It feels like whenever we’re about to see precedented times, something brings us back to the unprecedented. From a new COVID variant to yet another natural disaster, there’s plenty of reason to have extra anxiety this season – and that anxiety leads to rising homeowner and board member tensions that are sure to affect those working in community association management companies.
You can’t control the outside world that increases homeowner tension, but you can control how it affects your level of burnout. How? By using technology to your greatest advantage. Here are five ways software can help you go from volcano-level burnout to feeling cool as a cucumber.
1. Mobile-first management tools
If you’re a community manager, you know that you’re able to better serve your clients when you’re out in the properties with them. Creating a workload that forces you to run back and forth from the office increases time traveling and administrative workload. Homeowners and boards also feel less connected with their management companies when they can’t put a face to the name. That’s why it’s so important to utilize mobile apps to complete home inspections, architectural requests, and more – you get to focus on building community and client relations, not day-to-day tasks.
2. Reduction of busy work
Automate, automate, automate. Software should be automating as much busy work as possible, such as payment matching and budget reconciliation. If you find that more than half of your day is spent completing tasks that a computer should be able to do for you, take a look at what technology you haven’t used to its fullest potential and ask your software provider for some additional training.
3. Automated project management
There are some maintenance projects that have to be done on a regular basis, such as pool cleaning and entryway upkeep. But with so much chaos that happens in a given day, it’s easy to forget essential to-dos. Software tools like CINC’s Portfolio Management Module basically serve as the assistant to the community manager. Weekly status reports, open task reports, and an ongoing maintenance calendar is automated so that you can stay on track without feeling overwhelmed and panicked. A monthly status report is also auto-generated to the HOA board, so they are always in-the-know and don’t have to ask about open action items.
4. Self-Service for board members and homeowners
One element to association management that can easily eat up time is calls and emails from board members and homeowners trying to make payments, review invoices, and look up other financial information. A strong software solution should empower the boards and homeowners to manage the bulk of their needs without having to reach out to the management company. Tools such as CINC’s homeowner and board app are designed to do just that. In CINC’s app, a board member can approve invoices, review financials, schedule meetings and send communication all through the tap of a button. Because of self-service tools like these, some CINC clients have been able to reduce call volume by over 70 hours or more in a month.
5. See the big picture
Finally – and most importantly – a software solution that gives your executive team a 360-degree view of the workload for all employees is instrumental in preventing burnout. CINC’s Management Module gives executives the ability to see all workloads, upcoming projects, and areas where employees are overburdened. Through these project management tools, better decisions can be made with respects to hiring and training new staff, trying more automation tools, and providing valuable coaching and feedback to the team.
Does your software have the ability to curb burnout, or are you feeling the heat? Our latest e-book on People Operations is a great read for you and your whole team, as you’ll learn more about ways to improve employee morale and take a quick assessment on the effectiveness of your software in empowering your team.
