PMCs that use a problem tracking system?

Started by BillD16 • 6 replies • 251 views

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BillD16 (Texas)
Posts: 971

Posted:

We’ve had a number of issues with our PMC this year, mostly related to lack of responsiveness.

It struck me that some kind of problem tracking system might help with this. Ie, there’s an issue: “no hot water at the pool showers”. Someone on the Board goes to the system, opens up a ticket and details the issue, they hit Send and the ticket goes to someone at the PMC who accepts the ticket. They update the ticket as progress is made and close the ticket when the issue is resolved (or, more realistically, “closed”).

I used to use systems like this all the time back when I was gainfully employed. Sometimes they sucked, but they usually worked okay: issues didn’t get lost or forgotten, and even if progress was slow, you had an objective way to track what’s going on.

Are there PMCs out in the real world who use a problem tracking system like this?[1]

BillD

[1] I know we’re not supposed to mention business names here. Cool. Really, I just want to know if there are PMCs out in the world that actually *do* this? Or am I simply ahead of my time? *cough*

HOA Board ex-President
Austin, Texas USA

“You can’t put too much water in a nuclear reactor”

JohnT38 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,631

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By BillD16 on 07/19/2022 5:05 PM
We’ve had a number of issues with our PMC this year, mostly related to lack of responsiveness.

It struck me that some kind of problem tracking system might help with this. Ie, there’s an issue: “no hot water at the pool showers”. Someone on the Board goes to the system, opens up a ticket and details the issue, they hit Send and the ticket goes to someone at the PMC who accepts the ticket. They update the ticket as progress is made and close the ticket when the issue is resolved (or, more realistically, “closed”).

I used to use systems like this all the time back when I was gainfully employed. Sometimes they sucked, but they usually worked okay: issues didn’t get lost or forgotten, and even if progress was slow, you had an objective way to track what’s going on.

Are there PMCs out in the real world who use a problem tracking system like this?[1]

BillD

[1] I know we’re not supposed to mention business names here. Cool. Really, I just want to know if there are PMCs out in the world that actually *do* this? Or am I simply ahead of my time? *cough*

Ours did. Homeowners could open up tickets and track it. Board members could also add tickets and see all tickets and sort them by age, status, type, etc.

MaxB4
Posts: 3,513

Posted:

Most HOA specific software include a maintenance tracker and there are really robust systems that can be added to existing software.

MichaelT21 (Arkansas)
Posts: 501

Posted:

Bill,

I had similar thoughts today. I'm sort of a perpetual college student and most colleges that I have attended recently require that you open tickets to talk to the registrar office, business office, etc. It helps them track the correspondence better than e-mail.

Yes, I found one property management company that does just that. It's a virtual PM company. I believe you open tickets to have issues resolved and they resolved them. Since they are out of state or out of nation, it's quesetionable as to their effectiveness but yes they do that model.

I will say that I also keep my own tracking spreadsheet of everything that we hand to the property manager to handle. These days that is not much. Then I have records that will show that the property manager has failed to do what we need them to do.

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

Yes, we call them work orders.

Owners can submit them for me to review and I can create them myself. They are viewable to the board in a board portal. I can assign a vendor, update notes and status.

BillD16 (Texas)
Posts: 971

Posted:

Thank you, everyone! It helps to know that such PMCs exist{1}.

As it seems likely that we will indeed be changing PMCs this year, I’m attempting to come up with a set of functional requirements. Use of a problem tracking system is a requirement I’m willing to push for. We do indeed keep lists of Issues as we become aware of them - but this is of dubious utility when our PM simply won’t respond or acknowledge the issues we send them.

I mentioned elsewhere that my current ‘strategy’ is ‘patience’. With 3 new Board members, including a new President … I can run my mouth and tell them how rotten things are with our PMC, and they’ll say “yes, that’s bad” - but it’s going to take a little time for them to personally experience just how awful things are. Ie, for “yes, that’s bad” to transform into “OMG, I had no idea!”

BillD

{1} I’ve gotten it wrong. For instance, not long ago our Landscaping & Irrigation contractor wanted to talk to me about network-connected irrigation controllers and sensors, and I was quite enthusiastic, imagining a lovely integrated, centralized web portal that would allow a single person to control / schedule / monitor irrigation on a very large property. Then he and I talked and I found that the state of the art is years away from what I had envisioned :/

HOA Board ex-President
Austin, Texas USA

“You can’t put too much water in a nuclear reactor”

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

Work orders are standard in most management software. Certainly the Big Three companies have them, and midsize ones should too. The issue isn’t software it’s (as it always is) whether people use it. In my experience managers skew older, and tend to cling to the legal pad and white board way of doing things.

If you’d like to talk actual company names email me barbaramcthomas at gmail .

I know or have worked for just about every MC in Texas, lol.

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