In multifamily communities, transparent and open communication helps ensure smooth operations and leads to greater resident satisfaction. 

When it comes to property management, both traditional and more tech-savvy communication approaches, from personal interactions to digital portals, can help a building team operate successfully. A carefully considered full-spectrum approach keeps the lines open for residents, board members, and managers to exchange information clearly and efficiently. 

Preference & Practicality

“Association boards vary greatly in how they communicate with their unit owners,” says Thomas O. Moriarty, a principal at the law firm of Moriarty Bielen & Malloy LLC, which has offices in Boston, Quincy, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “Some trustees take calls at home or on their cell phones and receive and respond to e-mails from their personal computers. Other boards adopt a more formal approach. The decision can sometimes be one of personal preference, but in some instances a more formal and focused direction of communication may be the only way to effectively manage those communications.”

Facilitating Communication Via Tech

Modern technology is rapidly changing the communication landscape. From streamlining communications between residents, property managers, and board members to disseminating notifications, tools like online resident communication portals aim to automate services and facilitate faster input and feedback. 

Doug Weinstein, vice president of operations for property management firm AKAM, says that with the advent of online portals, messaging and feedback are easier to manage than ever, and response times are faster. “Whether you’re reserving space in a common area, tracking package arrivals, sending out newsletters, or emailing your comments or concerns, resident portals are giving shareholders better and quicker access,” he says. 

“Portals can cut down on wait times and give homeowners better visibility,” adds Mitch Gassen, co-founder of management consultant company HOA Assist, headquartered in Minnesota. “Boards can log in and get real-time data. Our company gives you the technology, but we do all of the background work, so you don’t have to worry about learning how to use it. It is a bridge between full service and self-management to help improve how buildings operate.” 

As technology progresses, building management pros are keeping an eye on how to utilize it to make even more improvements in how they serve and support their client communities. “In the future, I think artificial intelligence (AI) will change a lot to allow systems to create tasks or automation and learn how communities operate with a pretty good degree of accuracy,” says Gassen. “This landscape will change as AI weaves its way into the industry.” 

Daniel Wollman, CEO of NYC-based Gumley Haft Property Management, says shareholders can currently communicate with ease through state-of-the-art portals set up with user-friendly functions to allow residents to send their questions and comments to the board, or general emails that will be published to all board members. Useful and handy as those functions are, though, Wollman feels that in-person or real-time conversations remain the best way to connect. “In-person or over the phone is the most effective way to communicate,” he notes, “a big value is the personal component, and it’s often underestimated today because of how quickly we can do things [online].” 

Utilizing a Portal

The interactive nature of online portals means that communication happens faster and easier. According to Weinstein, property managers likely use the portal the most out of anyone for information dissemination. “It is easiest for us as managers to communicate through the portal to reach residents about things like water shutdowns and other notices,” he says. “If you have a major service interruption, it’s best to still get information out by manually posting notices around the building in addition to digitally, in case you have residents who don’t own a computer.”

Online portals are great not only for communication, but also for improving efficiency in responding to maintenance issues. “We can promptly respond through the portal and let residents and board members know about progress,” Weinstein says. “It’s helpful to all parties. The portal is great for day-to-day maintenance tracking, but also gives us a timeline and a way to track trends. If we see a lot of one specific issue arise, say a plumbing issue, we can track it and come up with a resolution before it becomes a bigger problem.”

“Building operations and maintenance technology is moving forward with things like remote building systems, security management, sensors, and monitoring systems like leak detection,” Weinstein continues. Whether it’s optimizing performance or enhancing security, innovative technologies can help address issues in real time. 

These online portals are also useful for giving boards and residents timely access to information. “With online portals, we can track all maintenance calls and all resident responses, and use that information to help give everyone a better experience,” says Weinstein, “These portals are also great for conducting surveys to get a read from residents on what types of things they want, or policy changes. Incidents can be cataloged and reported on record.”

Gassen says, “Depending on how much the management company wants residents to utilize their portal, making an effort to steer shareholders towards it directly correlates to how much homeowners will use it. Response time is the kicker. Residents need to get answers and close the loop. If they have to go around the portal to get answers, they’ll never use it again.” 

“Even though we see people trending towards online portals, you can’t replace direct conversations–phone calls and conversations with people are important,” Gassen adds. 

Honey Over Vinegar

No matter the medium used, maintaining professionalism is crucial to keep communication channels clear and information flowing freely and accurately. Weinstein says everyone communicates better when using a courteous tone and approaching issues with civility. “It’s the old adage of ‘you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,’” he says, “but it holds up. You get the best and quickest response by communicating strictly the facts, remembering there are two sides to every story, and keeping a professional tone. Brevity is the key; it’s best to leave out extraneous information that doesn’t apply.” 

Weinstein goes on to add that “patience is also so important. Some things can’t be resolved immediately—but you should get a response quickly, even if it is just to say that the board and/or management are working on figuring out a resolution.” 

“No response is the worst response,” he continues. “The longer an issue is not responded to, the more complicated it tends to get. Even if you don’t have all the information to resolve an issue, tell residents you need more time. Billing questions, for example, can take more time to research and figure out. The best strategy is to send an acknowledgment to a response right away.” 

And, notes Wollman, “open meetings are a great way to give people a forum to discuss anything. It gives residents a sense that the board has thought things through, and lets the board explain their positions. We are all problem solvers, but we need all the facts to do that. Sometimes there are mitigating circumstances or rules for whatever reason for a particular building,“ he says. “It’s valuable for shareholders to know why policies exist and that a policy is well thought-out and implemented.” 

Meeting a Building’s Needs 

Buildings in different cities and regions will have differing needs and expectations of their management team, and use different communication tools to meet those needs. Larger, busier buildings require more frequent communication between board, management, and residents, while smaller, quieter buildings generally require less. “The most critical factor to consider is not how the communication is required to be directed, but whether the communication is effective,” says Moriarty. “Admittedly, when barriers are placed which prevent direct communication, even with good reason, it can raise a legitimate question with an owner about whether [residents’] concerns are being heard. Associations …should be careful to ensure that there are mechanisms in place not only to respond to contacts, but to ensure that unit owners feel that they have a means of expressing themselves to their elected board. Nothing is more sure to sow seeds of discontent than an owner that feels his or her concerns are not being heard. Open meetings, posting of meeting minutes, and maintaining a website are all ways to open lines of communication even where direct communication is funneled through a single point person.”

A major part of our role as property managers is to facilitate communications,” says Wollman, “the board’s job is to set procedures; the property managers’ job is to carry out that procedure. To really communicate effectively, you need to stay on top of your game and to be responsive.” 

 Kate Mattiace is Associate Editor of New England Condominium.