Board meeting transparency – not just the right thing to do, it may be required by law

Economic burdens of rising foreclosure and unemployment rates not only affect HOA revenue streams, they increase the contentious, divisive and time consuming nature of board meetings. As pressures on boards from homeowners increase, the importance of board accountability and transparency of their meetings also increase.

Peter Kristian, who is a general manager of a large-scale community in South Carolina, offers some tips on how to ensure board meeting transparency:

• Make sure you publish a meeting schedule in advance and publish it on the community’s website. The agenda could also be emailed to interested residents who have signed up for such a service. Make sure residents who do not use the internet are privy to board meeting through written notice.
• Establish a resident’s time policy that is adopted by the board and published to the community. Says Kristian, “the policy should cover key points such as the prescribed time for resident comment at meetings, the length of time each resident can speak and whether one resident in attendance can cede their time to another resident.
• Board member comments on a resident’s testimony should express the appreciation of the board for the resident’s input and verbal jousting between board members during a resident’s comments should always be avoided.

When discussing transparency of board meetings, sunshine laws have to be included. HOA boards can be subject to sunshine laws depending on state statutes.

Kristian said it is imperative managers understand and abide by their state’s statutes governing HOAs.

“The best way to adhere to such provisions in the law is to consult with a local attorney who practices community association law and ask them for guidance. Read the law, educate your board and apply the provisions to you situation.”

Have any of your communities been accused of lacking in board meeting transparency and if so, how did the respective boards respond?

These tips are courtesy of Alison Green. She’s the author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader’s Guide to Getting Results and former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management, hiring, firing, and employee development. You can read the full article here. http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/03/07/10-job-search-rules-to-break

1. After you submit your resume, wait a few days and then call to schedule an interview. Job-seekers don’t get to decide on scheduling an interview; employers do, and it’s overly pushy to pretend otherwise. Employers would spend all day fielding calls if the hundreds of applicants who apply for any given position were to call to follow up. It might be hard to accept, but once you apply, the ball is in the employer’s court.

2. Arrive early for interviews. It’s smart to give yourself a buffer against being late, but don’t walk into the company’s reception area early. Most interviewers are annoyed when candidates show up more than five or 10 minutes early, since they may feel obligated to interrupt what they’re doing and greet the person, or feel guilty leaving a candidate sitting in their reception area for too long. Instead, if you’re early, kill that time in a nearby coffee shop, or even in your car if you need to.

3. Don’t name a salary number first. Job-seekers used to be advised to avoid naming a salary figure first when the topic comes up in order to avoid accidentally under-selling themselves. But these days it’s often impossible to avoid doing so. Since employers increasingly use online application processes that require candidates to input a desired salary before they can proceed, job-seekers need to be ready to talk money—which means being prepared with a salary range based on research about what comparable positions pay in your particular geographic area.

4. Ask for the job. While this kind of hard-sell tactic might have worked in the past, these days employers don’t want to feel they’re being sold. Hard-sell tactics put your interviewer on the spot and can come across as desperate. Interviewers like to think they’re hiring the best person for the job, not the most aggressive. Instead, what works better is to treat the interview as a collaborative process where you’re both concerned with finding the right fit.

Do you have tips for job hunters? Check out CAI’s Job Market: http://www.caionline.org/career/Pages/JobMarket.aspx

The National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM), the organization that administers the Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) credential, was recently renamed Community Association Managers International Certification Board (CAMICB). The name change reflects a strategic commitment to professionalism, knowledge and sound business practices in community association management throughout the world.

The organizational name change is effective immediately. The new organizational name will be phased in over the coming weeks online and in all print materials.

In discussing the rational for the name change, Rob Felix, CMCA, LSM, PCAM, RS, chair of the NBC-CAM board of commissioners, has noted, “In recent years we have partnered with organizations in Australia, Dubai, South Africa and elsewhere to instill high standards of professionalism in our industry across international boundaries. As we expand the use of the CMCA to international audiences, a name change became appropriate.”
It is important to note that the policies, procedures and processes in place for the administration of the CMCA credentialing program are not impacted by the change in organizational name.

