HOAs

Are you tired of struggling to showcase the value your management company brings to HOA board members? Compiling endless documents for board packets can feel like a never-ending task, consuming valuable time and resources. The problem is clear: board members need comprehensive insights into community operations, but traditional methods often fail to deliver impactful presentations during board meetings. We\’ll explore the important reasons behind creating HOA board packets, offer practical tips on crafting an effective one, and unveil the power of leveraging technology to improve your HOA board meetings to new heights of efficiency and engagement.

What is a Board Packet, and why is it important for HOAs?

Before we begin, we need to understand Board Packets. A board packet is a complete collection of information carefully created by the HOA managers and distributed to HOA board members before scheduled board meetings. It is a core document that promotes successful communication, decision-making, and cooperation.

It informs them of all they need to know about the community\’s health and any developments since the previous meeting. A successful board packet contributes significantly to the organization\’s governance by keeping board members engaged while holding management teams responsible for completing work on the community\’s behalf. Historically, Management companies previously had to utilize printed board packets and gather information from multiple sources. However, in recent years, many management companies have sought board portals to improve the security of sensitive information and boost collaboration with board members.

Importance of Board Packets:

Board packets are essential resources for the smooth operation of homeowners associations (HOAs) and the decision-making processes of HOA boards. Here are a few main reasons why board packets are extremely important:

1. Improved Information Sharing – Board packets consolidate critical information, ensuring all board members have equal access to the same data and updates. This increases consistency and clarity in talks and decision-making.

2. Transparency—Board packets enhance HOA transparency by incorporating financial reports, operational updates, and legal documents. Board members and others may evaluate relevant facts, building confidence and accountability.

3. Efficiency during meetings—These documents allow board members to evaluate information beforehand, streamlining discussions during meetings. This leads to more productive and focused meetings, making the most of everyone\’s time.

4. Accountability: By including written records and reports in board packets, board members may hold themselves and others accountable for choices and actions made within the HOA.

5. Historical Reference: These documents record previous board decisions, conversations, and actions. This continuity promotes consistency and informed decision-making across time.

What\’s Included in a HOA Board Meeting Packet?

Boards rely on data from board packets to run meetings effectively and make sound decisions. As a result, your board package must have up-to-date, high-quality information so that boards can get value from it. The following are the major components that should be included in a board packet. However, they may differ based on each community\’s needs and particular circumstances. Here are some of the components to include in the board meeting packet:

1. Architectural Change Request Status

Architectural change request reports are vital documents that detail any proposed alterations or additions to the community\’s architectural elements. These reports typically include information such as the nature of the proposed changes, drawings or blueprints, impact assessments on the community\’s aesthetics or property values, compliance with HOA regulations and guidelines, and recommendations from the architectural review committee. Including these reports in the board packet allows board members to review and approve or deny architectural changes based on their impact on the community\’s overall design and standards.

2. Resident Complaint Reports

Next, we can include the Resident complaint reports. It documents any grievances or issues homeowners raise within the community. These reports may cover various topics, including noise complaints, property maintenance concerns, disputes between neighbors, violations of HOA rules or regulations, and more. Including resident complaint reports in the board packet enables board members to promptly address and resolve community issues, fostering a harmonious living environment for all residents.

3. Maintenance Projects and Progress

Maintenance request reports provide an overview of ongoing maintenance activities within the community. This includes both completed maintenance tasks and those still in progress. These reports outline the nature of maintenance requests, timelines for completion, cost estimates, contractor information, and any follow-up actions required. Including these reports in the board packet allows board members to track maintenance efforts, allocate resources effectively, and ensure that the community\’s infrastructure and amenities are well-maintained.

4. Vendor Contracts and Proposals

Vendor contracts and proposals encompass agreements with external vendors or service providers hired by the HOA for various purposes, such as landscaping, security, maintenance, and repairs. These documents outline the terms, scope of work, pricing, warranties, insurance coverage, and other pertinent details related to vendor services. Including vendor contracts and proposals in the board packet enables board members to review contractual obligations, assess vendor performance, evaluate cost-effectiveness, and make informed decisions regarding vendor selection or renewal.

5. Agenda

The agenda is crucial to a board packet, detailing the HOA meeting\’s main issues and allowing directors to suggest new agenda items. It should clearly explain the major issues and objectives discussed throughout the meeting, allowing directors to stay focused and productive. A well-written agenda sets the tone for the meeting and allows for effective time management by assigning suitable periods to each agenda item.

6. Previous Meeting Minutes

Including prior meeting minutes in the board packet is critical for ensuring continuity and responsibility within the HOA board. These minutes record prior decisions, actions, and conversations from the previous meeting. Board members can study the minutes to refresh their memory on the subjects covered, follow up on action items, and ensure that any outstanding issues are handled at the current meeting.

7. Financial Report

The financial report is essential to the HOA board packet since it gives a complete picture of the organization\’s financial health and performance. This report covers essential financial figures, which provide information about the company\’s assets, liabilities, revenues, costs, and cash flow.

8. Board Committee Reports

HOA Board Committee Reports are crucial for informing board members about specific committee activities and initiatives. Committees such as landscaping, social, finance, and architectural provide updates on their ongoing projects, accomplishments, challenges, and recommendations. These reports offer insights into each committee\’s contributions to the community goals, allowing directors to make informed decisions and approve suggestions that align with the HOA\’s objectives. Including committee reports in the board packet ensures transparency, accountability, and effective management of key areas within the community.

Tips to Create an Effective HOA Board Packet

A well-curated board packet is critical for successful board operations and governance. Here are some suggestions for creating a helpful board pack for the board of directors at your next community meeting:

1. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To ensure the effective management of HOAs, it\’s crucial to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that accurately reflect the community\’s health and success. Here are some KPIs you can track:

• Maintenance Response Time – Provides insights into how promptly maintenance requests are addressed to help maintain property values.
• Collection Rate – This measures the percentage of HOA dues payments that are submitted on time. A high collection rate indicates strong financial management and member compliance.
• Monitoring Compliance – Maintaining compliance with regulations is essential to avoid legal issues and ensure adherence to HOA rules and local laws.
• Vendor Performance: Evaluating the performance of vendors such as landscapers, maintenance crews, and property managers ensures quality service delivery and cost-effectiveness.
• Member Satisfaction: Surveys can help you understand member satisfaction with HOA services, communication, and the overall community experience.
• Architectural Review Turnaround Time: Measures how quickly the community reviews and approves architectural change requests from residents.
• Community Engagement: Tracking participation in HOA meetings, events, and committees can help you see how engaged the community is.
• Emergency Preparedness: Evaluating readiness for emergencies such as natural disasters or security incidents.

These KPIs collectively contribute to the efficient operation and overall well-being of HOAs, facilitating informed decision-making and proactive management strategies.

2. Include Forward-Looking Information

Moreover, incorporating forward-looking information in board packets is crucial for strategic planning and risk management within HOAs. This includes analyzing impending community association trends and legal changes, which can help the community proactively anticipate and address potential issues. This proactive approach ensures that HOAs stay abreast of developments, mitigate risks, and capitalize on favorable conditions for sustainable community growth and prosperity.

3. Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience is critical when producing board packs. With their different experiences and skills, board members have distinct information requirements and preferences. Tailoring the information to meet their expectations promotes engagement and successful decision-making. Consider the board\’s makeup, including industry expertise, financial acumen, and strategic goals. Depending on their knowledge of the subject, determine the amount of detail and complexity of the material.

4. Concise Summaries

Concise summaries in board packets are critical for communicating complicated information in a simple and consumable manner. These summaries simplify key ideas, results, and insights from lengthy reports, allowing board members to rapidly understand critical information and make educated choices. Effective summaries emphasize essential information such as Architectural approvals or rejections, work order updates, vendor contract updates, resident complaints, and rule violations created and resolved. They give the reader a picture of the most essential information without overloading them with extraneous details. 

Furthermore, summaries employ simple language, eliminate terminology, and prioritize information according to its importance and influence on decision-making. They are valuable tools for steering conversations during board meetings, concentrating attention on critical issues, and promoting efficient decision-making processes.

5. Timely Distribution

The timely delivery of board packs is crucial to ensure that board members have enough time to study documents before meetings properly. By distributing board packets well in advance, usually 7-10 days before the meeting, you provide board members enough time to process difficult information, ask questions, and prepare relevant responses. It also increases efficiency during meetings, as board members arrive prepared and informed, resulting in more focused conversations and effective decision-making. In addition, It exhibits an appreciation for board members\’ time and dedication, establishing a transparent and accountable culture inside the business. However, Management companies should consult with each individual community\’s governing documents to understand when board packets need to be distributed and how.

How to leverage technology in making HOA Board Meeting Packet

Technology may greatly improve the development and dissemination of HOA board meeting packets. Here are various methods to achieve this effectively:

1. Generate Operations-Specific Reports

Modern HOA management software provides powerful features for creating operations-specific reports suited to each HOA\’s needs. These reports may include maintenance schedules, vendor contracts, project updates, and community efforts. Using technology, the HOA board may swiftly prepare complete reports, ensuring that board members can access timely and relevant information.

2. Generate Financial Reports

Financial reporting is an integral part of HOA board meetings. Technology facilitates the automatic creation of financial reports such as balance sheets, income statements, Budget comparisons, and reserve fund updates. Automated reporting assures accuracy, consistency, and timely financial insights, allowing board members to make educated decisions about budgeting, investments, and financial planning.

3. Distribute Board Packets through Email Communication

Email communication is a popular and effective way to distribute board packets to HOA board members. With technology, community managers may securely deliver board packets as email attachments, ensuring that board members receive necessary materials on time. Furthermore, email contact enables simple tracking of delivered packets and follow-up on any unresolved issues or feedback.

4. Store Board Packets in a Document Library for Future Reference

One of the most significant benefits of technology is the capacity to store board packets in a centralized document library. Cloud-based document management systems offer a safe and easily available location for keeping board packets, meeting minutes, and other essential information. Community managers ensure that board members have access to prior packets for reference, historical tracking, and decision-making continuity by putting them in a document library. Furthermore, restricting access to board members ensures secrecy and security.

5. Solicit Feedback through Surveys

Technology makes it easier to get input from board members through questionnaires. Online survey tools enable community administrators to construct personalized questionnaires to get input on the success of board packages, meeting content, and general communication methods. Survey responses help identify areas for improvement, resolve issues, and improve the quality of future board packages and meetings.

6. Training and Support

Training and assistance are critical components of using technology effectively for HOA board meetings. Provide board members with extensive instruction on successfully utilizing digital tools, document management systems, and communication platforms. This training should include navigating software interfaces, obtaining board meeting packets, utilizing collaborative tools, and maintaining data security. In addition, provide continuing support and resources, such as user manuals, FAQs, and helpdesk support, to resolve any emerging queries or difficulties.

Creating HOA Board Packets that Wow

Ultimately, creating board packs that leave a lasting impression on your boards requires careful preparation, attention to detail, and modern technologies and tactics. By following the instructions in this article, you may improve the quality and efficacy of your board packets. Implementing these best practices demonstrates professionalism, efficiency, and a dedication to quality in HOA administration, resulting in more productive and effective board meetings.

