In response to the uncertainties property management companies are facing in light of COVID-19, many firms have asked their employees to work remotely.
Whether we wanted to leave the office or not, many of us are now finding ourselves working from home. Being new to a virtual team approach to business can present challenges for staying productive, connected, and engaged.
Here are some tips to overcome those challenges and deliver outstanding customer service to your residents.
Have a Daily Huddle
If you are the district property manager or oversee a team of property managers, have a daily check-in. It doesn’t have to be any longer than 15 minutes, but it’s important that it is set for a regular time with a set time-limit. Depending on the number of people on your team, it may be in the form of a one-on-one call or a team call. The daily huddle is a chance for team members to share where they are, and their most pressing challenges or questions.
Keep Communication Open
The property business is a people business. You are constantly dealing with tenants and internal or external maintenance crews or contractors. Just as you are working remotely, many of your residents may be as well. Some may be self-isolating and some may be self-quarantined. You need to be able to keep the flow of information and communication going, while keeping everyone safe. Using both a tenant portal as well as a maintenance portal will help keep everyone connected. Be sure to share with tenants any updates on what your company is doing to keep them safe, for example a deep clean of all common areas.
For team members, email alone may not be enough. When it comes to any team or company meetings, you may want to use video conferencing to allow for visual cues. Any sensitive HR conversations or employee review conversations are most likely better suited to a video call. Colleagues who miss the ‘watercooler chat’ can arrange a quick Facetime or other type of video chat. It can increase engagement and boost spirits as we work in isolation.
Leverage Technology
Technologies, like property management software, enable remote a remote workforce. It acts as a business continuity tool, allowing tenants to pay their rent online, and property professionals to continue to market their properties and run daily operations from anywhere. (Including the home office!) With real-time dashboards, all members of the team remain on the same page and can collaborate more effectively.
Online property management tools also keep your firm safe. It means you don’t have to constantly be updating to the latest version, or updated security patches. A cloud-based solution is always up-to-date. And, it’s designed to protect you from the most recent malware and hacking strategies with firewalls and by proactively protecting against future threats.
Carve Out a Quiet Space
Many of you will be at home with family, including kids. Having a designated home office room is the ideal situation, but not always possible. You will have to talk to family members, and decide on an area or room that you can work from without any disturbances. You may need to get creative and put up a “Do Not Disturb ”or ”Work Time” sign so family or roommates know that you are on company time and not to interrupt your work flow.
Replicate Your Workday
For employees who have never worked from home before, staying productive may be a challenge. Experts recommend replicating the workday as much as possible. Start your workday at the same time. Don’t turn on the TV to get the latest COVID-19updates while you work. Eat your lunch at the same time as you do in the office, and be sure to step away from the computer during this time.
How Property Vista Helps
Property Vista’s property management accounting software produces customizable reporting and real-time updates on the health of your finances. And, it also gives you the power to narrow reports down to what you specifically need. Whether you’re checking a daily dashboard or generating reports, you’ll benefits from robust analytics tools, dashboards and reporting.
And, Property Vista has integrated online payments into the tenant-accessible myCommunity page. The user-friendly layout guides renters step-by-step, whether they want to simply pay online or setup regular scheduled payments.
To see our pricing and arrange a demo, visit PropertyVista.com/pricing.
