When the COVID-19 calamity began to wreak havoc on daily apartment operations about a month ago, Jamin Harkness, executive vice president of Atlanta-based The Management Group, knew it would be something he couldn’t handle on his own.
With everyone involved in property management putting out their own fires—mostly the same crises he was dealing with—he decided to reach out to seven of his closest peer confidantes in the Atlanta area and arrange a one-hour roundtable call. The goal was information sharing—learn what was working and what was ahead—for this unprecedented work interruption.
The Management Group is a new smaller, but growing, management company that has six communities under development. Call participants represented small-, medium- and large-sized companies. Everyone had something to contribute.
The group discussed high-urgency topics such as working with a skeleton crew, renewals, amenities, and evictions, among other things, and decided to make the call a regular, weekly thing.
And as the days went by, everywhere they looked, another unique and critical issue arose, so more contributors were needed. Each weighed on their own networks and word of mouth, and by Week 2, there were 32 people on the call.
Week 3: 65
Week 4: 108
The greater the number of participants, the greater the information. Harkness, who has been in property management since 1997, serves as organizer, moderator, and secretary for the 11 a.m. Eastern calls. Realizing his phone system and general IT capabilities were unable to bring together a group this large, he reached out to Yardi and had them create a platform to help the calls run more smoothly through Zoom Communications.
Realizing that every participant on the call had their own jam-packed work day, he firmly kept the calls to one hour max, allowing each featured presenter five minutes of air time.
Harkness’ latest call recap covered topics such as:
- Setting up virtual leasing offices
- Virtual renewals
- Maintenance team compensation and bonuses
- The Families First Coronavirus Response Act
- Emergency paid sick leave
- Flexible payment programs
- Lender compliance
- Notice to vacate
- Emergency preparedness
- COVID-19 resources
And that was just on one call.
“Navigating this storm alone would be unwise,” Harkness says. “I am thankful for my friends and colleagues in Atlanta (and elsewhere who are joining our calls) for giving our group an hour of their time each week. Together, we work through operational challenges, most of which none of us have ever faced. Collectively, we make better decisions and will reach the other side of this crisis with fewer missteps.
“The confidence and assurance gained from gathering industry leaders who I've known and respected for years, learning from them, and talking things out is invaluable during these uncertain times.”
Call participants reach out to Harkness with recommendations of other areas to cover. A Google Docs folder and an email contact list of the call participants were created for sharing documents and expanding on topics from the fast-moving calls. Dozens of files can be found in the Google Docs folder—samples from a variety of companies on topics such as apartment policy statements, lists of resources, PPTs, resident communications about operational challenges, and other notices. The library grows each week.
Harkness is limiting the call participants to regional-level and above, with various selected consultants, HR directors, and attorneys. “We’ve invited a few suppliers, but politely have asked them to remain mute,” he says.
“There’s no playbook for dealing with a crisis such as this,” says Mike Holmes, 2020 National Apartment Association (NAA) chairman of the board and president of Easlan Management, based in Greenville, S.C. “We’re a competitive industry, but, in times like this, it’s so commendable that our owners, managers, and suppliers are able to come together, circle the wagons, and fight for our industry, sharing forms and materials with no restrictions.
“Calls like these do help to minimize the uncertainty when great minds are working together to find solutions, even for problems that maybe some didn’t even think were out there. Groups doing this like NAA, the National Multifamily Housing Council, and Grace Hill, as well as those at the local level across the country, should be thanked.”
For information on how to participate, please reach out to Harkness at [email protected].
