Page 15 - NJ Cooperator Spring 2020

NJCOOPERATOR.COM THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR — SPRING 2020 15 We specialize in: • Condominium/Townhouse Associations • Single Family HOA/Master Planned • Luxury High Rise Condominiums • Cooperative Communities • Adult Active Communities 11 Cleveland Place • Springfield NJ 07081 tony.nardone@cp-management.com 973.376.3925 www.cp-management.com the time from wherever they are.” Scott Wolf, a managing partner with but one they will continue to use even if BRIGS, LLC, a New England-based real it means more hours in front of the com- estate management fi rm, concurs. “I’d like puter screen or on their smartphones. to get rid of email,” he says. “Everyone’s And speaking of smartphones...the next expectation is an instant answer—but logical step in electronic communica- there’s something to be said for actually tions may not sit so well with manage- picking up a phone and speaking with ment. Many pros feel that text messag- people. With direct contact it may be eas- ier to resolve an issue a little faster and in-real-time than even email, is simply more easily.” “Th e internet has changed the focus of functions a manager has to perform, and how we communicate with people,” says can be too intrusive. Rare is the property Wollman. “Fewer people use the phone manager (or any professional, for that or talk face-to-face. Where I used to get matter) who’d want literally hundreds of 10 calls, I now get 30 emails. Th e thing is clients or customers to have their private that in our business, there are many times smartphone number—even if they have a when a problem is better handled in a separate one just for work. more personal way than email provides for.” Barbara Polychronis, a community text over pretty much any other type of manager with FSResidential in Bridgewa- ter, New Jersey, has a slightly diff erent ex- perience. “Th e volume has increased over chased technology that masks private time,” she says of email, “but it’s easier for phone numbers and enables managers to residents to get in touch with manage- ment that way. Previously, they had to and landlines. come into the offi ce, and oft en couldn’t fi nd time to do that. Now they just email direct management are great, and have us. As a manager, you adapt.” When it comes to email’s potential to our tasks more effi ciently and quickly.” He make management a round-the-clock includes such things as apps that notify game of perpetual catch-up, Polychronis owners of rules or building violations, fa- explains that thanks to FSResidential’s 24- hour, 365-days-a-year call center for resi- dent issues, she doesn’t have to be glued to puters via smartphone, which provides her phone aft er hours. If the matter is an managers with much more fl exibility. emergency, like a burst pipe for example, Wolf says that the one trade-off he sees is the call center will contact Polychronis di- rectly and she will attend to the problem, in his view, incorrectly—take the place whatever the hour. On the Other Hand… While advances in communication necessary. technologies have changed the way man- agers work and allot their time, they do see benefi ts in it as well. “With the advent of one of the last frontiers of socially ac- the internet and online communications, ceptable exclusion—and it’s very hard to one can accomplish things more quickly, prove. But as millions of American pro- even though more people are contacting fessionals over 50 will tell you, fi nding a you,” says Wollman. “It’s also less stress- ful. You don’t have people angry at you all the time,” he adds, with a chuckle. “It’s seem to hold true in real estate manage- also easier to deliver bad news!” While ment. Both Wolf and Wollman indicate email does off er some remove from di- rect confrontation, it can also make some er, with millennials entering the ranks of feel entitled to be much harsher than they homeowners, experience is valued over might be face-to-face—and it can oft en just about anything else when it comes fl atten out nuance and tone, which makes to managing multifamily buildings. And misunderstandings and accidental off ense many long-serving managers are embrac- not uncommon. Th at being said, “Th ese apps have im- proved our performance as managers client properties. overall,” says Polychronis. “Th ey have improved effi ciency. Take work orders, tion profi le when assigning a manager for example. We used to have to do every- thing on carbon paper, and make three copies. Now we use online forms. Th is makes everything so much more effi cient and faster. Th ese changes were long over- due.” In the end, electronic communica- tion may be a mixed bag for managers, ing, while perhaps more immediate and too much of a distraction from the other Younger owners—particularly mil- lennials—show a strong preference for communication. Wolf mentions that in light of this trend, his company has pur- respond by text from desktop computers According to Wolf, “Other apps for really improved our ability to complete cilitate online bill approval and payment, and give remote access to desktop com- that these new apps do sometimes—and of direct conversation and visual inspec- tions, which in some cases are absolutely A Matter of Age Discrimination on the basis of age is new job at their age is nearly impossible. Interestingly, that bleak fact does not that as owner populations become young- ing changes in technology and incorpo- rating them into how they help run their While they do consider the popula- to a specifi c property, most management THE EVOLUTION... continued from page 1 continued on page 16