“If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe.” — Abraham Lincoln

Traditionally, the role of the property manager has been somewhat reactive as opposed to proactive. The daily grind of the job has been characterized by responding to demanding situations such as; phone calls and office visits from residents, urgent unforeseen repairs, chasing down late payments, and many more interruptions and challenges.

The negative side effects of reactive management:

  • people are likely to deliver a lower quality of work

  • staff may feel stress and frustration, which may lead them to look for employment elsewhere

  • it’s difficult to realize the root cause of problems when focussed on treating the symptoms

  • people are less likely to spot new opportunities when occupied with constantly putting out fires

  • customer satisfaction suffers

There is a light at the end of the tunnel

The availability of technologies to support the role of property manager, combined with new expectations from a new generation of always connected customers, is leading property managers to change the way they do things and be more proactive in their approach.

Proactive management requires organizations to plan ahead in order to avoid or better manage problems and situations. However, many property management companies and their employees may currently find themselves in a vicious cycle of dropping everything to put out a fire, only to have new hot spots flare up because other situations were put on hold or neglected. This cycle of fighting fires is often difficult to break because everyone involved is always one step behind and often feeling frazzled and discouraged — so it takes an extraordinary amount of effort to catch up and get back on track.

One of the most essential components of proactive management is having enough time available as well as a clear mind space to anticipate problems, plan ahead and even think more creatively. So creating more time where it currently does not exist is a critical first step.

Finding more time for both you and your team may involve a combination of different initiatives. It may start with something as simple as improving personal work habits and productivity, through tactics like reducing interruptions and distractions and even getting more sleep and physical exercise to keep your focus sharp.

Here are 9 Ways to Boost Productivity in your workplace, so you can gain back some time and use it to manage more proactively.
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Find out what more you can do to boost the productivity of your business. Download a free copy of The Property Manager′s Guide to Maximizing Productivity.