How to Simplify Board Member Duties
How to Simplify Board Member Duties
Board members often have too much on their plate.
They run meetings, enforce governing principles, and oversee the financial health of their Homeowners Association at large.
This often comes at the expense of their free time as a board member is typically a volunteer position.
Making board members’ work more efficient is key to making the job desirable and keeping the HOA healthy.
While many board members find their posts to be chaotic and disorganized, there are small, measured steps you the HOA can take to make the job of board members much easier.
Use the tips listed below to make your members’ jobs easier across the board.
Five Areas to Reform
These five areas of reform will make your board members’ jobs much easier.
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Reevaluate unenforceable rules.
Rules that exist purely for the sake of optics will only waste your board members’ time. If a rule is unenforceable, it must be removed from your HOA’s charter.
Conduct a full review of your HOA’s codes, requirements, and charter and remove any outdated or redundant rules.
Ask yourself: is the rule necessary, fair, and enforceable. If you answer no to any of those guidelines, you need to submit the rule for repeal.
Removed rules need to be agreed upon, but reducing redundant and unenforceable rules will save your board members copious amounts of time in the long run.
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Make use of technology.
Providing an online option for paying dues, communication, and storing minute meetings will go a long way towards reducing the amount of work for humans to accomplish.
Technology not only lowers the amount of work for your board members, but it also increases the HOA’s efficiency, reduces costs, and is highly convenient for HOA members.
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Run shorter, more efficient meetings.
What can be eliminated from meetings? What issues can be tackled another time?
Board meetings have a nasty reputation for running long while lacking real substance.
Change that by setting a strict agenda, a firm timeline, and sticking to it. Stick to the topic at hand and do not allow room for tangents.
The better your meetings are run, the better the result for the rest of the community.
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Do away with in-person voting.
Most board meetings could be conducted virtually.
Virtual meetings allow members to attend meetings from all over the globe at the convenience of their laptop or tablet.
Members will not miss meetings because they are out of town on business or need to wait until next month’s meeting because they had a cold.
Remove the need for in-person voting and you will see a better voting system that represents the needs of your residents more equally.
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Reduce misinformation.
Get everyone on the same page, and your board members will have an easier time regulating and enforcing laws.
Communicate directly with homeowners and make sure that everyone is up to date on all rules and regulations.
Create a culture of transparency and encourage residents to bring their questions directly to the board.
A Happy Board makes a Happy Community
The key to a healthy, happy community is making sure that your Board Members have an easy time creating and enforcing rules and maintaining the neighborhood.
Give your board members all the tools they need to build a healthy community and you will see improvement everywhere you look.
Management Plus is the best, most qualified collection of community managers in the Cincinnati area. We put communities first and make community management easier for everyone.