Renee Matheson 
Multitasking has been considered as an indicator of efficiency particularly in time and money industries. In the case of financial advisors, the urge to handle various duties simultaneously is high. Multitasking might be the only way forward between client meetings, market monitoring, compliance management, and creating new business. However, there is a hidden price because in most cases, the price of this strategy is higher than the perceived gains. Spreading the attention over an excess of activities, advisors can deteriorate their performance, decrease the accuracy, and worsen their relationship with the customers.
Influence On Customer Relationships
Clients want to hear the financial advisors and give them good advice. As the issue of multitasking comes into the picture, even such faint indications of diversion can be noticed. A consultant reading mails or planning on the next appointment can lose vital information a client is communicating to him or her. This gives the impression with time that the needs of the client are not highly regarded. In such instances, trust, upon which advisory work is based, may be subtly destroyed.
In addition to interpersonal connection, multitasking has the ability to postpone responsiveness. The constant change of tasks by advisors can take more time getting back to the trail of follow-up questions, leaving customers with unanswered questions. These delays may not appear as critical initially, but such delays add up and can affect the choice of a client to turn to the attention of another advisor who seems to be more accessible and trustworthy.
Impact On Decision Making And Accuracy
Money advising requires accuracy. One mistake or something ignored may result in a major impact on the portfolio of the clients. Multitasking disrupts working memory, and therefore there are high chances of important figures or strategies being implemented or used wrongly. Studies always indicate that such people who struggle to multitask have higher errors than those that work one task at a time.
The attention of the advisors is also divided, which negatively affects the process of decision making. Decisions can be made in haste or without exhausting all the details as opposed to weighing out options and analyzing the situation. This may imply poor advice or guidance to clients which may not be thorough enough to achieve long term objectives. In the case of advisors, the reputational risk and the risk of losing referrals that arise out of good performance is the hidden cost.
Practical Shifts Towards Focus
Financial advisors could take measures to adopt a more focused method that sees the disadvantages of multitasking. Tasks switching can be reduced by scheduling blocks of time specifically to do certain tasks, e.g. client calls or going through portfolios. Advisors who do this strategy discover that they achieve a lot within a shorter time and better results.
This can also be supported by technology. Scheduling software and the best CRM software enable advisors to arrange the working process and track the data of their clients without losing their focus. Advisors are better placed to be more focused and crystal clear on their clients by developing systems that do not require a lot of juggling.
Impaction Of Productivity And Energy
Although multitasking creates an illusion of rapidity, it in fact retards general progress. Whenever a consultant goes to another task, it takes the brain time to settle down and focus again. Such frequent changing makes it inefficient with precious minutes being wasted during the change. This inefficiency is multiplied over the day to hours of wasted time that could be spent doing high value work to a client.
It is not just a cost to productivity but also an energy cost to the individual. Multitasking builds mind exhaustion in a short period than concentration to a single task. Advisors that work in a constant semi-conscious state are easily exhausted at the end of the day and it becomes difficult to deliver optimal performance. In the long run, the cycle of burnout can be created over weeks and months, decreasing career satisfaction and long-term effectiveness.
Financial advisors have hidden costs of multitasking, which are not always evident, but they do exist. Starting with a lack of trust in the clients and the making of more mistakes, to a lack of productivity and the stress levels, the consequences can silently ruin the short-term outcomes and the long-term achievement. Focus is a disciplined choice as opposed to multitasking, however the payoffs are obvious. The advisors will be capable of performing better and establishing better and more long-lasting relationships with their clients by not dividing their time on multiple tasks simultaneously.
