6 minute read
Job Hacks from an Industry Veteran
By Caroline McCormick, CAMEx, CCAM
Time management is somewhat of a misnomer; can you really manage time in an ever-demanding industry? Perhaps not. However, managing seasonal and deadline-driven workflows is entirely possible. The key is to establish and keep to a schedule. Your time is what you “sell,” expert advice to volunteer community leaders. There are only 14,400 minutes in each day. It is prudent to budget some time to think strategically about the goals of your communities, seek out education, deal with emergencies as they arise, and interact with peers and vendors each day. Some managers struggle with over or under-serving their clients by working too many hours and not investing the right amount of time in the right projects.
Tips for Streamlining the Day-to-Day
With that in mind, here are some tips to help you streamline the day-to-day tasks so you have time to handle the emergencies that inevitably arise:
Avoid Burnout
Manage stress levels to avoid burnout by managing your reaction to events in relation to available time. Avoid working lunches and step away from the desk to stretch, look outside, or take a break. Do not check emails after hours – your clients will come to expect this, making it difficult for the next manager and yourself. Determine how to deal with interruptions and manage your reaction to interruptions.
Annual Plan
Best practices suggest that we create an annual plan or calendar that includes the following:
• Monthly workflows,
• Critical dates for the year for each client,
• Deadline and prep time for disclosures,
• Budgets,
• Reviewed financial statements,
• Insurance renewal,
• Elections,
• Reserve maintenance,
• Service provider schedules,
• Board meetings,
• Agenda production,
• And contract renewal dates.
Once you review your proposed annual and monthly workflow with the board, ensure you review it before each meeting and include it in your board packages. Use this to track your progress and show your board at the end of the year how much you accomplished on their behalf. Calendars are essential to track not only the due date but the production date for deadline-driven tasks such as architectural application deadlines, demand requests, and other time-sensitive issues, as there can be significant consequences to missed deadlines.
Managing Communications
Another time-consuming task can be your electronic mail, written correspondence, and phone calls. Could you spend all day just responding to customers? An effective way to manage communication workflows is:
• Complete emails first thing in the morning, then close emails to focus on other tasks/action lists.
• Set times to work on emails and phone calls throughout the day uninterrupted.
• Address all emergency items prior to the end of the day.
• Check email and voicemail prior to closing for the day.
• Set expectations for a response.
• Let owners know if further research is needed.
• Respond by the agreed-upon date if not within 24 hours.
Just because your customer thinks it is urgent does not mean it is. Never say you are too busy to assist someone, do say that you are working on a project with a deadline and can address this issue by noon tomorrow, for example. Prioritize your communication workflows.
Tools for Organizing Meeting Workflows
Meeting Prep
Create a board preparation area on your desk or computer for all things that need board review at the next meeting. Civil Code does not allow for email deliberations, so do not send unimportant things to the board between meetings; include them in the board packet. Furthermore, plan for boards that do not meet monthly, forecast three months ahead for all tasks to be completed before the next quarterly meeting, and include those items in the current agenda.
Bid Requests
Rather than ask three vendors to bid on a project with an undefined scope, send a request for proposal with ample information, such as the bid due date, insurance requirements, requested products or materials, and, if warranted, a site walk. Your goal here is to get apples-to-apples bids the first time to save time on clarifications on the back end. Know when a job is appropriate for project management. Can your community afford to do the work twice? If not, it might be prudent to use a professional to manage the project and budget.
Meeting Minutes
To facilitate minute-taking, create a shell of the minutes you can fill in during the meeting. Take your meeting minutes on your laptop and complete them within three days of the meeting. Send the draft to the board shortly after the meeting to keep everyone on the same page and get any corrections noted. Avoid wasting valuable meeting time discussing the minutes.
Task List
Create action items or task lists after each board meeting and assign responsibility (yourself, accounting department, customer service, outside consultant, board member), a timeframe, and do include items to prepare for the next meeting. Rank the items listed from most important to least important or by the deadline. You can ask the client how essential each item is to them and let them know a reasonable time for completion noting that life safety items take priority. An efficient manager will complete most of the tasks from a meeting within a week of the meeting. Do the easy tasks that take the shortest time followed by the more complex tasks, or vice versa. There is no right way. The right way is the way that works for you.
Tips for Meeting Deadlines
Deadlines are a fact of life for managers; we have to complete disclosure distributions within specific time frames throughout the year. When calendaring deadlines for budget preparation, for instance, do not calendar the very last day; give yourself a week of breathing room, if not more. You need time to put the package together, proofread it, and review it critically for completeness. If you have staff assist you, they will need time to make sure they have the necessary supplies, labels, envelopes, and current email address lists to complete the task. This is called “backing into your deadlines.” It takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders if you complete work before the deadline. Set expectations for response from board members, peers, and vendors, to be clear about what you need from them and when.
In conclusion, once you have a good workflow schedule, you can experiment with adding technology to assist you, such as Google or Outlook calendar, talk-to-type, a punch list app or virtual assistant, or using a good oldfashioned desk calendar. Touch each of your accounts weekly, so workflows stay fresh in your mind and keep working during lulls between meetings to stay on track long term.
