One pressing factor contributing to condo manager burnout is how managers are staffed and assigned responsibilities. Today’s industry typically relies on a single-manager model, but this approach is revealing its weaknesses amid ongoing labour shortages and increasingly constrained budgets.

Addressing this challenge requires management companies to rethink how work is allocated across their client properties—shifting from a single-manager model to a more modern staffing structure: team-based management.

Single-manager model leads to burnout

In today’s condo industry, a single manager is typically assigned to and responsible for one or more properties. Despite receiving some support from back-office teams or on-site assistants, the individual manager is ultimately responsible for executing operational and reserve fund work for their corporation.

Given this level of accountability, managers must also figure out how to manage their workload. They choose from a variety of personal productivity tools—such as spreadsheets, calendars, or task trackers—and each develops their own system based on personal preferences and strategies for coping with the demands of condominium management. Even within the same management company, these systems can differ significantly from one manager to another.

These two characteristics of the single-manager model—namely, one individual manager being responsible for a property and each manager having their own system—leave condos and management companies vulnerable to changes in management personnel.

In the single-manager model, when a manager takes time off or leaves a property, their replacement often has little information about ongoing tasks or priorities. They may not understand the outgoing manager’s system, and even with access to the previous manager’s computer, emails, and tools, getting up to speed is extremely difficult using traditional methods.

As a result, incoming managers are often forced to react to issues rather than work proactively. This added pressure increases the risk of burnout. It can take several months—if not a full annual cycle—for a new manager to get up to speed and institute their own system so they can work proactively. In the meantime, they often face the stress caused by missed tasks and capital projects that steer off track during the transition period.

The condo industry’s ongoing manager shortage, combined with common budget shortfalls resulting from high inflation, leaves management companies and boards with no choice but to evolve and transition away from the traditional single-manager model.

How team-based management can alleviate pressure

Team-based management allocates work across a team rather than placing it entirely on the shoulders of one manager. When managers change, there is no lost productivity or added pressure on one person to keep the condo running smoothly.

In a team-based managed property, more than one management company professional is assigned to each property. This is separate from the back-office accounting and regional supervisors, who will remain involved.

The team does not need to consist solely of licensed managers. Administrative professionals, project managers, and operational specialists across various disciplines can—and should—participate, provided that licensed condo managers oversee any activities that fall within the scope of a manager’s license.

Staffing professionals in disciplines that complement property management is a natural extension of the current single-manager model. Professional engineers and lawyers have long played an active role in supporting management teams and boards.

In an environment with a shortage of managers, it makes sense to shift as much administrative and non-regulated work as possible off the manager’s plate. Project managers, for instance, can help keep reserve fund projects on track without inundating a manager who is already at capacity. Similarly, insurance professionals can help evaluate options when facing renewals or an insurable loss. Not every responsibility needs to rest on the shoulders of a condo manager.

Tracking and delegating tasks in a common system

In a team-based management model, members use a common system to track work and records. This eliminates the challenge in the single-manager model, where an incoming manager must decipher an outgoing manager’s personal system or recreate their own.

A common work management system also makes it easier to distribute responsibilities and provide coverage when someone takes time off or leaves the property.

A system designed to support team-based management should include the following capabilities:

• An ability to assign responsibility and due dates across the team;
• Provide easy access to see the status and history for each work item;
• Let’s teammates quickly pick up an item with full context;
• Provides calendar visibility for the entire team, with reminders;
• Allows for sharing updates across the team asynchronously;
• Allows work to be categorized by function so non-manager professionals aren’t providing services requiring a license; and
• Gives boards visibility into the work to reduce micro-management and time spent on reporting.

Moreover, a common work management system should give management company supervisors and back-office personnel visibility into the team’s workload to ensure compliance tasks are completed and to help them support one another effectively.

Traditional tools such as emails, spreadsheets, and file folders fall short of meeting the needs of a team-based management model. They do not facilitate the rapid onboarding that team-based management requires.

For example, addressing a mechanical issue with the property’s boilers can feel cumbersome when staff must search through emails or file folders to piece together maintenance history. Similarly, tracking the next steps for a capital reserve fund project—so it can be properly reported to the board—can be frustrating when reviewing the project’s file folder, which contains a few quotes and a tender specification. Traditional tools are not very helpful when trying to piece together the story and lead the work to completion.

To be effective, a common work management system must serve as the single source of truth for all property history, consolidating both work and records in one accessible location.

Can team-based management transform condo work?

The condo industry faces persistent inflation and ongoing manager shortages. Boards and management companies must invest the time and resources to transition from a single-manager model to a team-based management approach in order to survive in the long term.

Team-based management aligns the right skills with the right tasks, protects managers from burnout, and preserves institutional memory. Most importantly, it directs every dollar where it matters and reduces waste without cutting corners.

This is how boards and managers can navigate today’s pressures and protect affordability: with a team, a system of record, and a steady rhythm that turns work into progress.

Salim Dharssi is the CEO and Founder of Toronto-based Managemate, a project management software platform that helps condo managers and boards share information, updates and stay on top of their work to save time and control costs. Salim volunteers on CCI‑Toronto’s Membership Committee, CCI‑National’s Events Committee, and CAI Canada’s Advocacy Committee.