Maybe Governance is the issue…

By Julie Adamen

Recently, I had the pleasure of again conducting a Strategic Planning Session for a large-scale, professionally managed (on site, in house) community association in the western US. After that session, I took the notes made and wrote a synopsis of Goals and Objectives set, due dates and assignments, as well as a narrative analysis of the Board in action, and return it to the community (along with my bill!).  

It would be no surprise to any of you that this analysis would fit many of your Boards. I have observed this dynamic in action in literally hundreds of associations, large, medium and small, self-managed or professionally managed.  I thought you may find it interesting – and maybe some food for thought to hand to your Boards. Or not. (Note: The names have been changed to protect the innocent!).

Planning Session Conclusion and Observations:

Although thoroughly interesting, I found this meeting to be far less quantitatively productive than last year’s, and, indeed, seemed to take on a very adversarial tone as opposed to 2004 where we came together to work on larger issues. This profound change is fascinating and at the same time is problematic; however it is a very common occurrence in associations around the country. The overriding issue within the workings of this Board is a lack of governing policy. More on that later.  

The Good News is that since our first meeting in 2004, the Board has accomplished much of what it set out to do at that time. To me, this proves that certain amounts of Direction and Focus were achieved at that meeting, allowing the Association to accomplish those goals.  We never expect to achieve 100% of what we set out to do, and many associations achieve -0- in any set timeframe, so I applaud the Board, and Staff for “herding cats” in the direction(s) set at that meeting.

What concerns me about this Association and its future does not have to do with the physical accomplishment of goals. This Board and the previous Board and various Committees have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that through sheer will, stubbornness and countless volunteer hours, defined goals can be accomplished. For right now, this moment, this year, the Board is doing ok because it currently has a crop of volunteers willing to put in those countless volunteer hours. After observing this Board for several hours within the structure of a meeting, and discussing its internal operations with Staff and other Board Members, I can unequivocally state that many (I would venture up to 50%) of those countless volunteer hours are spent in unproductive debate over issues that seldom warrant more than a few minutes discussion. This is not to say the issues themselves are not important, it is to say that the most valuable resource of the community – volunteer time – will wither and die because they – the volunteers -  simply do not have the desire to spend many hours in an unproductive state, listening to others focus on micro issues that should be discussed in forums other than a Board Meeting.  The solution to ending this malady lies in all – or part – of below:

Continue to Develop Leadership.  The mere fact that you are holding annual Strategic Planning and accomplishing a partial list of goals points to the fact that The Association is developing leadership strategies that are beginning to work for the community. Taking this development to the next level will require focus and discipline on the part of the Chair or President, the Executive Committee and the Board as a whole. Developing strong Leadership will focus the Board, the staff and the community – and will cut down on those countless volunteer hours. I urge the following as ways to continue developing and honing leadership:

Chair/President: Need not be shy about giving Focus to meetings and assignments:

1.       The Chair can and should sets dates that he/she wants tasks completed or assignments finished and results reported to the Board, whether it be form staff or volunteers. Then stick to it. Those tasked not make that timeframe, but knowing that the Chair is asking for a date of completion seems to make those tasks get completed in a timelier manner.

2.       The Chair is responsible for keeping the meeting on time and on point.  When debate on motions seems endless, remember this: A member can only speak twice to a motion, but only after everyone who wants to speak for the first time does so. This certainly keeps debate going and stops any member that is always popping up to talk after each member speaks (www.parli.com).

3.       One huge consumer of Board time is Committee Reports. If they are written (which I highly recommend), they can be placed upon the consent agenda, unless they are asking the Board for direction/a motion/money. Staff should triage the reports prior to them going to the Board.

4.       Need to set an ad hoc meeting? Give specific dates, no more than three, where you as the Chair are available. Let them pick. The majority who need to attend win out. Seldom does a meeting need a specific person in attendance other than you, or the chair of that meeting. This keeps tasks and assignments moving – no dead time between when you try to set a meeting and when everyone gets back to you days later with their availability.

To the remainder of the Board, and to the Executive Committee:

The Chair is not in a vacuum. You are also responsible for the length of your debates, discussions and meetings. As you observe members going off on a tangent – debating minutiae, bringing up non-agenda items or simply taking adversarial positions for sport – please, call to the attention of the Chair “Point of Order,” so the meeting can get back on track. The Chair is merely one of you, and don’t forget: You could be next.

