Your strata community should carefully consider the traits that are important to you so that you could hire the appropriate and fit strata manager. After all, your aim is to hire a trusted advisor – your strata manager.

There are many traits of an effective strata manager. Here are what we think are the 5 traits that you should consider when you hire your next strata manager.

1. Committed and Dedicated

An effective strata manager should be reasonably committed and dedicated. Your strata manager should treat all customers with the same high level of care. Their time should be dedicated enabling the committee’s decision making easier. Their attention should be to the commitment of being a trusted advisor of the strata community.

2. Experienced and Transparent

Experience is important for an effective strata manager. Your selected strata manager should have sufficient exposure in dealing with a strata community with similar characteristics as your development. They should also have a network of strata experts within their reach, which your strata community will need to access from time to time. That way, your strata manager would effectively guide you in an effective and smooth daily operation of your strata community. In our view, transparency is also a necessary trait of an effective strata manager. They should be able to provide accurate reporting on all financial matters and carry out appropriate consultation with the committee, especially when it involves engagement of strata contractors and service providers. By having this trait, the strata community is assured of the integrity of their strata manager.

3. Professional

Your strata community would want a strata manager who demonstrates professionalism. Such a trait is crucial in a strata manager because they should be able to execute the duties that they agreed to carry out, which includes compliance and administration of finance management, insurance management and meeting matters.

4. Proactive

Another trait to look for in a strata manager is their level of responsiveness. An effective strata manager takes a proactive and not a reactive approach in dealing with the strata matters which includes, but are not limited to asset maintenance, accounting, disputes and by-laws or rules enforcement).

5. Effective Communicator We cannot over emphasise the importance that to be an effective strata manager, you must be an effective communicator. Avoidable conflicts in strata management usually comes from poor communication. An effective strata manager would keep an open and healthy channel of communication amongst the strata community members with a goal to reach a resolution. The strata manager should be able to demonstrate that they are an effective listener so that the strata community’s needs are understood and reasonably responded to.

Strata enthusiasts, you could probably think of other traits that make up an effective strata manager. Please share your views by writing them in the comments section.

There you go. The 5 traits of an effective professional strata manager. If you are part of a strata committee, consider the importance to your strata community of the 5 traits that we have shared with you. On the other hand, if you are a strata manager, you could reflect and consider if there are some traits, from what we shared, that you could work on and improve. Because remember, you should – continue upgrading yourself. This is Rochelle Castro, speak to you next time in Strata Life podcast!