Findings from a 12-Month Study of Board–Manager Communication by Fine Art Ventures and VPM Property Management
Summary
This study examines one year of email communication between building boards and property managers across VPM's New York City portfolio, totaling 2,406 emails.
We found that property managers devote about 60% of their time to board communication, with 41% of emails focused on alignment tasks like clarification, scheduling, and status. Email functions as the primary coordination system for reporting and decision-making between property managers and building leadership.
Key Findings
#1. Communication Volume Is Significant
The dataset contained 2,406 emails between boards and property managers over a twelve-month period. That represents an average of around 200 emails per month for property managers at VPM. This figure may appear manageable in isolation, but it compounds rapidly across multiple buildings and managers.
#2. The Average Board Sends 30 to 35 Emails per Month
The five most active boards in the dataset accounted for 1,926 emails throughout the year, averaging about 30 to 35 emails per board each month. Smaller boards typically generated 10 to 20 monthly emails, while large and complex cooperatives exceeded 60.
#3. Coordination Peaks During Compliance and Maintenance Cycles
Email volume peaked during key operational months: May (55% above average), November (43.5% above average), and April (37% above average). These spikes align with inspection and permit cycles as well as annual budget and compliance periods such as HPD registrations, FDNY renewals, and BOI notices. The timing shows how communication intensity in property management mirrors the regulatory and seasonal rhythms of building operations.
#4. Each Email Is a Mini Project for the Property Manager
Responding to a single email from building boards often requires reviewing prior threads, checking invoices or proposals, and confirming with vendors or supers. What appears to be a quick response may sometimes take even a full business day, especially when verification steps are included. Multiplied across hundreds of emails each month, this creates a hidden layer of work that consumes both time and energy for property managers.
#5. Board Emails Focus on Core Operational Issues
Most board messages are not about initiating new work but about confirming that existing projects and maintenance items are moving forward. The data shows that communication clusters around recurring operational themes.
The largest share of emails related to building systems such as HVAC and electrical systems (34.7%), followed by meetings and governance (16.4%), inspections and compliance (12.5%), finance and invoices (11.9%), and contracts or bids (11.6%).
Boards want to know what’s happening, what’s next, and whether key items—repairs, approvals, or inspections—have been completed. The pattern highlights how much of property management revolves around maintaining momentum and keeping every moving part on schedule through steady, detail-driven communication.
#6. The Nature of Board Emails Is Primarily Clarification and Coordination-Oriented
Within the dataset, 20.5% of messages sought clarification, 12.4% related to scheduling or access, and 8.4% asked for status or timing updates. Together, these categories accounted for 41% of all board communication
This concentration of alignment requests shows how much of a property manager’s workload revolves around coordination rather than execution. Managers spend a large share of their time confirming details, aligning expectations, and maintaining shared understanding across multiple stakeholders. Email serves as the default space for this alignment work, capturing the ongoing effort required to keep complex building operations moving in sync.
#7. Email Coordination Consumes 60% of a Property Manager's Time
We estimate that approximately 60% of a property manager's working time is spent responding to boards and their requests. Each email from boards represents a question, update, or request for documentation, forming a steady stream of micro-tasks that collectively demand significant administrative attention. Managers must constantly switch between projects, search for old emails, and reconcile decisions across multiple threads to answer questions, prepare financial reports, gather vendor updates, and organize compliance information. Over a month, that equals roughly 96 hours, and over the course of a year, approximately 1,200 hours, or about 30 full workweeks, spent solely on coordination through email.
#8. Quantifying the Financial Cost of Email Coordination
The average property manager in New York City earns approximately $104,000 per year, or $8,670 per month. With 60% of their time dedicated to board-related communication, roughly $5,200 per month, or $62,000 per year, is spent per property manager on handling emails, requests, and follow-ups with building boards and owners. These figures do not include opportunity costs or lost productivity, only the direct time value of coordination.
#9. The New York City Environment Intensifies Coordination
New York City’s property ecosystem is uniquely complex, with overlapping inspection cycles, seasonal maintenance windows, and strict compliance deadlines. Managers often juggle simultaneous projects, vendor schedules, and regulatory requirements, which amplify the need for constant coordination. These environmental pressures turn the inbox into a mission-critical system for managing moving parts.
#10. The Problem Is Structural, Not Behavioral
Boards and property managers share the same goals and standards of professionalism. The communication burden they face is not a matter of inefficiency but of the tools available.
Email, built for simple correspondence, has evolved into the backbone of complex operational coordination between boards and property management companies. It scatters information across inboxes, creates redundant effort, and forces managers to continuously rebuild context across fragmented email threads.
Where We Go From Here
Fine Art Ventures is already building a collaboration tool for VPM Property Management and the boards it serves to reduce unnecessary back-and-forth, improve shared visibility, and create a smoother, more transparent experience for everyone involved. Our shared goal is to build systems where collaboration between boards and property managers feels effortless and progress is visible to all.
Collaborators
Fine Art Ventures builds technology that makes property management simple. The company designs solutions to bring peace of mind and freedom to those who manage properties. Through artificial intelligence and automation, it transforms operational complexity into systems that run autonomously.
Learn more at www.fineartventures.ai.
VPM NYC Inc. is a New York–based property management firm that supports building leadership and owners with reliable, attentive service. The firm focuses on protecting property, keeping operations organized, and giving decision-makers clear financial visibility and accountability.
Learn more at www.vpmnyc.com.