When SaverOne commercialized its technology to block smartphone notifications at the touch of a button, it was just the latest of the many “distracted driving” technologies to hit the market after the automotive industry suffered a spate of accidents caused by inattention by drivers. But SaverOne accomplished something that other inventions hadn’t: it focused on solving the problem by starting with the human operator (i.e. driver, in this case) rather than focusing on the technology directly. The automobile in theory cannot be operated unless the driver isn’t using their phone; but the driver was given the means of turning off the phone’s notifications and, as a result, turning off their own temptation to use it. In short, SaverOne’s invention prevented distracted driving by looking past the car and targeting the driver.
Could the concept work in commercial property management contract and administration practices? Could innovative technology yield better efficiencies by targeting not just the problems themselves but by looking beyond processes and uncovering the human factors that may make them inefficient? In doing so, could an entire system evolve not only for the office but for the real estate industry itself, reinsuring the safety and efficiency of workflows that, like the act of driving, involve humans who are likely to be distracted?
There are a number of advances in commercial property administration that aim to simplify the workflow for real estate assets. Mobile platforms (like real estate drives like OPTEON) give managers and their channels the ability to access data and property information wherever they are located. Cloud and FTP storage services ease the sharing of documentation spanning across a number of parties. Time keeper apps like logmein allow commercial tenants to clock in and out of a computer remotely, granting managers with overall insight into tenant practices. A number of tools allow commercial property managers to provide digital signatures on work orders and contracts, such as e-signatures or DocuSign. Software can also allow the electronic signing of management documents, permits, and accreditations.
The goal of commercial property management technologies is to, in a sense, automate workflows that involve people who act inefficiently despite all that tech. In looking to the idea that we can automate people, what types of opportunities do we have for making workflows that involve people more efficient? Here are some ideas:
Then make it happen! What’s great about looking at commercial property workflows holistically is that improved efficiency doesn’t just evolve out of technology itself. We’ve seen contextually how smart phones, while being used, don’t prevent distracted driving-and safer driving can emerge from the simple act of blocking notifications. Similarly, we’ve seen that smart buildings don’t necessarily mitigate concerns of tenant security or control. So, the solution lies in understanding the human element that the commercial property managers and tenants possess and working outwards. What about each of their routines isn’t working? What would they find useful-and would they use it if it was there?
Savvy commercial property managers will understand that these human elements make up virtual infrastructure that’s already in place. Therefore, systems that tap into that infrastructure should be able to yield efficiencies despite the technology.
A commercial property management contract is just that: a contract that lays out the expectations and deliverables of a commercial property manager to its client, usually a commercial real estate owner or landlord. The contract may cover anything from expectations of the property manager with regard to rent collection to understanding of a tenant’s right of quiet enjoyment to maintenance and repair of the commercial real estate property itself. The contract benefits both the real estate asset and the tenant because it requires the commercial property manager to fulfill their duties and to develop a consistent managerial system that yields efficient workflows, sheltering tenants from gaps in service that could affect their leasing experience. As such, the contract serves as the framework for a synergistic relationship between the real estate manager and its tenant; it minimizes the risk to tenants and property owners and ultimately ensures that both parties’ interests are being fulfilled.
In the commercial real estate market, the human elements present in property management contracts are by no means rigid variables; they vary from business to business and city to city. Identifying technology solutions, therefore, is about establishing what innovations will actually work-what problems they’ll solve through that understanding of the human element and which parties will benefit from such technologies. And to bridge the gap between those parties, the technology producer will first need to acquire the necessary technological infrastructure to service those customers, just like a commercial property manager needs the infrastructure to service its clients.
And so, to prove most successful, technology platforms touted by commercial property managers are ones that target human-based practices by looking not just at the workflows but at the humans involved in them.
