Power Teams

 As a member of a BNI® Chapter I’m learning about power teams which basically encompasses professionals serving the same clients but in different ways.  The beauty of this concept is one place shopping. In order to form a power team there has to be trust and a willingness to utilize word of mouth referrals.  In referrals there are a giver, a receiver, and a subject (a client). An example in a mediation context is a family law practice. A mediator involved in family law wanting to serve as a hub may develop a relationship with family or child counselors, tax preparers, real estate professionals, and perhaps family law attorneys to whom the mediator refers his clients if the need arises.

In BNI there is a concept of givers gain which means for every referral one gives it’s highly probable one will get and more. Isn’t that what we need?

Great in theory in practice it takes a lot of work. For example in a BNI chapter I spend 90 minutes each week meeting with my group. To practice what I preach I am told that I should be spending an additional 1 to 2 hours in working on getting referrals for my chapter mates and attending at least one other networking group meeting. That’s a significant investment in time and effort. I believe that having a power team within such a chapter will result in a better ROI so I am actively looking for a way to build such a group within and without my Chapter.  Being in a leadership position within a networking group is also an advantage because people see you every week and can thus form a more thorough understanding of who you are and what you do. I am a chapter trainer. Here I am speaking as a mediator but no matter what you do networking is currently a must. Public advertising does not seem to do much for mediators. Expanding our circle of relationships to other professions who deal with the same clients but in different ways appears to be a better approach.  Time will tell.