How to Hold a Successful HOA Board Meeting

There are many challenging aspects to being on an HOA board. Most people don’t think that board meetings would be one of the harder aspects, but they can be more difficult than you might think. Here’s what you need to know to successfully run an HOA board meeting that actually gets things done.

Plan Ahead

Make sure that every board meeting has an agenda. This helps guide the meeting and ensures that the topics that need to be covered actually get covered. It also helps people prepare for the meeting, so they bring documentation and research to discuss the topics at hand.

Create a Schedule

A schedule is somewhat different from an agenda. Make sure that every meeting has a start and end time and that you generally hold to those. You should also make sure that everyone knows when members are invited and can speak and when the board meets alone or does not take commentary from people who are not board members.

Encourage Participation

Talk to the people in your association about the importance of attending board meetings and being part of the community that gets built there. Make sure they understand that the best way to understand decisions that get made and influence those decisions is to attend meetings.

Follow the Rules Outlined in Your Documents

Your HOA’s governing documents likely have something to say about how boards are run and what needs to happen at each meeting. Make sure that every board member is familiar with these documents and knows what is expected at meetings. This can go far toward helping keep meetings as short and as efficient as possible.

Stick to a Time Limit

Every topic on the agenda should have a reasonable time limit and you should stick to that as much as possible. If a topic needs further discussion, you can table it until the next meeting or choose to table something else and use that time to continue tackling the topic that is needing extra time. There should also be a time limit for homeowner participation so people don’t talk all night long.

Use an Established Procedure

There are many options for board meeting procedure, though the most commonly used one is Robert’s Rules of Order. No matter which procedure you choose, make sure that everyone is familiar with it ahead of time, knows what is expected of them under it, and has adequate time to prepare before the meeting starts.

Food Helps!

If you’re meeting over lunch or during mealtime, make sure there is plenty of food for everything. This may seem like an unnecessary expense, but people think better when they aren’t hungry and they may be more likely to compromise, too. Take turns bringing food or order in so no one has to worry about it.

If you need help with running efficient HOA board meetings and community management, contact us at Advanced Management Inc today. We’ll work with you to get your meetings back on track and make them successful again.