August2017

PRESIDENT’S CORNER DENISE BECKER, CMCA, AMS, PCAM CAI-NJ 2017 PRESIDENT | HOMESTEAD MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC., AAMC

“Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you’re part of a team! Everything is awesome, when we’re living our dream!” Tegan & Sara (featuring The Lonely Island) – “Everything is Awesome”

I hope that you are reading this on a beach or at your community pool, slathered in sunscreen, drink in hand, enjoying the “dog days” of summer. Speaking of dogs, as a dog owner/lover, this is also a great time for nice, long evening walks with my two of my favorite guys, Jaeger and Zander. Those two furry guys make everything awe- some for me, (even the unpleasant task of cleaning up after them) because we want to be responsible members of our community, a part of the team that makes our community a great place to live. I’ve been thinking a lot about teamwork over the last few months. As most of you know, a lot of hard work goes into the management of a community association, whether it is nine units or nine hundred. That work cannot get done well or in a timely fashion without the help of many, many team members. Let’s start with the board members, the Homeowner Leaders. Educated and responsible board members know that they cannot do everything themselves and entrust the management of their communities to their management teams. The best boards communicate amongst each other with respect and with thoughtful concern for the questions and issues facing that specific community. Just because you are the Board President does not mean that your vote counts more than the Vice President, Secretary, or other board members. Does that mean that all the board mem- bers have to agree on every given issue? No, of course not, but once a vote is taken and a decision is reached, the board should act with one voice and as one cohesive unit to advance that decision. Too many times in recent years (and even recent months) I have seen boards torn apart because of issues that could

have been dealt with through better communication and respect for the opinion of their team mates, owners and management. Everyone should want the best for their communities. Once a vote is taken and decision is made, stop discussing it. Continuing attempts to negotiate on an issue that has already been decided will negatively affect the entire board and community. Trust your professionals. Strive for the best outcome and the highest standards. Know that you

"Continuing attempts to negotiate on an issue that has already been decided will negatively affect the entire board and community."

shouldn’t compromise quality for cost (consider the high cost of re-doing or fixing something not done right the first time). Now, let’s talk about the dedicated community manag- ers. Managers don’t punch the clock at 5:00PM. They stay late to finish that one more thing, they miss dinners with their families to attend evening board meetings. Making this sacrifice is part of the job, we all know it, so let’s do the best we can to bring quality bids and recommendations to work smarter, not harder at achieving the goals of the community. Respect the time the vendors give to go out to bid on the projects, agree on the specifications before you approach them, and if they aren’t apples to apples, have the discussion with the vendor before you bring it to the board.

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