Real estate has always been different from a typical office job. Most agents aren’t spending their days at a desk. Instead, they’re out in the field—showing houses, meeting prospective clients, and laying the groundwork for successful sales. And with the ongoing transition to paperless transactions, agents can even process contracts and disclosures electronically—meaning they’re in the office even less than they were before.
Yet, maintaining a strong culture within your brokerage is vital to creating a positive work environment and retaining your agents. So, how do you keep your team connected, motivated, and engaged when they’re spread out?
Strong leadership is at the core of any successful remote team. As a broker, it’s up to you to prioritize communication, accountability, and team-building to help keep your agents feeling confident in the brokerage and excited about being part of the organization. Here are a few practical ways to help you do just that:
Strengthen Trust through Accountability
By creating opportunities for accountability, you can empower your agents and build trust within your organization. Tactics like creating annual production goals, and strategically delegating responsibilities, are excellent ways to set clear, actionable expectations—while also increasing agents’ confidence in themselves and their teammates. You’re showing that you trust them to make the right decisions, while also providing the structure and support they need to succeed.
Another way to build accountability into your brokerage culture? Define roles and responsibilities through regular discussions and frequent feedback meetings for the entire team. Being transparent through constructive feedback is the best way to help your team learn and grow. And remember—it’s a two-way street. Brokers should always be open to constructive criticism and discussions around improvement.
Foster a Culture of Communication
Facilitating daily communication is the best way to stay on top of what’s going on at your brokerage. Encourage agents to participate in conversations about weekly goals and everyday challenges on a regular basis. Hold weekly in-person team meetings. In addition to communicating news and updates, use the time to have active discussions on common challenges and solutions, celebrate wins, share market updates and educate to help keep everyone’s skills sharp. Integrate tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams for those who might have challenges participating in person to help your organization develop a communication cadence.
For your part, try to be as responsive as possible. Your team may have questions or need guidance. Having an open line of communication during the day and a quick response time will allow you to build trust among your entire brokerage. Truly listening to what your agents have to say and responding in a timely manner are skills that will keep your team on track.
Connect on a Deeper Level
Finding time to make informal connections at your brokerage is a challenge when working remotely. With less face-to-face time in the office, you’ll need to make a conscious effort to facilitate the casual, fun interactions that lead to relationship building.
Schedule a volunteering event that everyone can participate in and host regular happy hours or meet ups There are plenty of ways to informally connect online or in person outside of the office.
For example, this year, Weichert Realtors® – The Home Team participated in the Annual Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Walk. This awareness initiative brought the community together to raise money for people affected by multiple sclerosis. Finding an event your organization is passionate about is a great chance to connect on a deeper level with coworkers.
Most importantly, take time to get to know your agents on a personal level—share things about yourself and ask questions about your team. Get to know what motivates them. Keep profiles of your agents with their backgrounds, likes, dislikes and goals. Schedule regular core calls with your agents and incorporate this information into the conversations.
Offer Plenty of Support
Making sure your agents have access to the tools, training, and support they need is a critical part of helping them thrive. Whether they’re working from the office, from home, or from the field, agents need to feel like someone has their back. That could mean taking extra time to onboard new team members, offering opportunities for training and development, or investing in the right technology.
At Weichert, we offer a level of resources, support, and opportunity most independent brokers simply can’t create on their own. Agents will find everything from branded marketing assets and personal branding to yearly conferences and virtual training opportunities with our service & coaching teams. And our myWeichert® powered by kvCORE platform gives brokers and their agents access to a smart CRM, customizable integrated websites, automated marketing and lead generation, and comprehensive reporting.
Beyond that, we take care of our brokers, too—with business coaching, tools for recruitment and retention, and best-in-class technology. Your agents shouldn’t have to go it alone, and neither should you.
To learn more about the ways we help brokers and their agents, get in touch.
