Reducing Insurance Office Chatter
Insurance agency culture can be a funny thing. Of course everyone wants to work in an office that’s friendly and where people enjoy speaking with each other, but oftentimes, office chatter can become a huge time-waster.
“I just look around and think how much time has been wasted, so much time, and that’s unfortunate because at the end of the day, we don’t have the luxury of that much time to be wasted.”
It can be frustrating for management to hear people say they don’t have time for work, or they’re so busy and inundated with tasks, but then they’re standing at the water cooler chatting. If you’re looking to improve office time management, reducing insurance office chatter should be on the top of your list of things to tackle. If you need help reducing insurance office chatter, here are some things to keep in mind.
A gossip loop can be dangerous
If you’re debating whether to nip office chatter in the bud, keep in mind that a gossip loop can be dangerous. Gossip can be a big sign that an office culture is broken that needs to be addressed. It’s a big warning shot that things need to be sorted out, and it’s something to be aware of.
Keep an eye out for the “post-meeting meeting”
The post-meeting meeting is a term we’ve coined for the chatter that can happen after a big meeting. You know the drill: office management has a big meeting, and afterwards, some employees might get right to work, while others get together and start bashing the new initiative. This can be another big sign of a broken culture, and a post-meeting meeting has no place in a successful company. After a meeting, everyone should be getting together fired up, ready to tackle their new mission.
Client venting can get out of hand
From time-to-time, agents might want to vent about clients, with something along the lines of “can you believe this guy?” But if one agent tells five other agents, and spends five minutes each time, and then those agents tell more agents… you get the drill. Venting about client behavior can end up being a huge time waster, and not only that, it can breed a negative office mentality. This sort of cycle could lead to confirmation bias, where agents are automatically thinking of how awful all of their clients are. If someone needs time to vent, let them have 30 seconds, and then come back an hour later, and ask “Has something positive happened?”
The bottom line is that office chatter is a vicious cycle that not only wastes time, but can breed negative office culture. By addressing chatter and gossip, you’ll help ensure agents are maximizing their time, and that your agency is prepared to be Ridiculously Amazing in 2021.
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