Why Wrap-Around Learning Matters More Than Ever in Block & Estate Management

It is harder to be a property manager today than at any time in recent memory.

The Hidden Cost of Hybrid & Remote Working 

The timing of all this couldn’t have been more difficult. Just as the job became more technical, society changed. The Covid pandemic ushered in hybrid and remote working. And hybrid is here to stay. As of early 2025, 28% of working adults in Great Britain are hybrid workers (ONS, 2025).

There are benefits to this shift: better work–life balance, more family time, often better wellbeing. But there’s also a cost. The informal, on-the-job learning that once happened so naturally in offices has thinned out. Junior property managers don’t overhear senior colleagues handling tough calls. They miss out on the quick “nuggets” of practical wisdom passed across a desk. The classic water-cooler learning moment is far rarer.

Just think of taking a Junior Property Manager, line by line through a budget, for example. 

And without those, making the leap from theoretical knowledge to deep understanding has become harder than ever.

Qualifications Are Essential – But Not the Whole Story

I want to be clear: formal qualifications remain vital. The Property Institute (TPI) and others continue to raise standards through structured programmes. That foundation is essential.

But qualifications were never meant to do all the heavy lifting. They provide the framework and the standards. Not the day-to-day feel of how to prioritise maintenance jobs, the ongoing soft skills upgrades, or how to recover when something goes wrong.

Those practical lessons used to come from being surrounded by colleagues. In a hybrid world, they need a new home.

Indeed, qualifications rely heavily on employers delivering on-the-job training so a firm practical foundation exists for qualification to be possible.

Filling the Gaps

So where does that leave us?

I don’t believe the answer is dragging everyone back to the office. That genie is out of the bottle, and with good reason. Families and individuals have seen the benefits and they’re not going back.

Instead, the sector needs to face reality: if hybrid is permanent, then the way people learn has to adapt. Employers can’t rely on osmosis. Training has to be more intentional, more creative, and more wrap-around than ever before.

That could mean structured mentoring, learning clubs, or e-learning that goes beyond textbooks. It could mean new ways for professionals to connect across companies and share experience. What matters is that the informal “glue” that once held training together is replaced with something equally powerful.

What’s Coming Down the Line?

This is exactly the thinking that led me to create The Block Coach — not as a replacement for qualifications, but as a way to experiment with alternative models of learning and to fill in some of the gaps left by the hybrid shift.

But this isn’t just about one provider or one programme. The bigger challenge is for all of us in the sector to ask:

How do we replace the learning opportunities that hybrid work has taken away?

How do we make sure the next generation of property managers not only pass their exams, but also grow into confident professionals?

Moving into the Future 

The sector is only going to get more complex. The legislation isn’t slowing down. Hybrid working isn’t reversing.

Which means one thing: wrap-around learning and alternative training models aren’t optional anymore. They’re essential.

The question for every employer is how to build them in.

Joe Mallon is Managing Director of 'JFM Block & Estate Management' and Founder of ’The Block Coach’.

https://www.jfm-management.co.uk/

https://www.theblockcoach.co.uk/