Monthly Archives: March 2015

community associations, Cooperatives, HOAs, long range planning

How Community Associations Plan to Succeed

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In Part 1 of this series, I explored the reasons why condominium associations, homeowner associations, and cooperatives by and large fail to engage in meaningful long range planning. If a failure to plan is a plan to fail, how can community associations plan to succeed?

BREAKING IT DOWN

Long range planning can be defined as the establishment of a strategy to successfully navigate the foreseeable future. The basic planning process will involve 5 key steps.

Step 1: Assess current conditions
Step 2: Identify the core purpose of the association
Step 3: Set goals to work towards that purpose
Step 4: Decide what practical steps (“objectives”) will be necessary to reach the goals
Step 5: Establish the plan to regularly review progress and update the plan as needed

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Thoughtfully selecting the team to take on this project is the first key to success. Each association has to take into consideration the availability of, and commitment to, human and financial resources. Getting a broad range of input is vital. An ad hoc committee including community members can be extremely valuable, especially since the final plan will need community support to have lasting impact. Leaders who allow the planning group to drive the process and who allow the collected data to tell the story are likely to garner support and succeed. Those who impose preconceived notions about the end result upon the group will destroy both creativity and the integrity of the final product.

Bill Selfridge, the chairman of an HOA ad hoc planning committee, shared why his Association took great care to bring diversity to his group,

“Our community has many members who have expertise and interest in different areas. When we established our working group, we were able to assign specific focus areas to people who expressed an interest in and a willingness to be the coordinator those areas. We identified 9 areas; everything from governance to communications, to clubhouse administration. We endeavored to take into account the diversity of approaches and ideas and opinions. That sometimes translated into very spirited, but extremely valuable dialogue, resulting in a much sounder plan.”

The person designated to lead planning sessions must be objective, patient, focused, and trusted. Bill’s HOA decided to engage me as an outside facilitator. He explains,

“We realized that with all the various viewpoints of the work group participants that it was important to provide for objectivity and subject matter expertise through a proven and qualified facilitator to help us maintain focus and work through the rough spots. We also had to agree that the meetings were his show. We found a facilitator who had the industry experience, the countenance, and the people skills that the group could respect. It made a big difference.

This is Part 2 of a 6 part series. In Part 3, I will dive into each of the 5 basic planning steps help you visualize how your condo, HOA, or coop can actually make this happen. Stay tuned!

business life, change management

A Dad’s Advice For Successfully Navigating Challenging Organizational Dynamics

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Some years ago, my daughter decided to follow my footsteps and enter the community association management business. Of course, I was tickled to death, but I was a little nervous. I have the utmost confidence in Meagan, but the position she accepted was a tough introduction into the industry. It didn’t help that she was stuck with my last name – there would be those who would credit any success she achieved to nepotism. Sure enough, she accepted the challenge and every other challenge that has confronted her since, leaving me very proud…and also grateful she’s got a lot of her mother in her.

So I figured it was time for a note from Dad. I was hoping she could avoid the mistakes I made along the way if I shared what I’d learned. My subtitle was “20 things learned over 28 years in business.” Meagan really enjoyed it. I stumbled upon it a while ago and chatted with her about it. Being the generous soul she is, she is allowing me to share the 20 thoughts with you. I hope you find some value here.

1.  The correct hierarchy for problem solving is (l)Why (2)What (3)How (4)Who. When someone skips right to #4, one person wins for a minute and everybody loses in the long run.

2.  Figure out if you are seeing a system problem, a performance problem, or a combination of both. Otherwise you are answering the wrong question.

3.  You are either part of solutions or part of problems – always seek to be the latter. There is no sitting on the fence. The fence is usually part of the problem.

4.  Focus on the solution, not the problem, every time.

5.  If it appears someone is looking wrong or stupid, try to find a way to give them a graceful exit. They will appreciate it even if they don’t say so.

6.  Let other people make decisions and take positions because they have decided everyone either wears a black hat or a white hat. For your part, remember that most are some shade of gray & that it’s generally irrelevant anyway. The idea is more valuable to the organization than the person that expresses it. Persons are valuable to the organization for the ideas and integrity they lend to the organization.

7.  Never forget humility is a strength, not a weakness.

8.  You are not perfect. That’s OK. Striving to be perfect in flawless service to the client is the key, not being perfect. You can always do the former. You can never do the latter. This frees you up from feeling like you have to defend your imperfection.

9.  Doing your best is good enough, so long as you embrace both sides of the paradox of human imperfection. It is unreasonable to expect better than someone’s best at a given point in time – but since we are imperfect our best can almost always get a little better.

10.  “Never let negative people rent space in your mind.” – Mike Gilmore

11.  Always communicate on a basis of principle. Most people, especially in dysfunctional situations, operate on a ego basis. By sticking to principle, you put others in a position to elevate from ego to principle. If they fail to elevate this time, maybe next time.

12.  Sucking up is NOT customer service. Politics is NOT customer service. Fluffing and telling someone what you think they want to hear (even if not fully correct) is different from tact and is NOT customer service. Sucking up, politics, and fluffing are the enemies of excellent customer service. Honesty, integrity, and genuine caring are excellent customer service’s best friends.

13.  Always take the long view and beware expediency. It will only bite you in the butt in the long run. You just don’t know how, when or where.

