To be fair, all owners have on one or more occasions stood to bear witness to the King’s Justice and asked themselves of their King, “Who the heck do they think they are?”

To understand the dynamic between board and owners, it is essential you empathize with their respective situations. The board members sacrifice their personal time in order to make and implement decisions they feel are for the betterment of the Realm, and at no personal gain. So they may be as cold as Castle Black (very cold) when met with criticism from their subjects. On the other side of the proverbial sword of Valyrian Steel, the owner pays their monthly assessment (or is expected and made to pay) and gets virtually no say on how it gets spent or what is done and when. And they are expected to sit still and take it as they watch their neighbor’s driveway get replaced while they have reported that theirs has sunk down below the garage apron for the past year.

So, what do you do? The short answer, of course, is put yourself in their boots.

For managers (and the savvy board members reading this magazine), it is important to remember that the association members rarely see or understand the big picture. How could they? Most of them don’t come to meetings, and as such, aren’t privy to the discussions and debates between the board and management. Association members aren’t likely to read this magazine so it would be easy to pick on them, but it’s important to remember that, although most owners will never serve on the board and rarely go to meetings, and owners will usually only be heard from when they have a gripe …they are still paying a good chunk of change every month for the good of the Realm.

It isn’t suggested that this entitles owners to have all of their expectations met, but it does mean board members owe it to the owners (and to themselves!) to keep everyone informed. It is the only way to improve a poor owner-board dynamic. A board member, no matter how much they care about their association, is not going to stay on the board for long if they are repeatedly attacked and criticized by owners. And a problem owner who believes he or she is not being taken seriously is never going to go away. A disgruntled owner may even eventually launch a coup.

Now, “How do you improve communication?” you may ask. Most of your associations don’t have the volunteer manpower to put out a regular newsletter. Should you mail out the minutes to the owners so they know what was discussed at the meeting? Sh-sh-sh… did you hear that? That was the sound of a hundred attorneys cringing at once.

The method in which you deliver the information is not relevant. It’s what you tell the owners and, more

10 | COMMON INTEREST®

importantly, when you tell them that will improve the communication and board-owner dynamic so that you can avoid board members burning out or being overthrown by outraged owners.

So, what do you tell the owners? Simple: Everything you can. When do you tell them? Simple: As soon as you know. You must make it a point to answer the owner’s questions before they have a chance to ask them. In most cases, however, no one wants to serve on a newsletter committee and nothing you do will put posteriors in the seats so owners obtain information at association meetings. Any good attorney will tell you that you should never include any discussion in the minutes, however informative it may be.

So, okay, how do you communicate to the owners what the board is doing and why? Read on noble Lords and Ladies. We’re almost there.

Over the course of a year, you are likely going to send out several ravens, er… uh, notices to owners. If for nothing else, then at least the notices for the quarterly meetings and the annual election will be sent. That is at least 4 opportunities per year where you can include a brief memo to the owners advising them of the Board’s goals and plans, both short term and long term.

Does this sound like you are appointing yourself as newsletter committee? Perhaps. Does this mean you may be going above and beyond the services outlined in your management agreement? Perhaps. But as sure as only the darkest of magic can bring back the dead, and only then as a mere shell of their former self, it is equally certain that the more informed your owners are, the happier they are.

So, maybe it’s worth including a few FYI bullet items in that next meeting notice. Maybe it’s worth it to let the owners know when you send the meeting notice in June that, due to excessive rains, trimming of the shrubs will be in late July this year. It may not be your job to spend this extra 10- minutes, but if it saves you an hour or two of phone calls from owners asking about when those landscapers are going to come out for the first pruning, isn’t it worth it?

Is it your job requirement to prepare a memo to accompany your annual meeting notice sent in October that lists 1) the buildings on next year’s paint rotation, 2) which years the other buildings will be painted, and 3) a line or two explaining that while some buildings also need attention, phasing the buildings in this order is the only way the board can have all buildings painted without having to increase assessments or levy a special assessment? No. But how many phone calls would it eliminate?

You’re a manager. You know that if the bushes aren’t trimmed by the first week or June, people from every association you manage are going to call ask why not

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