Two years after Colorado implemented HB22-1137 to address communication regarding a unit owner’s delinquency in paying assessments, fines, and fees, the state introduced new modifications with HB24-1233.

These updates, which go into effect on August 7, 2024, aim to protect homeowners and boost transparency within associations. They also mandate associations use additional communication methods to notify unit owners of delinquencies. In this blog article, you’ll discover what these new requirements mean for your association and how to get ready.

HB24-1233 Homeowner Communication Requirements

In June 2022, a law required HOAs to notify unit owners via mail, text, or email, send the notification in the preferred language, allow owners to designate a contact for communications, and maintain records of all communications about delinquencies. On June 3rd, 2024, the Colorado Governor approved new mandates for associations to inform unit owners about delinquencies. These new requirements specifically focus on communication methods. The new law goes into effect on August 7, 2024. 

Important changes in HB24-1233 include:

• HOAs must now contact a unit owner or their designated contact through two methods instead of one. Communication methods include phone call, text message, or email.
• HOAs can charge unit owners if they want to receive notices or documents via certified mail.
• Allow HOAs to contact the owner or designated contact via phone using the number that the HOA has on file. 
• The previous requirement for HOAs to physically post a notice of a homeowner’s delinquent account on their unit has been eliminated.

How to Prepare for Changes Required by HB24-1233

With just a month left to comply with the new law, here are some steps you can take to stay prepared:

1) Update Your Communication Policies

It’s important to update your HOA’s communication policies to adapt to the new requirement for contacting delinquent unit owners or their designated contacts. Make sure your communication policies allow for reaching out using at least two methods from the following options: phone call, text message, or email. Having multiple ways to communicate with homeowners ensures that important messages are received and creates a more transparent environment.

2) Verify Resident Contact Information

Next, you want to ensure that the HOA has accurate and up-to-date contact information for all unit owners and their designated contacts. This includes phone numbers, email addresses, and any preferred methods of communication. Accurate information is crucial to sending your residents updates about delinquency, emergencies, or community information. 

Once resident information is up to date, how do you continue to ensure the accuracy of the contact information? That’s where a regular review system comes in. You can periodically remind residents through automated communications to review and update their contact information by giving them access to a resident portal where they can make these changes on their own. Implement a robust system for regularly updating contact information to maintain accuracy. Encourage residents to provide multiple forms of contact to ensure they can be reached under any circumstances.

3) Check You’re Still in Compliance with HB22-1137 (previous law)

While many requirements from the original law remain unchanged, confirming that you’re still meeting them is crucial. These include allowing unit owners to choose a different language to receive their communications in, designating a contact person, and maintaining communication records. It’s essential to verify that your methods still comply with these requirements.  

4) Staff Training and Documentation

Train HOA staff and board members on the new communication protocols for contacting unit owners about delinquent payments. Ensure staff are well-versed in handling various communication methods and documenting each attempt. Some communication platforms that are designed for the HOA industry will automatically track email opens, phone calls, and text message delivery.  It’s important to ensure your software platform can track this automatically to save time for your team to focus on more important community matters. 

5) Communicate Changes with Homeowners 

Communicate the upcoming changes to all unit owners well before the effective date of August 7, 2024. You can use various channels, such as email, mail, and community meetings, to keep everyone informed.

In your communications, it’s a good idea to explain the new requirements, why these changes are occurring, and how they will impact the unit owners.  

If your association plans to charge unit owners for sending out mailed notices or documents through certified mail, it’s important to communicate that update.  

You can inform homeowners about these changes through:

• The community website
• Their preferred communication methods (email, phone, text)
• Notices on the resident portal
• Notices on common areas like the community clubhouse or main office

6) Consult with your community association lawyer

Be sure to discuss the more complex details of HB24-1233 with your lawyer and how it impacts your association.

How Pilera can help you comply with HB24-1233

Automate Communications

PileraConnect is our comprehensive communication suite designed to streamline your interactions with residents. Whether it’s routine updates or emergency alerts, you can automate messages via phone, email, text, or postal mail to homeowners and their designated contacts.

Resident Communication Preferences

In accordance with HB24-1233, associations are now required to communicate with residents through two different methods instead of one. The most effective way to gather accurate resident contact information is to let them choose their preferred communication channels.

Invalid Communication Report

Having the most accurate resident information is essential for ensuring your messages reach residents. Pilera offers an automated monthly invalid communication report highlighting invalid email addresses and phone numbers, enabling you to correct them. Additionally, you can access a list of residents, their preferred communication methods, and contact errors like bounces or unsubscribes on demand.

Language Translation 

The original law requires associations to provide residents the option of receiving messages in their preferred language.  With PileraConnect, residents have the flexibility to select their preferred language for text and email messages from over 100 options. They can also opt to receive phone calls in either English or Spanish.

Confirm Message Delivery

The original law requires associations to keep track of every contact made to a resident about delinquency. With PileraConnect’s message center, managers can effortlessly view a list of recipients, delivery methods, and confirmations. Instantly check if an email was delivered, bounced, or replied to. You can also check if a text message was received; or if a phone call was answered live or went to voicemail. The message center also logs the content of each message you send. 

Track Resident Email Replies 

PileraConnect lets you track email replies from any outbound communication initiated through our platform. With the Message Inbox feature, you can quickly search for replies from residents, ensuring no conversation is lost during staff turnover or when out of the office.

One month left to comply with HB24-1233

Schedule a Consultation to Stay Ahead

With just a month remaining to meet the new requirements of HB24-1233, it’s crucial to stay prepared. Additionally, it’s important to have a plan to start communicating about delinquencies to residents. One significant change is the requirement to contact residents in two ways, so it’s essential to have a communication platform that offers multiple methods and allows residents to choose how they want to hear from you.  If you’d like to learn more about how Pilera can help you comply with the updated law requirements, schedule a 15-minute discovery call. 

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About Pilera

Pilera Software is a CRM custom built for the community association industry and has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance.

Community conflicts, whether over budgets, architectural designs, or rules, are often inevitable because of diverse perspectives.  When conflicts arise, it’s important to handle them with a constructive and empathetic approach approach. By adopting best practices for your community, many conflicts can be resolved or minimized. Regardless of whether you are brand new to the board or a seasoned member of the board, you may find it challenging to identify the best way to resolve a conflict. In this article, we’ll provide you with practical tips for effectively resolving conflicts in your HOA and how you can leverage technology to keep track of interactions and how conflicts were handled for future improvements.

Types of conflicts that may arise in HOA communities

Several conflicts may arise in HOA communities. These include:

1. Communication Breakdown

People have different ways of interpreting messages. People may neglect or forget things said or written about a topic, which results in losing important information. Furthermore, depending entirely on one-way communication can restrict the community and lacks the ability to provide important feedback to the board. When there is a lack of good two-way communication, all parties involved may grow irritated, making HOA community administration even more complex and leading to conflict.

2. Boundary Issues

HOAs frequently deal with land boundary issues, including property borders. Residents may be unsure of common or shared property borders and their lines near neighboring properties. This ambiguity can lead to disputes, particularly over encroaching tree limbs, which are a regular source of contention among community members.

3. Noise Complaints

Dealing with noise complaints may be very challenging, especially if homes are in close proximity or in condominiums. The resulting tension can build up quickly. It’s important for HOAs to establish clear criteria for acceptable noise levels during scheduled quiet hours and social activities. By implementing these standards consistently and fairly, HOAs can foster a serene living atmosphere that not only maintains peace but also strengthens the bonds among residents. 

4. Amenity Use

Amenities like the swimming pool, sauna, and gym are major draws for homeowners. However, challenges can arise when people misuse these facilities. Such activity can cause property damage, lowering property values and requiring costly HOA-funded repairs. Furthermore, homeowners may be discouraged from enjoying these facilities if others do not respect the shared areas, disrupting the harmony and community spirit that should define neighborhood living.

5. Financial Disagreements

Financial issues within a HOA community can develop for various reasons, including budget distribution, fee hikes, and special assessments. When people differ on financial matters, it can lead to tension in the community. Some may advocate for more prudent spending to keep fees low, while others may prioritize investing in upgrades or upkeep. These issues can develop if not addressed openly, creating dissonance among homeowners and straining ties with the HOA board.

Impact of Unresolved Conflicts on the Community

Unresolved conflicts within a community can negatively influence its overall well-being. They can cause greater stress, damaged relationships, and decreased trust among community members. Thus, conflict resolution must be handled swiftly and efficiently to create a healthy and prosperous community. Let’s discuss some of the impacts of conflicts on the HOA community:

1. Increased stress and tension from the uncertainty and discomfort that arise from continuous conflicts.
2. Decreased sense of safety and security as a result of anxieties about future confrontations or escalations over unresolved issues.
3. Adverse effects on creativity, cooperation, and overall community productivity.
4. Residents may find it difficult to participate in community activities when there are constant tensions.
5. Delayed decision-making, which can impact community governance.
6. Strained relationships and connections between residents can hinder attempts to create a sense of unity.

Proactive measures to prevent conflicts

The key to creating a healthy and successful community is to proactively prevent disagreements before they have a chance to grow. Being proactive, rather than reactive, not only keeps conflicts to a minimum but also boosts your efficiency. On the flip side, reacting to issues as they arise can drag down productivity. Let’s dive into why staying one step ahead is always the better strategy:

• Proactive measures prevent conflicts from escalating.
• Preemptive action fosters community harmony and cohesion.
• Addressing issues early avoids long-term resentment.
• Proactivity promotes a positive and supportive community environment.
•  Preventing conflicts saves time, resources, and emotional stress.
• Proactive communication builds trust and understanding among residents.
• Reactivity may exacerbate conflicts and lead to further complications.
• Being proactive demonstrates effective leadership and community management.

Now, let’s discuss some of the proactive measures HOA members should take to prevent conflict:

1. Clear Communication Channels

Creating clear and open communication channels throughout the community encourages openness and eliminates misunderstandings. It’s vital to inform residents about critical developments, policies, and future activities through frequent messages, community meetings, and other digital channels residents use.

2. Conflict Resolution Training

Your HOA community can hold conflict resolution training. Conflict resolution training for community leaders, HOA board members, and homeowners gives them the ability to resolve issues constructively. Training sessions might cover active listening, empathy, problem-solving approaches, and negotiating skills.

3. Written Policies and Procedures

Creating and implementing written standards and procedures for common spaces, noise levels, pet regulations, and other possible causes of conflict helps establish clear resident expectations. These policies should be adequately conveyed and applied to all community members.

4. Mediation and Dispute Resolution Services

Mediation is always one of the best conflict resolution methods. Offering mediation and dispute resolution services in the community offers homeowners a neutral platform for resolving problems peacefully. Trained mediators may encourage constructive conversations, uncover root causes, and assist parties in reaching mutually acceptable solutions.

5. Community Activities

Organizing community-building activities like social meetings, volunteer initiatives, and neighborhood events helps homeowners to form healthy relationships. Strong social connections and a sense of belonging lessen conflict and foster a positive communal environment. 

