I Dream of Being the Boss



All of us at some point in our careers have sat back in our chairs, evaluated our boss and thought how much better we would be as supervisor if we were in charge.  Our dreams often include better communication, increased employee respect, motivational programming, supervisory flexibility and many other ideas that would create the perfect work environment.  However, one must recognize that institutions do not offer a “Boss” degree.  Most supervisors mimic the actions of their historical leaders, which gives birth to a chain of either good or bad bosses as their employees are promoted into management positions.  So the question must be posed; is there a readily available resource for supervisors to learn from and gain an understanding of what it takes to be a great boss?

Welcome to URT, the University of Reality Television!  This evening sit down not to be entertained, but to be educated.  Be sure to not just bring a glass of wine to this viewing event, but also pen and paper.  Reality TV presently offers course after course for supervisors and aspiring supervisors who watch or DVR; Hotel Impossible, Restaurant Impossible, Bar Rescue and Tabatha’s Salon Takeovers – to name a few.

After watching a few episodes of each, it seems that 95% of the time, the root of the problem is the boss, or lack thereof.  The top three issues being:

1. The boss has lost sight of the objective, has given up and has turned leadership over to whomever claims it, qualified or unqualified.
   
2. The boss wants to be everyone’s friend, treats them like family and ultimately allows them to take advantage of that status.
   
3.  The boss is a power monger, managing in an aggressive dictator fashion, unable to create an environment of respect and teamwork.

The next most prevalent weakness is that of product or service.  The top three issues being:

1. The product or service is inadequate or substandard, but the blame has been placed on a differing dynamic such as economy.
   
2. Too many products or services are being offered without having perfected the core products or services, often centered on lack of training.
   
3. The environment that the product or service is offered in is disorganized and dirty, therefore unappealing to re-visit as a dedicated customer.

The final dominating issue is that of employee behavior and morale.  The top three issues being: 

1. Employees are working without formal guidelines, therefore delivery of product or service is inconsistent.
   
2. Employees feel that they are mistreated and/or treated differently, therefore are motivated  to work independently instead of as a team member.
   
3. Employees are considering pursuit of alternate employment, therefore lessening their  commitment to the existing product or service.

These three categories consisting of nine items are applicable to almost any organization, especially multi-family housing.  As a seasoned employee and supervisor, I personally have experienced each one at some point in my career. 

Dreaming of being a supervisor and being a supervisor are two different things.  As a supervisor, you are ultimately held accountable for the good and the bad.  It becomes your responsibility to have sleepless nights over the challenges, mediate the controversies and enforce sometimes difficult decisions.  Likewise, you get to identify, train and mold employees into an amazing team that ultimately brings personal recognition and fulfillment for being an outstanding leader.

One of the best owner/boss/mentors that I ever worked for strongly believed in the power of the team meeting.  I vividly remember sitting in one of those meetings and him asking the question, “What can we do differently to make our employee and/or resident lives better”?  Seemingly off track, one of the employees responded with the idea of providing coat hooks in each cube so they did not have to hang their jackets in the communal closet.  That evening as I pulled my coat out I noticed it smelled of smoke (I did not smoke) and had pet hair on it (I did not own a pet).  I therefore took note of this lesson; listen to everything, even seemingly off track ideas.  Thirty coat hooks were purchased, wrapped with a bow and laid on each cube desk – cube land was buzzing with motivation, they had been heard.  Also at that meeting someone began to complain about an issue, I remember him quickly and respectfully stepping in and directing employees to take 60 seconds to present the issue in order to allow the remaining 14 minutes to be spent as a team resolving the issue.  No boss is perfect, but an aspiring boss should be taking notes of those elevated moments they witness as an employee.

We all know the saying, “It’s not over until the horizontally challenged lady sings” (edited for political correctness), use the acronym O.V.E.R. as your guideline for being a superior boss.

