Your HOA communicates through several different methods, both when you’re communicating with your members and when you’re communicating with homeowners within the association. In order to successfully govern electronic communication methods like emails and social media posts, it’s important that your HOA develop a strong policy for those methods of communication. Read the article……………..
5 Tips to Improve Communication with HOA Communities
Communication is key in any relationship, and Condo and HOA communities are no exception. In order to foster a more peaceful environment, curb violations, and reduce misunderstandings, the board should strive to keep community members in the loop. Read the article……………..
Email Security as a Board Concern: Two Views Once That Sensitive Info Gets Out There, You Can’t Take It Back
As we’ve recently seen in the news–from the Democratic National Committee email leaks about Bernie Sanders from last year’s presidential election, to the latest in the Trump-Russia brouhaha–emails aren’t always the safest and securest method of communication. And once that sensitive information gets out there, you can’t take it back. So what does that mean […]
Emails Are a Legal Minefield for Co-op and Condo Boards (NY)
A recent decision by the state’s highest court drives home a lesson every co-op and condo board member needs to heed: if you use your employer’s computer, tablet, or smart phone to communicate board business, expect zero privacy. While the state Supreme Court had already ruled that employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy in […]
Creating a Communications Plan for Managing Your Residential Community
Communications is an incredibly essential part of any business. When it comes to managing your residential community, you’ll most likely agree that it is a core part of your operations. Whether you are managing a condo, HOA, or multi-family units, you’ll want to integrate a strong communications process in every key aspect of your business […]
The Death of Civility – Why Do Community Association Board Members Serve?
I have been to a number of community association meetings in the past year, and too many of them were contentious, confrontational, loud, rude and generally ugly. I have written a number of Codes of Conduct for adoption by boards of directors to address behavior ranging from being unprepared for the meeting to falling down […]
Condo Boards Beware: Risks Outweigh Advantages of Using E-mail to Discuss Association Business
It is a sign of technology’s fast and firm grip that few of us can remember a time when we communicated by mail (letters inserted in envelopes, affixed with stamps and delivered by the post office) rather than e-mail, delivered instantly to one recipient or dozens of them by pressing the “send” button on a […]
Great Communication Makes the Most of Vendor Relationships
Working with vendors is a large part of serving on the board of a managed community. Every community has outside partners for services like landscaping, sanitation, cable and Internet provision, pool maintenance, valet services and more. Open and effective communication among the board, the management company and the vendors employed by the association is an […]
Making Transparency a Priority in Your HOA Board
Nothing will sink your HOA board faster than secrecy. While there are times when confidentially is necessary, most often HOA board business is public information and required to be easily accessible to homeowners. Boards should always focus on clear communication with open door policies to eliminate suspicion and resentment. Here is a list of the […]
Crystal Vision: Why Communication Between a Board and Management Company Matters
As a board member, you want your community to grow and thrive. Having a vision for your community—the aesthetics of it, its reputation, the kinds of programming it offers and amenities it provides—is critical to its long-term well-being. A well-crafted vision will transcend board and resident turnover and keep your community on track. Read […]
Communication Impacts Every Part of Your Community: Do You Have a Plan?
Is your community always aware of upcoming events, scheduled construction projects and upcoming board meetings? Do they understand their responsibilities and the policies they need to comply with? Clear, effective communication from the board to the residents makes a difference in the overall well-being of any community. Poor communication, on the other hand, is a […]
Millennial Takeover: the Changing HOA Demographic
Okay, so it’s not really a takeover. But chances are, you’re starting to see signs of this changing HOA demographic with more and more millennials moving into your HOA. Millennials are sometimes called Generation Y: those who reached adulthood around the turn of the 21st century. Millennials will represent the largest group of American home […]
How To Write Emails That Get The Job Done
How many times have you ask yourself “Why doesn’t she get back to me?” I mean, seriously, how long does it take for someone to reply to an email. It only takes a few minutes but why does it take so long. Getting someone to do something is hard, it’s even harder when you’re asking […]
Building Bridges Through Better Communication
HOA communication is one of the biggest challenges of any community association. If you ask 20 HOA professionals where the biggest gap in communication exists, 19 of them will tell you that it’s between the Board of Directors and the residents of the community. How can that be, you might ask, these are neighbors who […]
Tips to Voice your Concerns and Get Results in your Community
Disagreements among homeowners and fellow board members are bound to happen. However, that’s not always a bad thing. When they’re handled properly, disagreements can lead to unexpected solutions and common ground. Below are five tips to help you keep disagreements in check and voice your concerns so you get results. Read the article…………..
