As important as property management can be to successful ownership of commercial properties, it is also not limited to a single person or company. To what extent you view the concept of property management as a team effort can often determine your relative success as a property owner.

Let’s explore the basic components of a management team and what each component needs to be able to do for your business.

First, there is the core management unit. This person or group can and should handle the following:

· Tenant applications
· Holding security deposits in escrow
· Coordinating tenant background and credit checks
· Rent collection
· Handling of tenant questions/issues
· Posting notices for eviction (as needed)
· Coordinating repairs/maintenance
· Marketing/advertising for new tenants

None of these important issues are to be taken lightly and this is important because many landlords often look as property managers as the rent collectors and may overlook other important things the management company should be doing.

Next, there is the property maintenance team. This team may not need to be used in its entirety, but each member is important, just in case you need them. The maintenance team should include:

· A contractor/handyman
· An inspector
· An electrician
· A plumber
· Landscapers
· A painter
· A carpet or flooring specialist

I could probably list others here but these professionals can be pivotal in both fixing small problems quickly and also turning around vacant units as quickly as possible.

The last part of your management team is what I call the paper group. These team members would include people like an accountant and certainly an attorney, who would both coordinate review of all your paperwork but also assist with the legal proceedings of any eviction. These team members are often the unsung heroes in property management and can make your business life much easier when you have them on board.

The best time to assemble your team in its entirety is during the early stages of property ownership and ideally before you ever purchase the property. The worst time to assemble your team is on an as needed basis, when you really need someone, as this can lead to high team turnover and poor overall performance.

Interviewing each team member, using referrals for out of area properties, and periodic evaluations of performance are all additional aspects of working with a management team that will additionally make your property ownership experience a better one.

Since turnover is a big problem in many apartment management companies, it is especially important to use effective tools in the interview process. Psychological testing started in the early 1900s, when several companies would ask about a prospective employee’s home life in addition to their job skills. This was continued and developed by the US military during WWII, and now is used in a number of different employment areas.

Especially in the field of apartment management, good personal and social skills are often the difference between an excellent, satisfied employee and one who stays in the position for only three months. The resume provides little information in this area, and even the references are selected by the prospective applicant to give a good impression.

There are several important character qualities that should be determined when applying for an apartment management position. The first is that the employee still is dedicated to doing good work even during stressful times. The employee should enjoy working with clients, and not view meetings with clients as a necessary evil. For some positions, it is important to know if the candidate has the ability to work with and lead a team of people. Finally, the employee should be able to identify problems before they become serious, and determine a few possible solutions

Personality testing is very useful to give insight into character qualities of the prospective employee. Especially for large firms that get hundreds or thousands of applications for a position, a number of applicants may have very qualified backgrounds. Personality assessments allow you to look at the common traits of successful people and test applicants for those.

There are two styles for basic character assessment. The first style is focussed for a particular job area, and have targeted certain personality traits that indicate success in that job area. For example, excellent apartment management leasing agents generally are persistent, persuasive, and welcoming. These are three of numerous character qualities that indicate a possible match between a prospective employee and the open position.

However, there are also differences between apartment management companies, both in style and in intent. A person that fits well into one company may be less comfortable and satisfied if they had chosen the other company. The second style for personality traits uses this information by selecting employees that perform well at that particular company and find the shared personality traits of those employees.

An example of a company that performs such services is PeopleAnswers. They give current employees an assessment test, and use those results to create a profile of an ideal staff member. They also use input from the employees’ managers, both in performance data and also personal habits, such as arrival time at work.

For companies with a sufficient number of employees, analyzing this data often brings very clear results. The top performers in the company share a number of similar traits, whether in routine daily work or in times of stress. The results of the assessment tests for these individuals are very different from employees that do not fit easily in the company. Once these profiles are created, giving the assessment test to prospective employees is a strong indication of how well they will fit within the apartment management community for this area.