Management
and
Board Conflicts
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The community looks nice, the association's financial footing is sound, and
the manager who has been with the condo for the last three years has a good
familiarity with the community. However, sometime after the last election,
things seem to decline.
The board no longer has confidence in the manager, and the manager
does not seem as interested in his job. The four new board members
are appalled at the lack of responsiveness they are getting from
the manager and question his competence to do the job. The returning
board members are quite surprised and a little embarrassed by their
earlier endorsements of the manager. They are even concerned that
their neighbors who have now joined the board think they failed
to adequately do their jobs in the past. Adding insult to injury,
since the change in board members, there seems to be a splintering
of opinions and direction as to where the board should be going.
What's going on here?
Let's look at some of the typical causes of conflict:
Lack of understanding of one
another's roles
Many volunteers serving on a board do not fully understand their role and responsibilities
versus the role and responsibilities of the management staff. Although the
board is responsible for ensuring that the management staff does their job,
it should be through a system of accountability, rather than a cumbersome system
of reporting or by repeatedly second-guessing the manager or other volunteer
efforts.
The role of the board is first to act as one unit – a Board of
Directors. Boards are obligated to make an informed decision, and
having done its due diligence on a particular issue, now sets policy.
That's the board's job – policy making. It now becomes the responsibility
of management to carry out that policy – by establishing accountable
processes and procedures and implementing the policies adopted
by a majority decision of the board. Although the board may wish
to review and comment, the board should not detail exactly how
management will accomplish the directive – that is the job of management – execution.
In a nutshell, the board sets policy, and management carries it
out.
Tone/Atmosphere
One strong personality can change the tone and feel of any group setting very
quickly. The newly elected board member, who initially saw him or herself
as making a contribution to the community, may not feel comfortable about
what is actually expected of them in the position. Certainly, the term “board
member” evokes a picture of weightiness and magnitude. Adding to that, volunteer
board members often lack the specific knowledge and training for the position
that one would expect to have in a place of work. And, if things don't go
well at ones' ‘real' job, neighbors don't call or come to your house to take
issue with you!
For many volunteers this is a startling realization. And coupled
with their personal sense of responsibility to the community, directors
sometimes take a rather critical or ‘authoritarian' approach to
their new position, often before they have a good understanding
of the issues or processes in place. In turn, there may be disturbance
to the prior collaborative working relationship, and in fact, staff,
as well as other board members, may feel somewhat intimidated.
The best way to join any new group is to roll up your sleeves
and listen. The individual that joins a new firm and immediately
begins to denounce or judgmentally question what has been done
will most likely find that others, including staff may shy away
from active interaction. Instead, learn your material with an open-mindedness
and be credible about your opinions. A sense that you want and
intend to work well with management will secure a positive response
from the professionals you will be working with.
Unclear or unidentified Objectives
To avoid confusion and disappointment for both volunteers and management staff,
the adoption of an “Annual Work Plan” is critical. This is an agreed upon
itemization of projects and issues to be addressed in the year, and should
be accompanied by clear processes, which have been reviewed and accepted
by the board, committees and staff.
A failure to have and agree upon mutual expectations will lead
to uncertainty and frustration on everyone's part. Think about
your regular work environment and pretend for a moment that you
are not clear as to what your priorities are, or who you take direction
from. Add the element of having a number of supervisory individuals
give conflicting direction or expectation for the outcome of your
work. Would you be comfortable being evaluated on this foundation?
Reasonably, the answer is no.
Board Meeting Practices
While there are a number of important elements to achieve a successful outcome
to a meeting, there are several steps an individual board member can take
that will enhance the productivity of both the board and management:
- Preparedness. Review your material prior
to the meeting. It prolongs the meeting when some members are
actively participating, while others are reading and then ask
the very questions that have just been responded to. Managers
typically work a regular day and then into the evening for
meetings. Other volunteers will also appreciate a collective
effort to conserve their personal time.
- Put questions forward prior to the meeting. Staff
will have time to gather material you may wish to see or prepare
answers to your questions. Managers want their professional
presentation to be as all encompassing as you need, but not
all members desire the same level of information.
- Give clear direction to management. Direction
is not conveyed through discussion among members of the board
for which no motion is passed, nor direction given. Do not
wonder why management did not follow up – give a clear directive.
- Kicking the can. Do not perpetually table
action items. It is discouraging for management to prepare
and re-prepare to take action for issues that are repeatedly
tabled. Inevitably, action items begin to accumulate and management
staff become overwhelmed.
- Conduct the association's business with a professional
demeanor. The following cannot be overemphasized
-- leave your ego at the door and treat everyone, including
management staff, professionally, even if you do not think
them deserving – there are appropriate times to address performance
issues and an open meeting isn't it.
Accordingly, avoid community meetings where attendees are witness
to the dressing-down of an employee who did not approach the
issue as the critic thought best or who may not have arrived
at the same conclusion. It is detrimental to the receiving person,
and uncomfortable to others who observe it. Performance issues
should be handled privately. The attention should be focused
instead on deciding and taking the actions most beneficial to
the community.
