Board vs. Homeowner Meetings
One phenomenon I’ve witnessed over the past 4 or 5 years, really since the pandemic, has been a change in the management of meetings. And though I agree with the primary goal of transparency through the recent Colorado legislation, I have also witnessed a strange transformation of the Board meeting. More and more Boards are treating the regular board meeting as a modified homeowner meeting. Naturally, more and more homeowners are expecting the same level of participation in a board meeting as they have in the Annual Homeowner meeting. If you are experiencing this in your community, here are some basic differences between the two and ways to re-establish the boundaries of each meeting for the benefit of all.
Purpose
The first boundary we can re-establish to create more efficient and harmonious meetings is the purpose. Your Declarations and Bylaws will help you to determine the goals and purpose of each. And in Colorado, you also can rely on the state-mandated “Conduct of Meetings Policy”. Not only will these aid you in determining the purpose of each meeting, but they will help you in governing or managing each meeting.
The primary difference between the Annual General Meeting and a regularly scheduled Board Meeting is the participating membership. A Board Meeting’s primary membership is the elected Board of Directors (or Board of Managers). In Colorado, all Board meetings are open to the attendance of the general ownership of the association. HOWEVER, that does not mean these meetings are open to the complete participation of all homeowner members. Remember, a Board meeting is the a meeting of the Board. The Annual General Meeting’s participating membership is the general membership, meaning ALL homeowner members. We often call this the Annual Homeowner’s Meeting. Though the Board often presides over the meeting, the whole membership is invited to participate in discussion and elections.
The reason it is important to separate the purpose of both of these meetings is so we can create efficient discussion and meet Board or Homeowner goals and objectives. I have witnessed Board meetings that were completely hijacked by homeowners, leading to either late-night meeting endings or eliminating important agenda topics to end the meeting on time. I’ve also witnessed multiple HOA Board meetings that droned on for hours as a Board president or treasurer provided homeowner updates to all attendees rather than focusing on board discussion topics.
This tendency has led many Boards to hold “off-line” meetings or “work sessions” at which homeowners were not invited to listed to the discussion. Though the intent was to create a session in which the Board can discuss issues, these work sessions and closed book meetings are to blame for much of distrust of HOAs and legislation of Board meetings now.
Goals
How do we begin to re-establish our board meetings and homeowners meetings as their respective member meetings? Below are some simple goals your community can work towards to both create appropriate boundaries and build trust with your homeowners.
Keep It Simple
In many productivity books, we read that we can’t often complete more than three actions per day. I have often been pleased with my day if I finish one project among the many emails, phone calls, and constant interruptions throughout the working day. Why do we think we can accomplish more than this during a 1-2 hour Board meeting? Keep the agenda short and the goals attainable.
Review Your Meetings Policy Before Each Meeting
Everyone at each meeting can benefit from a review of your meetings policy (including your community manager!) Establish the boundaries for speakers, the time limits on open forums, and the penalties for breaking protocols. If you establish the conduct requirements, no one can be shocked if they are evicted from a meeting due to poor self-control. This includes over-speaking others, homeowners self-invitation into Board discussion, and poor language choices by Board members. Keep a timer if you have homeowners or Board members who tend to speak past their time limits.
Listen
If your association is experiencing trust issues, it’s a good time to ensure your homeowners feel heard. Creating those boundaries around Board and Homeowner discussion might make homeowners feel like they have less of a voice, so it is important to make their time count. Listen to complaints, even if the complaints are about you. Don’t feel like you have to respond immediately, or ever. But you do need to listen and acknowledge frustrations. Re-voice their frustration back to them to ensure you understand clearly before you move on to another homeowner. (Make sure you move on, though.) If any issues are actionable, make a plan at your next meeting to address the issue as a Board.
Conclusion
Board meetings are not Homeowner meetings, and Homeowner meetings are not Board meetings. To keep your Board meetings efficient and productive, review your conduct of meetings policy and re-establish boundaries around board discussion and homeowner commentary. Because for most of us, meetings are not a social event we wish to linger in. And an efficient Board is a productive Board, and a productive Board is a trusted Board.