*Pattern of missed deadlines and milestones

*Recurrent challenge of underestimated costs, change orders and additional services

*Tendency to make excuses and finger-point rather than demonstrate accountability and forethought in the face of problems

*Communication that too often leads to disagreement instead of common ground

David Gazek is a consultant in organizational development and commercial real estate development in the San Francisco Bay area. The guest article below is based on principles of organizational development in the Adizes Methodology. The views expressed below are the author's own.

If any of these above indicators resonate, you're not alone—and, you can turn things around. It doesn't matter whether your business is development, brokerage, leasing, asset or property management, corporate real estate, design, engineering, construction, institutional investing, commercial lending, law, or part of an allied profession. Your stage in the business lifecycle doesn't matter either. Remarkable results have been achieved with start-ups seeking more solid footing, family or founder-led enterprises transitioning to a professional management team, firms with consistent revenues reaching for the next level, companies in their prime trying to avoid complacency, two companies merging organizations, and sole proprietors grappling with succession.

In all cases, success in business is tied to the ability to be effective at producing results—closing deals, completing projects, and creating opportunities that achieve our purpose and exceed our goals. We do this by matching opportunities in the market place with our resources and capabilities to deliver products and/or services that repeatedly meet customer needs. What we too frequently overlook is the need to be efficient in order to maximize effectiveness. Efficiency and effectiveness are the “heads and tails” of the same coin.

The time-tested road to efficiency involves an investment in three essential components of an organization: (1) a shared vision and a common set of values, (2) a functional structure and (3) a collaborative process. Vision and values form the heart of a strategic plan, comprising the core principles, purpose, mission, key results and goals of the company. A functional structure is achieved when there is consistency among responsibilities, authority and rewards. A collaborative process is built on systems and tools for effective communication and joint accountability. Alignment of these components creates an internally integrated organization and a supportive, learning environment. It builds mutual respect and trust, where everyone's right to think differently is acknowledged and where there's a comfort level that the other person's interests are the same as yours.

When this is in place, dynamics shift and people with different roles, styles and opinions engage in problem-solving, decision-making and implementation with significantly greater focus and effectiveness, despite a climate of constant change. Clients report dramatic improvements in productivity. An internally integrated organization is a key driver of innovation and revenue, employee attraction and retention, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Companies in other industries, from technology to healthcare, and consumer products to energy, have long recognized the benefits of organizational development as a measure of management excellence and leadership. But our industry has been resistant: “Real estate is entrepreneurial and you have to be able to short-cut process.” “The pressure to get deals done and the stress to meet deadlines is so great that the needs of the organization must wait.” “Things are crazy right now – we're too busy.” “We'll make our way through it”. We often wear these excuses like a badge of honor, especially in times of plenty. Inevitably, the tide turns or there's a crisis. Revenues drop, deal flow sags, commissions shrink, employee turn-over rises. Then, everything gets put on hold that can in deference to rain-making and cost-cutting until the next up-tick. It's as though any acknowledgment of the need for organizational development at any time in the cycle is considered a sign of weakness, not a strategic move on the part of leadership to strengthen the ability of the organization to succeed and thrive despite the times.

We short-change ourselves and our industry with this mindset. An organizational house that's not in order is misdirecting and wasting energy. Too much energy is needed to internally navigate people and process; not enough is left to be productive and effective closing deals, carrying out projects and creating the next opportunity. You can predict the success of a company by the amount of energy it spends externally to produce in the marketplace versus the amount of energy it spends internally to integrate the organization. The most successful companies spend most of their energy producing, because they've created an internally integrated organization that requires minimal energy to achieve a high level of efficiency.

The power of this kind of organizational transformation was demonstrated recently with the merger of two top multi-family marketing and sales companies in the San Francisco Bay Area that were frequent competitors. They saw the opportunity to collectively capture a greater share of the local market and expand their presence from Seattle to Los Angeles by combining resources and capabilities but lacked a strategic plan, a clear definition and division of roles and responsibilities from the principals down the line, and a blended organizational structure for effective teamwork. There was a short window of time before the pace of the market rebound was expected to test the efficiency and effectiveness of their organization to meet increasing client demand.

We used that time to create a strategic plan and articulate their purpose, mission, values and goals to provide a daily compass for every job, function, and investment decision. We also developed a more functional organizational structure to clarify and align job descriptions and performance expectations with authority and compensation, and to set up internal processes for more effective and collaborative problem-solving, decision-making and implementation. The results have been impressive. Sales and revenues have set records, their market penetration has expanded up and down the west coast, and new systems are helping them optimize their combined resources to deliver a higher level of client services.

The commercial real estate industry may be slow to adapt, but there's no reason why we can't become the new poster child for organizational health and well-being. Our continued success depends on it.

David Gazek is a consultant in organizational development and commercial real estate development in the San Francisco Bay area, and can be reached at [email protected] and GazekConsulting.com.

