QPM . A Company which cannot think beyond Quick Fixes ?

[Delight]

QPM have managed the condo where I live for a few years.

Processes such as money management are carried out very well.

However a constant feature is there lack of ability to develop a data base of lessons learned.

Which means every time a new building manager starts –the experience gained by the outgoing manager is lost to the condos.

In other words we start again

I am curious to know about the experience of others who employ this Company.

So is it a general feature of their management style –or are we just unlucky?

[Crossy]

Sadly I think all management companies have the same issue

We used to rent a condo managed by QPM. No real issues, except that it took 6 months to restore our mains electricity after the 2011 floods

[KittenKong]

None of the Thai condo management companies I have worked with can see very far beyond the end of their nose. They seem to have no conception of planning or training or making notes for future use.

I have long maintained that everything that happens or is discussed or decided or done in the building should be written down carefully in a big book, sorted into sections, so that future committees and management can consult it. Does it happen? The *#@! it does.

It's a total mystery to me why they cant see the glaringly obvious advantages of this. I think they worry that if they dont have to redo and relearn everything every few months they will be sacked for having no work to do.

[Delight]

None of the Thai condo management companies I have worked with can see very far beyond the end of their nose. They seem to have no conception of planning or training or making notes for future use.

I have long maintained that everything that happens or is discussed or decided or done in the building should be written down carefully in a big book, sorted into sections, so that future committees and management can consult it. Does it happen? The *#@! it does.

It's a total mystery to me why they cant see the glaringly obvious advantages of this. I think they worry that if they dont have to redo and relearn everything every few months they will be sacked for having no work to do.

QPM have expressly stated that they will not carry out this basic management procedure. In spite of my 2 year attempt at change. A committee meeting resolved that they would! They finally came clean and specified their policy and would not change.

At that point I resigned as Committee Chairman.

Based on your post,Kitten Kong,then 'jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire' seems to present the only option.Futile as it is.

Does anybody have experience of a Condo Management Company who can see beyond the end of their nose?

[Suradit69]

Which means every time a new building manager starts –the experience gained by the outgoing manager is lost to the condos.

How often do you change managers?

I've never fully understood how a building's approach to management is determined. Is there some supposed benefit to hiring an outside, disinterested management firm or is it simply a way of farming out the responsibility?

We have a clerical staff who handle money transactions etc. The two ladies who run that office have been there at least 15 years, possibly longer and as far as I can determine they are employed directly by the building (the juristic person or the board or some such legal entity). The maintenance & cleaning staff have, with one or two more recent additions, been here just as long and possess a wealth of experience that keeps things running smoothly. In addition we have a very capable manager, the third in that many years and, as far as I can tell, she was hired directly by our board. When the most recent was hired a few years ago the board advertised the position and chose the candidate that seemed best qualified. Our auditing firm is employed by the board. The annual audit report and decisions about major expenditures, special levies, staff pay raises, etc are proposed by the board and voted on by co-owners at the annual general meetings. The only outside personnel are the security guards who are employed by a security firm.

At least as far as I can see this ensures continuity and. even on those two occasions that I am aware of when we did hire a new manager, the long serving clerical and maintenance staff, along with a board that includes many members who have served or been otherwise involved for many years ensured that all the necessary experience and guidance was there to make for a smooth transition for the new manager.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Suradit69

[KittenKong]

I've never fully understood how a building's approach to management is determined. Is there some supposed benefit to hiring an outside, disinterested management firm or is it simply a way of farming out the responsibility?

I've always assumed that the logic is that a management company will make fewer mistakes than an incompetent committee, especially if the committee members are more interested in feathering their own nest than doing a good job for the building as a whole.

Also a management company should monitor the activities of the manager and other staff, which a committee may not have the time or inclination or ability to do, though in many cases this just doesnt seem to happen.

If you get a good manager who isnt on the take or worse then it could work well without a management company, but that's a big if. But if you also have an incompetent or dishonest management company then it's even worse.

[Delight]

Which means every time a new building manager starts –the experience gained by the outgoing manager is lost to the condos.

How often do you change managers?

I've never fully understood how a building's approach to management is determined. Is there some supposed benefit to hiring an outside, disinterested management firm or is it simply a way of farming out the responsibility?

We have a clerical staff who handle money transactions etc. The two ladies who run that office have been there at least 15 years, possibly longer and as far as I can determine they are employed directly by the building (the juristic person or the board or some such legal entity). The maintenance & cleaning staff have, with one or two more recent additions, been here just as long and possess a wealth of experience that keeps things running smoothly. In addition we have a very capable manager, the third in that many years and, as far as I can tell, she was hired directly by our board. When the most recent was hired a few years ago the board advertised the position and chose the candidate that seemed best qualified. Our auditing firm is employed by the board. The annual audit report and decisions about major expenditures, special levies, staff pay raises, etc are proposed by the board and voted on by co-owners at the annual general meetings. The only outside personnel are the security guards who are employed by a security firm.

At least as far as I can see this ensures continuity and. even on those two occasions that I am aware of when we did hire a new manager, the long serving clerical and maintenance staff, along with a board that includes many members who have served or been otherwise involved for many years ensured that all the necessary experience and guidance was there to make for a smooth transition for the new manager.

You asked how managers? 5 in as many months.

The condo where I live is small -39 rooms

Right now the committee comprises one person. A short term state of affairs

Co owner apathy determines that we must have a management company.

Given that the fees are high I guess that the co -owners feel their paying these high fees is enough of a contribution.

My view is that running a condo is a very simple business.

QPM manage to make it difficult

[KittenKong]

Co owner apathy determines that we must have a management company.

That about sums it up.

My view is that running a condo is a very simple business.

QPM manage to make it difficult

As does that.

Many Thais seem to relish making an impossible mountain out of the most simple tasks. I suspect that they do it in order to justify their jobs.