HOA Conflict Resolution Tips

Unresolved disputes can damage long-term relationships among neighbors. They can impact board members’ responsibilities and cause other owners to take sides. Simply, disagreements may split a community. Here are some strategies for addressing HOA conflicts:

1. Listen Actively

Active listening is a valuable ability for conflict resolution and efficient communication. Active listening is about thoroughly interacting with the speaker to grasp their thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints. In addition, it promotes trust, empathy, and effective communication, creating the groundwork for constructive conflict resolution and developing better connections within a community or during any interpersonal conflict.

2. Find Common Ground

Next, try to find common ground to ease the problem-solving process. Finding common ground is critical in resolving problems and fostering understanding among people with opposing viewpoints. It entails determining common interests, principles, or goals that both sides may agree on. Concentrating on their commonalities can help people overcome gaps and collaborate to find mutually beneficial solutions.

3. Brainstorm Solutions

Brainstorming solutions is a dynamic activity that fosters creativity, cooperation, and invention while resolving problems or addressing difficulties. It entails coming up with a range of ideas, understanding diverse points of view, and assessing alternative solutions to choose the most successful path of action.

4. Negotiate Fairly

Negotiating fairly is an essential component of dispute resolution and decision-making processes. It entails engaging in conversations and striking fair agreements, considering all parties’ demands and interests while promoting mutual understanding and respect. During discussions, seek common ground and consider new ideas that address underlying interests. Avoid using coercion and instead opt for a collaborative and cooperative approach.

5. Follow Through

This is the last phase of solving the conflict. Following through is critical in conflict resolution to ensure that agreements and promises are kept. It involves carrying out the agreed-upon activities, keeping promises, and making required revisions or adjustments as agreed.

How to use Technology for Empathetic Communication & Resolving Conflicts

HOA management technology can provide you with a suite of tools designed to enhance empathetic communication and deepen relationships within your community. With this technology, you can bridge communication gaps, navigate challenges, and cultivate empathy in every interaction with your community members as you overcome conflicts.

Let’s discuss how you can use Technology to communicate with empathy, build stronger connections, and reduce conflicts:

1. Personalizing Messages with Mass Notification Tools

Even when using Mass Notification methods, it is important to customize messages to demonstrate empathy. With technology, you can maintain a courteous but firm tone to explain the reasoning for regulations or choices. Using a personable but firm tone helps display that homeowners’ concerns are being recognized and heard, fostering understanding.  

Through Pilera’s communication tool, you can send phone calls, emails, postal mailing, and text messages across your community based on resident preferences. You can also create message templates, which helps to create a consistent message that your team members can use when communicating with the community.

3. Incident Tracking

When conflicts arise in the community, maintaining a detailed log of the incident, the severity, any interactions with residents, and how the conflict was resolved is important. By documenting these patterns, you can spot recurring patterns, identify the most frequent type of disputes, and understand the resolution timeframe. This knowledge helps you to come up with creative solutions to minimize future conflicts and improve community harmony.

With Pilera’s Incident Dashboard, you can keep track of incidents and how they were resolved. Here’s how the Incident Dashboard feature can help:

• Track incidents at the occupant or the unit-level
• Collaborate with other team members within the incident ticket and receive email updates.
• Create custom categories to organize the type of incidents you need to track.
• Assign the incident ticket to a manager or board member (with manager permissions) for follow-up.
• Filter through your incident tickets based on assignment, category, dates, and more.
• Track key metrics through visual charts and identify trends.

4. Knowledge Base

Conflicts often stem from differing opinions on community rules or simply from residents not being aware of existing guidelines. To bridge this gap, consider developing a searchable knowledge base that acts like an FAQ for your community. When crafting this resource, explain each rule and its purpose, use clear and straightforward language, and incorporate searchable keywords. Through a knowledge base, residents can quickly find and understand the information they need, and can help minimize conflicts.

With Pilera’s Knowledge Base feature, you can add an unlimited number of help articles and tag them for simple searching. Residents can quickly find the answers they’re looking for by either searching with keywords or selecting relevant tags.

5. Event Invitations

Next, you can use technology to distribute event invites and bring the community together. Events, such as board meetings or social gatherings allow residents to meet, exchange experiences, and form connections, promoting empathy and a sense of belonging.

With Pilera’s community calendar feature, you can organize events into different categories (such as board meetings, maintenance, social activities), allow residents to view upcoming events, and invite residents through email notifications.

6. Feedback Mechanisms

Feedback is crucial in the conflict-solving process. That’s why feedback mechanisms are critical for promoting sympathetic communication in a society. Community leaders demonstrate responsiveness and appreciate their ideas by soliciting input from locals via surveys or digital channels. In addition, analyzing feedback helps to find areas for development, resolve problems, and build confidence and openness.

Pilera also provides forms, surveys, and e-Voting to help you get a pulse on what’s most important to your community. You can add custom questions, distribute the survey to residents, and receive instant results through a sortable table or visual charts. If you’d like to learn more about surveys, please contact [email protected].

7. Discussion Platforms

Community-only Discussion platforms allow members to engage in meaningful conversations with other residents without exposing confidential information to the public like other social media platforms. A discussion forum enables residents to discuss their opinions, ask questions, and voice concerns. Moderators play an important role in ensuring that conversations are constructive and courteous. They observe conversations, intervene when disputes emerge, and promote positive dialogue. Discussion forums encourage openness, build a feeling of community participation, and allow members to participate in decision-making processes actively.

Through Pilera’s discussion board feature, residents enjoy a dedicated space to engage in conversations across a spectrum of community-related topics. This community-only platform ensures that boards and managers can encourage positive interactions while safeguarding confidential information. Moderators of the discussion board can oversee conversations and track popular discussion topics through custom categories.

Resolve Conflicts & Improve Community Cohesion

Conflict resolution and compassionate communication are critical for creating a harmonious and healthy HOA community. Following these dispute resolution recommendations, homeowners associations can foster a supportive atmosphere where people feel heard, appreciated, and respected. In addition, unresolved disagreements can have a negative impact on community well-being, including greater stress, a lower sense of safety, productivity concerns, poor governance, and strained relationships. As a result, it is critical to take proactive steps to prevent disputes from growing and to manage them quickly and effectively when they do emerge. Furthermore, using technology for empathic communication improves community connections and overall satisfaction. By combining technology with effective dispute-resolution tactics, HOAs can foster empathy, enhance community relationships, and create a comfortable living environment for all residents.

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About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management suite that has helped thousands of community managers and back-office personnel enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations. May we help your community achieve these success stories? Contact us to see how Pilera’s community management suite can help your company.

New Condo and HOA Law have passed, impacting Florida Condo and HOA Communities.   Here’s what you need to know about HB1203 and HB1021.

Florida condo and HOA residents and board members remember when Chapter 17 went into effect in January 2019.  At that time, it required that all condominium communities managing more than 150 provide a website. New legislation (HB1203) has passed in the Senate that states all HOA communities with 100 or more parcels must provide a digital copy of specified documents by January 1, 2025.  HB1021 requires Condos with 25 or more units to have a website by January 1, 2026.    There’s more than enough time for your community to prepare, but we recommend you do your research now and avoid scrambling at the last minute!

What are the requirements in regards to sharing official community documents (HB1203)?

• HB1203 states that associations with 100 or more HOAs, effective January 1, 2026 maintain a digital copy of certain official records for download on the association’s website or through an app on a mobile device.
• Make a copy of records or the records available that are subpoenaed by a law enforcement agency within five days of receiving the subpoena.
• Maintain official records for at least seven years, unless the association’s governing documents require a longer period of time.
• This law also requires that rules and covenants, and updates to those documents must be made available to residents.

What are the new requirements for HB1021?

HB1021 will also require digital access to documents beginning January 1, 2026.   

• Condominium associations with 25 units or more will be required to maintain specified records available for download on the association’s website or by a program on a mobile device.  
• Requires associations to maintain additional accounting records (such as, invoices and other documentation that shows any receipt or expenditure).  A condominium association may satisfy a request for access to records by making the records available for download on the association website.  
• Includes criminal penalties if an association refuses to release or if it destroys official documents. 

How to stay ahead of HB1203 and HB1021. 

Identify the needs of your community website.

1. Define Goals and Objectives: Start by clearly defining the purpose of the website. Determine what you want to achieve with the new website.  In addition to providing the platform for sharing required documents (HB1203 and HB1021), think about how else you want to improve communication.

2. Gather Requirements:   Get input from HOA board members, property managers, residents, and any other relevant parties. Identify the features, functionalities, and content that the website should include to meet the needs of the community.

3. Select a Website Platform:  Research your options for community websites and portals.   Many vendors today offer complete CRM and portals with secure login access. In addition to providing access to documents, you can also manage your rule violations, maintenance requests and automated communications. 

4. Ongoing Maintenance and Updates: Establish a plan for ongoing maintenance, updates, and improvements to keep the website current and relevant. Assign responsibilities for website management and uploading and communicating when required documents are available.

Now you know your general requirements. How do you decide if you want a community website, or a resident portal?  What are the differences?

Community websites and resident portals serve similar purposes in providing information and facilitating communication within a community.  However, there are key differences between the two that may influence your decision on which option to choose:

1. Scope and Functionality:

• Community Website – A community website typically serves as a public-facing platform that provides general information about the community. Information includes history, amenities, events, news updates, governing documents, and contact information. It may also include features such as photo galleries, community forums, and directories.

• Resident Portal – A resident portal is a secure online platform that is accessible only to residents of the community. It focuses more on providing personalized services and features that cater to the needs of residents. Features like online payment processing, maintenance requests, event registrations, community directories, document management (e.g., accessing HOA documents), and communication tools (e.g., message boards, email notifications).

2. Audience and Access Control:

• Community Website – A community website is typically accessible to the public, including residents, prospective homebuyers, and external stakeholders. It serves as a marketing tool to promote the community and provide information to a broader audience.
• Resident Portal – A resident portal is accessible only to registered residents of the community who have login credentials. It provides a secure environment for residents to access personalized services and interact with community-specific information and resources.  Providers such as Pilera offer password-protected websites that allow boards and residents to securely access important documents.

3. Integration with Management Systems:

• Community Website – A community website may integrate with management systems used by the community to update content, manage events, and disseminate information. However, it may not offer the same level of integration with resident-specific services and functionalities.
• Resident Portal – A resident portal is often integrated with management systems to provide seamless access to resident-specific services, such as online payments, maintenance requests, and amenity reservations. This integration streamlines administrative processes and enhances the user experience for residents.

4. Communication and Engagement:

• Community Website – A community website may serve as a platform for one-way communication, such as posting announcements, newsletters, and community updates. While it may offer features for community engagement, such as forums or comment sections, the level of interaction may be limited.
• Resident Portal – A resident portal fosters two-way communication and engagement between residents and community management. It provides tools for residents to communicate with each other, participate in discussions, and collaborate on community initiatives. It also enables community managers to communicate directly with residents and gather feedback in real-time.

When deciding between a community website or portal, consider factors such as the specific needs and preferences of your community, the desired level of access security, and the available budget and resources. In some cases, a combination of both may be the most effective solution to meet your community’s needs.

What are the benefits to having a website or portal for my community?

