Spotting the Advisory Potential Already in Your Team
There's a big difference between delegating work and developing advisory capability.
You may already have a team that handles the bookkeeping, prepares accounts, produces reports and manages much of the day-to-day client work.
But when something needs interpreting, a decision needs making or a client needs advice...
Does it all come back to you?
If it does, you've delegated the tasks — but you haven't necessarily delegated the thinking.
In this episode of Advisory Secrets, I look at why building an advisory team means involving people in more than just the delivery of work. They need opportunities to understand the thinking behind the advice, contribute their own observations, ask questions and gradually develop their own judgement.
That might start very simply.
Instead of telling a team member what you've decided, ask them:
"What do you think?"
What have they noticed? What questions would they ask the client? What do they think the numbers are telling them? What would they want to understand before suggesting what happens next?
Those conversations are where advisory capability starts to develop.
Over time, someone can move from listening to an advisory conversation, to contributing to it, to taking responsibility for parts of it — and eventually, where appropriate, leading it themselves.
Because if we continue to delegate all the work but keep all the thinking, judgement and client conversations for ourselves, we've simply created a very efficient team...
with the same bottleneck sitting at the top.
Takeaways
- Delegating tasks and developing advisory capability are not the same thing.
- You may have delegated most of the workload while still keeping all the thinking and decision-making yourself.
- Advisory requires judgement, curiosity and the ability to interpret what's happening — not simply the ability to complete a process.
- Involve your team in the thinking behind the advice, not just the work that produces the numbers.
- Asking "What do you think?" is a simple way to start developing independent thinking.
- Advisory capability develops gradually through exposure, discussion, practice and increasing responsibility.
- The aim isn't to hand over client relationships overnight. It's to give people opportunities to develop until they're ready for more.
- If every important advisory question still comes back to you, you may still be the bottleneck.
Find Out More
To find out more about building advisory capability across your team, visit APX Training.
You can also join our free Advisory Teams Facebook community.
And if you'd like longer-form podcast conversations, search for Advisory Conversations with Tim Seymour and Deb Halliday on your usual podcast platform.
Transcript
Welcome to Advisory Secrets with Deb Halladay, the bite sized podcast for accountants and bookkeepers developing their advisory skills.
Speaker A:In this series, we're going beyond the individual advisor and exploring how to build advisory capability across your team.
Speaker A:Because a scalable advisory service shouldn't depend on one person.
Speaker A:Let's get started.
Speaker A:In the last episode, we talked about recognizing the advisory potential that may already exist within your team.
Speaker A:But recognizing that potential is only the beginning, because there's another trap I see in firms that are trying to move away from everything.
Speaker A:Depending on the business owner, they delegate the work, but they don't delegate the thinking.
Speaker A:And there's a big difference that you might have a fantastic team who who handle the bookkeeping, prepare the accounts, produce management reports, deal with payroll, and respond to day to day client queries.
Speaker A:From the outside, it might look as though you've built a really well delegated firm.
Speaker A:But then something happens that requires judgment.
Speaker A:A client wants to make an important decision.
Speaker A:The numbers show something unusual.
Speaker A:There's a question about growth, cash is becoming tight.
Speaker A:The client wants to discuss pricing, recruitment, investment or profitability.
Speaker A:And where does that conversation go?
Speaker A:Straight back to the business owner.
Speaker A:That's because delegating tasks isn't the same as delegating advisories.
Speaker A:If your team prepares all the information, but you're still the only person interpreting it.
Speaker A:If they produce the reports, but you're the only person discussing what they mean.
Speaker A:If they identify an issue, but you're the only person expected to explore it with the client, then you've delegated the workload, but you haven't really delegated the capability.
Speaker A:And this is where the owner can remain the bottleneck, even in a firm with a very capable team.
Speaker A:So how do we begin to change that?
Speaker A:We start by involving people in the thinking, not just the doing.
Speaker A:Let's say a team member prepares a set of management accounts rather than simply reviewing whether they're technically correct.
Speaker A:You could ask, what have you noticed?
Speaker A:What would you want the client to pay attention to?
Speaker A:Is there anything here that concerns you?
Speaker A:What questions would you ask?
Speaker A:What do you think might be happening behind these numbers?
Speaker A:Those are very different conversations because now you're not simply checking somebody's work, you're developing their judgment.
Speaker A:And judgment is an essential part of advisory.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You can do the same thing after a client meeting.
Speaker A:Instead of simply telling the team what was agreed, involve them in the discussion.
Speaker A:What did they notice?
Speaker A:Was there something the client said that deserves further exploration?
Speaker A:What would they recommend as the next step?
Speaker A:You don't have to hand over responsibility for an entire client relationship overnight.
Speaker A:In fact, I wouldn't recommend that.
Speaker A:Advisory responsibility can be developed gradually.
Speaker A:Perhaps someone starts by sitting in on meetings, then they contribute one section, then they lead part of the conversation.
Speaker A:Eventually they may be ready to lead the meeting themselves.
Speaker A:The important thing is that you're deliberately creating opportunities for people to think, contribute, and develop.
Speaker A:Because if you always do the thinking for your team, they'll continue bringing the thinking back to you.
Speaker A:And that's how dependency is created.
Speaker A:There's another side to this, too.
Speaker A:Sometimes as business owners, we hold on to advisory because we enjoy it.
Speaker A:It's often the interesting part of the work.
Speaker A:We've delegated the processing, we've delegated the routine work, we've delegated the things we don't necessarily want to do anymore.
Speaker A:But we've kept the client relationships, the strategy, and the interesting conversations for ourselves.
Speaker A:And I understand that.
Speaker A:But if we're serious about building an advisory team, we have to be willing to share some of those opportunities too.
Speaker A:Because your team can't develop advisory experience if they never get to experience advisory.
Speaker A:They need exposure, they need practice.
Speaker A:And yes, occasionally they need the space to do things differently from the way you would do them.
Speaker A:That's part of development.
Speaker A:The goal isn't to create copies of you.
Speaker A:It's to build capable people who can bring their own experience, strengths and perspective to the client relationship.
Speaker A:So here's the question I'd like you to think about after this episode.
Speaker A:What have you delegated in your firm, and what are you still holding onto?
Speaker A:More importantly, are you delegating tasks, or are you genuinely developing capability?
Speaker A:Because if all the work is delegated but all the thinking still comes back to you, the bottleneck hasn't disappeared, it simply moved.
Speaker A:And in the next episode, we're going to look at one of the biggest reasons practice owners hesitate to give their teams more advisory responsibility confidence, not just whether your team has it, but what you can do to help them build it.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening to Advisory Secrets with Deb Halliday.
Speaker A:If you're ready to develop advisory capability across your team, visit APXTraining Co to explore our evergreen elearning and live implementation cohorts.
Speaker A:Starting in September, February, and May.
Speaker A:You can also join our free Advisory Teams community on facebook@facebook.com groups advisoryteams.
Speaker A:And if you'd like more podcast content, listen to Advisory Conversations with Tim Seymour and Deb Halliday.
Speaker A:Available on all major podcast platforms.
Speaker A:I'll see you next time for another advisory secret.
