With the private rented sector becoming ever more hectic and fast-paced, 1Let decided to slow things down for one day to evaluate our mission and goals for the coming years. Instead of always playing catch with the newest industry developments, we wanted to focus on seeing the bigger picture and setting ourselves up to be ahead of the curve. We decided to take our heads out of the office and our everyday tasks for a day and think about our future and how to prepare to raise the bar.
Together with fantastic management coach Sharon Smith we spent the first half of the day refining 1Let’s mission statement and business values, while the second half of the day saw the team members put their heads together to create a plan of how to put these values into action. As most of our team members who started over the last two years were new to the industry, we felt that we could provide a fresh perspective and bring ideas from our diverse backgrounds to expand 1Let’s influence in the lettings sphere. By the end of that day, our brains were fried in the best possible way!
Fine-tuning 1Let’s Mission Statement
While our previous mission statement already focused on our goals to provide a comprehensive service to both tenants and landlords and to positively impact the Scottish housing sector, the team decided to delve deeper and put our own personal touch on it. Despite each of us having our own motivations to join this industry, we all want to grow as individuals and as a team. After a lengthy brainstorming session we managed to pin down a list of core principles and values we wanted to see reflected on the new mission statement. We placed particular emphasis on establishing common themes and values that reflect each member in our team at 1Let. You should have seen the number of sticky notes on the wall – like colourful (paper) fireworks full of ideas and hopes.
Establishing our Business Values
The values we decided were most important to us were being trustworthy, respectful, supportive & collaborative, progressive, and dealing with integrity. We want to ensure we provide consistent service to all our customers, regardless of who they are or what role they play in the letting industry. We understand that properties are investments, as much as homes – and as such, managing homes responsibly is the foundation of our new business values. In order to keep the 1Let wheels turning smoothly, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and knowledgeable environment and listen to all concerns with an open ear. Just like a big family like ours should!
A Well-Deserved Lunch Break
After all this hard work, the team got treated to a luscious lunch (thanks Ken!). The snack and sandwich boxes from Pret hit the spot and re-energised us within minutes. This left us with plenty of time to socialise, get the usual office chatter going, and made management question why they chose a nice conference location for such a rowdy bunch (not looking at anyone specific)! It is rare that every team member is present, so it was a lovely time to catch up and engage in the talk of the town.
Building From Our Strengths
Rejuvenated and full of energy we were diving right back into the good work. We did some introspective thinking exercises to figure out what behaviours and thoughts currently make up 1Let, so we can build on them to take us to the next level. Each team member has a unique personality that we want to help shine. There are many letting agencies in Edinburgh, but only one has our team, and that’s our strength!
Returning to our humble roots after that last statement, we’re obviously not perfect (yet!), and we all agreed that one of our main drivers for this development day is our shared need to improve what we can. We figured out what barriers currently hold us back and how we can overcome them by working together and supporting each other, both at work and privately outside of work. Talking openly about our strengths and weaknesses has created a new sense of camaraderie and companionship among the team, which is essential for Future-1Let’s foundation.
Building On Our Foundation to Reach Our Future
Creating a strong, unwavering foundation is what we need to go far as a team. Exactly how far we want to go was established in our 1-Year, 2-Year, and 3-Year business plans, which we worked on in the last part of the day. I am happy to report that washing the dishes in our office kitchen immediately after lunch, instead of letting them stack up, will be attacked in our 1-Year plan. Rest easy, Abby!
Knowing that our initiatives were designed to reduce pressure, improve consistency, and strengthen knowledge sharing gave everyone the energy to see how far we can take it.
Tired, But Happy
While the Development Day was certainly exhausting and intense, we went home excited to accompany 1Let into the future.
With everyone in the team now on the same page we can guide both tenants and landlords through the legislative jungle that is the lettings industry, especially once new regulations will be introduced in the next few years. The 1Let team is definitely looking forward to strengthening our connection with all our clients, and also each other (although some of us silly chickens really don’t need to be even closer).
While we don’t know what the future will look like until it’s our present, I believe that we have built a strong action plan that will elevate the services we can offer and relationships we foster.