Offering a community portal or website can bring numerous benefits to both the community management and its residents. Here are some of the key advantages:

1. Improved Communication – A community portal or website serves as a centralized platform for disseminating information, announcements, newsletters, and updates to residents. It allows for efficient communication between management and residents, reducing the reliance on traditional methods such as printed newsletters or bulletin boards.

2. Enhanced Accessibility – A digital platform makes information easily accessible to residents anytime, anywhere, using their computers, smartphones, or tablets. Residents can access important documents, event calendars and community news without the need to visit an office or attend meetings.

3. Increased Transparency – Portals or websites promote transparency by providing residents with access to important community documents. Documents such as governing documents, meeting minutes, financial reports, and maintenance records. This transparency builds trust and confidence among residents and fosters a sense of accountability within the community.

4. Streamlined Processes – Online portals can streamline administrative processes for both residents and community management. Residents can submit maintenance requests, reserve amenities, make payments, and access important forms and documents online, reducing the need for paper-based transactions and manual processing by staff.

5. Enhanced Community Engagement – Portals or websites facilitate engagement among residents with features like discussion forums, message boards, calendars, and surveys. Residents can connect with their neighbors, participate in community events and initiatives, and contribute to discussions on community matters.

6. Cost Savings – Transitioning communication and administrative tasks to digital, can offer cost savings associated with printing, postage, and staff time. Online portals can also help reduce errors and inefficiencies in manual processes, which leads to overall cost savings for the community.

7. Improved Satisfaction and Retention – Providing residents with convenient access to information and services through a portal or website can lead to higher satisfaction levels and increased resident retention. Residents appreciate the convenience and transparency offered by digital platforms, leading to a positive perception of the community management.

8. Data Analytics and Insights – Online portals can provide valuable data and insights into resident preferences, behavior, and engagement patterns. Community management can use this data to tailor communication strategies, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to better serve the needs of the community.

About Pilera:

At Pilera, we offer a one-stop solution tailored to assist communities in seamlessly complying with these new laws and regulations. With singular dedication to serving HOA and condo communities, we provide a full suite of services designed to manage all aspects of community operations.   From secure, password protected access to websites and portals, the ability to post documents that can be restricted by role for added security, as well as additional solutions that help communities not only comply but build better relationships with residents.  Pilera offers a complete solution to address the evolving needs of modern communities. With our expertise and specialized focus, we empower communities to navigate regulatory changes with confidence.

Board meetings can sometimes be a cause of stress for HOA members. It might be that your meetings seem disorderly, too much time is allocated to minor issues, or it just feels like nothing gets accomplished, resulting in lost time. If these scenarios sound familiar, it might be time to revisit your HOA board meeting agenda. Recognizing this problem underscores the necessity of well-structured HOA board meeting agendas. These agendas act as a guide, directing discussions, prioritizing tasks, and fostering transparency within the community. In this piece, we\’ll explore the significance of well-structured agendas, emphasizing their role in accelerating decision-making, empowering board members, and ultimately elevating the satisfaction level within the HOA.

Why is an agenda important for HOA board meetings?

Having a framework to follow when preparing for your board meetings is beneficial. In fact, it has the potential to alleviate many of the issues you are experiencing with board meetings, such as spending too much time on a particular topic or discussions that go out of hand. Let\’s explore how an organized agenda can benefit your meetings.

1. Preparation

One of the main reasons why HOA board members should always have an organized agenda is to make preparation easier. With a well-structured agenda, board members can research important information they need during the meeting and developing their viewpoints ahead of time. This preparation allows members to contribute meaningfully to the conversations, ask well-informed questions, and provide practical solutions. Furthermore, thorough preparation develops a feeling of ownership and accountability among board members, who arrive at the meeting ready to fully participate.

2. Focus and Direction

According to studies, 39% of time in meetings are spent on items that are not on the agenda, leading to wasted time. An agenda acts as a compass, giving focus and direction to HOA board meetings. Agendas helps to keep meetings on track by specifying topics you need to discuss and establishing a timeline. Furthermore, the agenda allows board members to keep control of the meeting by gently bringing topics back on course if they deviate.

3. Efficiency

By providing a planned framework for discussion, the agenda ensures that meeting time is spent wisely and productively. Predetermined time restrictions for each agenda item keep conversations focused and on track, avoiding tangents and unnecessary delays. Board members can prioritize items based on their significance and relation to the HOA\’s goals, allowing for more effective use of time and resources.

4. Transparency

An agenda promotes transparency by distributing it to all members, including homeowners before the meeting. Everyone is aware of the issues that you need to discuss, eliminating surprises and allowing for proper preparation or attendance if preferred.

5. Accountability

Finally, the agenda promotes accountability among HOA members. The agenda establishes responsibility by clearly detailing the issues that need to be discussed and the decisions that need to be made. Furthermore, the agenda is a written record of discussions and decisions, keeping everyone accountable for their actions.

What makes a solid board meeting agenda? 

It\’s useful to have a defined framework to refer to while restructuring and updating your regular board meeting agenda. In reality, it can efficiently solve many issues raised at board meetings. Aside from the basic data, such as the meeting time, date, and place, several essential items must be included in your HOA board meeting agenda.

These components include the following:

1. An Outline of the Agenda

Begin by identifying the critical topics for discussion at the meeting. Ensure that these themes align with your community board\’s goals and responsibilities. Next, rank these agenda items based on importance, allocating appropriate time blocks for each item to promote thorough consideration.

2. Communicate Expectations to Staff

Effectively communicate the meeting\’s objectives and expected outcomes to all members. This clarity promotes a focused mentality and ensures that members understand the importance of their contribution. Furthermore, it encourages members to participate.

3. Distribute the Agenda in Advance

Once the agenda has been created, it must be provided to all board members and residents before the meeting. This gives them time to review the issues, acquire necessary data, and prepare any presentations or reports required.

4. Set Clear Expectations

Define the expected level of involvement among staff members during the meeting. Inform them whether they will be expected to offer updates, engage in conversations, or give presentations on certain topics.

5. Follow Up After the Meeting

Finally, plan to follow up with the community after the board meeting. After the meeting, work with your community managers and other board members to create a list of the meeting action items, decisions made, and who is responsible for taking the next step on each task.   Provide comments on individual contributions and acknowledge staff members\’ efforts to prepare for and actively participate in the meeting.

How to Communicate about Follow-up Tasks from the Board Meeting

Effective communication is the foundation of good governance. Following a successful board meeting, clear and effective communication on follow-up duties is critical. This communication not only enforces responsibility but also promotes community cohesiveness and growth. Below are some of the ways to communicate about follow-up from the board meeting:

1. Document Action Items

Assign a specific person to organize action items and decisions during the meeting to improve communication. Create a detailed list of action items, including precise tasks, timeframes, and responsible parties.

2. Send Out Meeting Minutes

Next, you can send out meeting minutes to members. Meeting minutes should be distributed as soon as possible following a board meeting to provide accountability within a HOA. To promote successful communication, minutes should be precise, short, and well-organized, emphasizing major issues, resolutions, and responsibilities.

3. Clarify Responsibilities

Clarifying roles is critical to ensuring proper follow-up after a board meeting. Begin by describing each individual’s allocated duties, including their responsibilities, expected outputs, and timeframes. Provide thorough instructions and resources as needed to assist in job completion. Communicate any dependencies or partnerships necessary to complete the job effectively.

4. Set Reminders

Setting reminders is essential for keeping everyone on track with follow-up duties following a board meeting. Use digital tools like calendars, task management applications, and email reminders to notify team members of forthcoming deadlines and work statuses. Customize reminders depending on their urgency and significance to guarantee that tasks are completed on time. This proactive strategy helps reduce missed deadlines while promoting team accountability and productivity.

5. Document Progress

Documenting progress on follow-up activities after a board meeting is critical for monitoring accomplishments and detecting possible issues. Maintain a centralized system or document that allows team members to update their task statuses routinely. Include information such as task completion, problems faced, and resolutions.

6. Review and Follow Up

After allocating responsibilities following the board meeting, organize frequent reviews to identify progress and handle any challenges that may arise. Hold follow-up meetings or check-ins to review task statuses, challenges, and necessary revisions. In addition, open discussion and criticism should be encouraged throughout these reviews to foster teamwork and successfully resolve any issues. Regular follow-up and progress reviews keep activities on track and promote a feeling of accountability and collaboration within the community.

How to Leverage a Task Management System for Board Meeting Action Items

Effectively handling action items that are created from a board meeting is essential to community operations. Using a task management system enables you to track action items and keep everyone informed of outcomes.

1. Centralized Task Management

One of the greatest benefits of having this system is the centralized task management. Task management software organizes and tracks all action items and tasks in one place. This removes the need for many spreadsheets or email threads, simplifying the follow-up process. With Pilera’s task management tool, you can streamline all your work into one accessible location. This includes any comments, files, and email replies connected to your tasks. To ensure a smooth board meeting, you can set up a custom category just for board meeting agenda items and then apply this filter on your dashboard for easy viewing. This will provide you with a comprehensive list of all tasks you wish to address during the board meeting.

2. Accountability

Task management software allows you to assign specific tasks to people or teams while clearly defining responsibility and ownership. This ensures that each action item has a designated responsible person who is held accountable for its completion. With Pilera’s task management feature, you can assign tasks to other fellow board members or to your community managers. When they are assigned a task, they will receive an email notification automatically keeping them informed.

3. Setting Deadlines and Prioritization

Pilera’s task management system lets you set deadlines for each work and rank them according to their urgency or relevance. This capability guarantees that the follow-up process runs smoothly and that crucial action items are addressed immediately. Setting deadlines and prioritizing activities inside the program creates an organized workflow that maximizes productivity and prevents critical tasks from falling.

4. Collaboration and Communication

If you\’re planning to communicate or collaborate online, a task management system is a perfect solution. The system includes collaboration and communication capabilities, including commenting, file sharing, and real-time updates. By centralizing communication, you can minimize miscommunication, speed up workflows, and promote a more coherent and coordinated approach to follow-up actions. Furthermore, real-time updates guarantee that you are always informed of the most recent developments and adjust work accordingly. Through Pilera, board members and managers can communicate directly on the task itself. The comments section enables board members and managers to share updates and notify each other through email.

5. Visibility and Transparency

Transparency and visibility are vital in community management. Task management software provides visibility into each task status, allowing board members and managers to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and guarantee follow-up activities completion. This openness encourages accountability within the team since everyone can see who is in charge of each work and follow its progress from start to finish. With comprehensive insight into task statuses, you can interact more efficiently, make informed decisions, and remain on track with project timeframes and objectives. Pilera’s task management system tracks every action taken on a task, including status updates, file attachment updates (when files were added and removed), comments, and email replies on a ticket.

Watch Video: Tasks, ACRs & Violations Management

Transforming HOA Meetings with Organized Agendas

An organized agenda is the cornerstone of efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness within homeowner associations. Think of it as the guiding light for productive discussions and informed decisions, pinpointing issues and setting priorities. It not only encourages planning and accountability among board members but also streamlines meetings, boosts community participation, nurtures trust, and ensures alignment with the HOA\’s mission and values. 

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About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, operations, client support, engagement, and voting.  Book a personalized demo to learn how Pilera can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. 