E-mail Intelligence – Does Your Board Possess it?
Today, I am discussing the pros and cons of homeowners’ association (HOA) board members and managers using email for community correspondence, and how to craft a sound email policy for your association. Board members, managers and association residents are no different from everyone else you know inasmuch as they are all heavily reliant upon electronic […]
NO COMMENT?
I’ve answered thousands of questions from reporters, some of them extremely irritating. But you learn to work through tough questions and to work with tough-minded reporters. If you ask why, I’ll bend your ear about engaging with reporters so you or some other someone can tell your company’s or your organization’s side of the story, […]
Could Your Personal Emails Be Exposed?
Imagine the worst case scenario: you are on the board, the board is embroiled in litigation, and the opposing side wants to know what was said in an email. Suddenly you may find yourself facing the possibility of a third party rooting through your private email in search of information relative to the pending lawsuit. […]
HOA Target, Process & Objective
The lack of communication is often one of the biggest complaints that many boards receive. Yet, good communication is a fundamental imperative of every homeowner association. If the board is to succeed with its objectives, it needs cooperation from the members. So how is this cooperation best obtained? The board needs to identify priority targets […]
6 Practical Communication Tips for Busy Condo & HOA Managers
Effective, regular communication is your key to an efficiently managed condo or HOA community and happier residents. In fact, an official “communication plan” will help you better manage risk and relationships in your job. Here are 6 practical tips that you can start using today. Read the article………….
Five top talking points for condo communities: Make the most of communication spending with money-saving campaigns
The number one complaint at a condominium corporation’s annual general meeting (AGM) is quite often poor communication. On the one hand, owners feel left out of the decision-making loop and on the other, board directors lament that residents don’t know the rules, regularly resulting in numerous extra expenses that can eventually lead to increases in […]
Keeping condominium owners in the loop: How to use communication committees effectively
It’s one of the most common complaints in condos — poor communication from the board or management to owners. Complaints of “We don’t know what’s going on!” or “We are paying the bills and you keep us in the dark!” come up too often at AGMs or special owner meetings. Poor communication can lead to […]
Effective Communication in Your HOA
Communication is both a skill and an art form. When babies cry, the motivation is to get their needs met. Meeting the needs of others is nowhere in a baby’s method. While infant communication is primitive, it is highly effective. A crying baby gets fed, diapers changed, burped, etc. With maturity and training comes more […]
Risky Business: Discussing Association Matters in Emails
As well-known especially by those with teenagers, email has taken the place of ordinary telephone conversations and in-person communications. Unlike most telephone conversations and in-person communications, however, email communications are not ephemera. Rather, they live on in back-up tapes or disks maintained by your employer, in records maintained by your email service provider, on your […]
Surviving Each Other in an HOA
Communication is a lost art in some HOAs due to lack of basic people skills. Board members often get more criticism than praise and then along comes an abusive owner who makes unreasonable demands. But it works both ways. Sometimes it’s an owner that suffers at the hands of a domineering board. The term “Communication” […]
HOA Board Function: Keep Owners Informed
One of the main complaints of owners in HOA’s is lack of communication by the association. For example, owners who are not kept well informed will balk when it becomes necessary to raise additional funds. Even if the board has discussed the need for these funds at its previous ten board meetings, owners who did […]
Poor Communication Creates Management Mistakes
Poor communication is the downfall of just about every interaction. When people don’t understand each other properly, arguments arise and are hard to extinguish. If your HOA is having trouble communicating with residents and each other, check out these three tips that can help. Read the article…………..
Poor Communication Creates Management Mistakes
Poor communication is the downfall of just about every interaction. When people don’t understand each other properly, arguments arise and are hard to extinguish. If your HOA is having trouble communicating with residents and each other, check out these three tips that can help. Read the article…………
How to Improve Your HOA’s Written Communication
The key to an effective homeowners association is top-notch communication. That includes correspondence between community members, board members, your homeowners association management company, and vendors. Read the article………….
Watch Your Body Language in HOA Communications
Many HOA Board members present information at annual meetings, committee gatherings and other HOA events. Do you know that verbal communications only account for about 35% of how the audience perceives your message (words, tone, inflection, etc.)? The remaining 65% consists of non-verbal communication clues. If there’s a disconnect in your communications, look at your […]
Closing HOA Communication Gaps
Technology has made communication easier and faster than ever. Or, has it? It’s easy to send an email, create an e-newsletter or add website content. But, if no one reads it, you aren’t connecting. And, not everyone uses today’s technology. Do you have gaps you need to close in your HOA communications? Read the article……….
