Effective communication is paramount in the successful management of a condo corporation and this is never more evident than in emergency circumstances. Successful communication can be the difference between a smoothly managed situation and a frustrating drawn out incident.
Despite property management and a condo board’s best efforts to plan and anticipate the life of a corporation, there are occasions when the unexpected will happen and urgent circumstances arise. Life does not always go according to plan.
A key component to communication is trust. This factor will filter through dialogue and impact how receptive a person may be to the communicator’s message. In a condominium community there is a lattice of relationships – the relationship between property management and the board of directors, property management and residents, the board of directors and residents, directors and directors, property management and service providers, and the corporation and service providers – and they all require a level of trust to be sustainable and productive.
The level of trust between property management and the board is the most significant in urgent circumstances because it will dictate how property management will navigate a condominium corporation through a crisis. If the board has a high-level of trust with property management, this will translate into the manager’s latitude to respond to the situation. This does not mean, however, the property manager acts autonomously. Rather, the property manager reacts to the urgency to make decisions that impact a community’s health, safety and/or contentment quickly to mitigate a concern until its resolution.
The property manager will take action by evaluating the situation, determining possible options, conferring with senior management or specialists such as an engineer, collecting work proposals (quotes, timelines) and presenting information to the board and residents accordingly.
The level of trust will shape how, when and what is being communicated and how efficiently and positively the message is being received.
A significant relationship in a crisis, second only to the property manager’s permissibility to act on the trust of the board, is the relationship between the property manager and service providers. In the critical timeline of an emergency, a property manager often relies heavily on its relationship with its contractors to ensure a service provider responds to the crisis swiftly. Past positive experiences and open dialogue form the relationships that help to ensure the work undertaken is done well and cost-effectively.
Having contractors that a property manager can rely on results in a timely response and a reasonable expectation regarding the quality of work performed. Having a reasonable level of trust with contractors also serves as protection that the corporation will not be held hostage to price gouging due to desperate circumstances.
This, however, does not mean a property manager should not question and verify the details. An effective property manager builds relationships with contractors and cultivates these relationships so that it knows which contractors can be depended on for quality, reliability and service. Ultimately, no matter who the provider of the service is, the property manager must be diligent to follow-up on the work to see that it is done to the corporation’s satisfaction and it meets the board’s expectations.
Honesty is another component of communication and the means by which property management can build trust. In this case, honesty refers to the practice of the selective omission of information. There are a number of functions and activities a property manager is responsible to facilitate and, despite the manager’s and board’s most sincere wishes, these functions and activities do not occur in a vacuum but, most frequently, must be conducted simultaneously.
To reasonably facilitate these projects and activities, a property manager must prioritize according to the corporation’s needs and the board’s directions. In urgent circumstances, this translates into the property manager having to determine what information is relevant and what is not.
Honesty is always the best policy. Being open and clear will allow for smooth dialogue and build trust. While a property manager needs to act decisively and coordinate multiple functions to respond to an urgent situation, an integral part of this coordination is keeping the board and residents informed. Time may be a restraint but at the first opportunity to communicate, the property manager should ensure it is done clearly and effectively.
Ultimately, what this means is that in a crisis situation, a property manager needs to provide the board with a reasonable explanation of how quickly a decision needs to (or had to) be made, what the immediate safety concerns are and what the operational concerns are for the corporation. There needs to be a quick and (hopefully) mutual understanding of how the management of the situation will proceed and what the contact points should be.
A property manager should always feel confident and comfortable enough to communicate with owners, the board and service providers. To have successful and productive communication, the property manager should trust in its knowledge, experience and relationships to allow for the proper conveyance of information.
Successful communication requires two parties – one to deliver the message and another to receive it. When communicating in an urgent circumstance it is imperative that both parties remember their objectives are the same, which is to achieve the best possible solution for the residents of the community. Trust and honesty are required to prevent communication from being derailed by semantics.
Chris Antipas is CEO of 360 Community Management Ltd. He can be reached at [email protected].
