Teamwork > Technology Pt.II

As a follow up to my last blog about the importance of teamwork, I wanted to use this latest entry as an opportunity to expand upon my personal philosophy when it comes to proper leadership. While new innovations are always exciting and mysterious, core values endure for a reason. It’s because they are battle-tested and proven. Modern technology is something that normally builds upon a preexisting entity, as opposed to being something wholly original that manages to revolutionize an entire industry. That’s why a core understanding of the basics of teamwork is absolutely essential if you plan on building and maintaining a successful business. If you’re running a team, there are so many moving parts involved that one misstep could result in your entire vision being derailed.

Due to this, I saw fit to emphasize three key points that I feel are crucial to instilling a strong sense of team unity and a positive company culture. Once this solid foundation is laid down, you can then take advantage of the conveniences offered by modern technology to take your business practices to the next level. The points below are philosophies that I try to emphasize in my own professional life, in order to make sure that I’m practicing what I preach.

Contrive and Define Clear Goals For Each Team Member

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a team leader is not establishing a list of clearly defined goals for each of your team members. Each individual should be made to feel as if they are playing an important role in the bigger picture of the company. That’s what keeps people motivated over the long term. Otherwise, without the guidance of tangible directives and goals, each team member will eventually feel alienated and confused as to their purpose. Everyone wants to feel as if they have a purpose so they can grow and expand as a professional.

Ultimately, this will lead to them to the “diss” stage. Aside from alluding to the colloquial definition of the term “diss” (meaning to be disrespected), I’m also making reference to a few other potential mindsets that begin with a majority of the same letters: disheartened and disengaged.

As a team leader, it’s your responsibility (and your responsibility alone) to have a clearly defined course of action and delegate tasks accordingly. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a bunch of your teammates running around like chickens with their head cut off. You’re the team leader right? By definition, a leader is someone who leads, a responsibility that’s very difficult to uphold without a well-thought-out plan of action.

Have Face-to-Face Meetings Often

Here’s where you really have to take stock in your true feelings about the proper place of technology in a professional setting. Are you using it to enhance your company’s productivity after a solid workplace culture has already been laid in place? Or, are you leaning on it as a crutch because you’re merely assuming that it’s completely streamlining your business operations? While we do live in a society where technology has given us the freedom to interact with others basically wherever and whenever we want, this by no means should serve to decrease the importance of face-to-face meetings.

It’s easy to forget in these modern times, but body language is it’s own form of communication, and a telling one at that. So is the tone of a person’s voice and their diction. All of these important elements of interpersonal communication fall by the wayside through the use of a phone call or email.

Also, as many users of modern technology can attest to, there’s a lot that can be lost in translation when communicating with someone electronically. On the other hand, as a team leader who is running a face-to-face meeting, you’re saying: I’m here, I care, and I’m willing to listen directly to what you have to say. This is why we have Monday Huddles, where we start with an inspiring song and then discuss weekly tasks.

Deliver Feedback With A Personal Touch

Team members need to be acknowledged for their work. Nobody wants to exert an immense amount of effort on something that will never be noticed. When you’re delivering positive feedback to a team member, be sure that it has a personal touch.

Mention something that specifically impressed you about their work, so they get the feeling that you are paying close attention to their efforts, instead of just blowing smoke. On the other hand, when you’re delivering criticism, do so constructively. This means framing it within a context that suggests that the person is a valuable member of the team, but they just need to improve in certain areas of their job.

After all, everybody makes mistakes, including myself. The overarching point here is to instill a feeling of value and purpose in your team members through all of your interactions with them. A true leader highlights the strengths and talents within people that sometimes they didn’t even know they had themselves, helping to elevate them closer to their true potential.  I’ve seen such growth, both personally and professionally, with all of my Onyx team members.

Teamwork > Tech

Since I began writing this blog, my primary focus has been the intersection between real estate and technology, with a little bit of my personal philosophies sprinkled in. For this entry, I would like to take a step back and examine what all good business, not just in real estate, really hinges on: interpersonal relationships. Don’t get me wrong. Using modern technology can certainly aid in fostering better relationships between teammates and clients, but good deals were being completed long before computers, and organizations were devising systems to help team members collaborate more efficiently long before smartphones and the cloud. Getting too caught up in the latest buzzwords of the day is the easiest way to lose your perspective.

YES, modern technology is a remarkable testament to human ingenuity and it can make our lives easier if used in the right way. What bothers me, though, is that the newfound importance placed on technology is completely overblown sometimes. Last time I checked, the closest thing we had to true artificial intelligence is the robot they had playing Jeopardy. While that’s relatively impressive (is it, though?) my overall point is that no matter how advanced the technology we are using today is, it still requires people to operate it who recognize the value it offers and use it appropriately.

The true potential of a particular piece of technology or software will NEVER be realized unless its users are well in-tune not only with its functionalities and purpose, but with themselves as well. In the end, you can have the best technology in the world, but without the right work culture, you will fail miserably. For example, what use is the latest cloud-based technology to a fragmented team that is already having communication issues? Do you really think the institution of a new software program is going to make up for the rifts in communication that have already manifested themselves amongst the team?

