8 WAYS TO PLAN AND IMPROVE HOA ANNUAL MEETINGS San Francisco HOA Property Management Expertise

One sign of an effective association board and a thriving community is a productive, well-attended HOA annual meeting. When your homeowners are willing to show up and participate in the information sharing that happens at HOA meetings, you know you’re doing something right. 

Driving up attendance is only one part of an effective HOA board meeting. You want to make sure the agenda is relevant and timely, conversations are productive, and action items are checked off as complete or in progress. Annual meetings are a good time to share what you’ve accomplished and to make plans for the future. 

Let’s talk about some ways to make your meetings a success. Here are 8 ways that you can plan and improve your annual HOA meetings. 

CHECK YOUR HOA BYLAWS FOR DIRECTION ON MEETINGS

The HOA is required to meet as often as the bylaws require it. Your bylaws should also tell you when the meeting takes place, what the location should be, and what is required for a quorum. Always start any meeting planning process with a review of the bylaws so you can be sure the board is holding itself accountable for the expectations of your annual meeting.

1. PLAN EARLY AND PROVIDE PLENTY OF NOTICE

You know what it’s like to attend a meeting that’s disorganized and unplanned. 

Start planning your annual meeting at least six months in advance. This will give you plenty of time to solve logistical problems, put together an agenda, gather information, and drum up support among homeowners. 

The board needs time to get all of the meeting information together, and you also want to provide plenty of notice to your association members, in the hopes that they’ll be willing to attend when they can get it onto their calendars months ahead of schedule. 

Decide what your most important objectives will be for the meeting. Once you know that, you can work backward to take all the necessary steps in the planning process. You’ll know how to get the word out about the meeting and what kind of advance work might be required ahead of it. 

2. CONSIDER TIMING WHEN YOU SCHEDULE THE MEETING DATE

The governing documents, specifically the bylaws, may give instructions on when you must meet. It could read as “the first Tuesday in May” or “the last Saturday in September.” 

When no specific date is given, you’ll need to decide on your own when to meet and where. 

Timing can have a significant impact on homeowner turnout to HOA meetings. It doesn’t hurt to take a brief poll to find out when the maximum number of homeowners are likely to be available. You’ll never get a date or time that works for everyone, but if you can accommodate a majority, you’ll have a better consensus at the annual meeting. 

3. CREATE A SPECIFIC HOA ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA

An HOA meeting impacts the future direction of your San Francisco community, and most annual meetings include the election of board members. It’s a pretty big deal, and you want to make sure the agenda reflects the substance of the event. Your agenda should be specific, and it should be circulated to homeowners in advance of the meeting. Then, everyone in attendance will understand what is scheduled to happen and why.

Print and circulate the agenda, and at the meeting, make sure you stick to it. Nothing will derail an annual meeting faster than discussions that are not on the agenda.

The things you include on your agenda will depend on your unique association and the issues that are presently facing your community. Some of the more common HOA meeting agenda items tend to include: 

• Financial reports
• Board of Directors report
• Review of accomplishments
• Review of Upcoming projects
• Ballot items
• Board nominees
• Votes
• Homeowner Q&A 

Ideally, your finalized agenda will be completed one month before the meeting. This will leave plenty of time to gather documentation, and resources, if necessary, line up speakers and guests.

4. ATTACH TIME LIMITS TO EACH AGENDA ITEM

Every agenda item should have a timeframe so you know exactly how much time will be spent on each topic. This is an important way to contain your meeting and to ensure that everything gets covered without pausing too long on various topics. It also shows the homeowners in attendance that you value their time. 

If you’re worried about appearing overly structured by giving each topic a specific number of minutes, worry no more. The most efficiently run meetings are organized with allotted start and end times. Some items will require longer discussions than others. Use your judgment and your understanding of how past meetings have run to tailor the agenda times. You might know from experience that the budget review will need no more than five minutes, for example. 

5. INCLUDE AN EVENT OR A GUEST SPEAKER IN YOUR ANNUAL HOA MEETING

When drumming up attendance is one of your goals, give homeowners a reason to attend. Many people think of annual meetings as being dull, too long, and unnecessary. You need something that will draw people to the meeting.

Even the wording can make a difference. Call it an annual celebration instead of a meeting. You can celebrate the anniversary of your building breaking ground or the new amenity center being completed. You can celebrate the projects that have been completed or the funding that was found to make a capital improvement. 

Guest speakers can be a good way to increase attendance. Invite the local police chief to talk about safety. Have a tech expert come to speak for 10 minutes about the value of smart home devices and video doorbells.

6. PUT TOGETHER A MEETING PACKET

We’ve talked about the importance of an agenda. 

You need to send that agenda out, with supporting information and additional resources, at least a few weeks ahead of the meeting. This will require some coordination, printing, and copying. Give yourself time to get all of these materials together. 

The packet of materials you include should have all the information or materials needed to make good decisions on behalf of the community. If you’re going to want approval on some window washing bids, for example, you should include the bids in the packet. 

7. CREATE A PARKING LOT FOR NON-AGENDA ITEMS

Even well-planned meetings can go off the rails. 

One way to avoid this at your annual HOA board meeting is by creating a parking lot. A parking lot is where you can “park” the issues that are raised but are not on the agenda. You’re letting your homeowners know that you hear them and you want to be helpful, but that the annual meeting is not the place for the discussion. 

Make the parking lot visual. You can use a whiteboard or a large sheet of easel paper to park the things that need attention later. They’ll be included in the minutes, and not forgotten. And, your meeting will stay on track. 

8. ADJOURN WITH AN ACTION ITEM LIST

As the meeting comes to a close, an action item list should be put together that reflects what needs to be done following the discussion and decisions in the meeting. 

Generally, the board secretary will take the meeting minutes, and those action items should be listed at the end of the meeting minutes, with the names of those who are responsible for each item and the date by which the necessary actions should be taken. 

You don’t want to wait until the next annual meeting to provide the minutes. Get them typed up, proofread, and sent to members for review and approval. By sharing the minutes right away, you can remind everyone what was discussed and quickly share information with the homeowners who were unable to attend. 

Delegate Meeting Organization to your San Francisco HOA Property Management Team

Are you working with a property management partner? If you have a team of professionals helping your HOA to be more efficient and effective, they can usually be counted on to handle a lot of the annual meeting preparation, documentation, and communication. 

A good property management company will specialize in general HOA management, condo management, project management, budgeting and accounting, and community finances. They’ll have a lot of experience helping to manage annual meetings successfully. 

SAN FRANCISCO HOA PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 

When you’re working with the right property management partner, annual meetings should be well-attended and effective. At BanCal Properties, we’ve been effectively working with San Francisco community associations since 1987. We can make sure you have a great experience when it comes to planning and executing your annual meeting. 

To hear more about our HOA management services as well as our ability to manage your meetings and other tasks, please contact us. We also welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions for topics you want to learn about, so please share those too. We’d love to address an HOA question or concern that you have in one of our future blogs.