Have you every wondered why the best laid plans for
a successful community association meeting can go awry immediately
following the beginning of the meeting? The usual culprit is the
failure to have a well-organized and clear agenda for the meeting.
There are two types of meetings for community associations
- business and communication. This information will focus on the
business meetings of an association - meetings of the membership
as a whole and meetings of the elected leaders of the community
association (Board of Directors/Trustees).
ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
There are two types of membership meetings, the Annual Meeting as required
by the association’s governing documents (usually found in the bylaws)
and Special Meetings to obtain approval of certain actions requiring a
vote of the membership pursuant to these same governing documents.
The recommended agenda for the annual meeting is
usually found in the association’s bylaws and consists of
Call to Order, Proof of Notice of the Meeting, Approval of the
Minutes, Officers Reports, Committee Reports, Appointment of Inspector
of Election (if required), Election of the members of the Board,
Unfinished Business and New Business. Many communities today also
have a Residents’ Forum during the Annual Meeting.
-
Call to Order -
the presiding officer (usually the President or Chair) will
first establish that a quorum is present or in proxy (if
authorized by the governing documents)
-
Proof of Notice of the
Meeting is normally presented by the Secretary
of the Association and takes place to insure that proper
advanced notification of the meeting was given, how it
was delivered, the purpose of the meeting, as well as the
date, time and place of the meeting.
-
Approval of the Minutes is
required to insure that the Association's records reflect
that the membership approved the minutes of the previously
held meeting and they are made part of the permanent records
of the Association. (Hint) In order to have the meeting proceed
more efficiently, copies of the previous minutes should be
available at the time of registration, wherein it becomes
appropriate for a member to ask for a motion to dispense
with the official reading of the minutes.
-
At this point of the meeting you can now
be more flexible with the order of business. Some communities
start the election process during which time the Officer
and Committee reports can be presented. Others, especially
if the voting is done in a different place, will recess for
the voting for a specific period of time. For some committees,
this may be a good time to have a residents forum.
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The periodic meetings of the elected leaders (i.e. the Board of Directors)
are held to conduct business of the Association. Some believe that this
is the time to voice concerns that are not germane to the business meeting,
as others look at this as a social occasion. Neither group is correct.
The preparation of the Agenda for this meeting becomes extremely important
in order to maintain order and insure that the business of the Association
is conducted.
The typical meeting agenda will consist of Call
to Order; Roll Call; Approval of Minutes; Reports from Officers,
Management and Committees, as appropriate; Unfinished (or Old)
Business and New Business. Many associations also add discussion
items for future meetings, a residents’ forum, President’s
announcements and an executive session, as needed.
-
Roll Call - It is important
to have a roll call of the elected officials in order to
establish attendance as well as quorum to handle the business
of the Association
-
Approval of the Minutes is
required in order insure that the actions taken at the previous
meeting are now part of the official permanent records of
the Association. Care should be taken to insure that only
factual changes are made to the minutes and not writing style
or position changes.
-
Reports of Officers usually
will be statements by the President such as appointments
of committees and any other actions the President took between
meetings, along with a report by the Treasurer of the financial
condition of the Association as of the last financial statement.
Committee and management reports are submitted for information
and typically not for in-depth discussion. Both the committees
and management should be encouraged to voice any updates
to their written reports as submitted. (Hint) Reports are
submitted for information purposes and should not take more
than 3-5 minutes of discussion.
-
Unfinished Business should
contain items not disposed of at previous meetings.
-
New Business should
consist of items presented for decision or discussion for
the first time. The majority of the background information
on such issues should be in the Board package.
In order to insure a smooth and efficient meeting,
establishing suggested times for each agenda item supports the
business purpose of the meeting to its participants and audience
and signals that the Board intends to complete its business promptly
and on schedule. Suggested times are approval of the minutes (5),
Officer Reports (5); Committee Report updates (3 minutes each committee);
Management Report updates (5-10 minutes), Unfinished Business (5-10
minutes on each item) and New Business (5-10 minutes on each item).
Committees can also use this format to insure smooth and efficient
committee meetings.
Finally, it is important that each agenda item be
presented with complete back up information in advance of the meeting
(usually 3-5 days), along with a suggested written resolution specific
to the action to be taken. Each of these suggestions will go a
long way to establishing efficient meetings leading to sound decisions
and satisfied homeowners.
