HOA Strategic

(Helpful for HOA boards?) -- the ability to see potential problems. To see what might go wrong before something bad happens...to keep problems at bay. (Goes without saying, nowadays) -- Emails can get you in a mess. Your choice of words in memos and online, too. You don't want to think about it when you're volunteering on an HOA board. You're volunteering!! Who wants to work so hard on words? But they do cause problems. And misunderstandings. And angst. Even lawsuits. (Speaking of words) --  "Fuzzy, terrible writing" is "costing American businesses nearly $400 billion every year," reports the Daily Beast. "Poorly written emails and documents...can result in lawsuits," according to a Georgia newspaper, The Monticello News. These costs slip up on organizations like homeowner associations and their property management companies. (Yes, there's good HOA news!) -- About a homeowners association saving "millions of gallons of water wi...

Finance? Forget about finance. Definitely was not my thing. I was always at odds with numbers, we just didn't gel. I'd zone out in math class. But all that changed, oddly enough, when I was elected to an HOA board. Crunching numbers for the HOA, being involved in financial planning, became actually fascinating. That's the thing about volunteering in an HOA community. You can expand your knowledge and expertise. As I say in my booklet, HOA Over Easy , getting comfortable with numbers was like earning a mini-MBA degree.  --Harvey Radin (For more about this post, contact hoastrategic@gmail.com)

SUPPOSE GOOD at a homeowners association, where to start? Maybe with a word like...prudent? When you have a role managing an association's money, that word -- prudent -- is a good word to have in mind. Taking your role as a steward of your neighbors' money very seriously, diligently keeping your eye on the purse strings.

We're starting something, hope it catches on. It's called SUPPOSE GOOD. Getting good going, that's the goal. To overcome negativity. There's an abundance of that right now. What a waste! Negativity. Negativity surrounding organizations, including HOAs. Negativity in business. Negativity in government. Okay...over and out for now.

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.

Writers are a dime a dozen. People in communication and PR hear that every so often. But there's more to it than writing. There's the ability to see potential problems. To see what might go wrong before something bad happens. Something bad for an organization like a homeowners association or a business. That's what people in communication and PR bring to the table. They do what they can to keep problems at bay. People experienced at seeing problems before they materialize are not a dime a dozen.

Emails can get you in a mess. Your choice of words in memos and online, too. You don't want to think about it when you're volunteering on an HOA board. You're volunteering!! Who wants to work so hard on words? But they do cause problems. And misunderstandings. And angst. Even lawsuits.