decisions that benefit a
large community such as a county, school or park district, city or state, residential associations are focused on a smaller-scale version of community: a neighborhood, subdivision, or even a single building. As such, the decisions being made and efforts to govern may feel more personal and more scrutinized.
What is not unique about common interest realty association governance and leadership issues is that “… board members tend to be volunteers who come to meetings with a slew of other commitments and distractions…”1 Non-profit boards that volunteer their time are busy and distracted by life. What to do in the face of this reality?
What is the secret sauce to those boards that operate successfully despite these challenges and circumstances? Focus, processes and procedures, compromise, cooperation, teamwork, trust, and a sense of common purpose. They work together.
Tangibly, that means that they adopt best practices for management to work with the board and the community, best practices for board members to work with one another, and best practices to deal with their constituents (aka homeowners and neighbors).
CONSULTATION and PROFESSIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Large for-profit and not-for-profit boards often hire consultants to assess their businesses, management and direction. They spend thousands of dollars to receive this advice because it is valued and worthwhile. Another place consultation is viewed as crucial is within the municipal government. Municipalities are a close cousin of community associations.
Community association management companies offer varying degrees of service to community associations,
depending
upon the board’s need. However, by and large, when hiring a management company, you engage a professional community association manager (or managers) with knowledge and experience in this industry. The manager is someone with the skill set to evaluate situations, make recommendations and help the board to arrive at sound decisions. This skill set can be a blessing for your community if you let it. Utilizing a management company brings teamwork to the table. That’s just the truth. Behind that truth, tangibly, is respect and processes and procedures for a board to accomplish its objectives.
Without this type of guidance, board members may have different goals, and they may make their own assumptions and rules inconsistently, or without considering the big picture. Sometimes it’s hard to verbalize this lack of direction as what it is. When a board focuses too narrowly on each issue instead of processing each topic with the same set of rules and procedures, it does itself a disservice.
COMMUNICATION ISSUES ON THE BOARD
One universal problem that faces most boards is insufficient respectful communication. It happens here and there: perhaps one board member takes a matter personally, or feels they are not being heard or their concern is not given adequate attention, and the next thing you know, heated or disrespectful words may be exchanged. Before speaking, a board member should ask him- or herself, – “would I behave this way if I were speaking to someone at work?” That sums it up. Knowing this requires self-awareness, which is one of the tenets of Emotional Intelligence.
28 | COMMON INTEREST®
• Spring 2021 • A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter
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