Ten Power Keys to Dealing with Conflict (Part Two)

Continuing on from part one, we look at the next five keys.

6. Being Organised/Daily Planning – I have seen a connection with the more conflict that is in a department, the more a property manager is disorganised and not managing by priority. All tasks (everything that needs to get done) should be written into one source like a notebook, and then daily planning occurring and writing one a daily task manager (simply writing down in priority what you need to do for the day!). Once you have this listed, just do it and ignore anything else that can wait till the next or another day.

7. Attention to Detail/Accuracy – another source of pain and conflict is not doing a job or task properly in the first place! Make sure your task is completed thoroughly and not leaving the pieces undone or parts incomplete. Your goal is to get the task completed right the first time without having to revisit it later and fix it again, sometimes taking 2-3 times more energy to fix it, than what it would take doing it right once the first time. Strict adherence to systems, policies, and procedures will ensure this occurs every time.

8. Under Promise and Over Deliver – if you are reporting back to a person with a complaint, problem or just everyday issues you can delight the client or customer and reduce conflict by first under-promising and then over-delivering. If you do what they expected, you have a simple completion of a task. Complete something before they expected you then delight the person at the receiving end. Top operators always use this rule!

9. Don’t Pour Petrol onto a Fire! – too many property managers believe that when a person is yelling at them, they need to yell louder! I have learnt by experience that this doesn’t work! Quick diffusing of a situation can occur by speaking calmly, professionally and sometimes firmly, but don’t try and put out a fire by throwing petrol on it! Use good people skills and use water to put out a fire! (Metaphorically speaking)

10. Always Make Good File Notes – conflict can occur when you cannot prove what was agreed upon by not having a record of previous file notes of actions and conversations. A large amount of business health checks we have conducted tend to show most property managers seldom to never make file notes and use the excuse that ‘they know what is going on and remember everything!’ This attitude quickly comes undone when they go on sick or annual leave, or resign from their position and leave other property managers to deal with conflict and issues that if they knew what had actually occurred, could quickly deal with conflict and problems at hand.

Conflict by far is one of the biggest factors that contribute to property managers being dissatisfied with their roles, and so implementing strategies to reducing conflict simply makes good sense!

Avoiding and effectively reducing conflict requires a property manager to be dedicated to being proactive and prefer to fly above the storm clouds than have to fly through them!

All the best!