A typical day for a commercial property management firm is drastically different from ten years ago. Commercial property management has advanced at a tremendous rate, with new trends emerging faster than ever. You must be able to adapt and roll with the punches to have ongoing success as a property manager.

Collaborative Workspaces

Collaborative workspaces are part of the sharing economy. They involve a shared office, with everyone doing an independent activity. Unlike a conventional office, co-workers are not employees of the same organization. This style of working appeals to work-from-home professionals, contractors, freelancers, and people who want the synergy that occurs from working with people who value working alongside each other.

Commercial property management has taken to the new concept considerably. Shared workplaces allow companies that do not want to lock themselves into a 10-year lease to “subscribe” to a shared office and pay monthly. A significant factor contributing to the popularity spike among property management firms is you do not have to worry about growing too fast, if you grow, you can upgrade your plan to reflect the new size of your company. The month-to-month rental model appeals to smaller businesses that value flexibility and affordability.

Aside from flexibility and affordability, co-working spaces offer countless opportunities like networking, which appeals to smaller, start-ups. With so many different businesses under one roof, shared offices encourage you to build relationships with people you otherwise would not.
As the popularity of shared workspace grows, experts predict that 638,000 people in the united states will sign up to a co-working office space this year. In terms of commercial property management trends, shared workspaces are one of the biggest.

Sustainability Within Commercial Property Management

Energy efficiency and sustainability are becoming a huge focus for many different parties working within commercial property management. Managers want to work for a company that lines up with their personal views and see significant value on a company that shares the same morals and, opinions on specific topics. Because of this, companies that offer green initiatives or have a focus on energy efficiency often attract a more extensive, higher grade of job applicants when recruiting. It’s not only pressure from employees that are creating the need for workplace sustainability. Investor expectations are driving the focus on energy efficiency. Investors care about the bigger picture. Which is why when they see significant amounts of money being wasted on inefficiencies like left on lights or data storage systems, they push for sustainability and a change in direction.

Offices can now be seen doing the following to improve sustainability:

• Create monthly green challenges
• Assign a sustainability officer for your office
• Turn off electronics, lighting and other power items every evening
• Use cloud-based servers for software and data storage
• Embrace renewable energy
• Going paperless
• Using technology to improve your business operations

Using Technology to improve your business operations

The commercial property management industry isn’t known for its technology adoption. However, in a recent trend, the industry as a whole is beginning to embrace technology to improve their business operations. In particular, the automation of daily tasks and digital, paperless solutions are becoming the most popular.

When you use impactful commercial property management software like SnapInspect, data is visible, accessible, and measurable. You have dashboards that provide you with in-depth data about how your portfolio, employees, and overall business is performing. You also have access to information 24/7 and are not limited by location or restriction. When you use cloud-based property inspection software, you can work from any location.

Your entire business portfolio is literally in the palm of your hands (Your smartphone) when you use apps to better your business, you have unrestricted access to your business information around the clock. Your customers will also love you for using a modern solution. Through automating your business, you free yourself of back-end admin tasks, giving yourself more time to tend to your customers.

Typically, commercial property management apps run off cloud-based servers. Cloud-based technology enables you to have around the clock access to your portfolio. While allowing you to communicate in real time through the app.

Say you had a commercial property manager doing inspections out in the field that wanted a second opinion on an area E.g., a window. The same manager walking the property can take a photograph with their commercial property inspection app and upload it directly to their account. You could be in the office doing paperwork, hit refresh on your laptop or mobile device and see the photo, be able to annotate it, give comments, and suggestions. Property inspection software allows you to communicate effortlessly with the team in real time. No more confusing lines of communication, having to re-visit old inspections or spending multiple days on a single inspection.