Activity Management: Taking Cues From The Honker
The Firm’s “SAM Point Person” - Roles & Responsibilities
A skein of geese fly in a “V” formation because they can fly over 70% farther than if one bird flew alone.
As each goose flaps its wings, it creates lift for the goose immediately behind it. When the lead bird in the “V” formation gets tired, there are other birds in skein that can take over, fill in, and lend support to the leader.
The “honker” bird in the formation gives encouragement from behind and keeps the skein focused on reaching its destination and inspired to reach its goal.
What a wonderful analogy when applied to our organizations and leadership! Your firm, flying in a “V” formation of a common mission and vision, will strengthen and grow more quickly into the high performance culture that you know it can become.
The managers and producers act in support of each other for a sense of community, competitive spirit, and overall success. But the best results are achieved when a firm’s management team designates a SAM Point Person (the “honker”) to provides inspiration, encouragement, and support to the producers and other managers.
Let’s define the responsibilities that go along with this essential role.
As the champion of the SAM program, the point person assists managers and team members with receiving the full value of the tools, while identifying strategies to create a culture of accountability - the foundation of activity and performance management. This includes:
- Supporting with words and actions all aspects of the vision, mission and goals of the firm leader
- Driving the SAM process with the management team for the recruiting and development activities
- Assisting with the coaching component for producer success
Your role allows you to increase the culture of accountability within your organization. This is done through the promotion, training and support of the SAM planner and eScoreBoard, as well as the understanding and leveraging all aspects of these tools. Here are a few more suggestions on how to do this effectively:
- Introduce the use of the SAM program in the recruiting process, setting expectations with the candidates that the tools will help them succeed.
- Include the SAM tools as part of the “standard operating procedure” for consistent training and promotion of the program through firm meetings and 1:1 coaching sessions. Follow the mantra: Every Week Without Fail, No Exceptions!
- Review and analyze trends in activity as they emerge from the eScoreBoard reports, working to drive these metrics for improvement and greater success.
- Develop an accountability and incentive consequence for performance when behavior does not match or exceeds expectations.
Lastly, the point person should be the firm’s “power user” promoting activity management as a self-management tool, a systematic repeatable process and a career-long strategy for success. That is where the SAM staff is ready to partner with you. We want to assist the firm’s point person and each user in every way possible to use the SAM tools and resources to their utmost advantage to achieve excellent results.
If you would like additional information about the roles and responsibilities of the firm point person as well as information on the coaching component, please contact Maris Haster, VP, Client Development, maris.haster@saminspires.com.
