“I absolutely love it when work orders are completed, but I hate it when they pile up and aren’t finished.”

Sound familiar? Frustration over unfinished work orders is a pretty common problem, which often leads to a resentment towards incoming work requests.

But before you go and point the blame, consider this: Maybe one of the reasons you and your property management team have grown to resent work orders is due to a team communication problem.

Consider this example:

An engineer is on-duty and they see a task that needs to be performed quickly, so they plan on calling the main office to report the problem. But wouldn’t you know it, they get caught up in a planned task and forget to relay the message, or perhaps they relay the task to the team and no one picks it up.

That urgent work order request is now in completion purgatory, and as the property manager, you’re stuck dealing with the repercussions. (And that usually means an upset tenant or added cost!)

Don’t place blame, take charge

Work order communication problems are often complicated.

It may be that your property team tends to send the same work order twice or fails to properly prioritize incoming tasks. Or maybe the nonstop work order status phone calls/check-ins are distracting you from catching problems early on.

Whatever the cause, you know you need to get rid of unfinished work orders once and for all. Things shouldn’t get to the point that you and your property management team “hate” it when a work order request comes in.

So what can you do to make sure that you love work orders?

Implement a Comprehensive Property Management Software Solution

Running in circles to complete what should be a simple task is the worst.

With Property Management Software like Building Engines, you cut out the middleman and get work done more efficiently. Those frustrating extra steps that come from communicating work order updates via phone, email, and fax are eliminated.

Everything is handled instantly via the web and mobile apps. You can create, view, and manage work orders from anywhere – and with no hassle.

Automatically Eliminate Duplicate Tasks

Tired of duplicate work orders driving you and everyone nuts?

Building Engines catches duplicate work orders so you never duplicate your work. A pop up will show you the duplicate work order and ask you if you want to continue making the work order or cancel it.

That being said, work orders can also be prioritized so there will be no more delays on the heater being fixed for a minor work order like the light bulb needing to be change in a closet.

Be Quick to React, and Resolve

Assigning and completing work orders in a timely manner is the goal. You are far too busy to call and check in with your property team constantly to see if work has been completed.

Here is where Building Engines comes in handy, yet again. When a work order is created you can set a target time for how long working on a task should take, and when someone will arrive!

Transparent Work Tracking

Just like you track your delicious pizza on the Dominos Tracker, you can track the work order process.

That means from the time a request is created, to when someone is assigned, has acknowledged and opened it, arrived, completed and finally closed it. The best part of the process is that you will get notified when someone has exceeded the target time and has run into issues.

Work tracking is also beneficial in improving tenant satisfaction. Every successfully completed work order prompts them to provide immediate feedback!

Manage. Work. From Anywhere.

The life of a property manager is a busy one.

Building Engines (specifically the BE-Mobile App) will be beneficial to you because your team can check in, create, and manage work orders on the go with our work orders software. This not only eliminates the nonstop phone calls about work orders, but empowers you to monitor everything for yourself.

You even have the capability to keep files and agreements in one place! That means no more running to the office for a document, or asking for someone to drop it off on-site. It’s all stored digitally, and accessible from anywhere.

You can also keep track of issues that are constantly occurring for reporting purposes. For example, if Floor B has had five work orders for the heater, you can determine that there may be an underlining issue with the heating on that floor and can establish a plan to fix it accordingly.

Are you falling in love with Building Engines yet?