Your Team Members Know Things You Don't

Why the People Doing the Work Should Help Improve the Work

Agents, I have a question for you.

When was the last time you asked your team members what makes their jobs harder than they need to be?

Not what they're frustrated about.

Not what they wish someone else would do.

But what, specifically, is making their work more difficult than it needs to be?

Because I can almost guarantee you something.

Your team members know things about your agency that you don't.

And that's not a criticism.

It's reality.

We See Different Things From Different Seats

I've had the unique opportunity to experience the insurance business from several different perspectives.

I've worked on the corporate side.

I've spent years working inside an agency, including leading operations alongside Jim.

And now I work with agents and team members across the country, helping them improve how their businesses operate.

One of the biggest things I've learned?

What leadership thinks is happening and what is actually happening aren't always the same thing.

And sometimes the difference is significant.

An agent may believe a process is working beautifully.

Meanwhile, the team member responsible for completing it is spending an extra twenty minutes every day working around something that doesn't make sense.

The agent sees the completed work.

The team member sees everything it took to get there.

Those are two very different perspectives.

The People Closest to the Work See the Friction

Think about your service team.

They're the ones answering the same questions over and over.

They're the ones navigating the CRM.

They're the ones following up on policy changes.

They're the ones dealing with billing issues, claims questions, and customer frustrations.

They know where information gets lost.

They know which processes create duplicate work.

They know which steps are unnecessary.

And they often know exactly what could make things better.

But here's the question.

Are we asking them?

Don't Confuse a Complaint with an Opportunity

Sometimes when team members share frustrations, leaders hear complaints.

And I understand why.

Nobody wants to spend their day listening to everything that's wrong.

But I've learned to listen differently.

When someone says, "This takes forever," I want to know why.

When someone says, "We always have problems with this," I want to understand what's happening.

When someone says, "There has to be a better way," I'm interested.

Because buried inside those frustrations may be an opportunity to improve the business.

Now, that doesn't mean every complaint is valid or every suggestion should be implemented.

But it does mean we should be willing to investigate.

Sometimes the people doing the work are the ones best positioned to identify what's getting in the way.

Ask Better Questions

Instead of asking your team, "What's not working?" try getting more specific.

"What do you find yourself doing more than once?"

"Where do you spend the most time searching for information?"

"What questions do customers ask repeatedly?"

"What part of your day feels harder than it should?"

"If you could change one thing about how we handle this process, what would it be?"

Then do something that can be surprisingly difficult for leaders.

Listen.

Don't immediately defend the current process.

Don't explain why things have always been done that way.

Don't jump straight into solving the problem.

Just listen.

You may learn something.

Team Members Have a Responsibility, Too

Now, team members, you're not off the hook!

If you know something isn't working, you have a responsibility to speak up.

But there's a difference between bringing a problem and helping identify a solution.

Instead of saying, "This process is terrible," try:

"Here's where we're getting stuck."

"Here's how much time we're spending on it."

"Here's what I think might work better."

That's a conversation your agent can do something with.

You don't have to have every answer.

But you should be willing to contribute to making things better.

Because improving the agency isn't solely the agent's responsibility.

It's a team effort.

The Best Ideas Don't Always Come From the Top

One of the things I love most about working with agency teams is watching what happens when people feel heard.

They start thinking differently.

They stop simply working around problems.

They begin looking for ways to improve.

And sometimes the simplest suggestion from a team member can eliminate hours of unnecessary work.

Not because the agent wasn't capable of identifying the problem.

But because the agent wasn't the person experiencing it every day.

That's why perspective matters.

Leaders, Don't Miss What's Right in Front of You

You don't have to personally experience every frustration in your agency to be responsible for addressing it.

But you do have to create an environment where people feel comfortable bringing those frustrations to you.

And where those conversations lead to something productive.

Your team members aren't just there to execute your vision.

They're also an incredible source of information about what's helping or hindering that vision.

The people doing the work often know where the work is broken.

Great leaders are willing to listen.

And great teams are willing to help fix it.

Because the goal isn't to prove who knows the most.

It's to build an agency that works better for everyone.