The CMCA application process will not change, nor will delivery of the CMCA exam. The CMCA examination will continue to be developed and maintained in full compliance with the standards linked to the examination’s accreditation through the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).

The CAMICB Board of Commissioners and staff look forward to increasing both the reach and the recognition of the CMCA credential –“The Essential Credential” in the field of professional community association management.

For more information, e-mail info@camicb.org.

You’ve seen them (and felt your anxiety level rising).

The homeowner who takes four “guest only” parking spots for his cars. The board president who goes on a vendetta by holding secret meetings, making unapproved purchases and breaking confidentiality rules.

Or, as one Colorado CMCA shared as a recent meeting, the individual who felt insulted at a board meeting, threw a chair and then put up posters throughout the association attacking the manager’s character.

There’s no strict definition of a bully, but we know them when we see them, says anti-bullying expert Ben Leichtling. Unlike decent people who are angry about a particular issue but want to work out a solution, bullies:

• are never satisfied
• treat you like a servant or slave
• can be “professional victims” who take offense too easily
• can also be aggressors
• want to wear you down and beat you up

Bullies might be only 1 percent of the population, Leichting says, but they take 999 percent of your time, energy and emotional reserves.

So you want to fight?

Your attorney can point you to legal tactics to fight the specific actions of a board bully.

Check your governing documents. If the bully is an officer, your board may be able to vote the bully out of office, and back to a director position. (Officers are generally elected by the board; taking someone off the board may require a homeowner vote.)

If the problem is lack of confidentiality, the board may want to create a confidentiality agreement that spells out the director’s fiduciary duties in writing.

For other “irregularities,” your attorney may also want to take the board member aside. A simple “talking to” can sometimes derail particular behaviors, if not change personalities.

Overcoming Fear

But what if the problem isn’t a board member, but a homeowner? And what if the only tactics available are expensive (i.e. lawsuit) or scary (verbal confrontation)?

Now the human side of battling bullies becomes paramount. Leichtling, who runs www.bulliesbegone.com and has written numerous books bullying, advocates a six-step system:

1) Take care of yourself physically and mentally. Surprised? “Bullies want to wear you down, so that you’ll give up and give them what they want,” Leichtling says. “Your job is to keep yourself at your best.” So do whatever it takes to keep your humor, courage and strength.
2) Don’t take it personally. “Bullies want to make you think it’s your fault,” Leichtling says. “You can take it seriously, but not personally.”
3) Watch for early warning signs. Bullying is more likely when there’s someone new on the board, or when someone is going through a rough personal patch: a divorce or job loss. Keep your intuition up for these signs.
4) Begin with relationship: Don’t assume you’re dealing with a rational person. Assume you’re dealing with someone who is on the emotional razor’s edge. So get together with the bully, speak emotionally and calm them down enough so they can be rational.
5) Get on their side: Figure out what you can given the constraints of the situation, without backing down. You may even want to get on their side of the desk or table.
6) Meet in person: When people are upset, email is not a good strategy. Even if this costs you time and money now, a personal meeting is much less costly in the long run.

No, this won’t work with every bully, and every situation. Rather, it’s an escalating scale of actions to take before legal or board action. It gives you the assurance of having done everything possible to work it out, short of giving in.

Before you rush to defend yourself or fight back remember to put yourself in your customer’s shoes.

Customer complaints are inevitable. If you run a business that sells to the public no matter how great your goods or services are the old adage will eventually be proven true: You cannot please 100% of the people 100% of the time.

Most customer concerns can be dealt with simply by complying with the person’s reasonable requests. From time-to-time, however, you will come across those customers who will demand something that simply is unwarranted or impossible to deliver. No matter the issue at the heart of the complaint it is important to remember these rules when resolving your customer service issues:

1. Listen
Whenever you set out to handle a customer complaint the first thing that you must do is listen. Listen to the customer to figure out why they are upset. Listen to the customer to determine whether any of your policies were not abided by or if this is something outside or not contemplated by your systems. Listen to what they want from you to resolve the issue. A refund? A replacement? Someone else to replace their current service representative at your company?

All too often we are defensive when dealing with customer complaints. Being defensive, at least at the onset, can inhibit your ability to truly understand why the customer is not satisfied with your products. They will tell you the problem, how they think it should be resolved, and give you a critical window into their thinking on the matter. So before you say anything, before you attempt to explain anything, challenge their complaint, or offer a resolution to the situation, listen.