Safeguarding our environment and promoting sustainability is vital to a thriving community. As a board member or HOA manager, you have numerous opportunities to contribute to environmental protection and enhance your community’s progress. Moreover, adopting sustainable construction and management techniques may reduce your carbon impact, boost your community’s finances, and heighten its aesthetic appeal. In the lead-up to Earth Day, which falls on April 22nd, we’re offering suggestions that can positively impact both your community and our planet. These valuable insights will empower you to resist practices that harm the environment.

Why should HOA communities care about sustainability?

As communities grow more conscious of their environmental effect, Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) play an increasingly important role in promoting environmentally friendly practices. Above all, a dedication to a sustainable environment adds to a greener neighborhood and has other environmental and community-wide advantages. Therefore, let’s discuss some of the reasons why we should care about sustainability in our community:

Environmental Conservation

One of the primary reasons for adopting sustainable practices in HOA sustainability is the promotion of Environmental Conservation. Imagine an environment where every community proactively tries to reduce waste, save energy, and preserve wildlife. This joint effort protects our planet for future generations and leads to a better and more sustainable way of life for all of us. Every step toward sustainability is essential, from small measures like recycling and lowering water use to significant projects like integrating renewable energy sources and supporting eco-friendly transportation. These efforts benefit the environment and enhance the quality of life in your community.

Cost Savings

Contrary to popular belief, sustainable practices are not necessarily expensive; they can be relatively cost-effective. Communities that employ water-efficient measures, for example, can save significantly on their water bills and minimize the usage of chemicals, leading to cheaper maintenance expenses. Furthermore, investing in sustainability can help avoid costly environmental cleanup work in the future, thereby saving the community money in the long run.

Health and Well-being

In sustainable communities, people\’s health and well-being are prioritized. These communities stress amenities such as access to green areas, clean air, and safe, walkable neighborhoods, all contributing considerably to a great quality of life. Therefore, sustainable communities not only thrive environmentally but also promote the well-being of their citizens, resulting in livable areas for future generations.

Overcome Disruptions

Sustainable communities are environmentally friendly and better equipped to deal with and overcome environmental difficulties and unforeseen disruptions. By being adaptable, communities can improve their ability to recover from disruptions and ensure the continuous supply of essential services.

Community Engagement

Caring about and promoting HOA sustainability initiatives can improve community engagement. Sustainability efforts are not only about conserving the environment. They are also effective ways to bring the community together. These projects allow homeowners to interact, connect, and achieve common goals.

Enhanced Property Values

Living in a sustainable community is a wise investment in your property\’s worth. With green amenities and sustainable infrastructure, these conscious neighborhoods are highly desirable locations to live, work, and invest. Therefore, prioritizing sustainability benefits the environment and makes good financial sense. It\’s a win-win situation for both your wallet and the environment.

Aesthetic Appeal

Some may be concerned that adopting sustainable practices may reduce the visual attractiveness of an HOA neighborhood. However, HOA sustainability may be just as visually appealing as traditional ways. Thoughtful design, inventive plant selection, and well-kept green spaces can improve the appearance of an HOA community while adhering to eco-friendly practices.

Ways to promote sustainability in your communities

Implementing sustainability efforts in your community doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, effort, and money, but it\’s worthwhile. Let\’s discuss some of the tips and ways to promote sustainability in your communities:

1) Encourage Community Cleanup Events

Despite our best efforts to keep our streets, parks, and beaches clean, garbage is common. But instead of shaking our heads in dismay, there are many ways to take action. Gather your community and plan a cleanup day at a local park, riverfront, roadway, or other location in need. Not only will you remove the eyesores, but you will also help the environment.

2) Plant a Community Garden

Community gardens encourage local food production and foster a strong community spirit. Planting and nurturing a communal garden allows neighbors to bond over their passion for gardening, exchange ideas, and enjoy the fruits of their labor together. It\’s an excellent way to build stronger community bonds while conserving the environment.

3) Set up a Composting Program

Composting is like magic for the environment. It converts food scraps, yard clippings, and other organic debris into nutrient-rich soil that plants adore. Establishing a communal composting program can engage everyone and make a meaningful difference. Furthermore, composting together will create a greener, more sustainable community that benefits everyone.

4) Promote Energy Efficiency Initiatives

One of the simplest methods to promote sustainability is to minimize energy use in your community. Switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, shutting off lights when not in use, and adjusting thermostats to the correct temperature are all simple ways to reduce energy use. Encourage your community to adopt these strategies to minimize energy use and save money on electricity bills.

5) Promote Water Conservation

Water conservation is a critical part of environmental sustainability. Encourage your HOA community to save water by repairing leaks, installing low-flow faucets, and maintaining sprinkler systems. In addition, encourage your community to adapt to drought-resistant and native plants that demand less water.

6) Create a Recycling Program

Recycling is another crucial way to safeguard the environment. Encourage your HOA community to recycle paper, plastic, glass, and metal items. Recycling bins may be strategically placed across your town to encourage homeowners to recycle. It may also be beneficial to send out regular notifications to ensure that your people know optimal recycling procedures.

7) Host Educational Workshops and Seminars

The community can host educational talks to encourage conversations on sustainability and develop new ideas. Transform your HOA community into an eco-conscious center by providing engaging sustainability workshops and seminars. Discuss composting, recycling, energy conservation, and sustainable gardening techniques to inspire and educate homeowners. In addition, local professionals can be invited to offer their knowledge and practical ideas, making these gatherings fantastic learning opportunities.

8) Transition from Paper to Digital

Next, let\’s embrace the power of digital communication to decrease paper waste while keeping your HOA community informed and involved. Instead of depending entirely on paper announcements, use digital means such as email newsletters, text messaging, community websites, social media platforms, and automated phone calls to communicate information and changes to residents. Going digital reduces our environmental impact by conserving trees, streamlines communication, and makes it more accessible to everybody. It\’s a win-win situation that allows us to connect, preserve, and remain connected more sustainably.

9) Green Spaces and Wildlife Habitats

The HOA community should be at the forefront of providing green spaces and wildlife habitats. Plant native plants that thrive in your region to provide natural homes for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Consider putting up birdhouses and feeders to attract avian companions to your neighborhood. These green areas not only enhance the beauty of your surroundings but also help maintain the health and resilience of local animals.

10) Promote Alternative Transportation

The HOA community should proactively reduce our carbon footprint by supporting alternate transportation choices in our area. Encourage homeowners to use eco-friendly forms of transportation, such as walking, bicycling, carpooling, or public transit, wherever possible. Consider adding bike racks and establishing well-marked walking pathways throughout the community to promote these environmentally conscious choices. By making sustainable transportation accessible and easy for homeowners, you can encourage a healthier and more active lifestyle for everybody.

How to get communities excited about sustainability

Residents are at the core of your community\’s sustainability efforts. According to a survey, 46% of individuals are trying to implement sustainability efforts but agree that they can improve their efforts. Thus, it’s important to develop ways to engage residents in an exciting way to get your sustainability efforts off the ground running. Here are some of the ways HOAs should adapt to engage community members:

Host Fun Events

Fun Events are one of the easiest ways of bringing together community members. HOA members can organize a “Green Fair” that combines education and enjoyment. This “Green Fair” is more than educational; it celebrates sustainable living! It\’s an opportunity for your community to get together, learn, interact with local businesses, and, most importantly, have fun while helping the environment. Examples of fun events you can host as part of your “Green Fair” include:

• Community garden day
• Neighborhood tree planting
• Zero waste picnic or cookout
• Upcycling craft fairs

Create Incentive Programs

We all like gifts and rewards. Similarly, we can introduce incentive programs to promote HOA sustainability. These incentives acknowledge individual efforts and foster a sense of accomplishment and pleasure in making a difference. By providing real incentives, we may start a chain reaction of beneficial activities and increase our impact on creating a greener, more sustainable community.

Utilize Social Media

69% of adults in the United States have a Facebook account, and 80% consume videos through YouTube, which makes these great platforms to promote your community’s sustainability initiatives and get homeowners involved. Share compelling information such as inspiring success stories from your community, practical ideas for sustainable living, and behind-the-scenes looks at current initiatives.

Educational Campaigns

Education campaigns have been the source of knowledge in many areas. Environmental sustainability is not an exception. Develop effective teaching programs that stress the importance of sustainability and the transforming potential of individual acts. To reach every community member, use various communication methods, such as newsletters, text messages, emails, fliers, social media, websites, and community signs.

Collaborate with Local Organizations

Partner with local organizations and nonprofit associations to promote environmental sustainability. And as they say, unity is strength, so it is when you come to protecting the environment\’s biodiversity. Collaborative events and initiatives may boost enthusiasm and give valuable resources and knowledge.

Keep the Practice Simple

Since most homeowners are busy, and you, as a community manager or board member, are, too, always go for simplicity. Provide tools and assistance to help people and families take small, concrete steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

How to leverage technology to promote your sustainability efforts

Renewable Energy Solutions

Installation of renewable energy solutions is one of the mighty ways technology can promote a sustainable environment. HOA communities might consider installing sustainable energy alternatives like solar panels or wind turbines. Technology can help analyze feasibility, optimize location, and monitor performance over time.

Water Conservation Technologies

Encourage your HOA community to save water by repairing leaks, installing low-flow faucets, and maintaining sprinkler systems. When it comes to landscaping, drought-resistant and native plants demand less water.

Community Engagement Platforms

These platforms may include the following:

Resident portals

Resident portals are digital platforms that provide a single location for community members to access information, and resources and request services. Residents may utilize these portals to stay up to speed on HOA news, participate in conversations, obtain vital documents, and communicate with their neighbors and community managers. With a discussion board, homeowners can communicate and plan sustainability initiatives and spark ideas for positive change.  

Event management

Event management simplifies the process of planning, organizing, and advertising community events. HOAs may use event management software to efficiently arrange various events, including social gatherings, educational courses, maintenance tasks, and volunteer opportunities. Providing residents with a calendar of upcoming social activities and sustainability events can increase participation rates, turning apathy into engagement. Send residents automated reminders of events to keep them informed so they are less likely to miss them.  

Pilera’s built-in event calendar helps you manage community events and email notifications all in one simple user interface. You can create custom events for different types of events such as social gatherings or board meetings, set up recurring events, and send email notifications by user type. 

Text & email communications

Text and email conversations are crucial for keeping members informed and engaged. HOAs can utilize text messaging and email systems to send out essential notifications, event invites, newsletters, reminders, and emergency alerts. These communication channels allow for rapid and direct connection with people, which boosts engagement and participation in community efforts.

With Pilera’s dynamic communication platform, you can keep in touch with residents how they want – through phone, email, text, or postal mailing.

Online payments

Online payment platforms let members make safe and straightforward electronic payments for HOA fees, assessments, and other costs. Furthermore, online payments cut paper consumption and help environmental sustainability by eliminating the need to print billing statements.

With Pilera, residents can conveniently make online payments at the convenience of their own homes. Pilera can accommodate any payment providers you have.

