Monthly Archives: March 2019

Communications, Management, Time Management

Time Management Tip #3 – Negotiate, Then Prioritize

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THAT Guy

You hear the phone ring and take a look at the Caller ID, or see the email pop up. Oh no…It’s THAT person. You know the one. You have a history with him. He notices every typo and berates you in public for it. He’s not only exacting, but he’s also demanding. You feel like you have to be fast and perfect to make him satisfied. And he never asks an easy question.
As you read the email or listen to the voice mail (having dodged the call), your gut tightens. Your brow furrows. You are pretty sure your blood pressure just went up. You think, “I do not have time for this today. And I’ve got to get this exactly right…. I will be a good time manager and put it on my task list for tomorrow, first thing. That’s responsive enough.”
Great plan. Until life happens. The day blows up, you get into emergency mode, and the day zooms by. And you haven’t responded. Now we are up to day 3. Having heard nothing back, the guy communicates again. Loudly. Copying everyone, their supervisors, and their grandmother. Now you’ve got several people hounding you and a crisis on your hands. So much for being a good time manager.

It didn’t have to be that way.

Seize the Opportunity

It’s natural to make assumptions when you have a history with someone. If a person is demanding, you may assume that they not only want a perfect answer, but they also want it NOW. You are under stress. You do not make the best decisions when under stress.
Having a process in place can help.

For the most part, people want acknowledgment and then a solution, in that order. By time-blocking email and phone message responses a couple of times daily, you can proactively take care of the acknowledgment part.
There’s an opportunity hidden in the acknowledgment. This is your chance to negotiate a solution that benefits everyone.

“Thanks for your email. I want to make sure I get you what you need when you need it. And I would like to take a little time to do some research, if possible. Would it be OK if I got back to you on Thursday? If you need the answer more quickly, just let me know and I’ll see what I can rearrange for you.”

Key points:

  • Fast acknowledgment with a message: “I hear you. I want to take good care of you”
  • A reasonable and respectful request 
  • Both a request and an invitation to negotiate
  • Non-confrontational way to determine the urgency of the request

Under Promise, Over Deliver

There’s an extra bonus built into this approach. In offering a negotiable solution, I am certain I can deliver the answer on Wednesday. If unforeseen circumstance rears its ugly head, my contingency planning makes it more likely I will deliver on time. And if things go well, I’ll be a day early and be a hero!

Our tendency may be to try and please people in the moment. This may lead to assuming a best-case scenario or overpromising. This will increase your stress and might set you up for failure. Stop. Breathe. Think with your head, not your heart.

Sounds Good…But Does It Work?

I started employing this strategy a couple of years ago. The results have been pleasantly surprising. About 8 out of 10 times, I find out the person is happy to wait a couple of days for the answer. In other cases, I am able to confirm this is a priority for the person. I do whatever reprioritization is necessary. Even in those cases, I can usually buy at least a little time.
They frequently appreciate the dedication to quality work. Sometimes I hear, “Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.” And I’ve turned a few critics into raving fans.

Give it a try. Let me know how it goes!

Oh, and my blood pressure is fine, thanks.

Book Reviews, Communications, Magic Beans

Book Review #3 – The Power of a Positive No – How to Say NO and Still Get to YES

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The Backstory

I found this one while browsing in a used book store.  I’m a kid in a candy shop in places like that.  I’d already picked up a biography on Samuel Johnson, and then this one caught my eye.  I remember hearing about the bestseller Getting to Yes by the same author, but I’d never read it.

By then, I’d read and studied The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude by Jeffrey Gitomer, and adopted my 11th governing value: “I start with ‘yes’ and finish with ‘yes.’” I’d also learned that saying “no” to things of lesser priority was the only way I could say “yes” to all the things I really wanted to do.  So the book looked interesting and into the basket it went.

The Summary

Ury frames his concept with the illustration of a tree. Your personal Yes is the roots holding the tree firmly in the ground.  Your No is the trunk of the tree that comes from those roots.  From the strength of that tree trunk No, a final Yes of full limbs, branches, leaves, and flowers grow.

He breaks the concept down into three stages considering the first Yes, the No, and the second Yes in each:

Stage One: Prepare

  1. Uncover Your Yes
  2. Empower Your No
  3. Respect Your Way to Yes

Stage Two: Deliver

  • Express Your Yes
  • Assert Your No
  • Propose a Yes

Stage Three: Follow Through

  • Stay True to Your Yes
  • Underscore Your No
  • Negotiate to Yes

The Gold

In a world that is increasingly engulfed in emotional No, this book is right on time.  Ury’s perspective and practical tips on creating a space for mutual respect and setting the context for No as a tool for Yes are brilliant and apply to business and personal life. I will be recommending this book as required reading for those involved in community associations.  The answer to many questions posed in our arena has to be No.  But it should not end there, and the message must be delivered properly if we are to help our clients and communities thrive. 

