Leadership
Beyond the Surface: Going Deep in Multifamily Property Management
Embracing Depth over Width: Strategic Insight for Property Management Leaders
Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash
Today’s piece is brought to you by Updater. Updater is the app that gets residents move-in ready faster. Did you know that residents happy with their move-in experience are 59% more likely to renew their lease? Move-ins matter. Get them right with Updater. Visit go.updater.com/mike, and as a special gift to our listeners, Updater offers a special gift when you book a demo.
Steven Pressfield once remarked, “The disease of our times is that we live on the surface. We’re like the Platte River, a mile wide and an inch deep.” It’s a thought-provoking statement that also applies to multifamily management. Many organizations often spread themselves too thin, focusing on the width of their operations rather than the depth. Today we explore the inherent problems with this approach and outline innovative solutions to bring depth, focus, and quality into multifamily property management.
The analogy of being like the Platte River – wide but shallow – applies pertinently to some multifamily management practices. With an overemphasis on growth and expansion, the true essence of quality service, insightful leadership, and customer satisfaction can be overlooked. Leaders and executives may be entrenched in endless tasks without creating meaningful relationships with residents or understanding the industry’s underlying dynamics.
How do We Avoid Falling Into This Trap
Focusing on Core Competencies – By concentrating on areas of genuine expertise and letting go of the superficial, leaders can create robust, more fulfilling relationships with clients and staff alike. It’s easy to get caught up in the new and shiny when the tried and true works best.
Investing in Employee Growth and Development – Developing the team’s potential through continuous learning and personalized career pathways ensures a knowledgeable and committed workforce, adding depth to the organization. Make work meaningful to team members.
Building Meaningful Relationships with Residents – Taking time to understand and connect with residents personally fosters loyalty and trust, leading to a stronger community and a better overall experience. Also, create collision points in your community where people can meet their neighbors.
Embracing Technology with Purpose – Using technology to deepen relationships and streamline operations, not merely as a flashy add-on, profoundly impacts efficiency and effectiveness. Best smart about Technology.
Strategic Growth Planning – Moving away from an unchecked expansion to focused and deliberate growth ensures that the quality of service does not suffer and the organization’s integrity remains intact.
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Embracing Radical Honesty
How transparency and clear communication reshape careers
As a leader in the multifamily industry, authentic relationships with team members, residents, clients, and vendor partners begin with radical honesty. By emphasizing truth, transparency, and open communication, radical honesty builds trust and fosters a more cohesive working environment. This approach has several challenges and benefits, and understanding them can redefine your leadership style.
Many multifamily leaders veer towards saying what people want to hear rather than what needs to be said. The fear of causing discomfort or dissatisfaction often leads to sugar-coated messages, obscuring the truth. This can create mistrust and confusion among residents and team members. Worse still, it can hinder progress and growth within the industry.
Embracing radical honesty fosters a bond of trust. Open and direct communication creates a clear understanding of expectations. The benefit is a transparent relationship where people feel more connected and respected.
Cultivating a transparent culture among team members by communicating openly and honestly promotes an environment where everyone feels safe to express their thoughts and ideas. This transparency builds confidence and engagement among your team, leading to more productive and satisfied team members.
Developing transparent and ethical communication practices in daily practice, training, and guidelines ensures that all team members understand and adhere to the principles of radical honesty. This leads to consistent communication across the board, fostering a culture of integrity and responsibility.
Measuring and acknowledging the impact of these practices demonstrates the positive effects of radical honesty on your company’s culture. We encourage you to recognize and celebrate the growth in trust and collaboration across your organization.
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Mastering Self-Discipline and Fostering Patience
Achieving Success in Multifamily Property Management Through Personal Discipline and a Culture of Patience
Photo by Tyler Milligan on Unsplash
In the realm of multifamily property management, self-discipline, and tolerance are vital. Self-discipline guides leaders to stay focused, make sound decisions, and maintain integrity. Patience creates a harmonious environment where residents and team members thrive. Let’s look at some insights into these challenges and provides solutions for integrating these essential qualities into your leadership.
The lack of self-discipline can lead to inconsistency, inefficiency, and failure to meet objectives in property management. Meanwhile, an absence of tolerance may foster a hostile environment, causing dissatisfaction among residents and team members. The combination of these two weaknesses can lead to significant problems such as decreased resident retention, poor team member morale, and legal complications.
Cultivating self-discipline starts with setting reasonable expectations, diligently working to meet them, committing to daily routines, time management, and personal accountability. This leads to a more robust decision-making process and success in meeting residents’ needs, enhancing efficiency, and earning trust from residents and team members.
Promoting patience within the team can be achieved by creating open communication channels, regular training, and actively recognizing and rewarding team members. This fosters an intentional atmosphere, builds community among residents, improves resident retention, and makes a living and working environment more attractive.
Marrying the qualities of self-discipline and patience allows multifamily property leaders to create a cohesive and high-performing team. This ensures content residents and a thriving community, setting a course for long-term success and generating loyal residents and satisfied team members who align with the property’s values and goals.
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Unlocking Greatness in Multifamily Property Management
The Balance Between Achieving Great Results and Striving for Perfection in Managing Multifamily Properties
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
There lies a middle ground in the struggle between perfectionism and achieving great results. While the desire to attain perfection is commendable, it can impede growth and success. Here I attempt to explore the problems perfectionism can create within the multifamily executive sphere and provide practical solutions to balance excellence and perfection. By focusing on the essence of being great rather than perfect, management can drive success and create a harmonious living environment for Residents.