Websites

Websites act as digital showrooms for HOA communities, including information on amenities, rules and regulations, news and updates, community activities, and resources. A well-designed website increases openness, promotes communication, and is a useful resource for both current and future homeowners. Promoting your sustainability initiatives on your community website not only gets your current homeowners excited but can attract new homeowners to the community. 

Pilera’s community websites are an easy way to showcase your community without requiring technical experience. Through our website, you can create public and private pages, post documents and surveys, create photo galleries, and add free-form content to showcase your community’s sustainability efforts.

Summary

There you have it! All you need to know is to promote a sustainable environment in your community. As a board member or community manager at an HOA community, you have several opportunities to promote sustainable activities. Simple efforts such as reducing energy use, recycling, conserving water, starting a community garden, and composting may have a huge environmental impact. While Earth Day is a wonderful event, adopting these practices into your everyday routine helps you to continue to assist the environment and keep your community’s commitment to sustainability.

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About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, operations, client support, engagement, and voting.  Book a personalized demo to learn how Pilera can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. 

Homeowners’ association (HOA) boards often experience turnover, whether due to term limits, voluntary departures, or members moving away. Consequently, welcoming new members becomes a common occurrence. Joining a board, even for those familiar with its workings, can be daunting because of steep learning curves, decision-making demands, and high resident expectations. Board members can take some proactive steps to ensure that new board members in the HOA feel comfortable in their roles.  In this blog article, you will learn strategies for welcoming new board members into the fold and how to leverage technology for a smooth transition. 

Table of Contents:

1. Roles, accountability & transparency 
2. Create a welcome packet for board members
3. New board member orientation
4. Technology access and training 
5. Board meetings
6. Collaborating on tasks
7. Encourage education

Roles, Accountability & Transparency

When a new board member comes on board, it’s essential to give them a clear picture of their roles and responsibilities. Ensuring clarity on who is responsible for what can facilitate a seamless transition, improve teamwork, and minimize potential conflicts.

Board members have a fiduciary duty to act in the community\’s best interests. This involves making decisions that enhance the community\’s welfare and preserve property values. Additionally, board members must strive to improve the overall experience of the community they oversee. Their responsibilities include:

• Governing the community – Ensuring that the community operates within the governing documents\’ guidelines and local, state, and federal laws.  When a new board member is elected, they must learn about the CC&Rs and regulations. 
• Financial management – Oversee the HOA\’s finances, including budgeting, collecting assessments and monthly dues, and managing reserves.
• Rules and regulations – Enforce community rules and regulations outlined in the governing documents, identify violations, and ensure resident compliance. 
• Maintenance, repairs & long-term planning – Oversee maintenance and repairs in common areas and amenities.
• Communication with homeowners – Board members must communicate with residents regarding HOA matters, policies, meetings, and updates.
• Hiring – Board members may hire and oversee management companies, vendors, and other service providers to manage the community. Board members must prioritize transparency and avoid conflicts of interest when selecting vendors. Additionally, they should ensure that vendors have up-to-date certificates of insurance (COI).
• Decision-making – Board members make decisions regarding community matters, policies, projects, and expenses through regular board meetings and voting.

Create a welcome packet for board members 

When welcoming a new board member into the fold, it’s essential to gather all necessary information about the community so you can help them get up to speed. 

Consider creating a welcome packet with essential documents, such as CC&Rs, meeting schedules, contact information for board members, the latest meeting minutes, and community resources.  The welcome packet should also include the HOA’s history, bylaws, ongoing projects, preferred vendors, standard operational procedures and issues, and upcoming initiatives.  

Additionally, it can be helpful to assign a mentor from among experienced board members to provide new members with support, guidance, and firsthand insight into the responsibilities and expectations.  These steps will help nurture growth and instill confidence in your new board members so they can successfully operate the community.  

New Board Member Orientation

Introducing new Board Members marks an exciting moment for the community.  New members can bring fresh perspectives and energy to push initiatives forward.  

You can organize a new member orientation for existing and new members to connect and build the camaraderie needed for effective community leadership.  During this meeting, be sure to highlight the roles and responsibilities of each member.  Additionally, setting clear expectations on communication channels, meetings, and overall commitment is essential.

Technology Access and Training

While your community association may already have experience with technology, it’s essential to provide your new board members with the proper access and training to succeed in their roles.

Setting up a new board member in Pilera

You can give new board members proper access by changing their occupant type from an owner to a Board Member in Pilera.  

Based on their responsibilities, you can designate the appropriate user roles. You can then layer on different roles in the User Admin section in Pilera, such as vendor admin, task admin, message admin, support contact, and more. 

Video: How to Manage Board Member Information in Pilera

HOA Management Software Training for New Board Members

Once you grant new board members proper access, start training them on the following topics:

Resident Communications

Communicating with residents frequently is vital to keeping them formed, building trust, and instilling a sense of community.  Train new board members on:

• The types of communications sent out to the community and messaging
• How to send routine and emergency messages
• How to track the delivery of messages

Pilera\’s automated communication system simplifies the onboarding process for new board members, allowing them to adapt and start sending messages quickly.  Board members can:

• Review past messages in the message archive.
• Use templates that managers or fellow board members created as a guide to draft their messages.
• Send residents automated phone, text, email, or postal letters based on their communication preferences.  
• Use the Preview and Send option to review a list of all residents who will receive the message and the communication type they prefer. This feature helps board members ensure accuracy and gives them peace of mind before hitting the send button.

Related: HOA Communication Tools to Create a More Connected Community

Maintenance, Architectural Change Requests, and Rule Violations

Ensuring the smooth operation of your community is essential for creating a safe and enjoyable environment for residents. That\’s why board members must be well-trained in managing various aspects such as maintenance, Architectural Change Requests (ACRs), and rule violations:

• Report and track common area maintenance issues and communicate with preferred vendors. 
• Review Architectural Change Requests thoroughly to ensure they comply with community rules and communicate with residents on whether it was accepted or rejected. 
• Rule violations – How to identify and report different types of violations in the community based on its governing documents and tracking the violation through compliance. 

With Pilera\’s ticketing system, new board members can easily access and review past issues and resolutions, aiding them in onboarding. Here\’s how our ticketing system can assist new board members: 

• Use the powerful dashboard filters to view current and past common area maintenance, rule violations, incident logs, RFPs, and support tickets. This overview allows board members to stay organized and informed.
• Gain insights by accessing every conversation tied to a ticket. This transparency enables new board members to learn from past experiences and understand how to resolve different issues. 

Related: Tips to Create an HOA Maintenance Checklist

Tailoring new board member training to their specific roles and responsibilities is essential. Additionally, the level of involvement from your management company in your community\’s operations will influence the topics covered. If your management company takes a hands-on approach, they will likely handle most of the communications and operations. However, with the help of our community technology platform, new board members can gain insights into current processes, address issues, and find resolutions.

Board Meetings

When a new board member joins, training them on conducting effective board meetings is essential.  During this training session, you can help new board members understand how to organize meetings, create clear agendas, manage time effectively, reduce conflict, and promote respectful communication.

At this time, you can also introduce new board members to technology your community uses to run board meetings, from resident communication tools to online meeting platforms.  You can ensure a smooth transition by empowering new members with the knowledge and skills to schedule and conduct board meetings during onboarding.   

Related: How to Improve Board Meetings with Technology

Task Management & Collaboration

It’s crucial to help new board members become familiar with the community\’s ongoing tasks. That way, they can collaborate and contribute to projects. A task management system is an excellent tool to manage this process. It allows new board members to access relevant tasks, get familiar with ongoing projects, and quickly understand their responsibilities. 

Start assigning tasks and deadlines through the task management tool to clarify what needs to be done and ensure accountability.  With Pilera\’s task management system, board members and managers can collaborate effectively on ongoing tasks. They can track updates and receive real-time notifications, ensuring that everyone is well-informed. By regularly monitoring tasks, you can identify any potential roadblocks and make informed decisions to keep the project on track.  

Related: Guide to Streamlining Board Tasks & Operations

Encourage education for New Board Members

The community association industry is constantly evolving. Encouraging personal development and education can help new members (and even experienced ones) stay ahead. Check your local trade organization, such as the Community Association Institute (CAI) or Cooperator, on the different workshops, seminars, or online classes offered for existing and new board members.  These events can provide insight into recent trends, industry best practices, legal requirements, and effective management strategies.  Furthermore, these educational opportunities can help new board members understand the complexities of HOA management and solve the challenges the community is facing. 

Other sources of educational content include:

• Educational articles from trusted sources such as trade organizations, management companies, and technology providers. 
• Google Alerts that you can set up every week with relevant keywords such as community association, HOA, or Condominium will send you regular emails whenever new content that matches your alert criteria is published. 

Summary: Setting your new board members up for success in your HOA

As you welcome new board members, it\’s important to recognize they may feel overwhelmed in their new roles. However, by providing new board members with proper support, onboarding, and the right technology, you can help them contribute and make a real impact.

At Pilera, we believe technology can simplify the transition and empower new board members to become effective leaders.  Pilera’s HOA management software enables board members to stay informed and connected through their responsibilities, from resident communications to maintenance projects to operational issues. 

It\’s important to remind new board members to approach the role with dedication, open-mindedness, and a commitment to serving the community\’s best interests. Community leadership can be challenging, but it\’s also incredibly rewarding. Together, you can build camaraderie, create a strong team dynamic, and ensure the success of your community.

About Pilera

Pilera helps make your job as a board member easier by gaining visibility into your operations and improving collaboration with other board members and managers.  With Pilera, you can manage your tasks, oversee community projects and trends, streamline approvals, share documents, and more.  To learn more about these features, contact [email protected] or book a demo.

As an HOA management company, enhancing the operations of the communities under your care and building strong community relationships is at the heart of what you do.  But without measuring current efforts, it\’s hard to make changes that positively impact your internal processes and deliver the level of service your clients expect. That\’s where data analytics comes into play.

This article explores how data analytics empowers you to move beyond numbers, making informed decisions with a people-centric focus. From community engagement to maintenance trends, these insights transform how communities are managed, ensuring they thrive under your care.

How data can revolutionize your community management operations

Data analytics empowers you to make informed choices, streamline operations, and enhance community living experiences. 

In this guide, we’ve broken down data analytics into two main categories: 1) For your company 2) For the communities you manage.  

Use our table of contents below to navigate the topics you’re most interested in.  

Your Company:

• Improve Client Services & Build Better Relationships 
• Propel business growth
• Easily Convey the Value You Provide to Boards
• Improve team productivity & staffing decisions

The Communities You Manage

• Communication Effectiveness
• Maintenance Trends
• Security Incident & Resident Dispute Patterns
• Common Rule Violations
• Architectural Changes & Design Trends
• RFP Management Trends
• Resident Support Trends

Data Analytics for Your Company

1) Improve Client Services & Build Better Relationships

Knowing how satisfied your board members and residents are is key to delivering services that go beyond their expectations. A client survey can help you gain valuable insights into how your boards and residents perceive your company. Taking positive actions on their feedback will naturally lead to stronger loyalty and retention.

Consider creating separate surveys for board members and residents with questions that cater to their individual experiences.  

