Will it be business as usual after lockdown or will there be long-term implications?
How much will change for property management as a result of COVID-19 will depend on the extent to which each managing agent has already digitised their offering.
At Ringley, we have long had portals for clients, owners, tenants and contractors. We already use open book accounting with instant updates to spending against budget and every invoice is online, together with arrears reports, legal debt-chase action, risk assessments, insurance, quotes in progress, cleaning specifications and more. We also have e-post opt-in, e-signing for key documents and apps to power inspections. And our lettings business Life by Ringley has been using video viewings for a while now. So we have moved pretty seamlessly to remote working and our customers should have noticed very little change in the way our services are delivered
That said, apart from the way we work day-to-day, post-COVID-19, there may be changes to the wider workplace that couldn?t have been foreseen a couple of months ago. So what will be the next normal? The pandemic will surely accelerate the decrease in space requirements per person. It is also causing the analysts among us to review and find more ways to exclude paper and print from our processes.
Ringley Group MD Maryanne Bowring believes that, for the foreseeable future, it is doubtful whether any company can expect all their people to work in the office five days a week: ?To me, it seems simpler to have a whole department out at the same time, rather than not knowing who to expect in the office each day. More casual arrangements are not the most efficient way of working,? she says.
?However,? she adds: ?I do know that while we are all working in isolation, many of our people are reflecting on the value that attending the workplace, sharing lunch and being part of a face-to-face physical team brings?.
What has changed for you during lockdown? Leave us a comment and start the conversation.
www.ringley.co.uk
Why not READ our Planet Rent Blog too: blog.planetrent.co.uk
Meet our Expert Property Commentators