On the one hand, real estate teams have been around forever. It’s easy to see the attraction: Dedicated assistants and teams solve a lot of the common problems real estate professionals have with work-life balance and matching sometimes limited skills with a huge variety of tasks. And in a position that doesn’t offer built-in co-workers, team life can be a little less lonely.

On the other hand, there’s no doubt that the messaging and landscape around teams has changed quite a bit in the last decade or so. It’s gotten to the point that it’s rare to meet a top producer who doesn’t have a team, or at least an admin, to keep them on schedule. Furthermore, it seems to be written into the lifecycle of most agents’ careers: when, not whether, they’ll start a team.

Like any workplace structure, there are benefits and drawbacks to teams. Of course, what you see as the strengths and weaknesses will depend upon whether or not you’re on a team (look no further than our reader survey for thoughts on what solo practitioners and managing brokers have to say about that).

But there’s one thing that virtually all the people we heard from in putting together this issue have in common: They all see teams as a permanent piece of architecture in the real estate industry that’s here to stay. So whether you’re suiting up to compete with them, doing your best to manage them, or integrating your work life within them, read on for some excellent analysis and advice on teams. And let me know what you think by emailing me at meg.white@agentpublishing.com.