Management v. Board
By Julie Adamen

Politics: "The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society."¹

*Sigh* Politics The word seldom has a positive connotation - and for good reason.  Many is the governing body beat down, slowed down, or paralyzed altogether  by politics and our industry is no exception; indeed, community associations are immediately and directly affected by their politics. Unlike members of the federal government, Boards of Directors live with their constituents where feedback is immediate and visceral - a daily or even hourly impromptu town hall meetings in the parking lot, around the pool or while walking the dog.  Conflicting and complicated interrelationships indeed.

Community managers, though peripherally aware of the community politics, are forced to be task-oriented. They want to move, to take action, with lightning efficiency as their time to spend on the issues of any one community is finite - there are only so many hours in the day. Concrete spalling? Here's the protocol for repair. Tree removal? Here's a sample policy. Reserve study? Here are three bids.  As far as the manager is concerned their relationship is with the Board, and once their majority approval is achieved… Let's move on.

On the other hand, Boards are process-oriented and will proceed at a far slower pace in coming to a decision especially when that decision entails a) spending a lot of money, b) changing a specific aesthetic,  c) raising assessments or special assessing, or d) pursuing legal action. Unlike staff, the Board will and necessarily calculate the political ramifications of their coming decision and sees the need to build consensus, or a positive political base from which to operate. The larger the issue - the more time it will take to assuage those "internally conflicting and complicated interrelationships" and the more the difference between business efficiency (management)  and political process (the Board) will become evident.

Why Boards care about building consensus: The positive political base is the best place from which to govern
 
Community happiness.  No matter what, most Boards just want the community to be happy with the decision they render. Happy communities mean fewer phone calls and emails.  Happy communities mean Board members may attend a cocktail party without fear of being eaten alive, or hit the links without an impromptu town hall meeting on the back nine led by the torch-and-pitchfork crowd. Happy communities mean more people want to volunteer for future positions because they like being a part of something positive.  

Cover. No doubt one of the main reasons for building consensus is to give the Board, or specific members, political cover within the community.  This doesn’t apply only to controversial decisions; even seemingly simple decisions need Board and owner buy-in one way or another. The more folks in the process, the more positive voices are out there and the more cover a Board will receive. If things go well, all glory is shared. If things go south, well, there are plenty of shoulders on which to carry the burden.

Help.  Because the decision and its process will create an inordinate amount of work for the Board or individual Board members, and they will need help from additional volunteers to manage it. The double bang for the buck: Those included in the process find themselves explaining it to others in the community, building consensus by simply sharing information.

Board consensus

When the decisions faced by a Board go beyond approving the financials or having a piece of sidewalk repaired, the mantle of responsibility becomes heavier and even the best of Board members can feel like bolting the process and letting <insert any of your well known situations here> slide.  It's no surprise consensus among the Board becomes more difficult, yet, it is crucial that every effort be made to achieve it. Without that consensus, gaining community buy-in gets even harder as the "dissenting" members of the Board make their dissent known throughout the association, creating uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the elected leadership. This dynamic can have a long lasting effect on the Board and community for years. A manager can do little here but provide information when asked, and above all stay neutral, helpful and congenial.
 
Community consensus

Boards attempt and at times succeed in building consensus in a variety of ways within the community at large, and each one takes a tremendous amount of time and much effort on their, and your, part. As the manager, you must resist your gut reaction of negativity on the process.

Town Halls. From  dog-and-pony shows to show-and-tells, Boards will use a "town hall" type forum to disseminate information, allow owners to ask questions  of experts or simply let the owners yell and vent, each time (hopefully) winning over a few more converts to their cause.  A town halls create transparency, and with transparency comes credibility and confidence in leadership: All positive aspects of this type of politicking. 

Surveys. Just the thought of a survey make most managers want to rock in the corner. I was not any different.  It always seemed like such a loser - in time and productivity, as well as survey answers you'd rather not see - until, becoming older and wiser,  I realized that for the most part the results of the survey were immaterial, it was the attempt to bring others in to the process  that was invaluable. For political purposes surveys are a great tool and no, the Board doesn’t have to follow the populist results, but they must communicate to the owners about the survey and on which course of action the Board is considering (notice how nebulous that is?).

Ad Hoc Committees. When it comes to controversial issues nothing beats appointing an ad hoc committee of owners (not Board members) to study the issue and make recommendation.  This process makes more people privy to much of the project information - if not all - that the Board has. From there, the committee will likely see the light and then make recommendation in the affirmative. Not only is that a public show of support for the Board from "outside," i.e., a group of owners,  but having those owners wandering among the community spreading  information and educating others on behalf of the Board is politically priceless.

Is consensus building inefficient? YES and NO

Building consensus among warring political factions takes a lot of time, something of which the manager is always short.  More often than not, an experienced manager could tell the Board what should be done with the same eventual results and a lot less time and effort on behalf of all; however, that approach does not take into account the political reality of community associates and how building consensus can make for a more harmonious place for the owners to live, for the Board to govern and you to manage.

Your job

Your role as management is and remains, as always, that of the impartial consultant, doling out information as requested and supporting the Board in its effort to build consensus and waiting (patiently) for the process to unfold itself and for the dissenter(s) to come ever closer to agreement. 

This inherent push and pull between management and the Board is and will be your daily life, because staff is charged with the operation of the community (tasks) and the Board, like it or not, always tries to build consensus among each other and within the community at large (process). You are business. They are politics. And “Never the twain shall meet”²  that is, until the very end. Yes it is frustrating. But there is no sense in railing against it while you rend your garments, let's understand it, embrace it, and move on.

Whether you are just beginning your career in community management or are a long time veteran, you may have noticed that most communities manage themselves pretty inefficiently, at least from the management point of view.  You want to get things done. They have to rub stones together. You need direction. They light incense.  You have a deadline. They hold hands and sign Kum-bay-uh. Wind chimes play in the background.  Your eyes roll back in your head. The cause of frustration: You are business-efficient, they are politically-expedient.  One moves far more quickly than the other. Understanding the significance of this process is paramount to your long-term success as a manager.

¹  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/politics
^2. Rudyard Kipling

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