Streamlining Workflows for Better Property Management Operations

Published March 11, 2021

Updated June 26, 2023

How are your workflows working for you? If you're not serving clients with maximum efficiency, your workflows could be working against you.

Streamlined property management workflows make your world (and your clients' worlds) go round! 

Process problems lead to a lack of organization, delayed tasks, missing new business opportunities, and losing current clients and renters. In many cases, your business growth can't overcome process flaws and inefficient workflows.

You might have a stellar team of employees doing everything possible to serve clients daily. However, if processes hold them back from peak performance, even the best employees can't help you grow.

How can property management business owners streamline company workflows for more success? Follow these expert property management consultant tips!

What are the Signs of An Inefficient Workflow?

How can you know if you need to review and optimize your workflows? Look for the signs that your processes aren't helping you serve clients well. These signs can include:

• Missed renewals or other critical deadlines

• Lost communications

• Losing leads in your sales pipeline

• Task duplication

• Overworked employees

• Employees with too much free time on their hands

• Unhappy clients and renters

Workflows should propel your business forward, not hold you back from more success. If you notice any of these issues within your company, it's time to talk with a property management coach and apply optimization strategies. 

Identify the Weak Links

Inefficiencies don't always require tossing an entire workflow and starting from scratch. However, without knowing what happens now, it's challenging to understand how or where to initiate improvements for better property management operations. 

The processes you have in place could be good but may not be serving you in the best ways to maximize efficiencies. Finding where tasks fall through the cracks or where employees don't perform effectively helps property management business owners target areas for improvement.

Start With Processes

If things seem to get done—but you're not sure how—it's time to define your workflows!

When working in the property management industry, nothing should happen in your business without a documented process in place. Documentation helps your team stay focused on their tasks, keeps things moving toward completion, helps your services meet client and renter needs, and helps new employees ramp up faster. 

When defining workflows:

• Tackle one workflow at a time

• Name each one (lease renewal, new client onboarding, etc.)

• Write out each task in a process from start to finish

• Assign roles to each task

• Look for redundancies in team allocation or duplicate tasks

• Discuss triggers to keep processes moving from task to task and team member responsibilities

Sometimes streamlining property management company workflows is as simple as mapping out a process and uncovering holes and redundancies, then reassigning tasks or optimizing triggers to keep workflows moving from start to finish. When employees drop the ball because they don't know the previous task was completed, applying automation can help everyone know when it's their turn to do their part in a process. 

If you're not sure how to define and analyze workflows, a property management expert can work with your team to accomplish this project. We help business owners map out each process, identify weak links, then implement solutions to resolve issues. 

Review Employee Performance

A weak link could also be a lack of skill or effective training to conduct workflows effectively. An optimized workflow can only do its job if your team members understand their roles, your company's technology, and how to operate processes correctly.

Reviewing employee performance with objectivity can be challenging for property management companies. If you're a new owner, a consultant can help you transition from being a property manager to becoming the boss of your company. As an employer, it's critical to recognize the skills (or faults) of employees, help them find the roles that best fit their skills, and make excellent hires to deliver the best services in your market. 

Analyzing employee performance includes critical assessments like:

• Identifying your rockstars that exceed expectations and show excellent potential for growth within the company

• Recognizing hires that don't perform to expectations (and aren't a good fit for the company)

• Reassigning staff members who are a good fit for the company—but have skills better suited for a different role

To optimize workflows, employees and processes must work seamlessly together to deliver the best quality property management services to existing customers (and future clients). When assessing your employees, make sure to provide sufficient on-the-job training to ensure they understand their roles, tasks, and place in every workflow. 

A Consultant Helps Business Owners Streamline Workflows — Streamlined Workflows Help Improve Property Management Success

Streamlining property management company workflows requires more than identifying the problems. Property managers also need expert insight to implement solutions and deliver efficient operations.

If you're not sure how to spot problems or fix workflow issues, it's time for a property management consultant like Real-Time Consulting Services! We do a deep-dive review of your operations and staff capabilities, then help business owners implement solutions to streamline services. 

Contact us to book a free consultation, or download our free insights into optimal property management structure and operations, "Property Management Business Insights."