Tips for Managing a Successful HOA Open Forum

Homeowners’ Association (HOA) open forums are one of the best opportunities for board members to engage with their community and understand the concerns and needs of residents. However successful HOA community meetings do not just happen by chance.  

Managing HOA town halls or open forum meetings is a difficult skill to master. Typically hosted monthly or quarterly, HOA resident forums are typically conducted by elected leaders and involve discussions on association business, HOA operations, new or existing policies, maintenance reports, dispute resolutions, future plans, and more.  

However, if your HOA board does not have a solid understanding of how to properly manage an HOA open forum, these meetings can quickly spiral into disaster.  

For residents: Here is what you do at your first HOA open forum or meeting! 

This blog post will go over some tips for running an HOA open forum, so your residents’ voices are heard, and still lead a valuable forum.  

How to Create a Successful HOA Open Forum 

Managing HOA town hall meetings is an achievable goal. It just takes communication, patience, and organization.  

Follow these steps for better results in your next HOA open forum.  

Have a Meeting Structure 

For better results in your next HOA open forum, organization is essential. That process starts with creating a firm meeting structure and sticking to it.  

HOA forums are notorious for running long or drifting off-topic. To address these issues, you need to follow these two rules.  

• Have an agenda.  

Creating an agenda is a great way to block out time for certain discussion points or subjects. Rough time blocks dedicated to certain issues or points will allow you to spend an appropriate amount of time on a given topic without going on a tangent or skipping over key pieces of information.  

An agenda will also help your board regulate the forum. The secret of running a successful HOA community gathering is to manage how and when your residents give you feedback. Ensure that you block out time for your board members to discuss accomplishments since the last meeting so you can set the tone before residents have the floor.  

• Set a speaker time limit. 

Time limits for speakers will ensure that you have enough time budgeted, so all homeowners or residents have a chance to speak up. If speakers know they have a two-minute limit, they can effectively boil down their points to ensure they are sharing only key pieces of information.  

You can screen residents for what they will say before they speak, create a sign-up list for speaking order, or (for smaller communities) simply allocate some time where the floor is open to anyone who wishes to speak.  

Establish Rules to Follow 

HOA open forums can become heated quickly if speakers are allowed to govern the meeting. Establishing a set of rules to follow will ensure that all speakers and board members know what is expected of them and what will result in them being removed from the meeting.  

• Establish ground rules. 

Your residents should know the general structure of the meeting. They should know when they are allowed to talk, ask questions, when they should listen, and the proper channel for venting their requests, complaints, or frustrations. 

Be sure that everyone is held to the rules of the HOA open forum for more effective communication in your HOA meetings.  

• Maintain the formalities. 

HOA open forums are places where residents can speak openly. Because of this, residents may come to the meeting angry or frustrated. This can lead to outbursts or arguments. 

Be sure that all residents know that they must maintain formalities regardless of their emotions. This will ensure that beneficial discussion can take place instead of arguing or screaming matches.  

Maintaining formalities is difficult, but if residents are aware that they must be civil and treat other residents and board members with respect then HOA open forums will often be much easier to manage.  

Board Members Must Appropriately Listen and Respond 

Since emotions can be fiery in HOA open forums, residents will sometimes confront board members or make them feel uncomfortable. All board members who are involved in HOA resident forums should know the following three rules.  

• Listen. 

Board members are there to hear what residents have to say. There should be time allotted to board members to speak about their accomplishments or goals, and a portion of the meeting dedicated to residents to speak to the board members.  

• Don’t react, get defensive, or argue. 

It is natural to try and defend yourself when someone is unhappy with your work. However, arguing and getting defensive about resident feedback will make community members feel as though they are not being heard.  

• Don’t feel as if you must answer all questions or concerns in the meeting. 

During open forums, board members often want to have answers to all their residents’ questions and concerns. However, you will sometimes not have the answers to all your residents' questions. It is important that, instead of generating a half-baked response, you tell residents that you will get back to them as soon as you have additional information. This will build transparency between the board and residents and help create a more trusting relationship. 

Successful HOAs and Condo Associations with Management Plus 

Facilitating a successful HOA community meeting is not an easy task. It takes communication, patience, and organization.  

It is even more difficult to find success if your board is stretched too thin. Board members oftentimes have other full-time jobs and busy lives which means they cannot dedicate all their time to the HOA's success.  

HOA fees can be complicated. Learn more about what they cover here! 

For that reason, many HOA boards choose to hire an experienced firm that knows how to create a system of HOA management that is effective for their communities.  

Management Plus has helped dozens of HOAs and residential communities all over the greater Dayton and Cincinnati areas find sustainable success for their residents.  

If your HOA could use professional help managing your open forums, board processes, compliance, and more, then it is time to reach out to Management Plus today! 

Are you happy with the difference Management Plus has made for your community? Leave us a quick five-star review here! 

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