One of my sites has a maintenance tech who is primarily Spanish speaking, but the site manager doesn’t speak Spanish

Question - one of my sites has a maintenance tech who is primarily Spanish speaking. I’m working on creating a better relationship between on site manager (not Spanish speaking whatsoever) and him to get this efficiently tackled on this property!

Any advice on how you translate work orders and communicate tasks to complete? Maybe a quick sheet guide of general property related items for a PM to communicate and translate work orders? Any fancy websites you use to completely translate work orders?

Thanks for any help!

Copy and paste on google translate and also use Google Translate phone app.I've been in the same situation and in my case he understood far more than others gave him credit for so long as theres a willingness to understand each other.

Eric Rivera that’s what has been happening so far, but doesn’t seem to be sufficient. I think this is more leadership as well

Jennifer Grzegorzewski thats where the willingness comes in, if leadership sees it as a hinderance rather than a tool to learn, grow and move forward then nothing you do will matter!! I inherited my guy from a similar situation, he was supposedly "underperforming" and when I found out they were trying to weed him out I asked for him to be transferred to me, cause I've seen his work. The man turned out to be a God send and the hardest most loyal maint tech I ever had. Heck, he even asked me to write a letter on his behalf when he applied for citizenship. I was honored to do so!!

Eric Rivera I love this and thank you for your feedback! This is exactly my thought process

Jennifer Grzegorzewski my pleasure! Best of luck!

Start with English classes, then maybe find a resident to help translate and do a walk around describing the various tasks.

I have a friend I call when I have communication issues in Spanish and Russian.

Partnerships require mutual effort.

I used Google translate and the voice translate app on my phone if I was in the field

What property management software do you use?

Christina Smith the most awful one on the market lol propertyware but please offer suggestions on one that could assist!

Jennifer Grzegorzewski lol- AppFolio offers both Spanish and English. Same for your residents. It’s great

Most of my maintenance staff & residents is Spanish speaking at one property. My office staff translate or I have Google translate. I understand more than I can speak.

PM me and I'll send you a cross reference file you can print out for him and the office

This software for property management companies has built-in translation capabilities and enables maintenance techs to assist with minor work orders remotely (from a desk or phone you already own). It can help with hundreds of languages and will translate real-time between anyone, including techs and tenants or supervisors. Starts at $20 / month.
Shoot me an email and I will give you a free trial if you like: [email protected]
www.fixzy.co.uk