How do You Make Condo Board Meetings Better?

Condo board meetings can often be fraught with indecision, discord, and a total lack of organization. These factors often lead to painful processes where very little, if anything, ever gets done. As an owner of a property you want to know that things are getting taken care of and that people aren’t spending your money unnecessarily.  We have witnessed these meetings first hand and thought we would be able to shed a little light on how we feel they can be streamlined and productive.

What makes meetings like this difficult is that people frequently want different things and aren’t willing to bend. It’s hard to find a common ground between the people who don’t want to sink another dollar into their property and those that are willing to lay down a hefty sum to have things done right. The other aspect is that meetings like this often lack the organization to keep the proceedings moving in the right direction. People can go off on tangents that are related to them only. The only purpose this serves is to derail the productive aspects of the meetings as well as alienate the rest of the people who are attending.

With all of that in mind, we thought we would offer three ways of making these board meetings better so that they’re productive and not mind-numbing. Board meetings don’t have to take place all of the time, but when they do they should be productive and concise. Here’s our advice on how to do just that.

Condo Board Idea #1: Property Solutions

At the end of the day, these meeting are about finding solutions to you and your fellow owners problems. As we mentioned, these meetings have a tendency to go off the rails for any number of reasons and to combat that our first suggestion to makes things better is to have an agenda and stick to it. Having a meeting agenda is important, but we feel it’s more important to stick to the time parameters that have been set up. The agenda has been set for a reason and that means that there’s probably an interest from someone in the meeting on every topic. If you go off topic and spend more than the time allotted to each topic on one that’s of a particular interest to a small group of people, you’re doing a disservice to many others.

Keep to your agenda and the timelines set within it and if anyone feels the need to spend more time on a topic than was allotted they can visit with you or the meeting moderator after the meeting has concluded. This will not only serve to keep from things becoming unhinged, but will keep people interested and focused as they know they’re going to see their topic covered as well.

Condo Board Idea #2: Condo Point of Contact

The second way to make your condo board meetings better is to have a clear leader determined before the onset of each meeting. Having someone who is knowledgeable, concise, and will stick to the agenda and the timelines set out is extremely important should you want to achieve the goals the meeting so out to do. This person doesn’t need to monopolize the conversation or dictate what’s important and what isn’t, they need to keep the conversation moving forward and productively and give time to those who have something meaningful to say.

Again, it’s of the utmost importance to keep things on track. The meeting leader should be able to do this effectively while giving everyone their say. The most important part of these meetings is to achieve the goals that were initially set out and you need someone to facilitate those goals. A good leader will be able to do this.

Condo Board Idea #3: Asset Management

What’s important to bear in mind is that not every topic is going to be as important as the others. If there’s a large topic that has the potential to affect everyone who decided to attend the meeting, then it needs to be given the requisite amount of thought and care. The lobby paint colour that’s being decided on doesn’t need to be given the same sort of platform as a structural issue or something greater than a cosmetic concern.

Asset management is extremely important and should be at the top of the list of any meetings. Whether this is a personal property or an investment property, you want to know the condition of it as well as any future costs that may be associated with owning the property. Having things in order of importance will help to assuage any immediate concerns people may have as well as alert them of any forthcoming issues.

Magnum York Property Management is Family Owned

With offices throughout Alberta – including Calgary, Edmonton, Olds, and Red Deer – we feel that our helpful hints will only help to make your condo board meetings smoother and more successful. As Alberta’s largest independent property management company, we know the market and have what it takes to serve you well. Don’t hesitate to contact any of our local offices if you’re in need of our expertise and quality service!