Estate Living Magazine Design for living - Issue 42 June 2019 | Page 55

C O M M U N I T Y
Creating committees and commitment
The most successful and most cohesive communities have strong
governing boards and a string of enthusiastic, active committees
behind them. If you want owners to be involved in the community
and committed to it, you have to give them something interesting
and meaningful to do. Well-structured committees provide an
organised framework for those activities. Committees provide input
and advice for the board along with willing hands to work on specific
tasks. They also serve as a kind of ‘farm team’, grooming volunteers
for future positions on the board.
This process works, however, only if the committee experience is
positive. Remember those owner profile cards you collected from
new arrivals? Use them as a recruitment tool to match volunteers as
much as possible with committee assignments and with tasks that
reflect and capitalise on their interests. Most volunteers become
involved in community affairs because they want to contribute, and
they want to make a difference. That means the committees must
be an integral and respected part of the board’s decision-making
process and the work they do must be ‘real’ work – tangible, useful,
and necessary – not make-work. Committees’ missions must be
clear, the scope and limits of their authority must be well defined,
volunteer assignments must be specific, deadlines must be set,
expectations must be both clear and realistic, and committees must
have both the time and resources required to complete their tasks.
Finding volunteers is never easy, but within those (often formidable)
limits, boards should select committee chairs carefully, choosing
individuals who are enthusiastic, energetic, and well organised, and
who ‘play well’ with others. You don’t want committee chairs to be
one-man bands; you want them to be effective band leaders.
Showing appreciation
Forging connections and concern
Involvement remains the Holy Grail for community associations
– the elusive but essential ingredient in the community-building
recipe. If you want owners to be involved in the community, you
have to make them feel connected to it. Newsletters and websites
create virtual connections, but the connections between owners
must also be personal and real. A sense of community implies
a level of consideration and concern for others. It’s hard to care
about people you don’t know. Boards have to find ways of bringing
people together, physically, not virtually, in settings in which they
can discover common interests and be reminded that they share
common concerns. This isn’t easy. Schedules are crammed, time is
limited, and people who say they don’t know their neighbours are
also likely to tell you they don’t think that is important.
How do you persuade owners to mix and mingle? Announcing
a special assessment or a levy increase will almost certainly bring
them en masse to a board meeting, but that’s not really the ‘getting-
to-know-you’ gathering you are trying to create. Social events
are a much better idea and food is always a draw. Combine the
annual meeting with a braai, sponsor events, celebrate Fridays (or
Thursdays or Wednesdays) by inviting everyone to bring nibbles to
the clubhouse. Invite speakers (with or without food), encourage
owners to organise special-interest groups, and make that process
easier by collecting and sharing information about owners’
interests. Use larger gatherings as opportunities for the board and
other volunteers to talk to residents about what they are doing, and
about opportunities for others to become involved. Enthusiasm is
infectious; it can’t cure apathy, but it can do much to counter the lack
of interest that keeps so many owners on the sidelines. Developers
build common-interest ownership communities, but it takes
time and effort, plus those old HOA concepts – communication,
commitment and concern – to create a sense of community within
the structures developers create.
Community building is hard work, there’s no question. But it is so
worth it
Association of Residential Communities | hoasupport.co.za
O
Kyalami Estate
advice committees provide, and the contributions they make.
Publicise committee activities; discuss their recommendations
during board meetings, publish committee reports in the
association’s newsletter or on the website, and thank committee
members publicly for their contributions. Some associations
recognise volunteers monthly or annually with awards, small gifts, or
appreciation dinners. Others offer special perks, such as preferred
parking spaces, to express their thanks. This recognition is essential,
industry executives say, not only to thank volunteers in a meaningful
way for their efforts, but also to show others that the contributions of
volunteers are appreciated and worthwhile.
With a few exceptions, the committees will play an advisory
role, recommending decisions but not actually making them.
Boards should ensure that committee members understand those
boundaries, but they should also make it clear that they value the
L I V I N G