2. Understand
Next, put yourself in the shoes of the customer. Given what you now know try and see their point of view. Why did they come to you? Is there merit to their complaint? Is their proposed resolution reasonable given the issue? Until you view the issue from their perspective you cannot have a complete picture of the reason for the complaint. So always think, if I was in their shoes how would I feel?

3. Elevate
Once you have heard the complaint and understand the basis for the same, elevate the customer to a supervisor or manager where possible. If the issue is with the front-line employee this will instantly remove some if not all of the customer’s acrimony towards their current representative at the company allowing them to have a more open conversation with someone else. Often this move alone is sufficient to alleviate some of the customer’s concerns by instilling in them a sense of importance, that their complaint is significant enough to be elevated to someone higher in the chain of command.

One note of caution, when elevating be careful to fully inform the person the issue is being elevated to of the relevant facts prior to having them speak with the customer. If this is not done the new representative will be in a position which they must ask the customer to repeat what happened. While most customers, as part of the venting process, will gladly share their story again with the supervisor they should not be made to feel that they must do so for the process to continue to run its course.

4. No Fighting
Defend if you must. But do not fight with the customer. What is the difference you may ask? Often times it comes down to tone and respect. Recall, whether correct or not your customer believes that they are correct. As such, they may be 100% wrong but fighting about the issue will only exacerbate their complaint.

Your job in handling the matter is to listen, understand, and then discuss with the customer their concerns in a calm and friendly manner while conducting an open discussion regarding the issues complained of and how they will be responded to. Fighting with the customer will never resolve the issue and will only lead to heightened aggression and anger on their part. As such, calmly defend your policies or personnel if you must but do not permit the conversation to erode into a argument at any point.

5. Resolution
Offer a resolution where possible. Once you have listened and understood the customer’s complaint and have avoided fighting over the same divert the customer’s focus to how you intend to resolve the matter. Here it is difficult to include all manners of resolution which can be offered given the nature and scope of the goods and services which could be offered, but some suggestions include offering a refund or partial refund of monies paid, if warranted. Discounts on future goods or services is another popular remedy. If the issue is personnel specific simply offering to change out their representative with another will often suffice.

The psychology of the offering of a resolution cannot be understated. Recall, the goal is to resolve the customer dispute with the customer being fully satisfied with your goods or services. Even if the customer’s complaint is unwarranted listening, understanding, elevating, and offering some form of resolution allows the customer to feel that they have won, that they were correct, and that your organization wants to make it right. For most, this will resolve the issue and they will be satisfied. Unfortunately, however, there will always be those select few that you cannot please no matter what you offer. For those, you must incorporate resolve.

6. Resolve
In every customer service situation you will ultimately come to a point of what you can and cannot do to address the issue. Most situations will be able to be addressed and the customer issue resolved to their satisfaction. Unfortunately, from time-to-time, there will be issues which simply cannot be resolved. Whether it is because the customer is requesting something that is outside of your stated policies on such matters or are simply being unreasonable in their requests. For these customers you must understand that despite your best reasonable efforts to offer a reasonable resolution they are unwilling to join you in reality and, accordingly, although our aim is always to please the customer if that which the customer demands cannot be satisfied you must maintain your best offered solution and no more.

7. Writing
Ultimately, when all is said and done and a resolution has or has not been reached always take the time to memorialize the same in writing. If, as in most cases, the matter is resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, you will want to send the customer a brief follow-up email confirming that the issue has now been resolved and the specific resolution involved. In those unfortunate times when a solution cannot be reached, you want to send an email clearly memorializing what transpired such that should the issue ever come back you can quickly review the email and be versed in the same as needed.

8. Learn
Above all, use customer complaints as a manner to learn about potential flaws in your systems. Maintain a manner of tracking customer complaints and the resolution thereof such that, over time, trends or specific issues may be identified to the point that if you see one or more specific situations occurring with any frequency systems can be amended or put into place to address the same in the future before they become future complaints.

