Everyone has their own personal tastes and interests, including things they want to accomplish. Most members of the HOA board have close friends within the community. However, you have to set your own personal agenda aside. The board must work like a well-oiled machine. It needs to think about the community as a whole, not just what might benefit the decision-makers. That’s why it’s important to develop a community-focused mindset.
When you’re on an HOA board, you want to make your focus more on what you can do to help the community and less about what you can gain by being on the board. Everyone should pull their weight and work together on agreed-upon goals. In order to do this, you must be willing to hear each other out, be open to learning, and be able to put personal biases aside.
Having a community-focused mindset means looking beyond your own personal interests and seeing the larger picture. It’s choosing what is best for the community at large, now and in the future. The issues that should take priority are ones that will have a lasting, positive effect on the community at large.
In order to establish this type of mindset, it’s essential for board members to get past personal feelings. If someone doesn’t agree with your perspective, try not to get defensive. Instead, be willing to have a cool and calm discussion to figure out what’s best for the community. Be willing to listen as much or more than you’re willing to talk. It’s critical that you work with the board members as a team, focusing on collaboration.
There will be plenty of times when board members clash on what they feel is best for the community. But these disagreements should be handled respectfully. If a decision is made and it’s not the one you had hoped for, remember that you’re still a part of the team. The board should support one another and come together as a single entity.
If you’d like help managing your HOA, we invite you to reach out to us: https://www.pmiprincewilliam.com/. We can help you improve communication and so much more.