14.  “Never wrestle with pigs- you get dirty and they enjoy it.” – Will Rogers

15.  The best managers are warriors at heart. Warriors know what the goal is, why the goal is important, and what their role is in reaching the goal. A warrior cannot be afraid to die, acting with discipline but boldly, and that is how they survive battles, conquer obstacles, and win wars.

16.  Apply Jim Fannin’s “90-Second Rule” whenever necessary proactively by design, and reactively when needed.

17.  “An answer, when mild, turns away rage.” -Proverbs 15:1

18.  Mentally separate the negative/ineffective person from their value system as expressed through their actions, and their performance from their value as a human being. That way you can respect them as human beings without compromising standards, and love them even if you hate what they do.

19.  Turning around a difficult, ingrained situation takes time. You have to be patient. It’s like building up a wall that’s fallen down over time. All you can do is build it back up one brick at a time. Given enough time and skill, you can help build a strong structure. Set each brick properly – strong and straight.

20.  When you choose to adopt the mindset to do all the stuff above, be ready for others to say you are being self-serving or self-righteous. You will be OK as long as you stay humble, and remember it’s about principle and not you. Fishermen know they don’t have to put a lid on the crab basket because the crabs will continually pull each other down as soon as one tries to climb up. Don’t get pulled down. Transcend with graciousness. Put other people in a position to do the right thing, and leave it alone. They have to choose and make it their own. Manage yourself, lead others, even if it’s only by example.

community associations, long range planning

Why Don’t Community Associations Plan?

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RobinHood1
Howard Hill with Errol Flynn

The late motivational speaker Zig Ziglar taught the subject of goal setting by opining on the story of Howard Hill, who won 196 archery tournaments in a row in the first part of the 20th century. He was the guy Hollywood hired to do stunts like splitting one arrow with another in Robin Hood films. Amazing stuff. Mr. Ziglar claimed he was such a talented instructor, he could teach anyone to hit a target with more proficiency than Howard Hill – provided Mr. Hill was blindfolded and spun around a few times.

“Ridiculous! How can someone hit a target they can’t see?” To which Mr. Ziglar responded “That’s very true. Even worse, how can you hit a target you don’t even have?”

It seems so incredibly obvious. Have a target, hit a target. Have a goal, reach a goal.  Duh.  Yet how many community associations have clear, measurable goals, much less a plan to achieve them? Shockingly few.

THERE’S YOUR SIGN…

Comedian Bill Engvall made this tag line famous. If you are not familiar, Google it. He will make you laugh. But some signs can make you cry. Does any of this sound familiar?:

– “Surprise” major expenses resulting in special assessments, steep fee increases, loans, or any combination thereof

– Members disenchanted with their community association

– Endless debate on how the association should spend its money

– Crisis management becoming standard operating procedure

– Regrettable history repeating itself over and over again

– All these may be signs that long term planning is lacking.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

If it so clear that community associations need goals and a planning process, why doesn’t it happen?Through the years, I’ve heard plenty of reasons, none of them good.

– “Our meetings are already 3 hours long. Our agenda is full.”

– “Why should we plan for things that won’t happen until after we are long gone from here?”

– “I’ve been through strategic planning sessions at work. Everybody has great ideas, but nothing ever comes of it. It’s a waste of time.”

– “We are all volunteers here. We just don’t have time.”

– “We have a budget and a reserve study. That’s our plan.”

– “We can deal with it later.”

Failing to plan is absolutely a plan to fail. Ted Ross, a board member for the Washington Metro Chapter of the Community Associations Institute and owner of TRC Engineering frequently preaches, “The longer you defer a capital project, the more costly the project becomes and fewer options are available.” The same principle is true for any facet of the operation where necessary change is deferred. Waiting for projects or situations to become emergencies is never a good idea. Planning for the future is an investment in time, energy, and money.

This is Part 1 of a 6 part series. Part 2 will outline the 5 basic steps of long range planning. Stay tuned!

business life, Time Management

Bookend Your Day

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I had a heart to heart with a young manager the other day.  He felt like he was on the edge.  Within a few minutes, we were able to focus in on the key contributors to his stress.  One was a classic error.  He felt he was so busy he had to hit the ground running each day.  From the get-go, he was immediately diving into emails with his cell phone humming.  He was working his brains out every day, finishing each one exhausted and worried, with the next day’s events already whirring around in his head.  It’s a classic trap – failing to stop, think, and plan before acting.  It creates a vicious cycle of ineffectiveness and stress.  Benjamin Franklin shared a timeless truth long ago, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Never negleBookend Your Dayct bookending your days.  A few minutes at the end of a day to think about and write (or type, as the case may be) the next day’s priorities.  Then, take a few minutes at the beginning of the next day to confirm your plans in writing.  Rinse, repeat.  Every day.  It makes all the difference.

You slack off on daily planning and analysis not because you think you don’t have time, but because you feel you don’t have time.  You cannot ignore the emotional side of time management.  Let your head rule your heart here.  Can you invest 10 minutes?  Of course you can.  It always pays back.

Hitting the ground running without planning your day with all this stuff in your head will burn you out quicker than almost anything else.  Out of your head & on to the paper or laptop.  Lists, brain dumps, anything that helps you frame the tasks at hand decreases mental exhaustion and increases creativity, productivity, and effectiveness.