It’s sort of the equivalent to giving your child a new bicycle after they just got into a fight at school. Shiny new solutions that don’t directly address the underlying problem are nothing but a waste. A waste of money, as well as a wasted opportunity to communicate your true feelings about the situation, instill the necessary discipline, and begin the process of righting the ship.

So, if you want to enjoy the immense benefits offered by the latest technology, the responsibility falls first on you as a leaderto make sure that you have instilled a strong sense of trust in your team members. If you fail to do this, it will result in a work environment with no shared performance goals, no joint work efforts and no mutual accountability. Does that sound like the foundation you want to build on when spending out the nose to outfit your team with the latest and greatest technology? Sounds pretty crazy if you ask me. While I will always be a proponent of the newest gadgets, I will never put that sort of style over the substance that comes from having a completely unified team.

Technology and Workplace Culture

Fox Business just came out with an interesting piece entitled “The Real Reason Americans Are Quitting Work.” The article was precipitated by an increase in the amount of Americans who quit their jobs this past September, which has risen dramatically to 2 percent of the workforce. It sites workplace culture as one of the main culprits for their disengagement, while begging the question, what can managers do better (or differently) to improve their workplace culture? They came up with four guidelines to keep in mind: Shared Identity, Shared Empathy, Shared Understanding and Connected Leaders. In my opinion, modern technology has provided us with solutions to help enhance all of these aspects of the workplace in the right ways necessary to make team members feel more at home. Let me explain… Shared Identity – Team members don’t want to feel like coming to work everyday is a rat race. That’s obvious. What isn’t as obvious is how to go about making each team member feel more connected. That’s where the technology comes in. Mobile devices and discussion groups allow every single member of an organization to have a direct line of communication with one another. That means more collaboration. That means more socializing. That means more feedback. All of that, in turn, adds up to team members feeling they have a greater say in shaping the common goal, thus forging a shared identity in the workplace.

Shared Empathy – Who wants to feel like a cog in a wheel? As the Fox article states “feelings are contagious,” and so is positive energy, now so more than ever in this age of increased interconnectivity. If you’re a manager, take note of behavior that you feel may have gone unnoticed. So, in turn, BE HUMAN.

Shared Understanding – Updates in real time. Those are the big words here: real time. Through the use of technology, such as Yammer and platform discussion groups, there is no longer an excuse for a substantial time lapse in an organizational setting. Everybody’s on the same page, at the same time, at all times. This provides greater flexibility in the workplace, because team members can communicate and collaborate on the go. It also means that the same information is being made available to everyone. Without this shared understanding, there is simply no chance for a shared identity. Have you ever heard of a successful business without a common identity and purpose?

Connected Leaders – BE AUTHENTIC. Effective leaders need to be connected, meaning that they “embrace the importance of conversation and have the patience to develop a consensus on issues that are important to team members at large.” All of the possibilities brought about by new technology that I’ve mentioned above play a role in helping to foster this. It used to be called an open door policy, but I’d like to rephrase the expression to an “Open Inbox” policy, meaning that your team members should never feel like your closed off from them. Field their concerns, talk things out. Share understanding. Empathize. Create a common identity. That’s what managing effectively is all about: being a CHIEF LISTENER.

Now, bringing this back to the intersection between real estate and technology (real estate is, after all, my business), I think that, despite everything I’ve said above, physical work environments play just as much of a part in shaping your workplace culture as does technology. In the end, they both affect the ways in which we communicate. That’s why we’ve seen such a rise in alternative office spaces, because new technology has allowed us to connect in ways in which physical proximity had only allowed us to do so before.

Regardless of all of the variables at play, management is all people-dependent. As a manager, you need to utilize the resources at your disposal to the best of your ability. Technology can’t fix all of your problems. If it was that simple, why do you think Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer banned team members from working at home? It’s hard to say whether or not I agree with this move, because it’s completely dependent on her team members and her relationship with them. However, on the whole, I do see technology as a tool that can effectively enhance workplace culture, whether your workplace is the typical office building or your living room.

Enhancing the Tenant Experience With Real-Time Communication and Reporting

In a previous post, I discussed enhancing the workplace experience with technology, but what about the tenant experience? There were electronic monitoring systems in homes long before it was adopted in commercial buildings. But now, adoption has become prevalent in commercial facilities. The use of technology in facilities management has resulted in real-time system monitoring, communication and reporting. These performance tools allow building managers to report back to tenants on repairs and maintenance as well as to owners so they can gauge performance of an asset. No one is left in the dark, literally.

In the age of texting, Instagram and Twitter, the ability to contact people is huge so there are regular alerts sent to tenants regarding building updates. And, with the axiom “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” as a model, a dashboard gives up-to-the-minute status of systems throughout a property. Tenants can access that status platform day or night via 24/7 access. A tenant feels empowered to be part of the process instead of reacting to it, which provides a sense of control and thus, enhances the tenant experience.

This type of systems monitoring provides a benchmarking process so service standards can be put in place for facilities management. Property managers have such a variety of tools available that keeping in touch with tenants through regular reporting and alerts should be commonplace today. And, those happy tenants are long-term tenants.