Insider's Guide to Managing Public Housing. Volume 1: Diagnosing Management Problems

摘要

Volume I of a two-part guide identifies fundamental tasks involved in public housing management, highlights common management problems, and then suggests innovative ways to respond to these problems. Public housing management activities are grouped into 10 broad functional areas: general administration, project management, finance and accounting, management information, maintenance and custodial, purchasing and inventory, rental and occupancy, personnel and training, security, and social services. Individual chapters focus on each functional area, describing basic responsibilities, shared responsibilities and linkages, approaches to organizing the management function, and common problems. For example, imbalances between authority and accountability often are problems in the general administration and project management areas, while finance and accounting departments may not have adequate controls over expenditures or good practices for reporting expenses and income. Maintenance and custodial staff face some problems over which they have little control, such as aging and physically deteriorating buildings, as well as vandalism and inadequate supplies. Legal obstacles sometimes impede efficient purchasing and occupancy management, and union contracts or civil rights regulations may hinder labor productivity. Several management areas experience problems with cash flows and their work forces' productivity and performance. The guide can be used to diagnose problems, as a training document for new employees, or to educate commissioners of local housing authority boards.