When it comes to managing a property, it may require lots of “hats”. Property management usually calls for knowledge on how to manage a budget, including calculating overhead costs, depreciation, taxes and profit goals, the hiring of employees and services, advertising to attract tenants and explaining advantages of the location. It also requires good people skills and communication. The best skill to have when taking on these tasks on a day-to-day basis is the ability to accurately prioritize. When you can prioritize each part of your day, you will find yourself with more time and less stress. Let’s dive into the necessary steps needed to prioritize your tasks and activities.
Identify the Tasks
Tony Robbins once said, “You can’t hit a target you can’t see.” No matter what it is that you’re trying to accomplish, you’ve got to identify the tasks. Many people skip this step and let important items fall to the wayside. Take a piece of paper or open a Word doc and list out everything on your “to-do” list for the week. This includes tasks, meetings, live events and even phone calls.
Assess Value to These Tasks
Ask yourself, “If no one completes this task by the set deadline, what are the consequences?” The level of consequence should determine how high or low you place the task on your list. Items like keeping your residents safe and happy should always be toward the top, along with maintaining the building and executing on new opportunity for the property to grow.
What Can You Delegate?
This is where you’ll want to identify your strengths and the strengths of the team around you. If supervising your staff is too time consuming or not your specialty, hire someone who is good at this. Items such as shoveling your lobby entrance way or installing a new sprinkler system should be passed along to the professionals who focus on that task for a living. Apply your time to tasks that require you to make a decision or the need of your expert knowledge.
Keep in mind that even though you may have your week planned out with a clear priority list, emergencies can still arise. While new tasks may show up day to day, having the known tasks already prioritized will still be beneficial to how you respond. You’ll quickly be able to identify the new task and place it accurately on your “to-do” list. Thus, using your time effectively and relieving any stress of rushing or worrying about making mistakes. In the end, prioritizing will make managing a property that much easier.
Stay tuned in the upcoming months as we’ll be sharing more ideas on how to make managing a property easier!