Roberts Rules of Order. I recommend all associations utilize Roberts Rules of Order during their meetings.   Roberts Rules of Order assists Boards in maintaining focus during meetings, giving them the ability to accomplish more tasks in an orderly manner. It also promotes a more efficient use of volunteer time.   Roberts itself is somewhat cumbersome; however, Community Associations Institute (CAI), our national organization, gels Roberts in to streamlined version adopted by many communities. Your Manager can provide you with copies.

Key Deficiencies in Governance

Much unnecessary debate takes place because of three simple reasons (assuming you are debating agenda items): 1) Lack of trust regarding information brought to you by staff and volunteers, 2) Simply not knowing anything about the subject, 3) Failing to have comprehensive Policies and Guidelines.  Let me address those issues in brief:

Understand the power and empowerment of delegation.  Within an association of this size, the Board, as a body and especially as individuals, cannot physically be charged with managing each detail of the community, nor are they charged with finding out alternative methods or approaches to issues, the pros and cons thereof, the ramifications to the community, ad naseum. They are, however, charged with causing those actions to be taken so they, as the governing body, can make decisions thereto. This means two things to the Board: 1) Relying on volunteer Committees to make important discoveries, observations and recommendations in a timely manner, and 2) Relying of Staff to give expert opinions and advice in his or her area of expertise.  Each of these two requires the members of the Board to place trust in each of these entities. Trust empowers Staff and volunteers. Empowered Staff and volunteers gives the Board the ability to move forward on its goals and objectives.

Recognize that you don’t know what you don’t know. In almost 20 years of working with homeowners associations, it is my observation that  new volunteers think they know something about associations (“How hard can it be?”) but in very short order are in a state of “shock and awe” at the sheer volume of work, noise, politics and responsibility they have unwittingly taken on. And unless they have done the homeowners association thing before – they are lost. Some seek the information they need to know, others choose the route of denial. Those in denial must come to a point where they can admit that they don’t know what they don’t know and no amount of talk, bluster or debate over minor issue changes nor clouds that fact. It does, however, become one of the major reasons that volunteers (and Staff) spend countless hours in unproductive meetings. This is why all associations should develop and publish Principles and Guidelines for Operations.

The Importance of Principles and Guidelines for Operations. The purpose of this document is to delineate the standards for business practices and procedures to be followed by the Board of Directors of the Association and those acting on its behalf, i.e. its Committees, and the Management team employed by the Association in the conduct of the Association’s business.  This document should cover several topics, including but not limited to Statement of Responsibilities, Policy Setting, Delegating, Conducting Meetings, and the various relationships between the Board and Staff to members, vendors, counsel, etc. it should also cover all responsibilities and guidelines for standing as well as ad hoc committees. This document, and preparing this document, can be arduous and voluminous; however, that is nothing in comparison to the hours of volunteer time it will save the community as soon as it is completed. No longer will precious time be spent re-inventing the wheel in debate of who should do what and why.  This document provides all of those answers upfront. Adopting such a document will be proactive leadership at its best.    

Policy Governance. Policy Governance is an integrated set of concepts and principles that describes the job of any governing board. It outlines the manner in which boards can be successful in their servant-leadership role, as well as in their all-important relationship with management. I recommend the Board take a serious look at the policy governance model at www.carvergovernance.com.                               

Conclusion

Adopting any of these suggestions and making them your own will require discipline.  It will also take proactive work on the part of the Board to set forth Principles and Guidelines for themselves and for Committees.  Hopefully that document will stay alive with the community for years to come, offering a lifeline for new volunteers who, lacking experience, run amok based upon their own life/professional experience and their lack of knowledge of the quasi-public process of homeowners association management.  

The challenge to this Board is to not be taken asunder by those who choose not to expand their knowledge base, who cause others to spend countless volunteer hours and who unwittingly sabotage the process by creating an atmosphere in which those other volunteers find themselves asking “Why am I doing this?”  The challenge to this Board is to be able to take leadership development to the next level: Create and adopt a set of Principles and Guidelines, providing for more structured governance. This set of Guidelines will allow this and future Boards to accomplish more tasks more effectively. As time goes by, this mode of operating will not be unnoticed by the community at large.  It will foster volunteerism for many years to come because people want to be a part of something larger, more effective, and forward thinking.  In other words, Something Great.

As you can see by my analysis, the issue for this community all boiled down to a lack of governing policies. Once the Board acquires the discipline to define, adopt and implement governing policies, most all of the other issues will fall in to place.

As managers, we all know the “secret” to maintaining and procuring a great set of community volunteers often rests heavily on the efficiency in which the community governs itself.  Boards – and thus communities – which operate with respect for the time of their volunteers and who understand the power and empowerment of delegation will always have an advantage over those who can’t get there from here.