2 Techniques to Improve Asset Performance
We have discussed asset management extensively in our blog posts, social media channels, and webinars including the differences between asset management and property management. We have discussed the importance of metrics, KPIs, and dashboards as well to stress the importance of visibility into a property’s performance. While those analytics greatly help us identify and isolate issues quickly, rather than 30-60 days after the fact, they don’t fix the actual issues. Fixing issues to ensure expected property performance boils down to something else—Communication. Communication between onsite staff, regional PMs, and owners is probably the most essential ingredient required for successful and profitable operations.
Most often we experience a lack of communication where information is not properly conveyed or acted upon. But over-communication is also an issue where we as owners get so inundated with emails, meetings, and data that we become numb to things. This is when the most important items that truly need our attention get lost in all that noise. Finding a balance of adequate communication on each asset while ensuring proper performance of an asset is critical. Some of the keys to that are empowering our partners and staff to take accountability for certain areas of each asset. How many times have we asked who’s responsible for some issue or task that causes an issue only to have fingers pointed in multiple directions or have shoulders shrugged.
Here are two techniques that can help build accountability and empowerment on the asset level as well as help identify root causes of issues without extensive email chains and after-the-fact analysis.
RACI
RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. It is a technique where every aspect of successful property performance is broken down into tasks (which feed our KPIs and dashboards) where we identify names and assign ownership in the following manner.
| Responsible | Who are the ones that are working on getting the task completed successfully? This can be one person or many people. |
| Accountable | Who is the ONE, SINGULAR person whose job it is to make sure the task is completed? Having this be single person will make that finger pointing and shoulder shrugging a thing of the past. |
| Consulted | Who are the people not directly involved in completing the task but are consulted for information and approvals? |
| Informed | Who are the people that are informed of the results of the task and it’s current status? |
Here is an example (should have actual names when implemented):
| Task | Complete open work orders in a timely manner consistent within communicated timeframes. |
| Responsible | Lead Maintenance Person, Maintenance Team, 3rd Party Vendors |
| Accountable | Lead Maintenance Person |
| Consulted | On-site Property Manager, Regional Property Manager |
| Informed | Regional Property Manager, Ownership Team |
Implementing this, which can be done in a spreadsheet and shared with all team members, for all critical tasks will ensure that each team member knows exactly what they need to focus on and take ownership for.
5 Whys
Getting down to the root cause of issues is critical to ensure that they not only are resolved, but that we implement plans and processes to ensure that they don’t happen again. When trying to find the true root cause of an issue, 9 times out of 10, the initial response we get back on our question has no bearing whatsoever on the true cause of an issue. While this technique is called the “5 Whys”, that doesn’t mean you have to ask “Why?” 5 times. Sometimes it will take fewer pokes to get to the true issue and sometimes it will take more. The goal here is to keep drilling down, layer by layer, to find the true heart of an issue and then take actions to resolve it and ensure it doesn't happen again. So release your inner 5-year old and keep asking “Why?”.
Here is a recent example (true story) from one of our assets.
| PM Team: | We need [owners] to approve this $5,000 bid to repair an irrigation for Building X |
| Owner: | Why? |
| PM Team: | Because shrubs are dying as they are not getting enough water. |
| Owner: | Why? |
| PM Team: | Because the water isn’t reaching those areas, so we reached out to an irrigation company. |
| Owner: | Why? We have a landscaper. Did you ask them? |
| PM Team: | No, we didn’t but we will ask them to look at this. |
| Owner: | Thank you. |
Result of this was an irrigation repair by our landscaper that boosted water pressure to the affected area. Instead of a $5,000 repair, this issue was fixed for $300. Once resolved, we make clear to everyone that we should consult our maintenance staff and current vendors to initially try to resolve an issue. That and be sure to always get multiple bids.
These are just two techniques that you can use with your asset and property management teams. There are many other techniques that can be used with various teams to achieve better results. For more information, please reach out to us at info@revisionmasters.us .
