Defining Roles and Teams for a Centralized Model: How Operators Are Redesigning the Org Chart

In our second webinar of the Centralization Webinar Series reboot, we explored what it takes to build the right team for a centralized model. We talked about how activity mapping can unlock opportunities for reorganization of work & how to structure the teams doing that work. We also previewed the areas of specialization - leasing, administrative, and maintenance - coming to life in the property management industry. 

Here’s what stood out.

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Takeaway One: Automation Reduces Workload and Opens The Door to Restructuring

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In the property management industry, AI and automation aren’t about replacing people. We’re already short-staffed and can’t fill all open roles. Automation is about removing the repetitive work that’s currently bogging down your onsite teams. Lead follow-ups, rent reminders, lease file audits, invoice processing. All of these tasks are prime for automation and they free up your most valuable resource - time.

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The work that remains is what charts the creation of new centralized roles and a re-envisioned onsite experience. 

In the webinar, we visualized this shift using activity mapping: defining what tasks must remain onsite, what can be done remotely or at scale, and what can be automated entirely. With newly created time, operators have the opportunity to create a model that works for their business and culture.

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Takeaway Two: AI Unlocks New Automation Opportunities, But It’s Just The Beginning

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A really impactful exercise that we recommend is activity mapping, whereby you go through 100+ tasks performed by onsite teams and identify:

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• Can this task be automated?
  
  
• Can this task be centralized?
  
  
• Does this task require someone physically onsite?

EliseAI provides a free activity mapping resource to help operators visualize current workloads and define future staffing models. In the session, we walked through a sample analysis of two properties and showed how automation naturally unlocks free time across all roles. But that free time only creates value when it’s paired with a deliberate decision about what to automate, what to redesign, and what to focus onsite.

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Takeaway Three: Centralized Roles Fall Into One of Three Categories

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As teams begin centralizing, most roles fall into one of three core functions:

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• Leasing (top-of-funnel lead management and bottom-of-funnel application processing)
  
  
• Administrative (rent collection, resident support, financial reporting)
  
  
• Maintenance (scheduling, vendor coordination, preventative work order planning)
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In a poll during the session, administrative roles were the most common entry point into centralization, followed by leasing. Maintenance opportunities are on the rise as new intelligent routing, scheduling, and communication tools become available.

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You don’t have to centralize everything at once, but you should be intentional about where you start and how you expand.

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Takeaway Four: Start with One function or Fast-Track with Two

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Operators today are starting with one function or fast-tracking two, based primarily on the scope of their portfolio and existing central operations. Starting with one role lowers the barriers for adoption and makes for simpler change management. Once adopted, performance and savings can build momentum quickly to support portfolio rollouts.

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Introducing two roles simultaneously will speed up adoption and maximize ROI, but requires intensive considerations around change management and internal communications. The scale of existing central support, portfolio size, asset types under management, and the geographic density of your portfolio are all factors in determining which path is right for your team.

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Takeaway Five: Purposeful Org Design Will Set You Up for Success

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Once you’ve defined the centralized work, it’s time to build your team. But start by asking yourself these questions:

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• Where will your centralized team members sit? (Onsite, regional pod, corporate, or remote?)
  
  
• Where will the team live in your org chart? (Part of Operations or a standalone department?)
  
  
• Who will staff these roles? (Balance of internal promotions vs. external hires?)
  
  
• How will you rebalance onsite staffing? (Natural attrition vs. proactive restructuring?)
  
  

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Smaller operators may benefit from regional pods or shared team members. Larger portfolios may need dedicated departments and remote structures to move quickly and cover wide geographies.

We see operators follow two primary approaches:

Existing Department: 
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• Centralization is assigned to an existing department head (often Ops), who takes it on in addition to their current scope
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• Pros of this approach include:
   
  
  • Quick to launch using existing team structure
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  • Built-in credibility with onsite teams makes change management easy
• Cons of this approach include:
  
  
  • Centralization competes with other priorities, slowing execution
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  • Often requires an added layer of management to scale

Dedicated Department:
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• A new leader is appointed to own centralization end-to-end, with authority to build or reassign a focused team
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• Pros of this approach include:
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  • Purpose-built teams drive change faster, resulting in more focused execution
  • They also reduce overhead by consolidating management
• Cons of this approach include:
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  • Higher upfront investment to staff or backfill roles
  • Potential delays if external hiring is needed

In general, we see that best-in-class organizations tend to opt for dedicated centralization departments.

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What’s Next in the Series

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This session focused on working through your strategy: defining your roles, your teams, and your centralized structure.

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In the next three webinars, we’ll dive into implementation. We’ll look at how AI and automation are supporting the centralization of:

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• Leasing Roles: lead coverage, leasing coordination, screening, and lease generation
  
  
• Administrative Roles: rent collection, compliance, resident questions, financial reporting
  
  
• Maintenance Support: dispatching, communication, and portfolio-wide work order efficiency

We’ll cover automation opportunities, process mapping for centralized workflows, and envision centralized team structures to support modern operations. 

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Sign up for the series here, or get in touch with us via the form below if you'd like to learn more about EliseAI's purpose-built centralization tools.