Publications

Give the Manager a Break

"If you pay people peanuts...you get monkeys."

How would you like to have a job where you are on call 24/7, have to work eight hours in an office and then spend four hours at a meeting in the evenings Monday through Friday, find time to process a mountain of paperwork, field telephone calls from upset and/or angry people, have your credibility dependent upon unreliable third parties and be paid the same salary as an assistant manager in a fast food restaurant. Oh, I forgot, also have a personal life.

This is the plight of the condominium property manager. What we are talking about is a small group of dedicated professionals with an extremely high burnout rate. What should be a prestigious position with long-term job security is often a stop-off point for the battered and abused. The biggest problem for most property managers who handle a portfolio of properties is that you have typically seven to ten bosses with different priorities who are constantly changing due to elections, resignations and sales. Just think about this...you get seven people trained, all working together toward the same goals, using the same approach and before the year is out, two resign, three do not run for re-election and you start all over again. Then the minute the board is unhappy, the manager is blamed (or the lawyer -- and sometimes both) and the property is out for bid for a new management company. It would be easy to paraphrase a simple solution if the same people stayed in the same positions, but as we know, there are so many different reasons people will serve on a board as well as a rather eclectic mix of personalities, and that makes it is impossible to have a single set of guidelines.

As a result, here are some general suggestions that may work in some (but not all) situations:

Set the ground rules. Like any other job, the board needs to make clear what its expectations are of the manager. Likewise, the manager needs to be equally clear on what they do and what they do not do. Unfortunately, this has to be repeated periodically because of the frequent changes, so they should be set down in writing and appear in the board packet or new director orientation materials so the parameters of the relationship are clear. Usually a declaration of "that’s not the manager’s job" will be met with a resounding, "oh!" rather than an argument.
Meeting guidelines. LESS IS MORE. Does it make sense to have a manager sit through a four hour meeting to discuss one hour’s worth of business? Most agendas, if handled efficiently with minimal interruption, can be completed in an hour. Despite periodic pleas from this columnist, some boards prefer to combine the homeowners forum, board meeting, unit owner maintenance complaints and gossip sessions into a monthly marathon. To have a property manager sit through this type of meeting (or most directors, for that matter!) is a short-fuse to complete burnout. If you prefer to combine the highest principles of open democracy, social activities and business, conduct the business first and then send the manager home. Most management contracts have a premium on keeping the manager more than an hour or two except most management companies are reluctant to collect the overtime fee and even if they do, it rarely goes to the manager. (Avoiding unnecessary meetings or meeting just for meeting’s sake, also comes under this topic.)
The louder you talk, the more effective you will be! Some professor must have taught this at some college, because too many people have adopted this attitude at board meetings. Once civility and decorum break down, most people in the room will wish they were somewhere else. There is no problem that occurs in a co-op, condo or homeowner association that can be solved better at higher volume levels. Unfortunately, it is the manager that bears the brunt of most of these assaults, which do not accomplish a higher level of service, but do accomplish making the manager wish they had gone into sales.

These are just some of the major areas contributing to manager abuse and burnout. Regardless, if the manager is not properly trained, poor at follow up or does not return phone calls, the aforestated scenarios will not only punish the few incompetent ones, but also diminish the good ones. Further, it will not accomplish anything. I have seen many property managers receive a round of applause from the owners or an award of a cash bonus for a job well done. There are still plenty of people that appreciate the hard work and a job well done.

Therefore, to get the most out of your board/manager relationship, set the ground rules early, do not make too many assumptions or take things for granted, communicate, follow up and consider the volume of work flow and the effort being made before the daggers come out and tempers are allowed to flare. If you can do this, you may be ready to celebrate, BE KIND TO MANAGERS WEEK.