“There is no doubt that delivering a Positive No requires courage, vision, empathy, fortitude, patience, and persistence.  But it is within reach of everyone every day, and the words are potentially enormous…You don’t have to choose between saying No and getting to Yes.  You can do both. You can say No…positively!”

– William Ury

Intrigued?  Good.

Beans Everywhere!

I’ve shared the Magic Beans blog series in an attempt to help community association volunteer leaders and the professionals who serve them to find ways to communicate effectively with community members and each other.  This book is loaded with magic beans.

business life, Time Management, Uncategorized

Time Management Tip #2 – Spend or Invest?

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After you’ve lived enough life, you realize that money is not your most valuable currency.  Your most valuable currencies are time and love.  Use endgame thinking and the logic makes the case.  If you run out of money but have time, you can likely get more money.  But if you run out of time, you likely won’t care too much about the money.  And while money certainly has value, it can’t buy love.

When it comes to money, we can choose to spend it with no long term return or invest it and earn interest.  The same can be said of time.  One of the biggest mistakes we can make is confusing a time investment for a time expense.  Interestingly, the reasons for doing so are very similar to the reasons why many people fail to invest.  It’s not logic that gets us, it’s emotion.

Opportunity Cost

Here’s how it works in business.  You have a meeting with someone.  You agree on next steps.  Your schedule is tight.  You know you should take three minutes to send a confirmation email. But you’ve worked with this person before and you are feeling the rush of the day.  I don’t have time.  Unfortunately, things go awry.  A few details get lost, and the whole thing blows up.  Now you are stuck with an emergency and have to take 30 minutes or maybe three hours fixing things.  Why? All because you saw those three minutes as a time expense.  Not a good time management strategy.  You could have gotten back far more than those three minutes had you invested up front.

Planning is always a time investment.  A failure to invest that time up front will result in an expense on the back end.

Opportunities Everywhere

Reaping the benefits of compounded interest doesn’t require huge investments.  Many small ones will do the trick as well.  Besides confirming emails and proper preparation, examples of time investments can include:

  • Setting an email aside for a little while to review and edit after you’ve calmed down
  • Having someone else review your work for accuracy and effectiveness
  • Checking with someone before a project due date to see if they are on track
  • Asking one more question before forming an answer
  • Taking a moment to look someone in the eye and encouraging them
  • Taking a moment to express praise for a job well done
  • Taking a break to rest and reset

With the speed of life and business, it’s easy to miss opportunities.  In the moment, it’s easy to lose focus and allow your emotion to fool you into thinking you don’t have time.  But once you start to practice time investments, little by little you start to see the interest you’ve earned in time. 

Hard to Measure is Still Real

The interest on time investments may not be immediately detectable.  It may come in the form of increased efficiency.  You may realize that you are dealing with fewer emergencies and getting more done.  Sometimes earned interest pays back in something even harder to measure.  When you add value to time in the way you work with others, you are partnering with them for their success.  Your relationships deepen.  Trust and appreciation grow.  And sometimes as a byproduct, you get the bonus of time.  Others are more motivated to look out for you, to lend you a hand and to help you get things done.   You show them a little love and they are more likely to reciprocate.

Real Life

The best part of all this is that it applies not just to business but in all areas of life.  Investing time in important things always pays back one way or another, some time or another.  The key is to be clear on what is most important and scheduling actions that work towards those things.

It’s not easy.  Never forget that urgencies are rarely important, and the important things are rarely urgent.   In our immediate gratification culture and business atmosphere, everything seems urgent.  Priority and context have gotten lost.  Important things tend not to call your cell, email you, or text you.   But unless you prioritize the important things, making them urgent, unimportant urgencies will take over and consume your waking hours.  

Figure out what’s important.  Figure out what you love.  Invest your time.  Do the important things, do what you love, and preferably do it with those whom you love.  That is the trifecta of life.  When you invest your time wisely, you learn one of the core truths of this thing we call “time management.”  It is not time that we manage, it is the value we add to our time.

