Raine & Horne recently hosted its property management conference in the NSW Hunter Valley, where speakers used the theories of creative thinking expert Edward de Bono to enhance their daily problem-solving expertise.
Held at the magnificent Crown Plaza Hunter Valley, the theme of the inaugural Raine & Horne Property Management Retreat was ‘One Percent Better’ according to Maria Milillo, Business Support and Development Manager (Property Management) for the Raine & Horne Group.
In addition to Ms Milillo, the retreat included presentations from industry experts such as Kate Benjamin from property management consultancy firm Real Plus, and Scott Shepherd, Real Estate Consultant and Proptech expert.
“The retreat was a major success as a way of building the culture within our extensive property management network, with 12 offices from Sydney and regional centres such as Bathurst, Gosford, and Terrigal attending,” Ms Milillo said.
“We want to embrace this thirst for knowledge and networking by allowing our property managers to get together at a standalone event with other like-minded property managers.”
While the retreat addressed traditional property management topics such as account management, customer experience, growth, and technology, other significant themes of the event were ‘problem-solving’ using critical thinking and continuous improvement.
“We talked about Edward de Bono’s Six Hats, which is a critical thinking process that can help property managers problem-solve any issues that they may face in their roles,” Ms Milillo explained.
Scott Shepherd presented the opening session of the retreat about the theory of continuous improvement, while Kate Benjamin talked about ways of applying the theory within property management businesses.
Meanwhile, Ms Milillo led discussions about the value of making one per cent changes to business operations.
“The goal of the retreat is to show PMs that instead of trying to make significant or dramatic changes quickly, aiming for small, daily improvements can gradually lead to the more substantial change,” Ms Milillo said.
“The reaction from our principals and property managers from around the country to the retreat has also been positive, and we have plans for a similar event in Queensland soon.”
