Successful teams have unity of purpose; clear and demanding performance goals; ample discussion, freedom to express feelings and to disagree; an informal and comfortable atmosphere and leadership shifts from time to time.
Teams that succeed with clients can be trusted, offer consistent, elevated and enjoyable service and listen to their clients’ needs. Teams that meet, set and define client expectations create loyalty with clients.
Teams can have five structures, the most common being vertical (a key person in charge with two assistants) and horizontal (three or more members share power, have assistant). Others include specialty teams (might focus on non-profit clients, institutions or endowments), virtual (outside advisor contributes expertise) and multicultural/diverse (members speak several languages and engage with clients of various ethnicities).
“You don’t just suddenly decide on a structure. Part of the dynamic of a team formation is to find people that you feel comfortable working with, who bring disparate viewpoints and skills that may need to evolve,’’ they said.
The authors suggest that new teams do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) “to understand what will stand in the way of the team from being highly successful.’’ Team meetings and performance evaluations are essential for success, Brown and Knapp said.
Despite the book’s emphasis on democracy of purpose and goals, the authors said teams need leaders. Leaders provide encouragement and inspire confidence, develop talent, nurture skills and share power. Team leadership will shift. One chapter is devoted to the role of the team leader, “an undervalued resource; they’re the unsung heroes,’’ the authors said.
All teams need vision and mission statements and a value proposition to retain focus and drive, the authors said. Team members “must be committed to lifelong learning’’ so training meetings, seminars and planning sessions are necessary.
There also are chapters on how to achieve team collaboration, contracts and agreements (regarding compensation), forecasting team growth, recruiting and retaining good people, orienting and mentoring new team members, and dealing with team dysfunction.
The chapter, “Wealth Management in the Digital Age’’ exhorts readers to embrace and exploit technology, so that its “disruptive change’’ is converted into a positive outcome for advisory firms.
“The more ways in which firms can connect and provide useful services to clients via technology will be a differentiating competitive advantage in the foreseeable future.’’
Supernova Advisor Teams. A Pathway to Excellence by Curtis C. Brown Jr. and Rob Knapp. John Wiley & Sons. 218 pages. $34.95.
Eleanor O’Sullivan is an award-winning journalist who writes for Financial Advisor.