Five best practices for improving condo board communications
No one ever complains about too much communication, but everyone complains about too little. Is it possible to get it right? Absolutely! Here are five best practices for improving condo board communications. Condos and homeowner associations will find these tips useful for improving communications with owners and their property managers.
Everyone complains about the lack of communication
Forty-nine percent of condo owners complained about the lack of communication from their boards (Condo Information Centre) data from 4,500 owners).
Every director on the board of a condo, HOA, cooperative or community association faces the same challenges. Expectations put on directors are very high and usually unrealistic. Everyone thinks directors are super heroes and will do everything. Directors are unpaid volunteers, so directors and owners must be reasonable when setting expectations.
This does not excuse any board from doing a poor job, but everyone must understand that there is always more that could be done. The goal is optimization, not maximization. There will always be more that could be done, but the question is: Is the additional communication worth the extra cost, time, and effort?
So, how can this task be accomplished? Here are five simple ways to introduce a culture of transparency and clear communication in your condo.
Embrace a philosophy of transparency
Directors serving on the best condo boards prioritize improving condo board communications and have internalized the philosophy that good governance includes communicating effectively. These boards know that openness and transparency come from good communication practices.
Make it a standard operating procedure to provide owners with all the condo’s records. The only exceptions are personal information about an owner, some contracts, and possibly details about legal issues.
First Step: Set Expectations
Before even thinking about improving condo board communications, it is helpful to review the existing tools before considering any new ones—the incremental benefit from each additional piece of communication declines. Thus, the goal is to optimize and not to maximize communications.
Some free tools are time-consuming but challenging to use, while others come with a cost and are very easy to use. The best solution is the one that fits within a budget and is doable. Deciding on a Cadillac solution on a bare-bones budget is not sustainable.
1. Use digital technology
Going digital is the only way. Yes, I’m slightly biased towards technology, but using technology saves time and money. No one has time to sift through boxes of paper files to find a report. Paper records are not safe from hurricanes, tornadoes, fires or floods. Digital backups ensure that records survive. Digital technology is essential for improving condo board communications.
2. Publish a condo newsletter
A newsletter connects owners with their boards. Anyone can write for a newsletter. It is an excellent way to keep in touch with owners. Newsletters do not need to be masterpieces, lengthy tomes or produced with the latest and most fabulous design tools. It is important that it gets done and sent on whatever schedule agreed in the first point.
An excellent newsletter is one that gets finished. If it remains as a draft, no one knows if it is worthy or not. Just get it done and into the inboxes of owners.
If using email marketing software is of interest, here is a link to an industry review of tools.
Review of Email Marketing Tools
I’ve seen excellent newsletters released only once a quarter or even only once or twice a year. Newsletters can be time-consuming to prepare, so organize a newsletter committee of owners who volunteer to write them instead of trying to do all the work themselves.
If going 100% digital is impossible, then send what can be sent by email and print the rest. Printing and mailing are time-consuming, so outsourcing them to a service.
3. Digital Notice Boards
Digital notice or message boards in a central location are a fantastic way to post news and last-minute reminders such as upcoming maintenance issues or the annual meeting (or AGM). It is easier for high-rise condos to find a central location, but townhouse complexes usually find a common area where owners and tenants can find up-to-date information (look near the mailboxes). It makes old-fashioned cork bulletin boards go the way of the dinosaur unless there are no good options for a digital solution.
4. Free Document Storage
Some boards use Dropbox or Google Docs to store their records. This is often the first step in a transition away from paper. Dropbox can be used, but it is not a system designed for boards of directors. Adding and removing users can be tricky and time-consuming, and folder systems are not the best way to make documents findable.
5. Websites
Websites are great ways to showcase your community to prospective residents, share photographs, create discussion forums, post news updates and provide a self-serve portal for owners to retrieve documents at their leisure.
6. Cloud-based Software
The best solution is to use a cloud-based board management software like BoardSpace to upload and organize documents. Directors, owners, & property managers log in and find information right before them.
Implementing these five best practices for improving condo board communications can promote a culture of transparency and openness that supports a great community.
The post was initially published in 2016 and substantially revised in 2019.
Learn how to create an email campaign, add a digital message board and find out how BoardSpace organizes your documents.
Wow! That was worth a read. Thank you much for sharing!
Your remarks about condo boards are right on***** I live in a condo that has the worst management in the USA. I am a retired RE Broker and all my complaints to state agencies are a waste of time.
Can a property management company restrict vendors from communicating with board members?
Hi Judith,
What kind of information are the vendors trying to get from the board? Is the vendor bidding for a contract? Or is a vendor trying to get the attention of the board in order for their product or service to be considered? Or is the vendor trying to circumvent the management company and provide other information.
I doubt if the management company could actually prevent vendors from communicating with board members. Vendors could be directed to communicate with a specific property manager, but if the vendor chose to ignore that guidance I’m not sure how it could be stopped. I find it a bit odd that vendors would have the email addresses of the board members since most don’t make this information public.
I would suggest that a conversation with the board could be in order. Does the board understand what a bidding process is? Is the board trying to micromanage its property managers? I don’t think it is a problem if a vendor contacts board members with sales information about their products or services. If a vendor is trying to influence a bidding process currently underway, then this would be completely innappropriate.
In general, my advice would be for board members to leave any contact with vendors to the management company. This is usually the responsibility of the management company and the board should leave this job to management. Could it be that the board doesn’t trust its management company and that is why they are trying to micromanage and go directly to the vendor.
Without the specifics of the situation, I’ve only been able to provide general guidance.
Pat
Our condo is now resorting to gag order threats instead of communicating clearly
It is an increasingly toxic environment on top of special assessment now routine not just rare.
Bev,
It is very unfortunate that your condo has moved in the direction you note. It is critical that good communication be restored. Full transparency is the best way forward for condo boards. Is there a trusted neutral person who could mediate?
What is the age of the building? Has maintenance been deferred and now special assessments are being used to catch up?
Pat
There are serial special assessments and one is knowingly being deferred to try to improve available funding
Our board is imo hyper reactive due to the abnormal pressures and the reality of costs now surfacing as they are elsewhere in condoland
The one excellent remedy I have found that is a safe venue to ask questions is not the board but the contact is ask us portal offered by the condominium association of Ontario which has specific areas of information and an open portal
They are using pimply from many sources now to update directors training as well as buyer awareness
It is very detailed in the material provided and patient. I would suggest avoiding the board especially one that is hyper reactive and using this source
Boards tend to be defensive and have far too much on their plates as condoland evolves
What makes it worse is that policy drafters federally and provincially are not likely attended to the unigue legal features of condo ownership or the automatic liens process
It takes alot of energy on the part of an owner not to rise to the incendiary bait from a hyper reactive board
Which is why I suggest the CAo portal as a better way to get background and general information
Property title security is not as robust as it is for say a dwelling format such as a single home non condo format
Some boards also aren’t aware they have a duty to oversee management
The move to update director training as of this Mov speaks volumes to perhaps gaps as condoland continues to evolve
Hi Bev,
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I agree that the CAO portal has lots of good resources for condo directors.
Pat