O – Open yourself to communication; provide your employees a forum to express
        ideas

V – Validate their talent; use their ideas and thank them for their commitment

E – Exemplify professionalism; consistently be an approachable resource and role
      model

R – Reward them; publicly and tangibly recognize their exemplary efforts

All dreams can come true, especially with proactive preparation. So the next time Robert Irvine says, “You’re offering too many items on your menu”, or Jon Taffer says, “Clean this place up”, or Tabatha Coffey says, “You need more training” – take note, these are truly words of wisdom.  Being the boss is not all rainbows and unicorns, sometimes it is facing frustrating facts, reorganizing and re-positioning for success.  Each of these professionals would be the first to tell you, flexibility and an acceptance of reality are imperative for the position of BOSS!

Stop dreaming and start doing!  Even as a colleague you can show your potential for a supervisory role, just remember O.V.E.R. – listen to your colleagues, get excited about their ideas, be a colleague role model and toss them candy bar when you know they went the extra mile.  These behaviors will soon get you recognized as potential management material.

I have one word left to type for you, PROMOTED!

Okay, two, CONGRATULATIONS!

Handling Team Conflict

As managers, we have all dealt with isolated cases of bickering, arguing, back-stabbing, etc.  To most of us, it seems quite immature and in fact it takes every ounce of discipline not to yell, "STOP FIGHTING AND GROW UP"!  However, sometimes these behaviors move beyond isolated cases and actually become habitual, part of the fabric of your employees daily communication standards ... this can be lethal to the team and the expectation for teamwork, therefore causing dissension among the staff.



99% of the time these situations sprout with an argument or personality conflict between two employees.  One of the employees consistently takes on the role of the accuser, typically having the alpha personality of the two.  The second employee is consistently forced to take on the role of the defender.  If not caught and extinguished early on, both employees launch a recruiting process of the other team members to join their side, and "Team Dissension" is born.

Soon, arguing, rolling of the eyes, sighs of frustration, flipping of the hair, etc. become common place.  As time passes, everyone dreads coming to work, and you as a manager are at your wits ends and actually just want to SLAP THEM BOTH!

I highly recommend you not slap them (but feel free to call me for bail money if you do), instead consider the steps I suggest below.

Step 1 - Level the Playing Field
Typically the Alpha/Accuser for some reason feels superior, empowered or entitled to attack.  It may be because they have a higher title/position within the team.  It may be because they have seniority.  It may be because they have higher sales/closing ratios.  Or it may be they are the Spawn of Satan.  Whatever the case is, as a manager, it is our responsibility to reduce that entitlement.  I believe in the direct approach, "Nathan, I am extremely disappointed in your lack of professionalism.  No matter who is right or wrong, the way you communicated to Silvia in front of the team was unacceptable.  Don't do it again!  I expect more from you."  The tricks to these statements are, to be short and firm.  The psychological reasoning behind the statements are; 1) guilt (disappointed in you), 2) neutralism (no matter who's right or wrong), 3) bad behavior (addressing of Silvia), 4) requirement (not again) and 5) back to guilt (expect more from you).  All of the mothers in my reading audience are laughing out loud now, all knowing that GUILT is every mom's best trick to well behaved children.

Step 2 - Huddle the Divided Team
Since the team was most likely forced into taking sides, it is time to fuse them back into one supportive unit that will be held accountable for their actions by you.  Start the team meeting by addressing the fact that you feel tension among the team members and you feel that it is impacting the overall success of the business.  It is important that you state your unwavering commitment to company success, and your belief that professionalism and positive teamwork will secure that goal.  Directly and simplistically state the behaviors that you will not tolerate (i.e. gossiping, arguing, taking sides, etc.).  Directly and simplistically state the behaviors you expect to see in the future (i.e. complementing of each other, assisting each other, positively communicating with each other, etc.).

Step 3 - Problem Solving Competition
Carefully divide the group into 2 teams.  Put the Alpha/Accuser on one team, the Defender on the other and mix the rest.  Come up with 2 typical challenges that your business faces on a regular basis, for instance, "Traffic Generation" and "Overcoming Price Objections".  Under each category come up with three bullet points that make the topic challenging.  For instance;  we need to generate more traffic, however we have little to no money to spend, it needs to be focused on 1 bdrm renters only and they need to move in within the next 3 weeks.  Give each team the first challenge, have them brainstorm and present the complete steps of their game plan to the group.  Repeat with the second challenge.  Give them 10 minutes for each challenge

Step 4 - The Surprise Challenge
Building off of the two prior problem solving challenges you are now going to present a third challenge to each of the teams in the exact same manner.  The topic of this challenge is "Employee Conflict".  You will use actual behaviors you have witnessed as your three bullet points.  For instance; arguing in front of customers, talking about them behind their back to other employees and displays of rude unprofessional behaviors such as tossing files at them.  Again, have them brainstorm how they would handle these issues and come up with a step by step game plan that they present to the group.

