What do you all think about unannounced visits?

What do you all think about unannounced visits? I came across this and wanted to get your take on his advice:

"I made regular visits to my properties, typically once a month and I still do. I often didn't announce these visits to the onsite team, allowing me to observe their operations when they were not expecting me. My aim was to catch them doing something good and building rapport, demonstrating my appreciation for their efforts and our collective performance.
I've seen too many operators who don't do this, and their onsite team lacks the motivation to go the extra mile, which can mean happier residents, less turnover, high occupancy, and a huge difference in NOI compared to other properties where the onsite team punches in and out each day without the desire to make a difference."

Source: Invest Smart: Spotting Red Flags in Real Estate Syndications

I don’t care about unannounced visits because me & my teams are always on top of it. However, I also don’t like them because they usually happen when I already have my day planned out. They tend to disrupt the flow because they always need me for whatever. If they took my schedule into account, at least some of the time, I would be so appreciative. I do like to go to my AMA meetings.

As a regular joe at the property, I like them. I don’t like the planned ones sometimes because some of yaw be freaking out and create so much unnecessary anxiety for the rest of the team. You know who you are….,karate chopping pillows on the couch, straightening chairs out a thousand times, adjusting the wow fridge for an hour and doing all of this unnecessary stuff drives the employees up a wall. Many times the planned visitors don’t even show up.

I visit my sites weekly. Sometimes i go into offices and speak. Sometimes i give observation emails. The one constant my teams know. I will come asap when needed and I am going to be there at some point during the week and Sometimes multiple visits in a week.

My work prior prior to MFH work was retail.
Unannounced visits to stores gave real data on store conditions and execution.
Planned trade rides were dog and pony shows with inflated representation of reality.
Dog and pony shows they know what to do.
Unannounced shows their ability to execute the plan.

I pop in on my sites sometimes announced, sometimes not. The welcome, professionalism, curb appeal and everything is the exact same regardless of whether they know I’m coming. We have a lot of longevity on our sites and I always want them to know I’m there for the good, the bad and the everyday mundane. I do think that’s a trust and relationship you have to build. This business has seasoned people to think a pop in is someone looking for something and that should never be the case.

IMO, it’s a way to catch you with your pants down. I don’t care what fluff they put around it. My property is always on point, they can come whenever they want but we all know the routine when corporate shows up. It’s annoying when they forget what it’s like to be on site.

Maybe a heads up as I’ll come to see you one day next week

Never once was an unannounced visit good in my books. The team want to shine, get praise, feel prepared, and unannounced feels like a catch 22. I was outside for the first time in 4 weeks getting a lunch for myself and bam...a visit. My team was working hard on a boiler issue emergency so trash was not picked up that Monday morning after a weekend...bam! Too many times it is a pressure to be perfect instead of functioning efficiently. I felt, my teams felt it and it makes it awkward, people. 🙃 Give a heads up with a range of days or time frame.
Set your teams up to win! 🏆

Planned visits give the opportunity to share/show problems and work together that the team needs help with or to get through an agenda. Unplanned visits help you spot check compliance items. I think the key to this mindset is that if you don't trust your managers to run your properties, then they shouldn't be there; however, we trust but verify. If you are on an unplanned visit, you shouldn't demand time from the team unless it's urgent- your team already has a planned out day. Instead, note things for the next planned visit, or solve them yourself. I've seen RPMs pull eveyone out of a turn to deal with what I thought was non-urgent and that is frustrating.

As long as it doesn’t throw my already planned day off, show up whenever.

I’ve always tried to plan visits with my managers to be considerate of the action items they are focused on each day and team schedules.
Occasional unplanned visits with a motivational surprise or compliance check can be a positive, if done thoughtfully.
You can’t expect your team to be considerate and respectful of your time if you aren’t considerate and respectful of theirs.

I did the same as you with the same goal in mind.

Great conversation. Good points on both sides. It really comes down to trust on both sides and respect for the on site teams time.