Joshua Tree Consulting
Multifamily Management and Strategy

Project Management Skills Pay Dividends

Off the top of my head, I know that they have been early-stage adopters of:

• The web-based purchasing and payables solution from OpsTechnology;
•  RealPage’s OneSite web-based property management system;
•  Web-delivered renter’s insurance from LeasingDesk;
• Rent.com’s pay-for-performance property advertising;
•  CreditRetriever’s web-based resident screening; and
• SureDeposit, an internet-enabled surety bond alternative to security deposits.

What makes Camden different from the average company beyond its exceptional people?  One answer is that Camden uses the “project management” discipline to successfully implement new technology and drive incremental income.  These skills support its operational culture of measured risk-taking and resulting innovation.

Recommendation

After a bumpy start in the late 1990s, new technologies are poised to dramatically change apartment operations for the better.  Consider web-based property management systems.  These new systems can speed the flow of information and money through multifamily companies, but rolling them out is a complex project.  Fortunately, it is the kind of project that lends itself to the project management discipline: it has a clear goal, a finite life and requires the cooperation of disparate groups of people who don’t usually work together or make decisions together.

I urge every firm that wants to effectively adopt new technologies to send several associates, at all levels, to at least one project management class.   Project management skills are not only useful in adopting new technologies, they are essential for evaluating new lines of business and getting more from your teams.  The discipline is taught at almost every state university and most junior colleges.  There’s even a “Project Management for Dummies” book.  If you are not familiar with it, as I wasn’t before I took a class in it, make it a priority.  You need these skills.

Project Management Class – My Experience

In 2002 I took a nine-week project management class though U.C. Berkeley’s extension program.  It was like learning a new language that people around me had been speaking for years.  It changed my whole understanding of how to manage complex tasks.   In the class, students worked in teams using classroom lessons to manage a new business project.  My team’s project was to build a photography web site.  I can honestly say that it was a humbling and eye-opening lesson.   These are just a few of the things we learned. 

• We shouldn’t get frustrated or lose direction when we made mistakes or discovered that we had been overly confident.  Instead, we were taught to plan for this and to budget time and money to account inevitable mistakes.

• Our group was diverse and wouldn’t ever meet socially.  Project management gave us a neutral framework for working as peers that we wouldn’t otherwise have shared.  

• Open, honest communication is critical.  Beyond incorporating the particular expertise of each team member, it was even more important to acknowledge the feelings of everyone involved.  We had six people and six very different reasons for being motivated.  In night extension school, no one’s afraid of the teacher, so we had to figure out what motivated everyone to keep the project moving. 

•  In the end, we spent just $20 to build a working, attractive web site even though none of us knew how to do so when we started.  Through teamwork, we pooled research and resources to create valuable skills that we now all have.  (I actually used the experience to build my own photography web site at www.pacific-landscapes.com.)

Conclusion

Anyone can buy property.  In the long run, though, operational success depends on how well you leverage your team and your limited resources.  Project management skills provide a roadmap to consistent success in implementing new ideas and products that add profit on the margin.

One caveat – to be effective, all levels of management need to possess strong project management skills, including the CEO and COO.  The role of the senior executives in sponsoring, monitoring and motivating projects is important and specific – just as important as that of the project manager.

Disclosure notice: In 2005, Joshua Tree Consulting has been engaged or retained by the following companies or people mentioned in this report: SureDeposit.