BUILDING STRONGER TEAMS:
The Importance of a Staff Maintenance Strategy BY ANNE LACKEY
When the HVAC fails, what do you do? First, you develop a plan to keep the HVAC from failing in the first place. You establish a maintenance schedule and stick to it. Planning keeps us healthy personally and professionally, right? Managing a team is no different. As an executive at a management firm or an association manager with on-site employees, you need a personnel maintenance schedule if you want smooth operations. Furthermore, all managers can benefit from the following insights if they consider the boards and committees they work with as the “staff,” even though that is inaccurate. So, here are the best practices for staff maintenance:
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Vision Spring 2024 | cacm.org
THE aDOCUMENT 10,000-FOOT VIEW
THE PROBLEM aMATCH WITH THE SOLVER
HOA managers are swamped with massive workloads, which can leave big-picture thinking on the back burner. That’s why it’s essential to set aside time to produce your 10,000-foot view of what’s happening with your staff. Write an executive summary with perceptions of how well your staff or board meets the company or community’s strategic goals. Look at team relations, productivity levels, skill gaps, or training needs. What tasks are shortchanged due to a lack of people or an unfocused team member? This document will help you determine resource allocation, training programs, and any necessary restructuring to ensure your team can achieve the company’s objectives.
Every person you manage was hired, elected, or appointed to solve a particular problem or set of issues. However, the focus can stray from the fundamental purpose. Here are three questions to help solidify focus with an employee or association volunteer:
Next, refine your “raw” perspectives by engaging with team leaders, colleagues, and employees to gather their 10,000-foot insights on what’s working and what’s not. Challenging your perception with viewpoints from others strengthens your outlook. Consider producing this written assessment twice a year. Over time, these documents will tell a story that provides an even broader perspective.
1. Why did I hire you, or why did the community elect or appoint you? 2. What is the goal of your position, and how do you prioritize tasks to meet those objectives? 3. What obstacles or distractions pull your focus away from that objective? Success requires an employee or volunteer’s actions to align with the company’s or community’s purpose. Ensure everyone understands their role and regularly inquire about challenges to their effectiveness. For paid workers, every employee must deliver a return on their salary investment. Ensure they know the path to do that and work with them to clear roadblocks.