The responsibilities of property managers include a wide array of tasks, from the physical to the administrative. While many of these jobs involve concrete things—like sending out monthly bills, filing paperwork, or going to meetings—equally important is managing the people involved with the building. That includes everyone from the building’s staff, to the residents to those on the board and committees.

Stephen Elbaz, president of Esquire Management Corp., in Brooklyn says that additionally, a manager needs to deal with employees working for its own company, such as bookkeepers and individual property managers.

“The challenge becomes dealing with the employees in the building that you manage. Some have not been hired by you and have been there many years, and they may have seen many management companies come and go, and you have to manage those people and they might not always want to listen,” he says. “Then there’s the added facet that they may be union employees and that adds an additional challenge, as it’s rather difficult to terminate employees.”

Keeping everyone happy and harmonious is not always an easy task. Many property managers face uncooperative boards, a dysfunctional staff or unhappy residents, and it’s up to them to keep everything working.

Every building seems to have its own methods of human resource management and conflict resolution for managers dealing with dysfunctional, apathetic, or chaotic boards and buildings, and as long as it works, no way is the wrong way.

“Having a network of honest and reliable people to address building needs is crucial in property management,” says Georgia Lombardo-Barton, president of Manhattan’s Barton Management, LLC, which specializes in co-op and condo management throughout New York. “Before we outsource projects or repairs, we conduct an internal search of our human resources to determine if our staff members from our other buildings are able to assist with repairs at our other family of properties. This approach keeps the maintenance/repair expenses at a lower threshold and keeps staff people happy by supplementing their fixed income.”

At-Risk Boards

Dysfunction in a building can lead to a multitude of problems that will trickle down to create unhappy residents.

“If people aren’t happy it could lead to maintenance work not being done on time, floors not being cleaned, trash not being taken out, and that can lead to other problems,” Elbaz says. “Let’s say a super doesn’t do what is required with routine maintenance, and if he or she does not, it could lead to no heat and hot water, or safety issues because of failing smoke detectors or sprinklers.”

An unfortunate challenge to the business is that when dealing with boards, the most a property manager can ever do is to make suggestions and recommendations. They can’t force a building to do something that they should.

“Our managers have worked with many, many boards and their various problems which, for the seasoned professional, is indeed a challenge but also second nature. These range from simple to elaborate aesthetic upgrades, mandatory structural repairs, and of course, the never-ending financial necessities that are required to keep the building in very good order,” says Alex K. Kuffel, president of Pride Property Management Corp. in Manhattan. “With that said, in almost all cases it is the board of directors, and not the building itself, that is prone to be ‘at risk’ and/or at times literally ‘dysfunctional.’ ”

The old saying, “You can lead the horse to water but you can’t make him drink,” certainly applies to some boards in New York, according to Kuffel. “A lack of understanding of their fiduciary responsibilities, a reluctance to pay higher maintenance, a preference to put things off that need to be done now, making unrealistic promises to shareholders (when seeking a seat on the board), failure to plan properly and follow through with what is best for the building at large, and bad chemistry between board members, are some of the main reasons that lead to a dysfunctional board,” he says.

Often, board members become overwhelmed with various well-intentioned projects for their building. It is important for managing agents to help board members stay focused with short and long term goals.

“Preparing an operational plan and capital improvement plan in priority order helps boards and agents forecast project timelines and cost factors,” Lombardo-Barton says. “Establishing discussion deadlines propels boards to either proceed with a probable project or eliminate it from the agenda if sufficient due diligence leads to such conclusion.”

Getting in Front

Kuffel says that when Pride is interviewed by a board that is shopping for a new management company, he pays particular attention to the board’s demeanor and reasons for making the change.

“Do they not respect the current manager or the service that the management company provides? Does the board get along with each other and respect each members’ point-of-view or opinion? Are there internal conflicts that have impeded board productivity? Does the board show favoritism with its members or its residents?” he says. “These are signs of a board’s dysfunction and inability to move forward in the best interests of the building.”

Despite all best efforts, disharmony among boards is something that appears to happen all the time.

“I have seen boards get into arguments and refuse to work together over $50 late fees from one resident,” Elbaz says. “A building could have a million dollar budget, but the board is at a standstill over this $50. They just don’t get it.”

To help a board recover from an area of conflict, Elbaz recommends calling the people involved separately outside of the meeting to try and be a peacemaker. He also thinks simple things like bringing a box of candy or cookies to the board meeting can sometimes go a long way in making everyone forget their problems.

Boards that have difficulty with reaching compromise are least likely to accomplish set goals.

“An experienced managing agent should be able to guide a board with defusing controversial issues as well as helping them balancing the pros and cons of an idea and determining if an approach will lead to better quality of life for the shareholders,” Barton says. “Successfully managing boards and handling unit owners is a skill that is achieved through experience. However, a co-op/condo property manager should possess prior managerial experience given the need to interact with various personalities in a juxtaposition leadership role and as a direct report.”

Learning the Skills

To help a manager learn how to handle situations like this, there are courses that are given dealing with such issues. The New York Association of Realty Management (NYARM) offers several courses, New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate has others, the Greater New York chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) offers a wide array of coursework, and other industry organizations can help as well.

“Some also work with more seasoned managers under their tutorage. There are a lot of apprenticeships going on,” Elbaz says. “A lot of property managers don’t have the time and are just thrown into the deep end of the pool. They learn by doing on the job.”

While some recommend taking these courses, many managers believe that nothing beats the “school of hard knocks,” with personalized, hands-on experience by a professional manager.

“In all cases, a seasoned portfolio manager, who works with volume, should be well-versed in handling a difficult or unorganized board,” Kuffel says. “With ample time and experience, the manager becomes quite intuitive. With the right approach, apathy can be turned into sympathy.”

Regarding good or better organization of the board, the manager needs to be extremely diplomatic, literally sit down with the board, find out where the board is lacking, and dip into his or her bag of tricks for policies or procedures that other boards have successfully used.

“As far as acrimony among board members, some of that cannot be challenged or even changed,” Kuffel says. “Chemistry among board members is unpredictable, but when it is good it is positive and productive, and when it isn’t, it’s difficult to accept and can be destructive. Ideally, when the majority of board members are in agreement with something, someone who continues to remain against it, or locked in a negative mode, will ultimately be on the outside looking in. That gets old after a while, and he or she will either drop off the board or maintain a lonely plight.”

Everyone Makes Mistakes

Buildings do not run themselves. A competent manager, dedicated staff members, and a board that allows the manager to manage the building’s affairs all are vital to a well-run building.

“Disharmony, closing a blind eye, a reluctance to communicate with the residents, not meeting on a regular basis, not visiting the building or dealing with the staff and residents’ concerns, micromanaging the manager, and perhaps assuming too much, are all common mistakes that are truly counter-productive,” Kuffel says. “In an effort to keep a building well-run and harmonious, the manager should visit his buildings weekly, attend all board meetings and special meetings, encourage the residents to remain in close contact with the manager concerning any issues, and even require the building’s superintendent to keep a weekly log of what he does, for whom, and when, etc.”

Plain ignoring or procrastinating in addressing any type of issue is the common pitfall of inexperienced managing agents.

“If a staff member needs to be reprimanded, it would be best to confront that staff person immediately along with the necessary steps to document how the matter was handled,” Lombardo-Barton says. “Being able to promptly address matters with quick, judicial resolution is the best practice to running a harmonious cooperative community.”

Keith Loria is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The Cooperator.