Survey questions for board members:

• How effectively does the management company communicate with the board regarding community matters and updates?
• How responsive is the management company to requests and concerns the board raises?
• How satisfied are you with the communication and handling of common area maintenance?
• How satisfied are you with the management’s use of technology to manage community operations and resident communications?
• How would you rate the professionalism and expertise the management company\’s staff demonstrated?
• What made you choose our management company over other alternatives?  

Survey questions for residents: 

• How likely are you to recommend our management services to another association?
• How effectively does our management company communicate important community updates and announcements?
• Are you satisfied with the maintenance and upkeep of common areas, landscaping, and amenities?
• On a scale of 1 to 5, how well do you think the management company\’s services are contributing to maintaining or increasing property values?
• How responsive is the management company to your requests and concerns?
• How would you rate the availability of management company staff for addressing resident needs?
• How satisfied are you with enforcing community policies regarding noise, parking, and other regulations by the management company?

Pilera enables management companies to create surveys and gain valuable feedback from board members and residents. Some ways that you can utilize Pilera\’s surveys include:

• Create a survey at a community or company level.
• Include custom questions in the form of ratings, drop-down questions, open-ended questions, and more to get the information you need.
• Get a secure link to the survey to distribute to board members and residents through our powerful communication solution.
• Track message delivery and email replies related to your survey communications.

Related: Tips to Improve Your Company\’s Online Reputation

2) Propel Business Growth 

According to studies, 60-70% of all community associations are managed by property and HOA management companies.  With 8,000 new associations forming each year, the demand for HOA management services is increasing, and competition is becoming fierce. To identify areas for growth, make sure your software provides actionable business analytics to retain existing clients and attract new business. 

Pilera\’s Ticket Analytics Report can give you big-picture insights into your company’s operations.  This report provides an aggregated view of all tickets your company is managing across your entire portfolio, including work orders, violations, incident logs, support, ACRs, RFPs, and more.  This report allows you to identify which communities require the most attention from your team and even justify your pricing structure over time.

3) Easily Convey the Value You Provide to Boards

As a management company, one of your challenges is effectively conveying the value you provide to boards. It can be frustrating when you constantly receive questions from board members questioning the value of your services.

Data analytics tools can help you easily demonstrate the value you bring to the table without any doubts or guesswork. Imagine being able to present clear and compelling reports to the board, highlighting key insights.

Pilera’s Ticket Analytics Report enables you to communicate the value your company brings in a way boards will easily understand and appreciate. By showcasing how you proactively address community needs and resolve issues, you can create long-term relationships over time.

Within Pilera, managers can also generate a professional-looking PDF summarizing all the work they have completed for the community during a certain time frame.  Board Members love this report! 

Related: How Your Management Company Can Win New Business 

4) Improve Team Productivity & Staffing Decisions

Limited staffing, high turnover rates, and lack of technology implementation can have a negative impact on your team\’s productivity. This can lead to employees feeling overwhelmed and compromised service quality for your clients.

However, by utilizing HOA software that automates your team\’s workflow and provides analytics on workload, your team can increase productivity, deliver exceptional client services, and feel rewarded for their efforts.

Through Pilera\’s Ticket Analytics Report, company executives can gain valuable insights into employee performance and workload management. This report provides a comprehensive breakdown of all ticket types and closed, open, and assigned tickets by employees.  By analyzing these metrics, executives can make informed decisions about staffing needs. They can identify if employees are on track or overwhelmed with work and then allocate resources to improve the team’s efficiency.  This data gives you a better idea of whether you need to hire additional community managers.

Data Analytics for the Communities You Manage 

1) Analyze Your Communication Efforts 

Communication is vital to the overall well-being and success of your communities.  It’s the foundation of good community engagement, whether you are sharing maintenance schedules, notifying residents of emergencies, distributing newsletters, or inviting residents to community events. However, many communities struggle with understanding the impact of their communication efforts and whether they’re hitting the mark with residents. 

Analyzing your communication efforts can help you identify shortcomings and successes in your strategy, ensuring residents are engaged and well-informed.

Here\’s how you can evaluate and improve your communication strategies with Pilera:

• Delivery Analytics – Pilera provides detailed delivery analytics for each announcement you send to your community. This includes confirmation of email delivery or replies, text message delivery, and details on whether a resident answered a phone call or if it went to voicemail. These analytics help you understand if you\’re reaching residents effectively. 
• Communication Usage Report – This report gives insights into the number of communications sent per community. With this data, you can identify communities communicating effectively and those needing to increase their communication efforts to inform residents better.

Related: HOA Communication Tools to Build a More Connected Community

2) Work Order Trends

Maintenance plays a vital role in ensuring the upkeep and safety of a community. Yet, community management teams often face challenges such as lost work orders, employee burnout, record-keeping, and evaluating vendor performance. Analyzing maintenance data within your HOA software tool can provide valuable insights to address these challenges and improve maintenance operations.

Pilera offers innovative solutions to enhance maintenance operations through data analytics:

Work Order Trends

In each community, you can use the work order dashboard and visual charts to analyze trends over time, including the ratio of open versus closed tickets, work order categories, status breakdowns, and assignment distribution. These insights help identify common maintenance issues and how work orders are progressing. 

Workload

For each community, you can see a breakdown of work orders assigned to various staff members.  This breakdown helps identify overwhelmed staff members and opportunities to redistribute tasks so everyone can perform at their best.  

Backlog

Pilera sends a monthly automated report of stale work orders that have not been worked on in 30 days.  

Vendor Performance

The work order dashboard in Pilera enables you to filter by a vendor company or specific vendor company staff member to see open/closed work order trends and monitor workload.  

Related: How to Make Informed Decisions with Work Order Reports

3) Identify Patterns in Security Incidents & Resident Disputes

Analyzing data on security incidents and resident disputes can help enhance safety measures and overall harmony. 

With data analytics in your HOA management software, you can identify areas of concern and improve security measures, ensuring a safer living environment for residents.  

It\’s also important to track resident complaints and disputes so you can identify recurring issues, implement preventative measures, and make the resolution process easier for your team.  

Pilera\’s Incident Management feature (formerly Activity Logs) empowers managers to monitor incidents and resident interactions at the unit and occupant levels. Easily categorize various types of incidents and utilize the dashboard to filter through data. The dashboard enables you to pinpoint which incidents are most common and take a proactive approach to foster safer communities.

Similar to work order insights, managers can gain the following insights on incidents and resident interactions:

• The trend of open and resolved incident tickets over time.
• A breakdown of incidents and resident interactions by priority.
• A breakdown of incidents by category, so you know which type of issues are most common.
• A breakdown of incident logs assigned to managers lets you see who is overwhelmed and can redistribute tasks effectively. 

4) Common Rule Violations

Ensuring that residents follow the rules in the community’s governing documents is important to preserving property values, enhancing public appeal, and fostering harmony. However, some community managers struggle to ensure compliance is met, especially if residents aren’t aware of the rules or are resistant to them.  

By gathering data analytics on rule violations within your community, you can take proactive steps to improve compliance and educate residents about the importance of following the rules. Examples of analytics that you can gather in Pilera include:

• See which categories of rule violations are most common in each community.
• Repeat offenders of community rule violations
• Breakdown of rule violations assigned to staff members
• A breakdown of open versus resolved rule violations.

For instance, if the most common violations are displays outside homes (such as flags or decorations), you can implement proactive measures to educate and remind residents about the rules and why they\’re important. This can be achieved through automated communications, such as emails or texts, dedicated pages on the community website outlining the rules, or informative knowledge base articles on the topic. You can track the effectiveness of your efforts over time by seeing whether the display violations are still common or have been reduced. 

Related: Balancing Regulations & Holiday Spirit in Your HOA Communities

5) Architectural Compliance and Design Trends

Boosting property value through home improvement projects is a common goal for residents. However, it\’s crucial to ensure that these projects align with your community\’s rules. By staying updated on the architectural changes that your communities are requesting the most, you can provide residents with valuable guidance. When managed effectively, ACRs have the power to enhance curb appeal and attract potential homeowners.

To improve the ACR approval process, managers can view data on:

• The trend approved and rejected ACRs over time.
• A breakdown of ACRs by category so you can understand the most popular types of home improvements and provide tips to residents on improving their property value.  
• The type of ACRs that are rejected the most enables you to provide guidance to residents on compliance and how to submit accurate ACRs.
• A breakdown of ACR approvals by priority. 
• A breakdown of ACRs assigned to managers, board members, or committees.

6) RFP Management 

Managing the Request for Proposal (RFP) process is important to ensure you get clear scopes for community projects, ultimately leading to selecting the vendor that best aligns with your needs.  

However, managers often face challenges in determining which vendors to invite to submit bids for an RFP. Limited time and resources can also prevent thorough analysis of RFP proposals, potentially causing important details to be overlooked.  

Pilera\’s RFP management tool empowers you to gather vital data to enhance your bid process:

• Accepted/Rejected Vendors – In Pilera, you can filter the dashboard to view a list of all vendors who have been accepted or rejected for each category.  This information allows you to consider inviting successful vendors from past RFPs to participate in future ones or reassess previously rejected vendors to determine if they merit another invitation. 
• Employee Workload – Pilera\’s intuitive dashboard and visual charts enable you to monitor the workload of employees responsible for evaluating RFPs within your company. If certain staff members are overwhelmed, you can efficiently redistribute RFPs to other team members. By balancing the workload, you ensure that your team has ample time to thoroughly review RFPs, thereby avoiding the risk of overlooking critical details in the proposals. 
• License Expiration Notifications – Reminders about when a vendor’s license expires can also aid in important decisions about which vendors to invite or consider for your RFP. 

7) Resident Support

Exceptional customer service is the driving force behind successful HOA management businesses. It not only enhances board and resident satisfaction but also strengthens community connections. Today, residents also seek instant answers and rely on their management company to provide prompt and dependable support.

Support analytics can help give you insights into support request trends and staff workload, so you can allocate resources more effectively to resolve your residents’ requests.  

Here are some ways Pilera helps you understand resident support efforts:

• Trends – Learn about the most common issues residents report, so you can take proactive steps to prevent or help residents resolve them.  
• Open vs Closed – A breakdown of open versus closed support tickets over time.
• Priority – A breakdown of support tickets by priority so you’ll know what needs to be addressed immediately.
• Employee Workload – A breakdown of support tickets by managers so you can distribute workload effectively.  

Related: What is Customer Support Software and Why Does Your Management Company Need One?

Transforming Data into Stronger Community Connections

Data analytics in HOA management is not just about crunching numbers.  When interpreted well, you can use data to improve the operations of the communities under your care and contribute to better living experiences. Every aspect of community operations, from communications to maintenance to customer support, can give you insights to build stronger relationships, drive growth, and improve productivity.

About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, operations, client support, engagement, and voting.  Book a personalized demo to learn how Pilera can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. 

Tired of delays in decision-making, low voter turnout, or concerns about fairness in your community’s voting process?  The skepticism about the fairness of community voting and the cumbersome paper ballots have left many seeking a better way. We’re excited to introduce Pilera Votes, a more streamlined way to run secure and fair voting or elections in your community association!  Say goodbye to delays and doubts about transparency and transition to a more secure, efficient, and trustworthy voting process.  

