Great Expectations … Strata Manager Style

I'd like to start a debate that's been prompted by Daniel on the HOA Linkedin Group about strata management and get feedback from managers, executives, owners and others.

The question for debate is "What should a strata manager do?'

And, although you would think this is well settled, understood by managers, executives and owners, detailed in legislation, defined in contracts and refined by industry practice ... it isn't.

At the simplest level the debate is about whether strata managers are simply administrative assistants to owners and executives (doing basic back room work and no more than they are asked to do by executives and owners as a result of meeting decisions) or are managers proactive administrators that drive activity and initiatives for owners and executives (like a company CEO).

There's a variety of views and practices out there which is okay.  The real problem is when owners and executives expectations don't match what the manager will actually do and that's happening all the time.

If you follow Daniel's interchange with others on the Linkedin Group discussion you'll see that even smart and experienced people have significant expectation differences which seem impossible to bridge.  And, sadly executives like Daniel become resigned to an attitude of -

“If it's not in the contract, then don't expect it ... even if they talk a big game during the sales pitch. If so, we've been giving them far too much leeway and discretion. Is that how I should approach it? Have low expectations and be very skeptical and assume that they'll always be looking to bend the contract to do the minimum?”

That's a shame because managers can (and often) do a lot more than the lowest expectations Daniel's expressed.

So, what do you think?  

Francesco ...