Best Practices, Communications, community associations, Customer Service, Professionalism

Nobody Trusts Herb Tarlek – Advice for Professionals Serving Community Associations

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How We Got Here

If you were to read governing documents for community associations written in the days of old (OK…the 70s), you might well get the idea there was a vision that volunteer homeowners would gladly offer themselves up to lead and manage their communities. The assumption seemed to be that communities would be full of willing, qualified and able owners ready to handle all the business of running the not-for-profit organization. Little did anyone envision the legal and technical challenges that would become part of the effort, much less the time that would be required.

Nearly half a century later, reality has set in. Volunteer leaders need professionals to some extent if they are to serve and protect the interests of their members. Regulation, emerging and ever-changing law, technical expertise, and available time are all factors. Yet, it is well known in the business community that serving community associations can be tough. It is a specialty niche, and professionals working in the space understand that. They know that, as compared to working in other forms of real estate such as residential, rental and commercial, it takes more time to get things done, usually at a lower profit margin.

But community members don’t always recognize this. It’s money out of their pockets, so of course, they want to watch their costs. A DIY, price-only, bottom line mentality can significantly influence financial decisions. The true cost isn’t always recognized….until after the lawsuit…or the third time something has to be fixed….or community spirit goes south….or the special assessment hits…Suddenly the cost of quality professional service and advice doesn’t seem so high after all.

It is very easy to chalk this thought pattern up to the prototypical penny-pinching board. But the issue may be deeper. Boards of directors may fail to discern the difference between up-front price and long-term cost, between investment and expense. It may be a lack of vision and the inability to perceive value.

The Issue is TRUST

Typically, there are many missed opportunities to build trust and provide value to association members. Vision, communication, and leadership are the keys to the perception of value. And a key component of recognizing value is trust.

A challenge for professionals serving community associations is your clients might not fully trust you. Consciously or subconsciously, you might be Herb Tarlek to them.

Yes, Herb Tarlek, the occasionally abrasive, egotistical & self-absorbed salesman from the old sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. He isn’t trusted, not only for his godawful sports jackets but because it is crystal clear he’s in it for himself. His approach is selfish and transactional. Sadly, attorneys and consultants are sometimes perceived in a similar way. Some clients feel your primary goal is creating opportunities for billable hours. The research you do in providing opinions can look like billable busywork to them. When management companies highlight the value of their services it might seem like manipulative self-promotion.

Some community association lawyers and management companies have a knack for building trust and proving value. As a consultant, I am viewed similarly, so I’ve been happy to apply the following concepts I’ve learned from these exceptional community association professionals.

  • Ask More Questions: Lawyers who listen build partnerships. Those who ask questions get buy-in. Socratic training has benefits that transcend depositions and courtrooms.
  • Simplify the Message: Ego will not permit many clients from admitting they do not understand what their lawyers are communicating. Many lawyers don’t help themselves by communicating strictly from their training and perspective, forgetting that communication is supposed to benefit the client. The old W.C. Fields quote works against you: “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with [BS].” The more words you use, the more likely you’ll be perceived as the self-absorbed, egotistical Herb, trying to sell them a justification for the fees you are charging. Using plain English summaries, FAQ format and other tools can help to make the communication palatable and trustworthy.
  • Use Humor: A little levity at the right time can build rapport and show clients there is a human behind the suit. So long as it’s genuine and you actually HAVE a sense of humor.
  • Give a Little Away: There is great power in the zero invoice. Choosing a moment where you can give a client a break can make a significant impression. An $800 invoice detailing all the time and activity followed by an $800 courtesy discount shows value. It shows the client it’s not all about fees, and that the relationship is appreciated. I’ve also heard clients recount with appreciation conversations with attorneys noting, “He was nice enough to tell me he was turning the clock off during our conversation.”
  • Give a Little Away (Part 2): Some law firms and management companies offer board training as part of their agreement. As soon as one is perceived as a consultant providing value, they are less likely to be perceived as a self-promoting salesman.
THE TAKEAWAYS …

  • Value begets trust, trust creates value.
  • Think relational, not transactional.
  • If you focus on billable hours or self-promotion, you may have an average client for a while. If you focus on giving value, you are more likely to have a great client for a long time.
  • Think and communicate from the client’s perspective. Always.
Attitude, Management, Professionalism

Tie Guy

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When I taught my first M-100 class for the Community Associations Institute, I had a little bio to share with the class. I wanted to let them know where I came from, and that at one point in my career, I was them. In many ways, I still am. I’m still a student too, nervous amongst people I don’t know and worried about saying something stupid in the classroom. And once upon a time, I too was anxious about passing a test so I could get reimbursed for my educational expense. I wanted to let them know I respected them and would do my best to give them the best value I could during our time together. I also wanted them to realize how impactful their jobs were, and how important it was to be a professional.

