spirit out of the environment and leave it filled with emotional collisions.

What Prevents a Common Agenda?

A lack of commitment to creating a partnership. I don't believe in the way society teaches teams, teamwork or team spirit. My research reveals that teams punish the strong and reward the weak. Most companies are consistently asking the strong to do more while not confronting the lack of results from the rest. "Punishing" those who are committed with more work is easier than confronting those who are stealing time and energy from the office.

Growth and improvement are words, not what people are being held accountable for. Most real estate offices supply training but do not hold associates accountable for implementing it. Too many office managers are more fearful of losing people than committed to building a successful staff through accountability. The result is the lack of presence.

Exceptions become acceptable. If all people are not held to the same rules, there are no real rules or guidelines. When exceptions are made, permission is given to implement one's own agenda. That creates and feeds confusion.

The team has no leaders, just participants in the confusion. Leaders lead. Leaders don't allow their presence to create confusion. When the leader becomes part of the confusion, he or she is no longer the leader; he or she is a participant who gives confusion permission to grow.

Doubts fill the environment. Doubt is an emotion that paralyzes any environment. Where there is doubt, there is a lack of clarity. Doubt makes people ask questions that can't be answered. Those questions feed the confusion.

Emotions run high in the office. In an office without a common agenda, distractions control the emotional pulse. People focus on what others are not doing, fueling emotions that divide co-workers.

How To Create a Common Agenda

Accountability must be a driving force. If you don't hold people to the rules, throw them away. The contradiction between having rules and not enforcing them heightens confusion. Without accountability, anything goes.

Get clear on the crusade of the company and don't wavier from it. Leaders must determine what they want the company to stand for and hold the behavior of all the people to that crusade. Confusion can weaken the company's reputation.

Make expectations clear. With the clarity of expectations comes a calm that allows people to have a stronger mental presence, increasing their value to each other and their clients.

Negativity must not be tolerated. Negativity is a cancer that eats at the spirit of a group and keeps people on a collision course toward each other. When this happens, the agenda is affected, communication weakens and no solid foundation of internal strength can grow.

Don't keep people who don't want to grow with you. People who don't want to grow will fight any improvements that are being made. Their negative presence will create division and force people to take sides. This attitude strengthens confusion within a group.

Any confusion must be dealt with immediately. When the commitment is to resolve and not continue confusion, the emotional pace of the environment slows down, the focus on growth is strengthened and the people have a rallying point for the crusade.

With a common agenda as the connection point for your staff, confusion will lessen and clarity will emerge. With a common agenda, associates, staff and leaders can thrive.

Richard Flint is a nationally recognized corporate management coach. Since 1980, he has been sharing his insights and philosophies with audiences all over North America. He has written 11 books, recorded more than 50 CDs and filmed 27 videos. He can be reached at richard@richardflint.com.