Topic: Regionals: What's your greatest obstacle to getting work done on a weekly basis?

 

I’m not even a regional and I can answer that, the never ending calls! Almost every regional I’ve ever had seems to spend their entire existence on calls. I don’t know how y’all do it!!

I'm not a regional, but they are either in meetings or on never ending phone calls all day because some property managers are not being efficient or effective at there job and have the need to call there regional all day long.

I myself like being a self sufficient property manager, and I always want to be one less property that my regional or management company needs to deal with or worry about. I respect my regionals work load as I know myself that I have plenty on my plate to attend to day to day. If I need to raise my hand, have a question on something or need to fill them in about a particular resident or unit number I just send email and wait for a response. I care, take pride in my work and take ownership of the community that I manage as I know that at the end of the day I'm the one responsible to run that multi billion dollar asset! Celebrating "22" years in this property management industry next month!

I’m not a regional either, but I’d assume all the disruptions. They have their daily tasks, reports, meetings, etc. then when a PM or office member calls you, it’s usually a BIG problem they can’t handle on their own, an answer they can’t take charge of. I can only imagine what someone over an entire region has to do daily.

I can absolutely concur as a Regional for the last 7 years, the largest challenge I face is finding balance between being in the field (drive time, time on-site, drive time back) and then the catch-up from an admin perspective from time away from my emails, paired with the high volume of scheduled and unscheduled calls (internal, client, team members, committees, trainings, etc). I try my best to organize my schedule in a way that provides heavier “admin” days which are generally high volume call days and lighter call days to accommodate time in the field.

I have noticed a significant uptick in call volumes and call lengths through this Pandemic, where everyone is quick to schedule a call for items that previously would have been handled during a visit or an email.

owners and asset mangers asking for stuff last minute

For me sometimes, it's not different than being onsite, as our jobs are also lead by the demands and needs of the teams/resident/vendors. We don't have a lot of layers in our corporate organization so when our onsite teams need assistance, it's our jobs to make it a priority. I spend 80% of my time driving and talking. However, our teams are Frontline so whatever they need, I am there. Our teams/resident/vendors are always first. Paperwork and the like we just get done in between. A whole lot of working together makes a big difference for us and long term managers that stay (average of 10+yrs). I honestly think that makes the biggest difference in being able to breathe and make it work. TGIF thanks for asking this question as I will be following for tips I might can use. TGIF

Distractions.

This is an eye opener for me. I am a newbie PM and by reading this I think may be contacting my regional too much. I need to remember to reach out to other PMs first if I have a question and not directly to my boss. Its alot different than being an AM asking your PM something because were both onsite. Regionals have soooo mnay more things to oversee. I need to not be a bug a boo LOL. I guess it takes a while to realize I am the one in charge of my property now and I can make the decisions. Its a little uncertain tho when youre new. Thanks for this perspective I needed to see it !

Lack of time is the biggest issue. Companies should consider re-evaluating the purpose of the position and focus on revising the scope to allow Regionals to be more available for supporting their staff. Shouldn't that be the main goal... to coach, mentor, and drive your team to success?

Employee issues

Phone calls, emails, meetings that could’ve been emails or phone calls, travel time, babysitting vendors, employee issues/ drama… really thought, there’s just not enough time in the day.

Admin work verses travel…I am thankful to have the most amazing Managers on the face of the planet, however that make my job a little easier. I wouldn’t trade them or my job for all the money in the world.

Emails saying "urgent" in the RE line!

Finding a way to be at every property at the same time. Various changes within the company as we grow result in added administrative responsibilities also. If I could clone myself and be in all the places doing all the things at one time, I would. Instead, I have to find a way to stay organized and on top of all the tasks at each property every minute. It’s an impossible task, but I certainly try!

Daily to do lists. Two of them- do or die list and then another list

Especially since the pandemic the abundance of calls and zooms - which is fine… but hurts time spent with the teams on site.

The computer

Facebook groups…

Not a regional, but I work with lots and lots of them. Regionals are some of the hardest working folks in our industry. They lead their on-site teams and report to owners/upper management. Plus, they typically only get the negative situations escalated to them. When was the last time a resident tracked down a regional to provide positive feedback? If only!!! Keep on keeping on amazing regionals!!!