Hidden Agendas
Volunteerism is not purely altruistic. Owners often run for the board because
they wish to introduce a community project idea or because a specific issue
negatively affected them and they sought the opportunity to reply by more
authoritarian means.
Pet projects become hidden agendas when a director feels there
may be a lack of support for the idea. Management learns of it
much later, after a substantial amount of general and undiagnosed
discontent by the bearer. A more difficult issue to resolve concerns
a member who has been offended by earlier processes or interactions
with staff, such as a late fee notice or an unresolved complaint.
Because these are personal in basis and emotional in nature, it
is not recognized that management was simply carrying out their
responsibility to a Board established rule or process.
To prevent hidden agenda issues from becoming a disruptive influence,
conduct a ‘Goals and Objectives' meeting shortly after the election,
in which all directors are encouraged to identify and support their
goals and proposals for the year (committee members may also be
included). It is not necessary to make immediate commitments. Following
discussion, the items brought forward should be categorized (i.e.,
financial, administrative, etc.) and placed on the agenda for an
open review and sincere consideration. Now the Board can determine
whether they desire to go forward, delay it, request additional
information from the initiator, have staff research it, or, after
a fair hearing, decide not to pursue it.
Personal dissatisfaction issues can also be uncovered by including
such categories as “customer service procedures” and “policy guidelines” in
this or the Annual Work Plan discussion. Given an open opportunity,
most volunteers welcome the chance to bring forward their issue.
In turn, the Board has an opportunity to either remedy the problem
or help the new member understand why the need for such a process.
If it's a matter of ‘killing the messenger' -- staff who carried
out the policy -- this is a good time to guide the new director
toward a better understanding of the management role.
In any event, you cannot go wrong by providing a community volunteer
with a fair and reasonable opportunity to present the Board with
something of importance to them. It was not only significant enough
for them to volunteer their time towards the objective, they have
committed to give their personal time towards the objectives of
others and the betterment of the community.
Communication Processes
Clearly define who the primary liaison(s) with management will be. It cannot
be all members of the board because they independently lack knowledge of which
other board members may already have tasked management. Who will prioritize
when conflicting or overwhelming tasking occurs? Who will address the issue
of management concerns about the appropriateness of a requested task (i.e.
budget ramifications)?
How often will a formal means of communication be expected? It
is not uncommon for a board member to be troubled when approached
by a neighbor requesting information on an issue of which the board
member is unaware. Board members must understand that it is highly
improbable that someone who is not actively working in the day-to-day
work routine will be immediately and completely knowledgeable about
all of the association's daily issues. It is management's job to
know about and respond to daily concerns and the director has only
to say, “Let me get more information on this and I will get right
back to you.”
Notwithstanding that - What are the means of communication? Who
is included? What format? How often? Are there special circumstances
that would modify this? By establishing a common understanding
for the system of communication, management is accountable. Surprise
and disappointment are avoided.
Our manager is not doing the job.
Even managers who have previously been superior managers may not be the right
manager for your association today. Board personalities change, the needs
of the community change, expectations change, skill requirements change,
the personal life of the manager may have changed, boredom may be a factor – and
for whatever reason and nobody's fault, your manager may simply not be a “good
fit.”
How you handle this will depend of whose employee the manger is – either
the management company or the Association.
It is relatively easy to address if the management company is
the employer because there is always a higher level person within
the management firm that the board can speak to. Do not be concerned
about causing problems for the manager. Management companies fully
understand the variables that affect whether or not the manager
can successfully remain in the position or not. Particularly if
the manager has been a good performer for you in the past, give
the management company an opportunity to review the issues with
the manager and make a recommendation to the board as to whether
management believes the problems can be overcome or not. The recommendations
may include operating issues of the board. If so, be open to those
because whatever affected this manager will most likely affect
the next as well. If not mendable, let your management company
provide the board a process and reasonable timetable for replacement
of the individual. Such problems may be avoided in the future through
quarterly or semi-annual meetings with officers of your management
company to ensure that problem issues do not build and necessary
corrective action can be immediately taken.
If an association employee, work with your management company
or your attorney, to develop a plan to address the issue. As a
direct employer you will have liability issues to concern yourself
with and would be benefited by professional guidance. Avoid having
various members of the board enter into personal discussions with
the individual, which can fragment the board and aid the individual
significantly in a lawsuit. Of importance will be the fairness
with which the Board handles this. Do not set up unreasonable expectations,
and do not be overbearing. It is just as effective, and more beneficial
to the association to professionally let an employee know that
they are not meeting the reasonable expectations of the board or
are not performing their duties adequately. Naturally, be prepared
to substantiate this – based upon the positive communications,
clear expectations and understandable directives outlined earlier.
All of these factors contribute significantly to the healthy relationship
between the board and management – and ultimately, the best interest
and outcome for the association.
Lana
Reynolds, CMCA®
Senior Vice President
Chief Operating Officer
Community Managment Corporation
Fairfax, VA
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