How To Create Efficient Multifamily Maintenance Processes

No matter the industry or task-at-hand, all team projects have the same goal: finish on time and budget with results that meet (or exceed) expectations. It's a target that sounds good on paper but one that can be difficult to hit in the increasingly busy and complex world of multifamily maintenance.

Challenging as it may be, however, creating effective and cost-friendly multifamily maintenance operations is well within reach. The key is combining the right people, methodologies, and technologies to develop effective maintenance processes.

Consider the following strategies:

Find your groove with repeatable processes

Multifamily maintenance includes any number of recurring tasks. Developing streamlined, repeatable processes for these tasks can give staff a head start. Similarly, automating them entirely via property management maintenance software (see below) can free up valuable time and focus. For example, teams may find it beneficial to establish step-by-step processes for receiving and responding to resident requests, complete with standardized templates (paper or digital), ready-made workflows, and agreed-upon roles and timelines. The more you can automate and streamline repeatable and predictable tasks, the more you can count on timely and reliable outcomes. 

Play to your team’s strengths

Every team member has a unique set of skills. Some may have skills in certain areas where others may be lacking. Consider these strengths and weaknesses when assigning roles in a project and pick the right people for the job. This will boost the odds of better outcomes and contribute to a happier, more satisfied staff. And, if someone on your team wants to learn new skills or enhance existing ones, use this as an opportunity to broaden your team’s capacity. 

Prioritize transparency and accountability

There are many maintenance tasks to handle on any given day, each with its unique workflows and roles to juggle. Greater visibility into these moving parts unlocks opportunities to find synergies, eliminate duplicate efforts, and pool resources and talents to benefit your multifamily operation as a whole. Whether that transparency is achieved through connective technologies or enhanced communications, giving all stakeholders a "birds-eye view" of maintenance activities helps side-step common delays and unites everyone towards the same goals (e.g., happier residents, growing asset value, more efficient maintenance functions, increased team productivity, etc.).

Ditch the paper and go digital 

A lot of time (and money) is spent collecting, managing, filing, and storing physical paperwork. Making the switch to a paperless environment (e.g., digital documents, cloud storage, mobile apps) helps teams access and share what they need instantly and rest easier knowing their “paperwork” is being kept in secure, virtual hands. 

Smooth your speed bumps

Every maintenance process is vulnerable to delays, many of which can be hard to predict. Work with your team to identify the common causes for these speedbumps (e.g., late approvals, mismatched schedules, lack of transparency, etc.) and collaborate on solutions to get things back on track using baselines and trends analytics

Implement property management maintenance software

Greater transparency, stronger collaboration, and more reliable insights go a long way towards upgrading property management maintenance processes. Today’s property management maintenance software gives teams the mobile tech, automation, data analytics, and user-friendly tools to seize these advantages across individual buildings or entire multifamily portfolios.

Every property management maintenance team has its playbook. However, the trick to raising one's game is leveraging talent, best practices, and technology alike to reach the finish line faster and more efficiently.