And then a funny thing happened. I said, “I’m a tie guy.” It just fell out of my mouth.

Respect

Community association management is an interesting field. It is typically less profitable than its older cousins, commercial and “residential” (i.e. apartment) management.  This is true for a few reasons, which I will no doubt rant about in a future blog. To do it well requires a skillset and level of emotional intelligence uncommon in the workplace. For these reasons, many commercial and residential managers want nothing to do with community association management.

Community association management has a different paradigm than other real estate management niches – community managers are managing their bosses.

Volunteer leaders are ultimately responsible for the success of their communities. And as successful as they may be, or may have been, in their respective fields of endeavor, only a tiny percentage have ever been in the shoes of their community manager. They frequently do not realize what it takes to be one.

Put it all together and it’s not surprising to find that many community association managers struggle to feel appreciated and respected.

Chickens and Eggs

In all these years of training and mentoring managers, I noticed a pattern. Many managers were missing the boat and accidentally creating self-fulfilling prophecies. They yearned for respect on their terms, but they weren’t always doing the things that would earn respect in their client’s eyes. Feeling underpaid and under-appreciated, they assumed a victim’s mentality. They often say, “I’ll do more when I get paid for it,” which is somewhat akin to staring at a gas stove and saying, “If you give me flame, I’ll give you some fuel.”

On the whole, the profession hasn’t always been synonymous with respect, even within the industry. I gave a presentation at CAI’s Law Conference a couple of years ago. I bumped into one of the lawyers from the Midwest who had been in the audience. He let me know he really enjoyed the presentation, but he was confused that I was from the management side of the business. His exact words? “…But you are articulate.” Ouch. We’ve got work to do.

Professionalism

Several years ago, when my concerns about professionalism in the industry began to rise, I served as Education Council Chair for the Washington Metro Chapter of CAI  I was thrilled that Joe Douglass of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston agreed to present on the topic for CAI. During that time, I was working for a management company that had a reputation for being “old school.” Unfortunately I was slammed and could not attend the session. The next day Joe took the time to call me.

“Thanks for calling, Joe. How did the session go?”

“It went really well. But I wanted to reach out to tell you about something I said before you heard it from anyone else.”

“Umm…OK….”

“Well, I got up there and looked around, but I didn’t see you or anybody else from Zalco there…”

“Joe…what did you say??”

“My intro was ‘What does it mean to be a professional? Do you have to wear a suit and tie every day like a Zalco guy?’ The room broke out in laughter. Then I said, ‘No, but it doesn’t hurt!’”

He was worried it would seem like he was making fun, but I loved it. I thought it was great that our reputation was so well established with the local business community. Talk about branding!

So Why the Tie?

Does a tie make me smarter? Nope. Does it make my work better? Not directly. But it sends a message. It reminds me about my mission and it lets the world know I’m serious about it. Don’t get me wrong, I know several professional community association managers who represent themselves, their organizations, and their industry in an exemplary way who rarely if ever, wear ties. Plus, CAMS in Texas and Florida might even faint from heat exhaustion if they had to wear one every day!

Still, here in the Mideast, a tie says something. I want to equip as many managers as possible to be worthy of the respect they seek. I want managers to get paid what they are worth. I want the profession to be respected and appreciated. Like it or not, appearances can either add or detract. A tie dresses up a man physically. It can likewise accentuate his professionalism. If it’s backed up by actions, it says:

  • I am serious about what I do
  • I respect you
  • When I represent you, I want to do so favorably
  • I respect the value of the work I do for you
  • I am a professional

Necessary? No. But it doesn’t hurt.

The M-100

So there I was, beginning of the class. I gave my spiel about our profession and the tie, and why I would be wearing one throughout the class. I explained that I am more comfortable wearing ties pretty much every time I do educational presentations out of respect for the participants and their time. Most of the class was dressed in business casual, which was entirely appropriate. I thought nothing further of it.

Then Friday morning, Marvin shows up with a nice red tie. I was so tickled that I couldn’t even give him a hard time about the unbuttoned collar.

Marvin was on the staff of a high rise condominium. He was an excellent student, bright-eyed and clearly serious about his career. I could tell he understood the impact a professional manager could make on a community, and he was into it.

A few months later, I was not at all surprised to learn that Marvin had been hired as the general manager at another condominium association. I am certain he will do well.

Did he need the tie? No. But it didn’t hurt.