We would advocate having dry run practice meetings , allowing experts to streamline in-meeting functionality , and sending out “ how to ” schedules for owners taking them through the meeting step by step . As with all things , communication is key ,” says Constas .
“ Virtual meetings essentially yield benefits for owners and managing agents .”
According to Danie Van der Merwe , director at WeconnectU , a company who specialises in providing the technology to host legal online community scheme meetings , it is important to understand that moving meetings online is a huge step in the right direction for the whole industry , not only for managing agents and trustees .
“ For the industry to be successful you need great people to want to work in it . Meetings , often after hours in sometimes dangerous areas , have always been the drawback for many of the best portfolio managers out there , leaving them with little to no family time , resulting that they leave the industry . Taking meetings online allows them to now waste less time on the road , have more time with their families and feel more secure in the comfort of their own homes . This gives them a more sustainable work environment and they end up staying in the industry ,” says Van der Merwe .
He says Covid-19 made most people hesitant to attend in person meetings , often resulting in the quorum not being obtained and meetings then have to be re-convened . Although the re-convened meeting may ratify budgets and financials and make all the relevant decisions , lesser participation often leads to poorer decisions or no decisions at all on matters needing attention . “ The way meetings are run and how decisions are made and minuted are all prescribed by law . The moment you do not follow due process , decisions may be declared null and void which creates confusion and frustration . Time is of essence for all stakeholders , so we want to get it right the first time .
“ We all know the conferencing tools like Zoom or MS Teams . These tools are good for video sharing and conducting community meetings . However , these tools unfortunately do not provide the full spectrum required to host legal community scheme meetings . The most common challenge is voting . Property managers are required to count votes on PQ ( participation quotient ) value rather than just numbers , and to make it worse , the results must be announced at the meeting . This is a manual process and