The National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM), the organization that administers the Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) credential, was recently renamed Community Association Managers International Certification Board (CAMICB). The name change reflects a strategic commitment to professionalism, knowledge and sound business practices in community association management throughout the world.

The organizational name change is effective immediately. The new organizational name will be phased in over the coming weeks online and in all print materials.

In discussing the rational for the name change, Rob Felix, CMCA, LSM, PCAM, RS, chair of the NBC-CAM board of commissioners, has noted, “In recent years we have partnered with organizations in Australia, Dubai, South Africa and elsewhere to instill high standards of professionalism in our industry across international boundaries. As we expand the use of the CMCA to international audiences, a name change became appropriate.”

It is important to note that the policies, procedures and processes in place for the administration of the CMCA credentialing program are not impacted by the change in organizational name. The CMCA application process will not change, nor will delivery of the CMCA exam. The CMCA examination will continue to be developed and maintained in full compliance with the standards linked to the examination’s accreditation through the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).

The CAMICB Board of Commissioners and staff look forward to increasing both the reach and the recognition of the CMCA credential –“The Essential Credential” in the field of professional community association management.

For more information, e-mail info@camicb.org.

Steer clear of sticky situations

Your board president wants you to delay this year’s expenses until next year to put HOA finances in the black. A friendly vendor has offered you tickets to see your favorite sports team, plus dinner at a steakhouse.

Should you say yes to both and walk on squishy ethical ground? Say no to both and risk isolating yourself from clients and partners? These not-so-uncommon scenarios can put your reputation at risk.

CMCAs serve many masters

You might work for a management company, while serving client communities. Your bosses are also the board members that hired your company. You work with vendors each day.

Still, your most important commitment is to the CMCA code of ethics and to the industry knowledge that brought you this far.

Good CMCAs keep this in mind as they manage and communicate about HOA finances. Here are some ways working with different “masters” can pose financial dilemmas, and what to do about them.

Working with boards

Although it’s rare, a board member may ask a manager to falsify financial documents by recording expenses in the wrong month or by otherwise moving money around. The board member might also ask you to reduce the association’s bad debt allowance to make the books look better, a step that should never be taken without board approval.

When in doubt, turn to generally accepted accounting principles or call your association’s accountant. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what’s right; it will pay off down the road.

Protect your reputation

Transparent, timely and thorough are the three T’s of financial management. When communicating with boards, make sure to:

• Provide boards all the information they ask for.
• Provide financial statements on a timely basis.
• Provide to board members copies of invoices paid.
• Never pay yourself, but have your payments come from a third party.
• Get dual signatures on all checks.

Working for a management company

More common are situations in which a manager is caught between their company and the HOA board, said Kevin Cavanaugh, CPA, with Cavanaugh & Co., a firm that specializes in HOA finances. “Usually, managers want to side with their company.”

Cavanaugh has seen several cases in which managers were lied to by their bosses. Their bosses were, in turn, misappropriating funds.

“Usually, the manager has a hunch something is wrong but no concrete evidence to prove it. They’re also getting negative feedback from clients,” he said. “The solution may be to get the information you need, and, if necessary, resign.”

Working with vendors

While it’s okay to accept tickets to a ball game, it’s not okay to accept an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas, plus gambling money.

“There’s no hard line on vendor relations,” Cavanaugh said. “It’s more of the smell test. Remember, you can’t have any dealings that either are or appear to be a conflict of interest.”

Better yet, refer to your company’s policy on vendor gifts. Don’t have one? Suggest it to your manager.

Your turn: What are your best internal controls? What is your company’s policy on gifts? Have you ever found yourself in a sticky financial situation? What did you do?

Dear Community Association Advocate,

In August, Members of Congress take a recess from Washington, D.C. and many spend time in their district (local) office. We would like to encourage you to schedule a brief meeting with your Members of Congress during the 2013 August Recess.

There are three issues we would like you to discuss with your Members of Congress.