Perfectionism in multifamily property management leadership is a double-edged sword. On one side, it drives quality and attention to detail; on the other, it can lead to stagnation, burnout of team members, and a lack of adaptability. When the pursuit of perfection overshadows practical goals, it may result in missed opportunities, delays in decision-making, and a loss of focus on what truly matters for Residents and the business as a whole.
The first step to overcoming perfectionism is recognizing its impact and embracing the mantra, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of great.” Leaders must foster a culture where team members feel empowered to make decisions without fearing failure. Encouraging experimentation and learning from mistakes can drive innovation and growth.
A strong focus on Resident satisfaction and building trust within the community can replace the obsession with perfection. By prioritizing team members’ and residents’ needs and feedback, multifamily executives can make informed and pragmatic decisions that enhance the living experience.
Investing in continuous training and professional development for team members also promotes a culture of excellence without demanding perfection. Leaders can create a cohesive team that works towards shared goals by providing the tools and support necessary for growth.
Lastly, embracing flexibility and adaptability in management practices allows for a more dynamic response to changing circumstances. By adopting a pragmatic and solution-oriented approach, multifamily executives can lead their teams to success without bogging down in pursuing the unattainable ideal of perfection.
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Virginia Love | Collective Conversations
Release Date: 08.08.2023
In this episode, Mike Brewer sits down with Virginia Love – Industry Principle at Entrata. Virginia is a highly respected expert in the multifamily industry with a long history in multifamily leasing, marketing, and operations. She is a champion of the people in our industry and has a deep understanding of the ways that technology impacts the front-line teams and believes that it is our responsibility to elevate the role our team members play in the success of our industry.
Key Discussion Points:
- Lasting impact of the pandemic: The pandemic shed attention on the importance of the site teams and led to the current focus on them as the drivers of performance and doing what is right for the site teams, recognizing the need to reconsider appropriate wage levels. The pandemic accelerated the pace and adoption of technology and forced companies that were sitting on the sidelines to engage with virtual tours, self-guided tours, and more.
- Culture Matters: Entrata is a technology company that actively engages its customers in the Entrata culture – so much so that they become invested in the Entrata brand.
- Economic Inclusion: For decades, the only impact for residents who paid their rent on time was not incurring late fees and being sent to collections. Entrata offers a program that reports resident payment history to the major consumer credit reporting agencies. Giving renters the ability to build their credit by simply paying their rent is a significant economic empowerment tool.
- The Value of Yes – Advice if you desire to grow your multifamily career: Get involved. Make Yourself Indispensable. Do whatever other people don’t want to. Get active in your Apartment Association, IREM, or NMHC. Take every opportunity to learn and don’t wait for someone to teach you. There are countless ways to build your knowledge so take charge of your education and growth.
In between the non-stop camaraderie and laughter, Mike and Virginia share practical tips and advice based on their extensive knowledge and expertise in the multifamily industry.
Whether you’re a seasoned investor, property manager, vendor/supplier, or someone interested in learning more about the multifamily market, this series offers valuable insights that can help you navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities in this dynamic industry.
About Mike Brewer
Mike Brewer is enthusiastic about people, technology, and the world of multifamily. He serves as President of RADCO Residential and COO of The RADCO Companies. As the Founder of Multifamily Collective, Mike draws on his deep understanding of the multifamily space and is passionate about sharing insights and wisdom through a series of Collective Conversations with others in this industry. This podcast creates a platform for industry professionals to connect, learn, and grow together.
About Virginia Love
Virginia Love, Industry Principal at Entrata is directly involved with marketing, product and sales as a liaison from the multifamily industry to these departments. Before joining Entrata, she held prominent leadership roles for apartment owners and operators such as Trammell Crow and ING Clarion. Immediately prior to coming to Entrata, she was Vice President of Leasing and Marketing for Waterton Residential. With nearly three decades of industry experience, Virginia has served on numerous multifamily committees and boards for industry organizations including the Atlanta Apartment Association, Georgia Apartment Association, National Apartment Association, National Multifamily Housing Council and Zillow Multifamily Advisory Board. Love served as the 2018 Chairperson of the Georgia Apartment Association and the 2011 Chairperson of the Atlanta Apartment Association. Virginia is a National Apartment Association Lyceum graduate. In 2021, she was named a Multifamily Influencer by GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum and was honored by Connect CRE’s Women in Real Estate Awards for 2022. Virginia is also a part of the Apartment All Stars.
Additional Resources:
Some of the world’s largest owners and operators use Entrata’s vast suite of products to manage their entire portfolios using one operating system. Multifamily, Student, Affordable, Military, or Commercial – Entrata has the technology solutions to meet your needs. www.entrata.com
Sponsorship Info:
This episode is sponsored by: Updater
Updater is the app that gets residents move-in ready faster. Did you know that residents who are happy with their move-in experience are 59% more likely to renew their lease? Move-ins matter. Get them right with Updater. Visit go.updater.com/mike, and as a special gift to our listeners, Updater is offering a special gift when you book a demo.
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Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of MultifamilyCollective or any other organization mentioned during the episode. The podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional or your organizational leadership before making strategic, professional, financial, or investment decisions.
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