“Where it all falls apart: three out of five business plans lack implementation details,” noted Oligino.

Some advisors need to consider outsourcing or even insourcing. Costs and skillsets can factor into those decisions.

3. Foster A Culture That Promotes And Rewards Efficiency

“Create a safe environment,” said Oligino. She advised that firms seek feedback, create a safe environment, empower the team and commit to providing solutions.

“Identify opportunities to improve efficiency. Are there common issues you can solve for? What are the top service requests? How can you solve for that? Think through the problems you see on a regular basis,” advised Oligino.

She gave an example of a firm that was manually rebalancing client accounts via spreadsheets. Of course in 2008 and 2009 they were very reactive to the markets when they should have been proactive with clients. Making an operations and technological change resulted in quantifiable results.

With an example like this, she recommended attendees think about the problem statement. She showed an adorable picture of her two-year-old son and said it is important to use his favorite question: ‘Why?’ If you start with ‘why’ and keep asking ‘why’ a firm can get to the root of the problem to fix an issue.

4. Manage Change

According to Oligino, there are three types of problems:  Quick hits with easy solutions; simple problems that take a little more time that for the most part can be solved and 90 percent of advisors will move forward with the solution; and complex problems that advisors might not be able to fix, but it is at least identified as a future problem to address.

Wondering where to start? Oligino recommended asking, “What are your high-impact activities? How do you get derailed? How can you spend your time more effectively?”

She gave an example of her open-door policy becoming an issue as she could not get her work done with constant interruptions.  Once she recognized it was an issue, she made a change and implemented office hours to improve her own personal efficiency.

There are times when advisors should delegate tasks to the right people. First they should know themselves and even do self-assessments to do so. Also know the support team. Know their strengths, skillsets and even what motivates them, advised Oligino.