1. Community Association Living Overview – A community association is a condominium, cooperative, or homeowners association.  There are currently      more than 325,000 community associations in the U.S. housing more than 62.5 million Americans.  Community associations are responsible for municipal services; including trash removal, street maintenance and lighting, and community landscaping.  Community associations are governed by neighbors and are often misunderstood.  According to research, 9 out of 10 homeowners are satisfied with their community association.
2. Housing Finance Reform – Consumers need access to a wide variety of mortgage products to meet their individual housing and budget needs, and aspects of the existing system that provide mortgage choice and pricing stability must be retained. A new housing finance system must provide all creditworthy households opportunity to access mortgage credit, including households in community associations.
3. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – For decades, community associations have been denied  equal access to federal disaster recovery assistance. Residents of community associations should be treated equally with all other taxpayers.  Owners in community associations pay the same taxes and are served by the same municipal emergency services such as fire and police that are provided for residents living outside of associations. Owners in community  associations must likewise receive the same federal benefits as all other residents within a local jurisdiction in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Please visit CAI’s advocacy center: 2013 August Recess Advocacy Campaign

For a complete CAI U.S. House Advocacy Packet, please visit: Full U.S. House August Recess Advocacy Packet

For a complete CAI U.S. Senate Advocacy Packet, please visit: Full U.S. Senate August Recess Advocacy Packet

You can locate your federal legislators here.

In-person meetings with Members of Congress add tremendous value to CAI’s advocacy process. According to the Congressional Management Foundation, 97% of Members of Congress say that in-person visits to their office influence their decisions on issues they have not already arrived at a firm decision on.    

The August recess is a great opportunity for CAI member advocates to schedule an in-person meeting at their federal legislators’ district offices to talk about issues impacting community associations.

Thank you for advocating for the interests of the 62.5 million residents living in America’s 325,000 community associations.  

Make your voice count!

 Sincerely,

Dawn M. Bauman, CAE

Sr. Vice President, Government Affairs

Insights from the CEO of Capital Consultants Management Corporation

Bart Park, the 46-year-old CEO of one of the nation’s most successful management firms, draws on Old Testament insights – the Golden Rule – when managing communities.

“CMCAs perceive this business as a paper business. It’s not,” Park says. “It’s a people business. When you treat people the way they want to be treated, it just works.”

Authoritarian vs. Humanitarian Approach

“I hate the stereotypical homeowners association,” Park confesses. “I find them dogmatic, draconian, and all about the rules.”

In his view, HOAs should stop nitpicking about covenant violations and focus on creating ways for people to bond with their neighborhoods. Examples include sponsoring daddy-daughter dances, 10Ks, volunteer outings and Little League.

“HOA management is about understanding people.” Park continues. “People are nice. And the more you can get them connected to each other and their neighborhood, the better your communities and the more property values go up.”

“The tangential benefit is that you don’t have to enforce the rules because people do it on their own,” he adds. “Fewer homes go on the market, and when they do, they sell for more.”

The Golden Rule

Park’s management philosophy is ‘treat others as you’d like to be treated.’

But what happens when a resident has been harboring too-tall weeds, or a boat in the driveway?

Instead of jumping on the homeowner, assume he or she simply doesn’t know the rules. The first step, then, is education. After you’ve explained the rules (try language like, ‘when you bought your home, you liked the neighborhood because the yards were clean. That’s why we have this rule…’) help the homeowner find a solution. Refer him or her to a boat storage unit with a 5 percent-off coupon. If the problem is overgrown weeds, give him or her a discount at a landscaping business.

Cap off the interaction with the message, “Here’s the place all your neighbors are using.”

Of course, a smart CMCA will have set up those discounts with business partners ahead of time.

And never, ever send out a covenant violation letter on a Wednesday. If you do, so it lands in the homeowner’s mailbox on Friday at 5:03 pm. That gives the recipient all weekend to stew over it, and call you Monday morning in a fury.

From chlorine to a corporate chieftain

Park, who calls himself a “straight shooter,” is anything but conventional. He dropped out of high school to work first as a lifeguard then an auto mechanic. He entered the industry as pool manager, then moved up to covenant enforcer; then community manager. He worked under mentors such as CCMC founder Ed Budreau and David Gibbons, former CAI educator of the year.

Today, his 600-employee company has a client roster that includes Celebration in Orlando, Florida; Las Vegas’ Mountain Edge; and Dallas’ Craig Ranch and Heartland.

by Bzur Haun

Here’s how obsessed people are with their mobile phones: According to Time, 68 percent of users take their devices to bed with them, 20 percent check their phones every 10 minutes, and one third report feeling anxious when briefly separated from their beloved gadget.

