“You’re only as good as your team.” ~ former NBA star Dominique Wilkins
While the above quote refers to the other players on the court, it undoubtedly applies to any career or activity that involves collaboration and leadership. If you’re an estate manager, you know that “manager” doesn’t just pertain to your oversight of the property, but the household staff, gardeners, vendors, and so on. As everything they do (or don’t do) impacts your effectiveness, not to mention your standing with the client, you’ve been very diligent about hiring them or weeding out those who were not a good fit. But what if you notice that things are not running smoothly as they should? They may not be huge mistakes that warrant a shakeup, but small cracks that if go unchecked could potentially lead to a headache for your client and a raging migraine for you. If you find yourself picking up the slack and having far too many uncomfortable conversations, it’s time to improving estate management with technology and up your team’s game with an all-in-one platform.
Let’s go on the assumption that you are already employing some sort of technology, such as spreadsheets, to map out what needs to be done, by whom, and on what timeline. You have one spreadsheet for the regular routine – what rooms are cleaned on a given day, when the laundry is done, groceries ordered, et cetera. You may have another spreadsheet regarding household expenses and when they need to be paid, and yet another regarding large projects like organizing the basement or renovating the home office. You consider yourself to be quite organized, yet somehow your directives are not being followed to the letter.
Then there are additional requests asked of you by the client, sometimes at a moment’s notice. This is where the ball really gets dropped. Perhaps a close friend, who happens to be a vegan, arrives for a visit and there are no appropriate meals prepared, or clothes the family needs for a weekend trip to London have not been pulled from storage in time.
EstateSpace is improving estate management with technology by solving these problems by giving everyone access to tasks and schedules. Not only can you upload existing spreadsheets, you can also create and share task lists within the tool. In turn, staff members can provide real-time updates when something is completed or if there is an issue you need to address. No more having to verbally explain to (and remind) others of what needs to be done, because everyone has the data at their fingertips. Moreover, they have a better idea of your primary objective, that of ensuring details are taken care of while always keeping this big picture in mind – and are motivated to help you achieve it. As actor and director Robert Townsend once said, “One of the most important tasks of a manager is to eliminate his people’s excuse for failure.” With all-in-one solutions, you are arming your staff with all the information they need to do their jobs, without having to be micromanaged. More importantly, it also allows them to see how their performance affects that of their colleagues, which goes a long way to creating a cohesive team and a household that runs like clockwork.
