Does Your Property Manage You?
By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL Do you manage your property, or does it manage you? This should be at the forefront of your mind every day. This question is meant to keep you on track and focused. Why? Because property management is an industry that can make or break you! As property managers we are the ultimate in multi-tasking. We know that anyone can become a property manager, but the ones that truly standout and differentiate themselves are the ones that manage their building. Not the other way around.
There can be constant interruptions and challenges throughout any given day. The day starts out fine until you get a call about a flooded property, or an unexpected customer complaint. Now you need to drop what you are doing and attend to the crisis at hand. As you begin to tackle this new challenge, it is best to keep reminding yourself that you manage the building, the building does not manage you! When the flood hits, do you have a contingency plan? Why is the customer complaining? Analyze the issue and address the problem.
The number one solution is to be proactive. Do all you can to prevent these issues from happening again. Manage it and do not just react to it! When an issue arises, it must be broken down into the smallest components in order to find the reason or cause. Once it has been solved, it is time to develop a new approach or plan so that it can be prevented in the future. This can be as simple as more training in a specific topic, or even just determining if the task should be outsourced rather than performed in-house. Whatever the solution, it needs to be developed, implemented, and then monitored.
If a solution is developed but it is never put into action, or if it is put into place but no one follows up on it to make sure it is being implemented correctly, it will do no good and create more headaches for you later on down the line. For instance, if there is a flood, what caused the flood? Was it the lack of preventative maintenance, human error due to lack of training, a service contract failure, etc.? The point of managing is to anticipate and not wait for matters to arise. The entire premise of good management is to think about “What If” and anticipate everything. Constantly ask, “What is the worst thing that can happen?” or “What if this happens?” Then consider another important question “How should I prevent it or react if it does happen?” If you are prepared, it is no longer a crisis or interruption. Instead, it is just another part of the normal multi-tasking routine. Remember, the goal is to manage your property, not for the property to manage you!
