Creating a culture of contagious collaboration in insurance teams
Here's how to manage a team for success in an industry where a personal connection is key for results.
Starting a new job is always a challenge, but starting one in the middle of a pandemic is even more challenging.
While I’ve been at Argo since 2009, I transitioned to my current role at Argo Pro in May 2020, requiring me to bring new energy and stability to the team during a period of instability. My responsibility was and is to create and cultivate a work environment that is collaborative and healthy for the team as well as prospective clients. With 25 years in the insurance industry, I feel I can provide a unique perspective on how to manage a team for success in an industry where a personal connection is a key to results.
Here’s how I’m building a culture of collaboration both internally and externally.
Instead of saying no, say, “Let’s take a look.”
Unlike various segments of the insurance industry, the lawyers and accountants professional liability business is currently operating in a soft market, so we have to be particularly creative when it comes to getting and maintaining new business. In years past, we might have simply said “no” to some opportunities based on preconceptions about certain types of clients and risks.
Given the uncertainty we face today, we need new strategies to evaluate new business smartly to keep our loss ratios low. We need to be digging deeper into opportunities in an unprecedented way, doing due diligence, asking the right questions, being extremely responsive, and not shying away from what makes our line of work so unique: taking on risk. Underwriting guidelines are not prohibitions. They make us risk-aware, not risk-averse. Dive in and be comfortable with the risks once you understand them.
Be open-minded internally, too.
Being apart from each other and operating remotely during this pandemic is difficult. When I joined this team, I had to find ways to build a rapport remotely. We started a cadence of informal team meetings to create touchpoints. We recently instated new business strategy sessions that take place every other month. We discuss new business opportunities we’ve received and dive into the process as a whole. The team debates what’s worked and what didn’t in the past, evaluates risk and collectively considers our next course of action.
Aside from creating new opportunities, the process creates opportunities for positive reinforcement within our team. We share success stories, provide constructive feedback, and make sure employees feel supported as a part of a larger team, despite the separation a pandemic brings. Whether it’s a remote happy hour where I’m sending our team members individual bottles of wine or just a check-in phone call, maintaining positive internal morale is paramount to success.
Look for ways to enhance collaboration across teams.
It’s easier said than done, but making sure all parts of your team interact smartly and efficiently is especially important. I’d like the underwriters who work on the lawyers professional liability (LPL) and accountants professional liability (APL) businesses to be on the same page. While they are two separate profit centers, we operate as one team in many ways. In this case, that means being in the same meetings and working on joint initiatives, so we get facetime and learn from one another.
My LPL team has three tenured staff members, so we’ve set up a mentorship framework to foster further collaboration and development. Juniors and seniors are paired off, and the juniors can listen in on calls and have someone they can direct all their immediate concerns and questions to. A system where everyone is learning and growing is conducive to better productivity and business.
Share your culture of collaboration with prospective clients.
Building a collaborative environment must also extend to prospective business and current clients. How do you build a relationship from scratch during a pandemic? We have done virtual events to connect on a personal level with brokers. Some have been fun and engaging, and others have fallen flat, so don’t be afraid to fail, but you must be willing to engage over video and have fun with it. We’ve also had plenty of productive business meetings via Microsoft Teams and WebEx, so use these tools to your advantage.
Day-to-day, I check in as much as possible with my colleagues, ensuring that they are maintaining connections with our brokers. I encourage them to pick up the phone and give brokers a call to see how they’re doing. Brokers are social people and likely aren’t thriving during this time either. Let them know you have their back and demonstrate you care through actions.
The pandemic has affected us all in different ways, but for us in the professional liability world, where person-to-person connections are especially important, it can be tough to maintain workflows, internal processes and a new business cadence. Thinking outside the box and putting in extra effort to maintain a collaborative way of thinking and working can go a long way. Don’t be afraid to try something new.
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