The Importance of an Active Condo Board
Picking board members should be as important as picking a management company. An active board can increase the value of your property, whereas a passive board can decrease it. While few people willingly volunteer to be on the board, choosing the right people amongst those volunteers is crucial. The more involved board members are as a whole, the less likely that one person will have to shoulder the burdens of the board. One board member doing all the work while others simply 'sit' on the board happens more often than not. When all members aren't carrying their weight, someone has to pick up the slack, if no one does, very little is accomplished.
As managers, we rely on the board for direction, when there isn't any, we're left waiting. Few management companies will pick up the slack of a passive board, simply because, we need their authorization for many things. Depending on the association's contract with the management company, management companies need board approval for expenses over a certain dollar amount. If the cannot/does not make a decision, that project s placed on hold. In cases of emergency (one that would result in an additional night or weekend charge in excess of the cost of labor), when the board's approval is necessary to send out a vendor, someone on the board must answer the call and thus, make a decision. Board members are coaches and management companies are simply waiting to be told what the plays are.
An active board won't necessarily increase engagement within the community, it will however ensure that the building doesn't fall apart. The board must hold owners and management companies accountable, this only happens with an engaged board. Board members, are the eyes and ears of the management company; owners sometimes don't care enough if it doesn't directly impact their unit. If issues within the building aren't reported to the management, or are ignored by the board, things can escalate and damages can worsen, increasing the cost of repairs. An equipment warning sound that goes off at a certain time each day will be missed during a manager's walk-through, which can happen at differnt times each week or month. Likewise, a sensor that doens't operate as it should is something only those frequently in and around the building will notice.
In addition to actively responding to and communicating with the management company, board members should do a monthly walk-through of their building(s), making notes or issues and repairs needed; this must then be passed along to the management company.
A few things to keep in mind:
Numbers Don't Matter - Depending on you bylaws, you may only need 3 or 4 officers on the board; an active minimum is more effective than a passive maximum. Don't create positions or elect members to simply have more people on the board. Those wanting to be involved but can't fully commit can be parts of committees. Committees can then spearhead certain projects, do research and submit that information to the board who will then make decisions.
Engagement Is Key - It's hard to be a weekend only board member. You miss decisions that must be provided during the week and have to 'catch-up' on the weekends, after perhaps, other members have made a decision with which you do not agree. Board members should commit to responding to each other, residents, and the management company within 48 hours for most issues, 24 hours for emergencies that don't pose a safety or quality of life hazard and 1-3 hours for emergencies that require immediate action. For the latter, a call will likely be placed to the board, starting with the president and working down the list until a member is reached.
It's A Thankless Job But Someone Has To Do It - Board members are rarely thanked, or even liked for that matter. In my 11 years on two different boards, I was probably thanked less than 20 times, and often, by the same resident; and I was a really good board member! I enjoyed the position and didn't mind - most of the time - picking up the slack of others. But residents pay an assessment and expect things to be done, they don't care who does it, whether the board or management company. Most residents think the board position is simply writing more rules of what they can't do, they don't understand that a good board consists of volunteers who work part-time, receive no benefits and are always on call.