Office dynamics.  Those 2 words alone make any HR department break sweat.  When it comes to a real estate office, setting the standards early and holding your ground is VERY difficult...at least until you have established a strong core group.  Without spending much time on myself as to why you should read this with an open mind and with a good bit of understanding that I know what I am talking about, you need to know a couple of things:  1.  I've owned businesses where I was the ONLY manager/owner/say so person with 100 commissioned agents.  I've also had whole corporate divisions where I was responsible for nearly 800 individuals that were commission driven.  I've made mistakes that blew out whole offices.  I've made communicate errors that cost me a couple of years of work and effort to just be flushed down the toilet.  I have done stupid management things...very well...and a lot.

That being said, I have also had some extremely great successes!  So what can you get from me to make your office work well?  Let's look at some simple rules that make hard decisions easy:

1. Cut any and all staff that are rumor oriented and not on board TOTALLY with your Office Theme.  If you hold on to staff because you want volume now, you are never going to have the serious volume you would otherwise have.
2. You are responsible for your office.  If your office is out of "flux" or it is unstable, look in the mirror.  When you do this ask yourself these questions:
1. "What have I allowed to make my office/team/staff unstable"
2. "Who is in more control of my situation than I am"
3. "How can I resolve the situation so that everyone wins"
4. "Have you communicated your situation to who you are looking to let go of with enough time and effort to allow that person to meet your expectations realistically?"  Did they step up? Or did they step out?
3. It really is not easier to start over again so running away from issues instead of confronting them immediately is bad business.
4. If you don't want anyone to know about something, don't do it.
5. Know what your line is (and communicate it) when it comes to how much you will put up with from those that are producing.  In other words, you know that producers give a hard time because they know they can get away with it.  Be sure that they know what your line is and if they cross it, be consistent and non-withholding to commit to changing the situation.
6. When all else fails, help them find somewhere else to take their business.
7. When even that fails, help a competitor recruit your unnecessary or unwanted staff members.  It could accomplish more that one goal.
8. Do the right thing.  Character is more important that next months or even next years production.  (I love the arguments I get on this one...)
9. We are only as good as our production is a LIE.  The real statement is that we are only as good as our Name.  A good name makes good profit; a great name makes great profit.
10. Consistency pays the bills, performance above consistency pays for the toys.  Consistently raise the level of consistency consistently.

Im sure some of you are saying "I don't have an office", good agents will eventually be offered the opportunity to lead...good leaders are not born, but have in some way(s) been prepared for leadership.  The choice is yours.