“I still feel twitchy,” my friend Kristel Wills told me when she returned from a two-week retreat without her smartphone–and all the tweets, feeds and streams that went along with it.

As the social media manager at expense-management company Concur, Wills knows what it’s like to go to bed with her smartphone. Until a few weeks ago, she admits she checked her email before bed and then first thing when she woke up at 5 a.m.

“I couldn’t put my stupid phone down.”

She’s not alone.

The rates of addiction show no signs of abating. A majority of Americans own a smartphone and these numbers have increased each year. Though the stats may say we’re more “connected” now than ever before, the question we should also consider is: at what cost?

Overcoming Digital Addiction

Recent studies show that the mere sight of a smartphone limits how humans interact–impeding the development of “interpersonal closeness and trust” and leading people to feel less “empathy and understanding from their partners.”

Then there’s what happens when someone’s actually using a phone. “There’s a smart-phone gait: the slow sidewalk weave that comes from being lost in conversation rather than looking where you’re going,” writes Time‘s Nancy Gibbs. “Thumbs are stronger, attention shorter, temptation everywhere: we can always be, mentally, digitally, someplace other than where we are.”

Wills told me that after working with social media for the past six years, her brain started feeling really full and scattered. These feelings, and those of her peers, have prompted a growing call for a nationwide detox.

Lexi Felix has heeded the call. After years spent tethered to his technology, the 28 year-old launched Digital Detox, a company that hosts retreats in Northern California that require guests to surrender their smart phones and immerse themselves in yoga and healthy cooking. The start-up slave turned digital evangelist now spends his days helping others develop mindful relationships with their devices and their surroundings.

Whatever you want to call it–turning off, checking out, detoxing–ignoring your devices isn’t easy. But it’s crucial to our well-being, says Benjamin Robbins, co-founder of Palador, an enterprise mobility consulting firm based in Seattle.

“Call it mobile blasphemy, but I have no problem ditching the device and unapologetically spending dinner and weekends with kids and family, much to the chagrin of some of my mobile cohorts,” Robbins says.

Still not convinced? Here, Robbins makes the case for kicking the smartphone habit:

Why Employees Should Disconnect

Many employees have created for themselves an unfounded sense of anxiety around disconnecting. “The world isn’t going to end, you’re not going to screw up a business deal, you don’t need to be that responsive, people get it,” Robbins says.

Quite the opposite, disconnecting affords us time for the rest and relaxation necessary to restore the energy we put into our professional lives. Phone users rely so much on their devices to make decisions and to provide instant access to information, that they’ve lost the ability to plan ahead, their memories have suffered, and their creativity is stunted.

Wills reported a sense of disengagement with the people around her in the presence of her smartphone. When she and her husband decided to take a two-week road trip exploring Big Sky country, she figured it was the perfect opportunity for a detox. She deleted Facebook and Twitter from her phone, turned off her email and put up a hilarious and frank out-of-office reply about her whereabouts.

She and her husband took to the open highway, putting 2,000 miles on their car, turning off their phones and enjoying the honeymoon they never had the first time around. Her return to the real world was cushioned by the lessons she learned on her detox.

Why Companies Should Disconnect

Everyone thinks they’re great at multitasking. Turns out, they’re wrong. Multitasking actually hurts concentration and creative thinking, the lifeblood of any growing company. And there’s nothing more annoying, says Robbins, than standing before a room full of people hidden behind their laptop screens. His advice: mandate device-free meetings and encourage employees to meet face-to-face.

Similar to what Wills did, encourage employees to enjoy vacations or sabbaticals where they truly turn off and spend time with their friends and family. By doing so, companies will welcome home employees who are refreshed and ready to dive into their work with renewed enthusiasm.

Nobody’s suggesting a 12-step program–yet. Robbins, ever the optimist, thinks people will eventually rediscover the value of device-less interactions. Until then, try looking up every once in awhile–and looking around.

Bzur Haun: As president and CEO of Visage, Bzur leads all facets of the business, including the strategy and operations of Visage.
@friendbzur