How can asset managers be a bridge between property management and resident services?
Resident services’ primary purpose is to support resident wellbeing. Property management’s primary purpose is to ensure property health. Both roles are essential, overlapping, and interdependent. Strong collaboration between the two functions supports better outcomes for residents and property health.
In practice, though, the two roles are often in tension. For instance, a property manager may be the one to launch an eviction process that a resident services staff person is trying to prevent. Furthermore, property managers and asset managers bring different skills and bodies of knowledge to their work. Both conditions create barriers to strong collaboration and open opportunities for conflict, absent proactive communication and bridge building.
Affordable housing asset managers are in a unique position to be a bridge. They oversee property management, usually a third-party function. They sit beside resident services, whether on the property owner’s internal housing team or through a third-party relationship. When asset managers use their relationships and influence with resident services and property management to build understanding, it benefits all three functions, including asset management. Ultimately, collaboration makes for better housing opportunities for low-income residents.
How can asset managers be a bridge?
Identify and help fill gaps in knowledge and expertise
Like everyone, resident services and property management staff don’t know what they don’t know about each other’s spheres of practice. Asset managers hear feedback from both teams. They can help identify and bring awareness to knowledge and training gaps that get in the way of effective collaboration between resident services and property management. For example:
Landlord-tenant law. Understanding and abiding by landlord-tenant law is a fact of life for property management—and for resident services too! What the law says, and why certain requirements exist, is not always transparent to those who aren’t steeped in implementing these requirements. When is the last time your resident-services team was trained in landlord-tenant laws that impact residents? Resident services staff are better equipped to help residents understand a distressing and confusing legal notice when they understand the notice themselves.
Culturally responsive and trauma-informed ways to work with residents. It is not unusual for property managers to have some training in trauma-informed approaches. But having a general understanding of these concepts is different from implementing them in a culturally specific context and during a hectic day of phone calls and paperwork. Different teams may have varied ideas about daily implementation of big ideas. When is the last time your property management staff heard from resident services staff about opportunities to improve cultural responsiveness for a property’s specific population?
Open lines of communication to share operational information
Often, property management staff learn things that are important for resident services staff to know—e.g., a resident has engaged in behavior that is disturbing other residents or has expressed a need for specific services. Likewise, resident services staff may hold information that is of use to property management—e.g., how to contact a resident, what language they speak, or the fact that they are in the process of applying for rent assistance. When information isn’t shared, the communication breakdown can cause unnecessary harm to residents and/or the property.
Asset managers can help keep lines of communication open between resident services and property management in two ways: They can facilitate regular exchanges of key information and updates between both teams. And they can bring both teams together to discuss challenges—both specific property challenges and barriers to inter-team collaboration.
Even when staff agree with the above, sharing doesn’t always happen. Part of the challenge may be a lack of trust. I’m a big believer in inviting people to share food; research shows that eating together helps people feel more connected and open to each other’s points of view. After everyone has enjoyed their pizza, go ahead and talk about landlord-tenant law or review procedures!
Facilitate the creation of routine policies and procedures
If your goal is to lower barriers to effective collaboration, there’s nothing like taking time to agree upon and write down guidelines. If your goal is to improve chances that problems will be identified and solved before they get out of hand, there’s nothing like putting a regular check-in on the calendar.
Asset managers can help facilitate the creation of these types of lasting collaboration and accountability structures. Here are some possible examples of issues to address in written procedures:
Identify what information gets shared, when and how. For instance, “Property management will e-mail notices of nonpayment to resident services on the 10th of every month; resident services and property management will have a regular check-in on third Thursday of every month; resident services will email property management to ask for a move-in report on the 1st of each month.”
Detail housing referral procedures in collaboration with case managers at referring agencies, including the roles of both property management and services.
Describe how behavioral lease violations will be handled by both property management and services.
Describe aspects of property management that are intended to be trauma-informed (e.g. for PSH projects).
To review and reflect… Resident services and property management staff have difficult jobs that are made easier when they have open pathways for strong collaboration. Here are three approaches asset managers can take:
Identify and help to fill gaps in knowledge and expertise.
Open lines of communication to share operational information.
Facilitate the creation of routine policies and procedures.
Asset managers for mission-oriented owners of affordable housing properties monitor what’s often called the “double bottom line”: financial performance and organizational mission. Service delivery is key to many organizations’ missions. When asset managers use their unique positions to build bridges between teams, they are furthering the owner’s mission—an outcome of successful asset management.