CREJ

Page 16 — Retail Properties Quarterly — November 2021 www.crej.com B uilding a great team is the formula for success for any business. Over the past 40 years, I have found that suc- cessful teams are made up of individuals who share several attributes. n Competent. Members of the team must be smart and intuitive as our industry is ever changing. Facts, contracts and the best way to respond need to be top of mind. It is important for all team members to be capable of doing their research and able to balance standards with costs and customer service. They must be able to meet or exceed their financial goals despite the hurdles that plague today’s business world. Knowledge is key; I always tell my team members “He who reads the lease wins.” n Collaborative. A great team is diverse and inclusive allowing all team members a place at the table with their ideas, collaboration and perspective. As our on-site teams have gotten smaller, keeping a varied and diverse perspective has been a key to success. n Balanced. Team members need varied skills and strengths. A wise manager will build a team with members who have talent and strengths in different categories. If not, we see teams where the man- ager has hired people with their same skill set or opinions, which may get the job done but doesn’t create the opportunity for the prop- erty to meet its full potential. n Conscientious. There is a lot of work to do, and you need team members who have a strong work ethic and high moral standards. I have seen lazy team members who work the system, which may work for the short term. In the event they stay in the business, they never go too far or manage high-per- forming centers. They also don’t produce good team members. n Customer-service minded. We serve a lot of customers. We serve not only the general public that shops our properties but also all the restaurants and retailers or other businesses that are tenants, the communities where we are located and the owners of the shopping center and the executives of all the corporations. Costumer service must be at the forefront of all inter- actions. n Contractor team engagement. While 25 years ago most elements of operating the shopping center were done in-house, such as house- keeping and security, today we contract out these front-line ser- vices. However, while we do not co- employ these project managers and teams, they need to be an extension of the shopping center team and be culturally adaptable to the customer experience of that property. It’s interesting to consider what the on-site shopping center team should look like today vs. five, 10 or 20 years ago. Certainly, technol- ogy, real estate and retail are three of the fastest-evolving industries today. Meanwhile, e-commerce, COVID-19 and bankruptcies have been some of the biggest challenges of this decade. All of these factors are at the heart of today’s business world, including the shopping cen- ter industry. Over the past five decades, shop- ping centers have continually evolved and pivoted to meet the challenge of institutional owner- ship, changing consumer needs and ever-changing technology. The distinction in the experience of brick-and-mortar retail is most influenced by the on-site team. This team must be more aware and pos- sess more expertise today than in the past. Every company, shopping center and community has an element of culture in its values and priorities. These can be directly attributed to the demographics, geographic access and type of shopping center. Over the years the traits I have seen in successful shopping center teams are for team members to embrace a common culture – often hardworking, high-preforming, with strong moral values and good com- munity connection in a respectful and collaborative nature. The shopping center business is all about customer service to the customer, contractors, employees, tenants and the property owners. Good team members flourish and move on to make the retail land- scape stronger. I am proud that so many of today’s great shopping center pro- fessionals started at or passed through Park Meadows: Margie Munoz, Augustina Edwards, Monica Foley, April Elliot, Kim Calder Cro- nin, Jill Lais and Randy Berman here in Colorado as well as many other great professionals across the United States such as Colorado native Jake Wilson, vice president of Hawaiian Properties for Brookfield Properties Retail; David Moss, gen- eral manager of Chandler Fashion Center in Arizona; and many more as our business continues to evolve and grow. The rumor that shopping centers and brick-and-mortar are dying is grossly exaggerated; rather, there is an evolution of on-site teams that have made a commitment to their properties, the industry and their communities. s Building strong shopping center teams in the 2020s Management Pamela Kelly, CSM, CMD Senior general manager, Park Meadows The distinction in the experience of brick-and- mortar retail is most influenced by the on-site team. This team must be more aware and pos- sess more expertise today than in the past.