SAN FRANCISCO—Think about your organization—its efficiency and effectiveness as a commercial real estate business. Could you benefit from a road map that makes the process of problem-solving and decision-making more predictable? According to consultant, David Gazek, the following are some of the many indicators of inefficiency and ineffectiveness that hold businesses back:

*Lack of mutually understood and shared vision and values

*Concern that you're falling behind the competition or falling short of your goals

*Sense that your office can feel more like a collection of silos than a collaborative team

*Pattern of missed deadlines and milestones

*Recurrent challenge of underestimated costs, change orders and additional services

*Tendency to make excuses and finger-point rather than demonstrate accountability and forethought in the face of problems

*Communication that too often leads to disagreement instead of common ground

David Gazek is a consultant in organizational development and commercial real estate development in the San Francisco Bay area. The guest article below is based on principles of organizational development in the Adizes Methodology. The views expressed below are the author's own.

If any of these above indicators resonate, you're not alone—and, you can turn things around. It doesn't matter whether your business is development, brokerage, leasing, asset or property management, corporate real estate, design, engineering, construction, institutional investing, commercial lending, law, or part of an allied profession. Your stage in the business lifecycle doesn't matter either. Remarkable results have been achieved with start-ups seeking more solid footing, family or founder-led enterprises transitioning to a professional management team, firms with consistent revenues reaching for the next level, companies in their prime trying to avoid complacency, two companies merging organizations, and sole proprietors grappling with succession.

In all cases, success in business is tied to the ability to be effective at producing results—closing deals, completing projects, and creating opportunities that achieve our purpose and exceed our goals. We do this by matching opportunities in the market place with our resources and capabilities to deliver products and/or services that repeatedly meet customer needs. What we too frequently overlook is the need to be efficient in order to maximize effectiveness. Efficiency and effectiveness are the “heads and tails” of the same coin.

The time-tested road to efficiency involves an investment in three essential components of an organization: (1) a shared vision and a common set of values, (2) a functional structure and (3) a collaborative process. Vision and values form the heart of a strategic plan, comprising the core principles, purpose, mission, key results and goals of the company. A functional structure is achieved when there is consistency among responsibilities, authority and rewards. A collaborative process is built on systems and tools for effective communication and joint accountability. Alignment of these components creates an internally integrated organization and a supportive, learning environment. It builds mutual respect and trust, where everyone's right to think differently is acknowledged and where there's a comfort level that the other person's interests are the same as yours.

When this is in place, dynamics shift and people with different roles, styles and opinions engage in problem-solving, decision-making and implementation with significantly greater focus and effectiveness, despite a climate of constant change. Clients report dramatic improvements in productivity. An internally integrated organization is a key driver of innovation and revenue, employee attraction and retention, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Companies in other industries, from technology to healthcare, and consumer products to energy, have long recognized the benefits of organizational development as a measure of management excellence and leadership. But our industry has been resistant: “Real estate is entrepreneurial and you have to be able to short-cut process.” “The pressure to get deals done and the stress to meet deadlines is so great that the needs of the organization must wait.” “Things are crazy right now – we're too busy.” “We'll make our way through it”. We often wear these excuses like a badge of honor, especially in times of plenty. Inevitably, the tide turns or there's a crisis. Revenues drop, deal flow sags, commissions shrink, employee turn-over rises. Then, everything gets put on hold that can in deference to rain-making and cost-cutting until the next up-tick. It's as though any acknowledgment of the need for organizational development at any time in the cycle is considered a sign of weakness, not a strategic move on the part of leadership to strengthen the ability of the organization to succeed and thrive despite the times.

We short-change ourselves and our industry with this mindset. An organizational house that's not in order is misdirecting and wasting energy. Too much energy is needed to internally navigate people and process; not enough is left to be productive and effective closing deals, carrying out projects and creating the next opportunity. You can predict the success of a company by the amount of energy it spends externally to produce in the marketplace versus the amount of energy it spends internally to integrate the organization. The most successful companies spend most of their energy producing, because they've created an internally integrated organization that requires minimal energy to achieve a high level of efficiency.

The power of this kind of organizational transformation was demonstrated recently with the merger of two top multi-family marketing and sales companies in the San Francisco Bay Area that were frequent competitors. They saw the opportunity to collectively capture a greater share of the local market and expand their presence from Seattle to Los Angeles by combining resources and capabilities but lacked a strategic plan, a clear definition and division of roles and responsibilities from the principals down the line, and a blended organizational structure for effective teamwork. There was a short window of time before the pace of the market rebound was expected to test the efficiency and effectiveness of their organization to meet increasing client demand.

We used that time to create a strategic plan and articulate their purpose, mission, values and goals to provide a daily compass for every job, function, and investment decision. We also developed a more functional organizational structure to clarify and align job descriptions and performance expectations with authority and compensation, and to set up internal processes for more effective and collaborative problem-solving, decision-making and implementation. The results have been impressive. Sales and revenues have set records, their market penetration has expanded up and down the west coast, and new systems are helping them optimize their combined resources to deliver a higher level of client services.

The commercial real estate industry may be slow to adapt, but there's no reason why we can't become the new poster child for organizational health and well-being. Our continued success depends on it.

David Gazek is a consultant in organizational development and commercial real estate development in the San Francisco Bay area, and can be reached at [email protected] and GazekConsulting.com.