Business outcomes - Falling out of time

With many broker's relying on trail commissions to sustain their business, turning a deal around for a client without delay is vital not only for the client, but for also for the broker's livelihood.

Niche Lending director Moshe Moses wrote $59.25 million in loans last year. As one of The Adviser's Elite Business Writers, Mr Moses says effective time management is a pivotal to his business model and something he constantly seeks to improve.

"Efficiency is a paramount consideration for any business," Mr Moses says.

"Brokers are always looking for ways to have more time, as they never seem to have enough. Given where commissions come from, it's important to be able to manage time effectively in order to write more loans."

At the moment Mr Moses' focus is on exactly that - looking at ways to improve time management to maximise business productivity.

"We're currently reviewing our manuals, staffing, technology and administrative systems to find ways to maximise our resources," he says.

"We deal with loads of client information and various loan policies on a daily basis, and the more correspondence we get through, the more we get back. Therefore, one of the things we've introduced is a central office email address for all correspondence. Rather than using our personalised email addresses, the central office email address will enable our administrative staff to sort through all incoming correspondence, giving loan writers more time to effectively deal with matters at hand."

Mr Moses is also looking at how to use innovative software programs to improve business efficacy.

"With NCCP and compliance obligations, a lot of time will be spent filling out forms and creating documents, but there are software programs that can self-populate forms with information you enter, and this help will save time," he says.

Mr Moses says another way to manage time is through delegation of tasks.

If a task can be completed by someone else in the broker's team, think about giving it to them. Delegation of smaller or less significant matters - such as procedural or administrative matters - can free up a broker's time, enabling them to better concentrate on larger, meatier tasks.

But delegation doesn't come naturally for everyone, and can take some practice.

"Delegation for me is the hardest thing to do, but I'm slowly converting," says Mr Moses, adding that having time away from menial tasks can have a fiscal impact on a broker's business.

"It's all about finding different ways to streamline your processes, and it's something we're always working on," he says.

THE HUMAN BARRIER

And while practical time management habits are important, equally as critical is a broker's ability to be engaged in tasks so they can complete them to the best of their physical and mental ability. Being at top performance requires a broker to work in association with the body's natural rhythms - not against them.

According to psychobiology researcher and therapist Dr Ernest Rossi, people only have a 90 to 120 minute peak of ‘natural energy', before their body takes a lethargic dip for approximately 20 minutes. During that energy dip, a person becomes tired, unfocused, and may feel hungry or grumpy.

By pushing this natural boundary through forcing oneself to be ‘switched on' all hours of the day, brokers may be actually doing more injury to their work productivity than good.

A DIFFERENT STATE OF MIND

Holistic Services Group wellbeing expert Teya Skae says the key to good time management is through ‘energy management', and is built around the idea of working with a person's natural rhythms.

According to Ms Skae, energy management is the ‘new paradigm' of time management, and she runs day-long courses about it for corporate professionals.

"In a century when we are all craving extra time, it's important to realise that time management is not about finding ‘extra' time - it's about using the time we have more effectively," Ms Skae says.

Many brokers work irregular or longer-than-usual hours and their work often dictates their eating, sleeping and downtime habits.

But Ms Skae says good time management requires a person to balance their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state. She says this will ensure they are equipped to handle tasks to the best of their physical and mental ability.

Like an athlete, Ms Skae says brokers should give themselves adequate ‘fuel' to work, as well time to warm up and wind down.

"Brokers should think of themselves as corporate athletes. And they should recognise that energy comes from within," she says.

"If you're eating well, sleeping well, and are mentally engaged in the activities you undertake, you'll be more productive and therefore, a better time-manager.

"If however, you're sleep-deprived, overworked, stressed, and full of sugar and caffeine, no matter how hard you try; you will not be able to properly engage your brain, and this means completing tasks and problem-solving can take twice as long," she says.

Ms Skae suggests that after completing a mentally challenging task, brokers should go for a walk, take time-out, grab a bite to eat, have a drink of water, or chat on the phone to a loved one - so as to rebalance the mind, body, spirit and emotional energy.

"You don't need to spend an hour at the gym - rebalancing your energy is as simple as taking a five-10 minute tea break," she says.

By creating energy from within, brokers will find that they will become more mentally focused.