In the broadest of terms, property management can be defined as the daily control and oversight of real estate. But most property management executives would agree that definition is just a starting point.
When taking on a role in property operations, you are responsible for a long list of daily to-dos. Whether you’re handling maintenance requests, unit turnovers, or tenant complaints, the work is perpetual – it never stops.
But one of the biggest challenges managers face is finding the right balance between being too hands-on and learning to let go.
It can be difficult, but it’s not sustainable to manage every aspect of property management alone, especially when you’re trying to scale your business.
We’ve talked about this before – a heavy workload can sometimes lead to a breaking point.
That’s why it’s so important to build a team you can trust and provide them with the tools they need to succeed – so you can focus your attention on the bigger picture of your business while feeling confident the work is getting done, the right way.
How To Build Trust In Your Team
Building trust between yourself and your staff plays an integral part in executing successful results in the workplace – and trust extends far beyond ensuring everyone is carrying out their day-to-day responsibilities.
The more you and your team learn to trust one another, the easier it will be to work together toward one common goal.
Consider these steps as a starting point for building trust:
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FOSTER COMMUNICATION & TRANSPARENCY
As a manager, you want your staff to be able to discuss problems, successes, and ideas freely.
Having a set platform to communicate on and using it consistently can help your team members feel as informed, updated, and involved as possible.
It’s also a great way to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks, and everyone understands each other’s expectations.
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CHECK-IN WITH YOUR STAFF
Regular check-ins allow both managers and employees to identify potential areas of improvement and outline future growth plans.
Since most executives cannot oversee every single step of every single business process, continuous performance management is a must.
And InCheck users have access to work performance data on-demand with the Executive Summary, which makes it easy for managers to evaluate the work output of each staff member.
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ENCOURAGE COLLABORATION
The best way to encourage employee collaboration is by providing your team with tools that work together.
It’s likely that your team uses email chains to relay important information to one another. Email is great for communication, but not necessarily for collaboration – especially for property ops workers who don’t typically sit behind a desk all day.
When a staff member is onsite with little or no access to their email, it’s difficult to locate information quickly & accurately.
Can you imagine how much easier it would be if all unit & property details were tracked in one, digitalized location – where team members could attach important documents and messages to any item and then trigger alerts & follow-up work to the rest of the team?
You can stop imagining now. Teams using InCheck are already benefiting from these things, and your team can too.
And with easy access to critical property information, every team member knows exactly what they need to be doing.
Setting Your Team Up For Success
Providing the necessary training for new employees is a great first step, but ongoing education is also crucial for ongoing success. No matter how many years of experience a current team member may have, the best way of doing things will undoubtably change as your business and the industry evolves.
That’s why training materials should be easily accessible and digestible for everyone, no matter what their role is.
Let’s say a staff member is onsite performing a unit inspection. As a manager, you want to make sure any standard operating processes you have in place are followed thoroughly, every time. You also want to make sure all the details are laid out simply & specifically, and can easily be adjusted as your business needs change.
The best way to do so? Having a system that can be easily integrated into the work you are already doing.
All those processes your team follows can be set as workflows that automatically assign work to the right person at the right time. The easier it is for each team member to know exactly what they are responsible for with step-by-step processes established, the smoother your property operations will be.
When everything is in one centralized location, you’ll spend less time diving into the minutiae of your business, and spend more time focusing on large-scale business goals.
Interested in learning more about how InCheck can facilitate your team’s success? Talk to us – the SiteCompli team is here to help.