I am beating the same drum as usual here.  First I lecture that you should define a problem before fixing it, now I am saying you should measure it before fixing it.  You probably wonder if I actually ever get to fixing the damn problem.  The answer of course is yes.  Can you fix a… Read More Public Housing: Why you should Measure your Problems before Fixing Them

Define the problem seems like an easy enough idea right?  Something is not happening or working the way we want so we just define exactly what that problem is and then we can solve it.  Wrong!  From my experience in public housing and other jobs, we often jump to the solution without ever trying to… Read More Process Improvement in Public and Social Housing: Define the Problem

My first natural response to this question is, “Why the hell are we even asking such a stupid question?”  I am inclined to gravitate to technology solutions at a housing authority because I personally feel like we as an industry are behind the times.  Most public housing authorities/social housing companies I visited across the USA,… Read More Mobile technology and Public Housing: Is it time?

Last week I wrote a little about the idea of process improvement in social and public housing.  I made it clear that I do not consider any process improvement methodology religion and that common sense can be our best friend.  With that said, I wanted to start writing about specific tools and ideas that I… Read More Process Mapping in Social and Public Housing

Can we process an annual review more efficiently?  Can we make our ADA process more streamlined?  How about improving the time it takes for us to turn a unit after a move out or increase the number of work-orders we close per day or week?  If you buy a new housing software system or start… Read More Process Improvement within Public or Social Housing:The Basics

“Our program to help seniors has really done a lot to improve the morale in our senior community!”  I heard this as I sat at a NAHRO conference several years ago and thought to myself, “How the hell do you know?”  It’s not that I questioned the value.  In many ways I believe programs to… Read More Public Housing Authorties Need to Start Using Social Return On Investment!

A year into working with social housing professionals in Germany, I can say there is a lot to be learned.  I want to focus on something that Germany does extremely well which is training and developing young talent to take on the future responsibilities of running and operating different aspects of an industry.  For our… Read More What Social Housing Companies Can Learn from Germany about Training and Developing Employees