Property management professionals must continually look for ways to do their jobs (and help employees do their jobs) more efficiently—especially when trying to grow a company. One way they seek this efficiency is to determine the number of properties that one person can successfully manage at once. However, what works best for your staff and property management business might be different from other property managers in your market.
How can you determine the maximum ideal capacity for the number of doors one person can manage? Consider these questions from a property management coach!
%20(S).jpg?width=1200&name=Girl%20before%20a%20doors%20(R)%20(S).jpg)
What Is Your Property Management Business Structure?
There are many different ways to structure a property management company and its staffing resources. Whether you have an all-person team or use a mix of local talent and virtual assistants, one of the first steps is to identify the staff members who directly manage properties and tenants.
Depending on your company's size and resources, each employee should be able to manage somewhere between 10 and 20 units comfortably. This range is because it varies on individual experience, time availability, knowledge, and other factors (such as the specific job description of the property manager). However, if you have plans for growth, too many employees that can only manage ten doors won't get you where you want to be—or help you dominate your market.
If your current structure doesn't support business or employee growth, consider working with a property management consultant to analyze your business to restructure or streamline processes to expand your team's capacity.
What Are the Tasks On Each Employee's Plate?
An expert property management coach suggests setting an optimal number of units per employee to help new employees prioritize tasks and timesheet entries. This helps them get off to a fast start with few mistakes, which saves everyone time in the long run! Setting company goals also helps employees know what level of productivity they should strive for to maintain those goals.
Projecting realistic company growth is essential as well! Doing this helps employees set and prioritize the number of units they should manage at once without overwhelming them, overloading IT systems (if you use software), or creating a bottleneck where details fall through the cracks.
However, before successful property managers can expect employees to rise to their expectation levels, they must take time to review the current tasks on their plates. Do they have the capacity to serve more doors to meet the "optimal" number of units? If not, you'll need to adjust tasks and streamline workflows to create more time for team members to focus on tasks that go directly to managing more doors.
How Powerful Is Your Property Management Software?
Consulting experts know that property management software can be very valuable in managing tenant-related information like leases, fees, maintenance requests and repairs, move-ins and move-outs, and more. The better your software functions, the more accessible data will be, which allows for streamlined communication with tenants and staff members. This also decreases clerical time searching for emails or physical files when essential details need immediate attention.
However, just like your staff members have certain optimal capacity levels for managing doors, your property management software has an optimal number of properties you can manage without creating extra work for everyone involved. For example, if employees update systems manually due to poor integration between leases and software or the system doesn't support easy tenant communication over email or text messages, you might want to consider switching software providers.
If you're not sure how well your current prop-stack works for you or how to improve your technology solutions to better serve your team, a property management consultant can help point you in the right direction!
What Types of Properties Do You Manage?
Managing single-family homes vs. multi-family properties can lead to a big difference in your operations—and how many doors one employee can manage. Make sure your workflows and software support the types of properties under your care to help your team maximize efficiency and capacity for growth.
%20(S).jpg?width=1200&name=Education%20concept%20Head%20With%20Gears%20and%20Employee%20Training%20on%20comp%20(R)%20(S).jpg)
How Knowledgeable Are Your Employees?
A new team member probably won't be able to manage as many doors as a seasoned employee. In addition, long-time staff members won't be able to take on more doors without proper training to do their jobs efficiently.
If your property management systems are working well—but your team struggles to take on more doors and deliver quality service—consider property management training for your employees. Ongoing training helps your team adapt to changes in the industry and stay on top of best practices to grow your doors!
Maximize Capacity With Help From a Property Management Coach
A professional property manager knows that the number of doors we manage is a crucial factor in determining success as property managers. However, it's not easy to find the right balance between software, workflows, and well-trained employees to reach that optimal ratio of doors per employee.
When you do happen upon the ideal combination, you'll be able to maximize capacity and grow your property management business! Whether you need help with implementing new technology or streamlining processes for efficiency, property management coaching can help. Real-Time Consulting Services can analyze your business and goals, then help you implement a plan to boost your success. Let's chat about how we might help!
Learn more about the ideal number of doors per employee! Download our free workbook, "How Many Doors Can I Manage Per Employee."
We will review your business plan and make sure you are on track.