Sit back and enjoy the ride on step four, little by little you will see them realize they are the subject of the challenge.  Little by little you will see them realize how hard you are trying as a manager to get this derailed team back on the tracks.  But my favorite part is when they get to the final action plan step and they realize they have to suggest their own termination if the employee conflict doesn't stop.  SCORE!  Attitudes magically change and they realize they need to get their act together.  The recruited members also now feel empowered to resign from sides and empowered to say "I am not going to get involved in this"!

Step 5 - Team Building
Just like with prospective residents and residents, follow up is always crucial.  Be sure to dedicate time to continue staff meetings, introduce team building events and assign them quick projects to collectively work on.  Teams must be identified, built and maintained for consistent success.

GOOD LUCK!  I have used this method many times and it has always worked!  Remember, as a manager YOU'VE GOT THE POWER ... to let your team fail or let your team succeed!  So get in the game, face the challenge head on, and SCORE!!!

How Is Your Email Follow-Up?

 

 

It is amazing how much communication we are required to review, manage, respond to and maintain on a daily basis.  Most of us have at least two email addresses (personal & work), two to three telephones (home, cell & work), two Facebook page (personal & work), two Twitter accounts (personal & work), two Instagram accounts (personal & work) ... that is potentially 11 accounts to maintain daily, all with multiple avenues of messaging.  And there are still hundreds more should you choose to have them, these are only the top utilized.  How do we keep up?

 

Unfortunately the answer is, we don't!  Or, we prioritize which to follow up on and which to ignore.

 

As a marketing professional, I am constantly looking at - "Cost per Lead" & "Cost per Lease".  There are tons of tracking programs available to our industry (especially telephone tracking) and well worth their weight in gold ... provided once you enroll in them, you actually log on and utilize them.

 

Recently, I was considering purchasing some stock of in a newer REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust).  As part of my due diligence to see how effective their assets were being run, I emailed each asset, pretending to be interested in renting at their community.  I did receive back auto responses from 100% of the communities, which meant nothing to me (or to the potential resident) but only received back 17.6% personal responses addressing the questions I asked during my initial contact.  More alarming, in the emails, I provided all of my contact information including my phone number, and I only received 1 phone call.

 

One would hope that these statistics are isolated to this specific company, unfortunately that would not be the case.  I have done this exercise many times, including with the companies I have worked for, and they tend to consistently come in under 25%.

 

These percentages give cause to ask 3 important questions as managers:

 

1)     Are our employees prioritizing communications correctly?  Business communications before personal?  I am tired of seeing employees' texting during work hours on personal cell phones.

 

2)     Do our employees have a thorough understanding that each piece of communication generated has a cost related to it?  Are you reviewing your total marketing costs divided by your leads and informing them of a per lead cost?

 

3)     As managers, are we utilizing all of the programs we have at our finger tips to make sure that our leasing/customer service teams are truly following up?

Sometimes I don't think we personally realize the levity of our position.  As Community Manager we have been awarded the career honor of watching over a multi-million dollar asset, this is a huge and noteworthy assignment.  Each day we come to work, our eyes need to be wide open, our ears alert and our brains using every cell to asses for success.

We need to "Inspect for What We Expect" ... and we need to expect FAR MORE than what industry personnel is presently delivering.

Call Them, Text Them, Tweet Them, Email Them, Instagram Them ... BUT DON'T IGNORE THEM!

The Art Of Renewals

 

 

There are really only two things you need to know about renewals if you want to be successful in our business, and those are the two main reasons for people NOT renewing.

