Ebooks

Ultimately, board members are volunteers who have full lives and careers outside of their community, which is why it's so important to run efficient meetings. By incorporating a few best practices into your regular procedures, you and your fellow board members can stay on-task and make long, drawn-out meetings a thing of the past. "Try these tips for shortening your board meetings: • Stick to the agenda at all times and do not fall victim to the two biggest meeting killers: social hour soirees, and tangent parties. • Each item on the agenda should have an assigned time frame. If old business is assigned 10 minutes and begins to run into the 20-minute territory, it is time to wrap it up. • At the end of the board meeting, action items should be reviewed and agreed upon in order to ensure that each member is clear about their expected roles and responsibilities. • Invite homeowners to attend and to speak at the end (or beginning) of the meeting, but limit this time to 3 minutes per person or request that all homeowner questions and comments be submitted in advance." -Jesse Dubuque, CMCA® Director of Client Development | Associa Minnesota Spring Cleaning Item #4: IN-PERSON VOTING REQUIREMENTS Spring Cleaning Item #3: LONG MEETINGS In-person voting is another requirement that's not necessary for communities anymore with the secure, accurate and convenient voting technology that's available nowadays. By removing this rule from your documents, you'll not only reduce the logistics and planning necessary for voting, you'll make participation easier for your homeowners – which might just encourage more of them to make their voices heard. "Between jobs, kids, and everyday life, homeowners today are busier than ever and might not have time to cast their ballots in person. If your governing documents don't give residents the ability to vote by proxy, it's time to consider an amendment." -Josie Flicek Business Development Manager | Cities Management

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