Community Association Meeting Guidelines

Very involved community associations often have large contentious meetings when there is a hot button issue.

We’ve created the following guidelines for meetings so everyone participating knows what to expect.

Association Pledge & Basic Meeting Protocol

It's only a "meeting" if it is organized and a good meeting conduct is important regardless of purpose. There should be an opening statement by the chairman (or a selected member) as to the main purpose (topic) of the meeting.

The ground rules for the meeting; address the chair, the chair decides who speaks, and for how long.

Many community associations start their meetings with their Association Pledge & Basic Meeting Protocol. See an example below:

The Board encourages all to abide by this pledge of conduct: While we might disagree, we will be respectful of one another. We will direct our comments to the issues, avoid personal attacks and abstain from acts or remarks which may interfere with the work of association management, employees, support, and board officers.

Owners are asked to submit questions on topics before the meeting and the presiding hosts will answer those questions. Observers will be afforded 3-minutes per comment to add anything missed in discussion. Only agenda topics will be discussed.

With our File Sharing feature, you can securely store and share your Association Pledge document with permission-based access.

Questions for the meeting

Owners should be notified about upcoming meetings ahead of time either via your newsletter, community calendar or display screens installed in the elevators or/and lobbies. Owners should be able to submit questions before the meeting so they can be answered during the presentation. If anyone want to "add" something, they can ask unanswered questions or make a new point during the meeting.

You should always record the meetings and you should always prepare minutes.

On-Demand Webinar

We recently had a webinar with our friends at GetQuorum titled What It Takes to Run a Great Hybrid Meeting.

We shared insight on how to navigate the complex nature of hybrid meetings, and shared tips & tricks for more effective hybrid meetings.