Reason #1 - Rude and Uncooperative Office Staff

Since the first day that I started training within our industry, I have taught the rule of "Jump, Shake and Percolate".  Every time a non-employee walks in the door, someone should; jump up, shake their hand and exude a perky personality.  This should happen with prospective residents, existing residents, vendors, city inspectors, postal workers, delivery people, etc.  This action sets the tone, a welcoming tone ... and creates a referral based atmosphere.  The rule can be modified to "Jump, Pick  Up and Percolate" when referring to phone calls.

So often I visit communities and observe exactly the opposite.  I hear the door open and not a single employee moves.  Finally the visitor finds their way to a manned desk, but the community employee remains seated (with their bottom growing wider in the chair) only to say, "May I help you", with the "Great Wall of Desk" coldly blocking them from delivering kind and cooperative customer service.  The opportunity to set the positive tone and impress the resident, prospect or potential referring vendor is lost.

One of the first things I was taught regarding customer service, was to remove the negatives from my vocabulary.  Do not use such words as; no, unfortunately, not, can't, etc.  For example, a resident comes in, says her dishwasher is broken and she needs the maintenance person to look at it immediately.  It would be natural to say, "I can't do that, service requests have to be completed in the order they were received unless they are a life/health/safety issue".  This response is cold, by the book, inflexible - therefore, causing you to be judged as rude and uncooperative.  A better answer would be; "I totally understand your challenge, what I can do is inform the maintenance tech of the urgency and I am sure he will make it a priority to complete your service request as soon as possible."  The beautiful trick is, prepare your team for these "In Front of Customer" radio requests, so they respond with a service minded answer.  If you are saying to yourself, my guys/gals could never do this, then you have the wrong people on your team.

As a corporate officer, I have personally handled hundreds of customer service complaint calls and I can honestly say that 90+% of them refer to a staff member as being rude, typically the Community Manager.  And, upon calling the community and speaking with the staff person or Community Manager, it becomes evident that emotion has gotten in the way and they personally dislike the resident ... their emotion just cost their community a $12,000 renewal, plus make-ready expenses.  YOU'RE FIRED!  This is business, there is no room for emotion, only black and white service - can you do it or can't you, are you wrong or aren't you, is the customer right or not?  Forget if they are yelling, calling you names, saying awful things ... they are not paid to be professional - YOU ARE!

Reason #2 - Slow or Poor Maintenance Service

One of the first things I noticed upon entering the industry regarding maintenance services, was how the community service reputation totally mirrored the professionalism, organization, work ethic and customer service focus of the Maintenance Supervisor/Service Manager. If they were well groomed - the grounds were well groomed.  If they kept the shop clean - the make readies were clean.  If they were well organized - inventory was organized.  If they were smiling and greeting - their teams were smiling and greeting.

The position of Maintenance Supervisor/Service Manager is absolutely PIVOTAL in the success of the community.  This person needs to be an active "Hands On Manager", walking the property, inspecting the completed work of their employees, calling residents who are dissatisfied with service request completions, closing out work orders to observe length of time for completion and inventory used, meeting weekly with the operations/leasing teams regarding make readies, move-outs, move-ins, etc.

More so than ever, the Maintenance Supervisor/Service Manager and his/her maintenance team members need to be hired for people skills; they need to be "People, People".  The consistent smile, the consistent wave, the consistent greeting; "How You Doing Today" is imperative for the renewal process.  The day of the "Shut Up and Let Me Do My Job" grumpy Maintenance Technician is gone, and so too should they be, if they are still a member of your staff.

Do not think, I am suggesting your maintenance team members need to be educated white collar employees, in fact, I am suggesting polar opposite ... I do not want a brain surgeon handling the Freon in my AC.  I want an experienced, blue collar dude/gal ... but one that is presentable, smiles and simply greets me with a positive attitude.

So, as a Community Manager and Maintenance Supervisor, ask yourself this question regarding each other's (not yours) employees;  "Would I want to be stuck in a car one on one for an eight hour drive with this individual?"  If the answer is "No", you now know why your residents are not renewing!

Renewals are quite simple, simply ask yourself, are you and each of your team members, "The Devil Who Wears Prada" (an emotional bitch) or "Larry the Cable Guy" (get-er-done)?