As a community property manager, developing your skills should be an essential part of your routine. Long gone are the days when relying on a few skills set was enough. The complexity of our world challenges us to learn new ways to perform our jobs and to overcome issues. The speed at which the market changes pushes professionals in any field to reinvent themselves.
When your job is demanding, it can be hard to allocate time to learn new skills. This article will help you save time as it summarizes six important skills that you should develop and how to easily do so. It also goes through the benefits of acquiring new knowledge when you are a community property manager.
Why is it important for a community property manager to hone skills?
As in any field, developing your skill set helps you stay relevant. If you are a professional that uses outdated methods to perform daily tasks, chances are that you will lose clients. When a community board hires you, it expects quality service from a knowledgeable manager. That is why it is your responsibility to keep up with new trends.
Another important aspect is changes in regulations which are frequent in community associations. This is the reason why in some states community managers must follow Continuing Education classes every year to keep their license.
To thrive as a professional manager, supplementing your existing knowledge is crucial. Here is a list of benefits it can bring you:
- Getting your dream career
- Feeling a sense of self-fulfillment
- Acquiring new clients
- Bringing a positive change to a community
- Becoming a reference in the market
- Improving your reputation or your company’s reputation
- Hiring and retaining qualified staff
1. Time-management
In a recent survey we conducted, we asked community property managers what their biggest challenges were. The main difficulty they face is time-management. It is true that overseeing communities involves many tasks. It can quickly get overwhelming when you have to move around all the time. Long meetings and a lack of work-life balance is a real issue. The good news is that you can learn how to manage your time better. Here are some tips:
- Do a time audit to understand how you spend your time
- Identify where you can cut or invest time
- Prioritize your to-dos list
- Limit your daily tasks to three important ones per day
- Delegate or automate tedious daily tasks
- Perform your most demanding chore as soon as you start your day
2. Creativity
You are probably asking yourself what creativity is doing here. Well, creativity is gaining popularity in our increasingly competitive world. The ability to come up with innovative ideas and solutions is a plus for any professional. Some even say that creativity is the skill of the 21st century. As a community property manager, you will sometimes face uncommon challenges. You also have to deal with different personalities and backgrounds. By being creative, you are able to adapt to any situation.
The question now is how do you foster creativity? The answer is simple, by creating. For example, you can cook and invent a new recipe. You can draw or even make a creative newsletter for your community. Anything that will get you out of your comfort zone and that will challenge you is perfect. It also has to be fun, otherwise, you will give up quickly.
3. Communication
There is always room for improvement when it comes to communication. That is why you should always seek to cultivate this skill.
Communicating efficiently is an ability that needs practicing. For example, If you are presenting a topic to board members, make sure to:
- Rehearse
- Time yourself
- Be brief
- Share actionable information
Efficient communication is the key to successful management. Sometimes, managers struggle with giving timely responses to their clients. Using different tools to communicate can help decrease your response time. Imagine, if you needed to pick up the phone each time someone has a question, you will never have time to do your job. Make sure to use emails or text messages. Better yet, you can have a website where you can have a frequently asked questions (FAQs) page.
4. Human resources
A recent report from the CAI institute discusses the shortage of professionals willing to fill in community property manager roles. It also goes through the challenges of this role. Respondents discuss that a toxic environment, unpleasant company culture, and poor benefits are the main reasons for their dissatisfaction.
As you can see, finding the right person is difficult in this market. So when hiring someone, make sure to provide good benefits and career advancement opportunities. You can also help them develop their skills by offering them regular training courses, either online or in-person.
Staffing can be a real issue and it is also a time-consuming process. So, having a positive company culture not only brings benefits to your employees but also to you.
Keep in mind that the way you treat your employees has a direct impact on the success of your company.
Besides, these tips are not only applicable to large management companies. Even if you are a team of two, they are still relevant.
5. Technology
According to a recent Future of Work research by the World Economic Forum, 9 out of 10 jobs will require digital skills in 10 years. If you want to adapt to the changes in your market, you need to upskill.
Nowadays, you can find many digital solutions that simplify community associations management. As time passes, new ones will emerge.
You can tackle the majority of your challenges by using the right technology. Above, we mentioned automating daily tedious tasks. A property management software allows you to do that easily. Here are a few examples:
- Send instant communication and notices via different channels
- Process payments, track your income and expenses
- Handle amenities booking and manage common areas
- Store important documents and generate public links
Property management software helps you save time and communicate better.
6. Marketing
A community property manager has a lot on their plate. Many feel like they don’t have enough time to market their services. Although it is hard to find the time, it is essential to do it to find new clients and to build a reputation. Great marketing strategies also help to build trust. Trust is an important factor in a successful board-manager relationship.
Learning how to present yourself or your company in the best light isn’t as hard as it seems. In general, the time you will invest at the beginning will yield more time in the long run. For example, if you decide to launch a website, you will spend some time, in the beginning, setting it up. After it is done, the website will be promoting your services 24/7 without your help.
If you’d like to learn how to boost your company’s reputation and get excellent results, download this free ebook. It is full of tips from our marketing team and has a lot of easy-to-implement ideas.
Final Points
Well-developed skills make us feel good about ourselves, give us more confidence and help us thrive as professionals.
The recommendations we gave in this article are just a starting point. Many resources are available online for you to become better at anything you do. For example, the Vinteum Youtube Channel is full of CE classes taught by experts in maintenance, roofing, landscaping, regulations, and more.
Another way to become a great community property manager is to ask others how they do certain tasks. Sharing best practices is the best way to learn. So make sure to comment below and share your tips or best practices so we can all learn.