Christmas flap gets Palm Beach Post coverage, but it’s wreathed in questions
“All politics is local,” goes a saying often attributed to “Tip O’Neill Jr. Much the same could be said of the so-called War on Christmas – as in West Palm Beach, where a condo association threatened a resident for hanging a wreath on her door. Read the article………….
‘Tis the season
Here we go, it’s the holidays! And you can bet there will be headline news about excessive, over-the-top holiday decor on HOA homes. Because news media do what they do. Read the article………….
7 Signs of Stellar Communication and Follow-through
Communication is the cornerstone of any successful relationship, especially when it comes to something as important as managing the value of your home. Your HOA board members are responsible for making important decisions that protect and preserve the value of the community. Your management company is tasked with providing sound business advice to the HOA […]
How to Avoid a PR Nightmare
Success in any business — including your HOA — involves a heavy dose of PR. Just as possession is nine tenths of the law, good PR makes up the lion’s share of effective marketing. For good or bad, publicity inside or outside your community can create a lot of emotion. In an HOA, homeowners are […]
Getting good news about your HOA
It’s challenging, getting the media to run good news about an HOA, but it can be done…carefully. You need to identify something good going on — something newsworthy — because capturing the imagination of editors and reporters can be extremely challenging. There’s a lot of news and publicity competing for coverage. Recently, we’ve seen some […]
Transparency Needn’t Be Scary
Transparency is a hot topic and a buzzword that we hear a lot. But what does it mean to be transparent? We all want homeowners to understand the goals and objectives of the association but to be completely transparent means we could be open to scrutiny and criticism. Read the article………..
The Importance of Building Community in Your Community Association
Community management is about more than landscaping and lawn care. It’s about creating a welcoming atmosphere that promotes security, safety and community for all residents. As part of our community management, we help HOAs develop action plans to bolster residents’ feeling of community through shared experiences. Read the article………………..
6 Tips for HOA Media Crisis Management
If you’ve ever heard the term “any press is good press,” you also probably know that it’s a motto used by most celebrities, politicians, and even corporations in mainstream media today. Even less-than-favorable publicity is considered a bonus for these groups simply because of the brand recognition it creates. Read the article……………
We Don’t Hear You: Handling Board Complaints
Communication is vital to running a successful condo complex or co-op building. So what happens when dwellers complain that board members are not listening and—even worse —ignoring their problems? Well, you can bet it will not foster warm, fuzzy open lines of communication. Instead, it creates animosity and even more problems for a now unpopular, […]
5 Common Condo Board Responsibilities & How to Be a Superhero at Your Next Meeting
You might not get a comic book named after you, but if you tackle these condo board responsibilities, your neighbors will definitely consider you a superhero. Read the article…………
Effective HOA Communication… No Really
Ever wondered why nobody reads your HOA or condo newsletter? You’re not alone. Not to worry! If you can go with the flow, you can have informed homeowners and an easier job to boot. Your budget — and the trees — will thank you. Read the article………..
Why Your HOA Website Stinks – and How to Fix It
Most HOA websites have one unfortunate thing in common. They’re no good. It sounds blunt; maybe downright mean. But the vast majority of HOA websites aren’t doing the job they’re meant to do. What job, you ask? Read the news……….
4 Tips for Homeowner Participation in your HOA
We often come across HOAs that are struggling to handle disagreements, complaints, or controversial topics that are voiced by homeowners. This is normal. Just like a big family, there are going to be disagreements – many of them, in fact. The trick is how you deal with it. Sometimes the problems can even seemingly be […]
Communication tips for condo communities
Many in the condo industry can attest to the fact that unit owners commonly complain that boards of directors are too secretive. One simple way for boards of directors to address this complaint is to improve communication. Read the article………….
How Community Associations Keep in Touch with Residents with effective ways of communication.
Every community association, no matter how large or small, needs clear, concise, and consistent communication with its residents. Good communication helps board members and community leaders explain decisions, distribute information, and develop a solid relationship with everyone in the community. Read the article…………
Creative Solutions for Community Associations Involvement
While the housing market has had its share of booms and busts over the years, one housing trend has remained constant: the growth of community associations throughout the U.S. According to studies from the Community Associations Institute, associations in the country have grown from 10,000 in 1970 to more than 328,000 in 2013, covering more […]
Communication in Your Homeowner Association
Communication is essential for the harmony of your homeowner association. Do you have a regular newsletter that is informative and timely? Is it worth reading? More often then not, most newsletters are “throwaways”. It doesn’t need to be that way. With a bit of imagination, they could be both informative and fun to read. […]