Planning the work week and sticking to those plans can increase productivity and provide a better experience for both clients and advisers.
By Steve Atkinson
What does your ideal week look like? Since the perfect week varies from one adviser to another, this is not a one-size-fits-all question. Planning out your week – and sticking to those plans – can increase productivity, provide a greater client experience and transform both your professional and personal life. But creating the picture-perfect week is more than time management – you need to incorporate your values, needs and what you really want out of life.
Want to map out your weekly planning journey? Here are a few good places to begin:
What’s Important to You
Plan out your ideal week and think about what’s truly important to you. I know advisers who like to schedule their days in blocks of 15 minutes. This will help you decide where to spend your time and where to let things go that aren’t contributing to your best environment. If it’s not beautiful, useful or joyful, let it go.
Have an Accountability Partner
Whether it’s a co-worker, companion or spouse, having an accountability partner or sounding board can help you stay on track with your schedule and goals. It’s crucial to surround yourself with people who are willing to be honest in their relationship with you. Having someone remind you that a timetable or task is unrealistic can be a huge benefit. Refueling during the workday is also important, so schedule in your lunch and breaks and make sure you take them.
Keep the Lines of Communication Open
Keep it real. As advisers, we are in the people business. It’s important your clients know they are dealing with a human being. Check in on them, especially clients who live alone, to make sure they are doing well. Or connect with them in smaller ways, such as increasing the frequency of your newsletter.
Join a Study Group
Join a local study group. Study groups are a great way to be pushed out of your comfort zone (in a good way), become accountable, and receive needed support. Clients are going to be attracted to the type of people that serve them.
Through my work as managing director of Adviser Relations at Buckingham Strategic Partners, I have the opportunity to work with, coach and learn from more than 1,200 RIAs around the country. These tips, and others, were inspired by a conversation I recently had with adviser and planning enthusiast Maureen McShane. Besides being a CEO of a thriving family legacy practice, her personal life is filled with a husband, six energetic children and a grandchild. At one point, Maureen found herself very busy – but not efficient.
All of this changed during a train trip to her study group in New Jersey. Instead of working on the ride up, Maureen decided to read a book. She grabbed one that had been gathering dust on her bookshelf – “A Woman’s Way” by Michelle R. Donovan and Patty Kreamer. Over the next few hours, she read it from cover to cover. This seemingly inconsequential act changed her life.
The premise of “A Woman’s Way” is simple – by organizing your idyllic week, female financial planners can gain back precious time while enriching the client experience. And this idea spoke to Maureen.
Put the Big Rocks First
To get started with this approach, Maureen had to decide what is most important in her life. To make sure trivial tasks did not consume her day, she prioritized her most important needs and values by “putting the big rocks in first.”
She did this by asking:
What does she need to do for clients, and when? When is she at her best? How can she create boundaries?How can she connect more with friends and family in a meaningful way?What is important in her personal life?
After considering these questions, she scheduled how her week would look if everyone in her life received what they needed from her. While she kept her answers reasonable and simple, this process took weeks to fine tune.
Besides planning time to prep and meet with her clients, she scheduled when she woke up, added in quality time to grab a morning coffee with her husband and even penciled in her daily commute. Her schedule still had to contain flexibility to adapt to her client’s busy lives. But instead of constantly coming in early, working late and meeting clients on weekends, she arranges her time on her terms. She now consistently leaves the office at 5 p.m.
To make positive change possible, Maureen also had to revamp her environment. She and her business partner – who is also her father – moved their large downtown office into a comfortable farmhouse. While this was an unconventional move, Maureen says that both she and her clients love it. Gone was the oversized meeting room with a large table to match. In its place stands a smaller, cozier table with snacks, drinks and most importantly more personalized, intimate conversations.
Be Decisive and Committed
While many unexpected things can happen in a day, by sticking to your schedule you can work smarter, not harder. As Maureen explained “It’s so extremely important to be decisive and committed in the way that we take care of our time, because it is a precious commodity.”
If you are interested in hearing more about how Maureen turned in her Franklin planner for a more fulfilling work environment and personal life, check out my conversation with her on the Admired Adviser’s podcast Or enjoy additional episodes of Buckingham’s Admired Adviser podcast online. The Admired Adviser helps listeners explore ways to approach their businesses, build client relationships, and achieve overall success.
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About the author: Steve Atkinson, Managing Director, Adviser Relations at Buckingham Strategic Partners, oversees the relationship experience advisers and their clients have with Buckingham Strategic Partners (BSP). In conjunction with the many resources available to advisers from BSP, the adviser relations team helps advisers find their true passion by leveraging best practices to deliver true wealth management. Steve serves as the host of the Admired Adviser podcast, highlighting admired traits that can inspire other professionals in the industry. Disclosure: The opinions expressed by featured authors are their own and may not accurately reflect those of Buckingham Strategic Partners. This article is for general information and educational purposes only and is not intended to serve as specific financial, accounting, legal, or tax advice. Individuals should speak with qualified professionals based upon their individual circumstances. The analysis contained in this article may be based upon third-party information and may become outdated or otherwise superseded without notice. Third-party information is deemed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nor any other federal or state agency have approved, confirmed the accuracy, or determined the adequacy of this article.