In this blog post, you’ll learn how Pilera Votes can streamline your voting process to meet quorum, improve decision-making, and unite your community.

Easy to use and convenient

With Pilera votes, managing elections and voting has never been more accessible.  Our user-friendly platform makes it a smooth and hassle-free experience for HOA administrators and residents. Pilera Votes is mobile-friendly so that residents can participate from anywhere. This helps to increase engagement in your community and improve voter turnout.

Secure and transparent

We understand that a secure and trustworthy voting process is your community\’s top priority when conducting elections.  That’s why our software locks down votes, guaranteeing that only residents in your community can cast their votes.  This enables you to earn the trust of your residents while safeguarding the integrity of your voting process.  

Direct access

The voting form in Pilera is also easy for your residents to access.  Residents can access the election form directly through the resident portal in Pilera or through a secure, shareable link.  This eliminates the need for time-consuming paper ballots or manual processes that may take weeks. 

Fair and equitable voting

Many condo associations need to track unit weights (also called allocation of ownership) to identify how much influence an owner has in the association for voting, distribution of common area maintenance, assessment fees, etc.  In Pilera, you can add unit weights, and it will automatically populate it in the election form. Then, you can download an XLS of the voting results and calculate the votes using the unit weight.  This helps to ensure a fair and equitable voting process. 

Improve decision-making with instant results

Manual processes or paper ballots often cause weeks of delay in decision-making.  With Pilera Votes, you no longer have to experience delays in your community’s decision-making process.  With Pilera Votes, you can watch as the votes are counted instantly, helping you to verify how many votes you need to reach a quorum.  Once the voting concludes, you can access the results in a table for easy browsing or graphs to identify voting trends. 

Integrate voting with your daily community management workflow

Although many standalone voting platform options are available in the market, the benefit of Pilera is that you can easily integrate voting with your daily community management workflow.  Pilera offers 4 products that transform your communities and help you retain occupants, build cooperation, and grow in value:

• Pilera Connect – Send routine or emergency notifications to your community through phone, email, text, or postal mailing. Using Pilera Connect with Pilera Votes lets you spread the word and get 80%+ voter turnout.
• Pilera Ops – A collaborative system that acts as a powerful shield on top of your accounting system.  Easily streamline work orders, ACRs, violations, tasks, and RFPs.
• Pilera Care – A support tool built for the community management industry that makes it easy for your employees and offshore team to resolve resident issues and deliver personalized service.   Pilera Care with Pilera Votes enables you to support residents throughout the voting process. Residents can submit support questions and view FAQs about the voting process.
• Pilera Engage – A self-service portal for residents to access the latest community information, make payments online, request services, and communicate with other residents.  

How to get started with Pilera Votes:

Getting started with voting software is easy with Pilera Votes. Pilera Votes is an add-on to the Pilera family of products: Pilera Connect, Pilera Ops, Pilera Care, and Pilera Engage. Through our Ballot Builder, you will submit your requirements, such as the ballot question and voting dates.  Our team will then build the perfect voting system for your community and will train your team.  

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About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations. Book a personalized demo to learn how Pilera can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. 

Halloween’s nearing, and we’ll all revel in the spirit of the Holiday Season very soon. It’s that time of year that we all look forward to – ‘tis the time to be jolly, indulge in the best food, and put out elaborate decorations. While the idea of beautiful decorations sounds wonderful during the Holiday Season, homeowners are often on tenterhooks, hoping they haven\’t violated any HOA CC&Rs with their all-out decorations.

For HOA board members and managers, it’s a whole different ballgame. For them, it’s all about maintaining peace while ensuring people follow the rules. And that’s a challenging task. So, HOA board members and managers out there, if you’re looking to ensure residents comply with HOA CC&R guidelines this holiday season, here’s a guide to help you out.

Holiday Décor Challenges and How to Deal With Violations

Bright lights, noisy, or life-sized inflatables are just some reasons that can cause a nuisance in the neighborhood, requiring you to step up and intervene. Let’s have a look at some of the typical violations you’d come across during the holiday season and how you can address them:

Appropriateness of Decor

This is the first aspect you need to address. Even though a certain level of civic sense is expected of residents, there will always be some who’ll still go ahead and put up inappropriate decor. As an HOA board member or manager, it’s an important responsibility to regulate the decor that residents put up and ensure the decor is not offensive, derogatory, inappropriate, or disrespectful.

Larger Than Life Decor

To ensure there are no violations concerning decor size, it\’s best to list clear guidelines on the allowable size of decor well in advance. The allowable height of the decor, safety measures, aesthetics, and other aspects should be included in these HOA CC&R guidelines.

If some residents still wish to install decor that could pose safety risks (for example, decor that needs mounting), they can have their requests reviewed by the Architectural Review Committee. The committee can deny permission to install or assist residents in installing the decor safely.

Flashy Lights

What’s a celebration without the lights? But sometimes, lights are too bright and flashy, disturbing the overall aesthetic of the neighborhood. Some blaring lights may even become a cause of nuisance.

To counter this, HOAs can create guidelines on different aspects related to lights – from the color of the lights, permitted timings to operate the lights, the number of lights, and the type of lights.

Noisy Decor

These days, many of these fancy and noisy items are available in the market, and let’s be honest – many residents love to feature them at their doorsteps or front yards. As an HOA member, you need to have a separate set of HOA CC&R guidelines on the noisy decor to ensure no disturbance in the neighborhood.

These guidelines can mention the permissible ‘noisy’ decor items and the items that are big no-nos. Don’t hesitate to strictly disallow any decor that would disrupt the peace in the locality. You can, of course, be a bit flexible. For some of these decors, you can also establish fixed hours when residents can turn on the decor and when they are required to turn them off.

Safety Challenges

At times, elaborate holiday decor can also result in several safety hazards. That oversized Christmas tree a resident decided to place by their doorstep? Well, it looks stunning, but it also blocks the sidewalk! Imagine the inconvenience caused to every person walking past their door.

Apart from this, residents may also put up decor that is not outdoor-friendly. This may result in injuries to people or property damage as well. These are just some safety challenges that you, as an HOA board member or manager, must tackle during the Holiday Season.

As the HOA board member or manager, when you formulate rules about décor during the Holiday Season, you expect all the residents to comply. But unfortunately, that’s not what happens. Every year, you’ll still have a certain number of people who don’t pay heed to any rules and will end up violating the rules.

As part of the HOA, you know how difficult it is to deal with holiday decor challenges. But here’s the key – educating residents about the rules improves compliance in the first place, reducing disturbances or safety hazards. Here are some ways you can ensure compliance with the HOA CC&Rs:

How to Ensure Compliance

Make the Rules Simple and Easy to Understand

List the rules in simple, straightforward language to get the point across to all the residents. Rules need to be concise so that people can quickly browse through them. You can mention the rules in separate categories (like the ones mentioned above) to make it easy to understand.  This helps ensure there’s no ambiguity or room for loopholes in the rules.  

 Issue the Rules as Early as You Can

The community guidelines need to be communicated to the residents well in advance. This would give them ample time to rethink their decor and incorporate necessary changes to comply with decor guidelines.

Re-evaluate Outdated Rules

HOAs must carefully review and evaluate their CC&Rs and ensure they are updated yearly. This would ensure that the CC&Rs are up to date and reflect today’s expectations.  Also, a gap in communication can result in residents being unaware of any new guidelines put in place.  This can hinder compliance.  Once the community’s rules are updated, it’s vital to notify residents about the changes, why they were made, and how they impact them.

Culture Sensitive Rules

Communities are diverse and have different cultures and festive traditions. When creating or updating the HOA CC&R rules, you must keep this in mind so that the rules are fair to everyone. This would further encourage people to comply with the laws, as they know the rules were made keeping their culture in mind.

Ensure You Include FAQs

Even if the rules described in the CC&Rs are simple, residents may still have questions. You can create a separate FAQ section to address the most common questions. This would help residents have a much better understanding of what the HOA CC&R guidelines expect them to do (or not do!).

Safety and Compliance Checks

HOA Board members and managers can run safety and compliance checks to ensure residents follow the updated guidelines. These inspections can be carried out twice – once when people have just started to put up their decor and the next during the Holiday Season.

Bring “Fun” into Compliance

We’re all aware that everyone wants to throw caution to the wind during the festive season and go all out. In such a scenario, no one wants anyone to force them to follow a set of guidelines. So, instead of attempting to enforce the policies on them, try different ways this time – like sending out a newsletter encouraging them to ‘celebrate with care’ or announcing a holiday decor contest.

In your community’s CC&R document, make sure to include all allowable decor items so people will comply.  It could be anything – the best lights, a crafty gingerbread house, or a prize for minimal decor. Incorporate other gentle, creative ways people would be more than happy to comply with the CC&R rules. This is also a great way to unite the community, create harmony, and keep residents engaged in the festivities.

Offer Assistance

To ensure the safety and security of the neighborhood, you can always assist residents to put up their decor safely. You can also help people take down the decor items promptly (after the holiday season). 

How HOA Software Can Help You Manage Compliance

HOA software is designed to assist board members and managers enforce HOA CC&Rs confidently while increasing the public appeal of their communities. From informing and educating residents about community rules to automating the violation process, HOA software can help.

If you’re looking for a more efficient way to ensure compliance this holiday season, Pilera’s HOA software can help you simplify the process.  

Automated Communication

With Pilera, you can send regular communication or reminders to the residents in your community, informing them of the rules. You can send out the messages via email, text, or postal mail – residents can choose how they want to hear from you.

Maintaining a steady flow of communication with your community via their preferred method of communication is a great way to ensure they remember and follow the established HOA CC&R guidelines.

Storage of Documents

All those HOA CC&R documents that you so painstakingly compiled? Well, Pilera provides a secure portal to store all of these documents. These documents are easily accessible to the residents in one place.

An informed and aware resident will likely comply with guidelines and issues. You can easily organize the documents in separate folders so the residents can easily find CC&Rs or any other newly uploaded documents. You can also notify residents when you upload a new document, and they can log into the portal to securely access the CC&Rs.  

Knowledge Base

Pilera’s HOA software also enables boards and managers to post knowledge base articles on commonly asked CC&R questions. Residents can resolve their questions regarding HOA CC&Rs through the knowledge base feature without needing to call or email the management office. 

Tracking Rule Violations

Despite all the effort you put in to ensure compliance with guidelines, violations will exist. Pilera makes it easy for HOAs to track violations and categorize and notify residents by email. This ensures quick communication with the violating resident and prompt response from their end, too.

Board members can keep track of all the violations that occur in a community over some time. Residents, too, can resolve violations directly in the portal. Pilera helps maintain a record of all this data, making it easier for board members and managers to identify problem areas and educate citizens better.

Conclusion: Maintain a Balance between Holiday Spirit and Compliance

This holiday season, strike a balance between spreading holiday cheer and upholding the rules. By keeping the rules clear and being fair, you can foster harmony in your community.

With the help of HOA software, you can streamline the compliance process – from educating residents to efficiently resolving violations. So, don\’t delay educating your residents about decor rules this holiday season. Discover how Pilera can make community management stress-free today!

About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations. To learn how Pilera can help to improve efficiency and reduce costs, book a personalized demo.