Communications
Communications between the board and management and the owners must
start with the manager and the board listening to the owners. The
manager and the board must also listen to the employees and the
contractors.
Listening is not the same as agreeing.
Filters
I am not a big fan of demanding that all communications, both ways,
must flow through the manager. Too often, the manager will add their
own spin to the messages so that the board only hears what the manager
wants them to hear.
A board that looses touch what the owners are thinking is a board that starts getting into trouble.
Notices
Upward communications
Notices that are posted in the mail room and by the elevators should always contain the following:
• date it was posted
• mention the day of the week along with the date when stating something, such as
turning the water off, is going to happen.
• the name of who posted it. (Simply saying "Management" doesn't cut it.)
• a phone number or e-mail address the reader can call for more information.
Always promptly remove dated notices. Notices that are weeks or
months old makes it look like management and the board doesn't care.
Newsletters
A good one, published quarterly, is a great way to communicate with the
owners. Use the newsletter to promote common values, remind owners of
the rules, explain what maintenance projects are coming up and to
publish the budget.
The newsletter should announce any upcoming social events and to remind the residents of safety and security issues.
The newsletter can be used to explain what the declaration, by-laws and
rules mean and can help the owners understand the budget and the
financial statements.
Have a newsletter committee by all means but make sure they know that
the board has a duty to edit and approve everything that is written in
the newsletters before they are printed and distributed.
Website
A good website is a great way to get information out to the residents
and it will allow the board to communicate with the absentee
owners.
Setting up and running a website is a good project for a communications
committee. The only problems with a website is that it takes a lot of
work to set one up and even more to keep it current. As with the newsletter,
the board has a duty to edit and approve everything that is put on the
website before it is posted.
E-mail accounts
Keep your personal phone numbers and e-mail accounts private and set up an e-mail account for condo business.
Directors can and probably should inform the owners that you do not
want to be disturbed at your private units but they can set up an
appointment to talk to the board in the management office or in the
board room at a mutually convenient time.
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