CAI-NJ Mar.2020 (w) (1)

Working with DIFFICULT BOARDS By Denise Becker, PCAM Corner Property Management, AAMC

Feodora Chiosea /iStock/Getty Images Plus

A

s the saying goes, “if you toss a rock, you’ll hit a difficult person.” Difficult people in today’s society are plentiful, vocal, and — often times — unavoidable. However, we can usually do our best to avoid/navigate difficult people so that we can minimize our dealings with them. But what if you are faced with a difficult person during your work week and that difficult person is one of your association’s board members (i.e., the very people who keep your company in business)? Does the theme song of Rocky start to play in your head Monday morning when you arrive at work? If so, it is time to start formulating solutions to manage the occa- sional difficult board member(s) successfully. We all know how elections go in our community asso- ciations. Homeowner boards are elected, not hired, so there is no vetting or selection process that management can be involved with beforehand. The person with the most votes wins. That newly elected board member could be a lifer, a newbie, or an unsuspecting owner

that attended the meeting and was nominated from the floor. The process itself causes difficulty, as some owners have never previously been on a volunteer board while others have been on the board for multiple years due to apathy or other reasons. And we all make the position sound so simple: spend two hours a month at a board meeting and let the management company do the rest. Then the harsh truth sets in that as a board member you have a duty and a responsibility to make decisions for your entire community. And then you are faced with multitudes of e-mails and proposals and budgets and financials that you must review and respond to. Not too much pressure there! As a manager, we are tasked with taking the pressure off our board members and become the “team leader” to these board members. Personalities play a big part in the challenge of managing the board members and keeping them on track. Some will be delightful, while some will be cynical. Some will be quiet and complacent. Some

CONT I NUE S ON PAGE 36

34

M A R C H , 2 0 2 0