The pandemic is forcing advisors to take a hard look at their practice. Rapid change and the stress of client demands brought on by the Coronavirus crisis shined a spotlight on weaknesses in the practice and left many leaders with more questions than answers.
Often it takes a major catalyst to move an organization toward positive change. The pandemic is turning out to be that catalyst for many financial advisor practices.
Over the course of the crisis, we heard from many advisors who shared how the pandemic impacted their practice. Soon we began to notice trends in what they were saying.
“One thing this has shown me is that I don’t know very much about what my staff even does.”
“I thought our team was pretty organized, but…”
“The already challenged communications in our team have become even more difficult in working from home.”
Staff members also mentioned that the communication issues that existed among leadership became even more pronounced as the team struggled to shift operations to remote work. Often these problems are symptoms of deeper issues. Those issues can stem from a number of areas including a lack of process, a need to develop leadership skills, roles and responsibilities that aren’t well defined, and other key operational and cultural components. In order to resolve both the core issues and the problems they create and map out a path for positive change, practice leaders first need to take a hard look and do an in-depth assessment of the practice to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
Some leaders are attempting to complete these assessments on their own. To truly be effective, an in-depth practice assessment is best done by an outside party. An independent third party is not bound my organizational politics or bias and can objectively assess the practice and give clear, balanced guidance on what needs to be done to improve.
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