Hannah Carney: Managing a PM team during COVID-19

As the industry adjusts to the challenges of operating in the time of COVID-19, we revisited some Rockend Rockstars to see how they are coping.  

In the first of the series, Hannah Carney of Schwarz Real Estate shared with us about what she sees as the challenges being faced by property managers in this pandemic, how she and the team are adapting, the concerns of tenants and landlords and how they are addressing them. 

While many businesses struggle to operate as usual amid restrictions and stay at home measures, Hannah credits their cloud-based system in ensuring a smooth remote work setup for her team even under extraordinary circumstances. “We’re very much a cloud-based office (to begin with) so in regards to everyone being able to do their job, that hasn’t changed drastically.”

But the pandemic has also presented unique challenges for Hannah and her team. One of these is the resignation of a property manager, which prompted Hannah to step up and take on a portfolio on top of doing her own job. But rather than seeing this as a burden, Hannah acknowledges that it has been a great opportunity for her to refresh and improve her skills. This period of social distancing also shed a focus on keeping team morale up. Hannah explains that daily morning meetings over video conferencing have been helpful, “We do a lot of team bonding and morale building exercises to keep everyone’s spirits up.”  Hannah also discussed the struggle of property managers in getting information from tenants when it comes to rent concessions and shares the importance of a standardised process and being proactive when escalating concerns in getting it done efficiently. 

*Rockend Rockstars is a video series in partnership with Property TV. As part of the series, property commentator Kevin Turner talks to some rockstars of the property management industry about their business, tips, and personal stories.

Missed an episode? Watch more Rockend Rockstars episodes here.