Skip to main content

The art of...

There's a real art to answering questions. Whether you're on an HOA board or you're a property manager or HOA attorney, responding to questions has its moments. Because questions come at you from all directions, some even from out of left field.

So how do people who frequently have to tackle questions go about answering the really tough ones?

Here's one example. Former White House press secretary Jay Carney, who's now an Amazon executive, had to deal with tough questions about a New York Times story that was critical of Amazon's workplace environment. Carney was interviewed on CBS This Morning.

The story described a number of alleged workplace issues like this, for example: An "internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another's bosses. Employees say it's frequently used to sabotage others," according to the article. Also in the story, a former worker said: "Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk."

During the CBS interview, Carney said: "The story is sort of based on the idea that there's high turnover and attrition, but the facts are that attrition -- people leaving, cycling in and out of this company -- is completely consistent with other major tech companies in the United States." He also said: "We compete with world-class companies around the country and the globe for the best talent. They could go anywhere. They don't have to work at Amazon."

Carney's response provided big-picture perspectives, perhaps encouraging people following the story to wonder why Amazon was being singled out.

Do spokespersons for HOAs and condo associations need to have big-picture messages for answering tough questions...some even from out of left field?

(For more about HOA communication, contact: hoastrategic@gmail.com. And there's more about HOA communication and PR -- and responding to tough questions -- in the booklet, At Least Some PR.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Homeowner Associations Can Teach Governments About Spending

by Harvey Radin People in government should take field trips to well-run homeowner associations. To experience fiscal responsibility first hand. To see how elected leaders in some homeowner associations -- HOAs -- are actually spending public money prudently and efficiently. Like governments, homeowner associations collect money to fund a host of community needs. Homeowners residing in HOAs pay dues to their association. This is similar in a way to government taxation. So, if there are roads in an HOA property that are not city-maintained streets, a portion of the money homeowners pay in dues may be set aside for the upkeep of these roads. Governments use tax dollars for public parks maintenance. Homeowner associations have what's known as common areas, landscaped parcels of HOA property that are often maintained by the homeowner association. Some HOAs assume responsibility for roof maintenance on homes, and painting maintenance. Some have recreational facilities that are mai...
Post a Comment
Read more

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

Beating big PR in the publicity game

Big corporate PR staffs work like crazy to get even a little publicity about their companies. And that's all they get much of the time, little or nothing for their effort. Unless their company screws up...that's a different story, so to speak. So when you see stories in the media about organizations or businesses that in all likelihood aren't staffed with an army of PR people, how cool is that? Like TV coverage of a school's unique yearbook. Kids on the yearbook staff added pictures of actors and animated characters, mixing them in among class pictures of the students.  There was good news about a homeowners association saving "millions of gallons of water with native plants." A homeowner attending HOA meetings heard "that more than 40 percent of the budget went to water bills," according to an article in an Audubon publication. The homeowner researched native plants and engaged neighbors in a conservation effort. Irrigation systems were upgraded...
Post a Comment
Read more