Fourth quarter is a busy time for brokers! How do they keep sane? (Illustration: Dan Page Collection/© theispot.com)
Go with the flow
Lots of happy hours! No, seriously, I allow very flexible hours. We work round the clock during Q4 to deliver translated benefits booklets, etc. to our broker clients on time and sometimes the deadlines are ungodly. If my team needs to sleep late and/or work from home, I have no problem whatsoever with that. I am very lucky to have excellent people, and I have no doubt that they will exceed our clients' expectations, so I am happy to be flexible about their hours, especially during this season when we are drinking from a proverbial fire hose.
Melissa Burkhart, founder and president, Futuro Solido USA
Planning, scheduling and chocolate
The motivation is not the hard part; it's the focus on priorities and managing the pipeline. I do a daily check-in with the team with a rundown of tasks at hand. I plan out my day/week according to priorities and schedule my work in 30-minute blocks so that I can stay on task. I schedule in breaks, too, like a walk around the block. I encourage staff to do the same. We use Salesforce to keep us on track and manage workflow.
Also chocolate helps–the kind wrapped in foil with the little motivational sayings inside! Don't worry; if you have to unwrap a lot of chocolate to find the perfect saying, it's worth it!
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