Skip to main content

Avoiding hurt feelings and/or angst

Someone we know who resides in an HOA shared this way of saying something, with the goal of avoiding hurt feelings and/or angst.

As he was heading out for a walk, a group of people seeking to share their religious beliefs were going door-to-door in the neighborhood. A couple of people in the group walked up to our friend, wanting to talk religion.

Our friend said: "I have other beliefs that don't focus on religion."

The point was made, carefully and gracefully.

So often in communication -- particularly HOA communication -- making points carefully and gracefully is important in avoiding hurt feelings, angst and -- equally important -- confusion.

(Do you have questions about HOA communication? Contact us at hoastrategic@gmail.com)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Always the same old HOA news

When there's news about HOAs on TV or in newspapers, it's mostly the same old news over and over again. Someone puts up a flag, changes something on their home, has hens, roosters or pigs on their property, maybe playground equipment. Things like that. If reporters happen to call, what happens? Lots of scrambling around, probably. An OMG! moment.  There's a reporter calling, emailing or knocking on the door! What are we going to do? What comes in handy, sometimes, is having some kind of general response in mind. So, when a reporter asks: What are you planning to do about this? (The THIS being one of those things like flags, roosters, etc.), the response might be: We hope to be able to address this situation through discussions involving the homeowner, our homeowners association and concerned neighbors. Something that says a little something, without saying more than should be said, especially when you're under pressure.

Houston!! We have an issue!

Two dinosaur sculptures in the front yard of a home located in an HOA in the Houston area just made ABC 13 Eyewitness News. The homeowner said "she's been contacted (by the HOA) and asked what her plans were" for the dinosaurs, a T-Rex and a Velociraptor. The homeowner's "plans are directly tied to their plans," according to the TV-news story. "She says she is prepared to contest any request that they be removed. It's about creativity, not conformity." Here's the thing about media coverage of just about anything...of organizations like HOAs, business firms and all the rest. It's the question of whether or not -- to what extent -- media coverage might influence situations and outcomes. When organizations -- and their policies -- are in the news, will media coverage influence policy decisions? Keeping in mind, of course, the key role of governing documents in policies and procedures.