Property managers are well known for multitasking and handling dozens of tasks per day. Unsurprisingly, you feel there are not enough hours per day. Here are some ways to maximise your productivity.
Planning
There is a saying when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It is because of the overwhelming tasks to complete every day, imagine what could have happened if a property manager does not have an end in mind in their daily operation. Things might be messy. Planning by creating a to-do list and then allocating every task a time to finish it would add structure to your day-to-day. You could start by prioritising the tasks to be done according to priorities. According to the book, Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, one is advised to do the most important task the first thing in the morning to prevent procrastination.
Creating A System
Property managers are bound to handle issues from residents and tenants in a daily manner. So in other words, the issues that they are dealing with are repetitive. If that is the case, then creating a system or a standard operational procedure would save lots of time. For instance, prepare emails or templates for responding to residents’ emails, inquiries, applications and even complaints. This would not only save time but also create consistency in every staff’s tasks.
Communication
A good property manager is not limited to only handling task efficiency but is also expected to be able to communicate with the residents or tenants as well. This plays a huge role especially in resolving disputes among the management and residents. Since managing a whole residential area by itself is not an easy task, a property manager must also be able to communicate well with their staff. Daily or weekly meetings could be held to ensure each individual is clear on their assigned tasks. This would in turn improve efficiency and at the same time create a conducive environment for everyone to work in.
Transparency
When it comes to monetary issues, it is a very sensitive topic. This is where usually the owners or tenants come to request their payment receipt, statement of accounts or even question about the late payment interest. The property manager is expected to be able to provide all this information at their fingertips. I too believe that most of the management can provide at least such info. However, it might require some time to actually print out the receipt or even generate the reports. What if you could adopt an automated system where it could show the owner or tenants their invoices, receipts and even account statements automatically? This would not only show that the management is transparent but improve efficiency from a managing perspective.
Adopt Software-Aided System
I believe I have touched a little bit on the adoption of the system in the previous tips. Why still rely on manual work when you could use a system to conduct the practice? Nowadays, we have these all-in-one software systems that could manage the whole residential ecosystem from the visitor management system to the accounting system and even guard patrolling systems. The system not only improves communication between management and residents but can also keep track of info from both the residents and visitors. Besides storage and accessibility of store info will no longer be a concern for the management as most of the property management software now is cloud-based. In short, acquiring a software system for managing property will be a norm soon, where of course in the end it still depends on the management on how they can fully utilise the system.