Bettering Board Communication

Started by ConorM • 5 replies • 1389 views

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ConorM (Illinois)
Posts: 15

Posted:

I'd like to have a board that operates with efficiency. We're tiny, only 5 members, but we don't have the best communication practices.

What do you do to make sure info gets out, and input comes in? Email seems to be taboo for us, and I'd hate to see everything get piled on at a meeting where nothing happens.

Suggestions?

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By ConorM on 10/30/2013 10:42 AM
I'd like to have a board that operates with efficiency. We're tiny, only 5 members, but we don't have the best communication practices.

What do you do to make sure info gets out, and input comes in? Email seems to be taboo for us, and I'd hate to see everything get piled on at a meeting where nothing happens.

Suggestions?

In terms of communicating about everyday board business or on-site management issues, email is the best way to communicate. You can keep copies of all correspondence and, best of all, you don't rely on a series of verbal discussions, where communication can tangle. It can help with crafting a business meeting agenda so those issues that need board votes can be efficiently handled and debate while avoiding the "surprise factor" where directors may be caught unaware.

I'll send an email to the board of directors soliciting agenda items to be discussed (we don't vote or debate via email). If I receive none, I craft the agenda and we proceed. Following Robert's Rules, we can technically vote - supermajority approval needed - on non-posted agenda items but it's bad policy. Generally, the meetings are simply shorter or we discuss a previously unannounced proposal and the wait one meeting cycle for issuing a decision.

Email is a logistical tool for HOA boards but not a tool for policy creation or implementation.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Conor,

Is that 5 members of the Board or 5 members of the Association?

My Association is 130 lots with a Board of 3-5 members.

We communicate with our members via:

Website - minutes of meetings are posted as soon as they are approved. Draft minutes of the annual meeting are posted once written. All governing documents (CC&Rs, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and Resolutions) are also available on the site. Contact information for all Board/Committee members are available, links to applicable State laws are posted and links to neighborhood schools and parks are also included on the site. Dates of all meetings are posted on the site. Additionally, we have a forum section that any member may utilize.

Newsletter - We publish newsletters and deliver them to all residents and mail them to all nonresident members. The Newsletters tell members what decisions the board has made, work that may be done within the development, changes to trash/recycle collections, articles educating the members on different sections of the governing documents, dates of meetings, contact information, etc. Newsletters are published at least quarterly but special editions are published as well. Typically we have 5 to 6 newsletters published per year.

Flyers - We publish flyers as needed to get out immediate information (like cars needing to be moved to allow contractors to prune trees).

All Board and all Committee meetings are open to the membership. The only exeception is when an executive session is needed. Executive sessions are entered into from and return to open meetings. All decisions are made in open meetings.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Oops, perhaps I misinterpreted your posting.

If you were talking about communications amongst board members between meetings, e-mail is a must.

We send out agendas, draft minutes and various reports ahead of time so the Board has time to read them before the meeting. We try to keep the meetings to an hour. 90 minutes max. Anything not covered is tabled to the next meeting.

If you have board members that don't want to use e-mail (for whatever reason), then to achieve the same thing would require coordinating and delivering a meeting package (agenda, past minutes, written reports, handouts, etc.) to all board members x days in advance. This may increase costs for printing and work for your Secretary but without using e-mail you either have longer meetings or need to incur the expense.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Start a google group. People who want to participate can, those who do not, can choose not to.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

The funny thing about bettering communication is that you'll find at least three of your board members won't read their material or be prepared regardless of your good-faith effort. They're bored and like HOA meetings. I send emails, e-newsletters, make phone calls and even use NextDoor for some unofficial communication among the neighborhood in general. I think some of the regular residents are more informed than my board of directors.

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