P of M – Good Move!!
Your first post indicated that you moved to self-management “because of high unit management fees”, but I suspect that you also want some control over how your money is spent.
If my suspicion is correct and your neighbour feels the same way, then I’d suggest that for the time being at least you keep a tight rein on the delegations given to the Strata Manager by the Owners Corporation (i.e. both of you).
You don’t want to “hire a dog and bark yourself”, but your Owners Corporation (O/C) can insist upon things such as a minimum two quotes for common property works and for insurance accompanied by recommendation/s by your Strata Manager, and that no expenditure may be made for other than routine items such as utility charges and grounds maintenance without the prior approval of the O/C.
Once your O/C is confident that the Strata Manager is providing the service that you require, then you can back-off a little and perhaps ask them to just advise you about what they’re doing as opposed to seeking the OK before doing it.