Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #125

Your Team Doesn’t Need Better Communication; They Need More Context

I was in our weekly leadership meeting yesterday, and like usual we took turns sharing team member highlights from the prior week. Someone took a moment to shoutout our maintenance coordinator Alex for handling a tricky client question that was unrelated to her role. She knew the answer instantly and the remark was made “Alex knows everything about what we do!” Everyone nodded in agreement and laughed. The meeting continued.

Later in the meeting I returned to this minor comment and prompted my leadership team with a question: “Why does Alex know so much about our company?”

Various answers were proposed: “She’s smart”, “She loves to know what’s going on”, “She ambitious and looking to level up”. All true—but not the actual reason that she was able to answer the client’s question. The real reason? Alex sits in a cubicle smack in the middle of our entire office. She’s works there 5 days a week, without headphones on and within earshot of everything. Every key pickup, every vendor drop-in, every team member conversation, every technician coming and going, every minor bit of chatter between team members happens within 15 feet of her. Because of this, without even trying she’s built up a deep level of contextual awareness for nearly everything happening at the company. This is a superpower. It makes her 10x more effective when dealing with any resident, property owner, vendor, code officer, or team member because she knows all the relevant details, up-to-the minute.

Remote work has taken a hammer to the cathedral of context that is working in an office together. That isn’t a condemnation of remote work; far from it. At my property management company we’re adding new remote team members all the time with no plans to slow down. But it does mean we need to find ways to deliver the context that team members need to be effective. That is our challenge.

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I love this quote from Bezos:

It’s easy to think that more communication will solve your business problems. The reality is that it will probably make things worse. You need to move a few clicks up and start asking questions:

• What task-relevant information isn’t available that prompts a desire for communication?

• Who’s asking to stay informed with more communication, and why do they need to know?

• Why are tasks or projects bouncing around between multiple people and causing this need for communication?

Communication isn’t work. It’s a slowdown and a distraction. Excess intra-company communication should be ruthlessly sought out and eliminated. It’s a symptom of friction.

Instead of communication, look for ways to provide and enhance context. Think about the context that Alex enjoys, without making any extra effort at communicating whatsoever.

A few suggestions:

1. Slack or Teams, obviously. But you have to push your team to use it liberally, and default to public channels vs private DMs.

2. A physical office makes this easier, of course. Even if only some of your team members are colocated, every little bit helps.

3. Try to get your team members connecting regularly one-on-one or in small groups (not just company all-hands or departmental meetings).

4. Rotating roles is ideal but difficult to do in practice. I’d love to hear from people who have successfully done this.

5. The higher you are in the org, the more relevant context you have. Part of your job is to deliver this contextually relevant information to those who need it. This can be in the form of memos, videos, or even a company podcast or newsletter. I’m excited about what might be possible here with AI.

Further reading from someone who’s been building context via remote teams since before I was born, see this excellent newsletter from Jon Matzner.

Preliminary Analysis: 2024 Property Management M&A

I’ve been getting some fascinating data coming through my new M&A survey… here’s a tiny little sneak peak (sorry it’s so messy… traveling this week):

If you’ve bought or sold a property management company (or book of business) in the last 12 months, here’s the survey link. A valid entry will get you all of my analysis for free as it becomes available.

New Property Management Companies For Sale This Week

Generously sponsored by Live Oak Bank’s property management acquisition team!

• Here is a property management company for sale in Lake Buena Vista, FL (asking $1.6M, 120 units)

• Here is a property management company for sale in Placer Co., CA (asking $1.9M, 200+ doors)

• Here is a property management company for sale in Charlotte, NC (asking $1.3M)

• Here is a property management company for sale in Olympia, WA (asking $250k)

• Here is a property management software business for sale in Polk Co., FL (asking $399k, 35 units)

Industry News & Events

• Property Meld acquired Mezo, an AI-powered maintenance intake solution.

• Doorvest acquired Rubik.

• Don’t forget to register for my upcoming live process build! I’m going to make a brand new lease-renewal process for a volunteer. These are some of my most-requested videos.

• Crane applications re-open in just 76 days! The most-exclusive PM business owner community is excited to welcome new members.

• Todd Ortscheid is really finding his voice with long-form articles covering the property management industry. Here’s his latest, “Letter to PM Industry Vendors.” I recommend a subscribe. Nobody keeps it real like Todd does, not even me. Note to readers: If you don’t find yourself strongly disagreeing with Todd at some point, see a doctor.

Closing Thought

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The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this newsletter. Additionally, some of the links included in this newsletter are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.