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What is the Purpose of HOA Board Meetings?

HOA board meetings are where decisions are made and effectively communicated to members of the HOA community.
Staff Writer | Mar 28, 2024 | 3 min read
What is the Purpose of HOA Board Meetings?

HOA board meetings are where decisions are made and effectively communicated to members of the HOA community. Board meetings work most effectively when they are based on discussions that have already happened, instead of starting from scratch at every session.

As an HOA board member, you know that it's important to schedule and attend regular meetings with the board, but may struggle to articulate why this is important. Meeting on a consistent basis with your HOA board serves several important purposes, helping to keep your community running smoothly and ensuring that decisions are made in a fair and balanced way. Here are a few of the most important reasons to hold HOA board meetings:

Make Important Decisions

Each HOA board meeting should be guided by a clear and organized meeting agenda focusing on decision-making about noticed issues. Board meetings are where board members come together to make important decisions in an organized manner, rather than simply getting together to chat about the community. In fact, most board meetings are officially required to focus solely on items included in the official notice and make decisions only on these items.

You may choose to discuss and vote on such decisions as funds allocation, changes to services including landscaping, dog parks, swimming pools, and trash collection, parking guidelines, and other matters that are important to your HOA community. It often works best to start with simple matters and move on to more complex community issues. Just be sure that everything your board plans to discuss and make decisions about is included in the official notice and agenda. 

Provide Clarity

HOA board meetings, when they are open to the community, are an excellent opportunity to clarify community policies. If a new HOA policy has been frequently misinterpreted by HOA members or has proven controversial, it is helpful to provide clear, accurate, and positive clarification.

Allowing residents the chance to speak at the podium and ask questions or express concerns provides further opportunity to clear the air and ensure the community remains harmonious and in agreement. For closed meetings (if your state allows them), HOA board meetings allow members to clarify their individual opinions and reach a consensus.

Bring Previous Discussions Together

In order to keep board meetings flowing in an efficient manner rather than spending hours rehashing minutia that could have been discussed earlier, it's important to discuss the purpose of your HOA board meeting with board members ahead of time. This can often clear up confusion or disagreement among the board members before the session, allowing a more effective, quick, and smooth meeting procedure. It also prevents board members from being surprised or blindsided at meetings.

Present Board Positions and Decisions to HOA Members

Even if you already know more or less where the board's positions lie on agenda items, HOA board meetings are still important. Board meetings are a great opportunity to make decisions official and to communicate them to your members and residents in a way that makes sense and will get everyone on board. Demonstrating cohesive positions helps give your community members the impression of a unified front coming together to make the community better, rather than an HOA board that frequently disagrees or runs into roadblocks.

Preparing ahead of time for how best to communicate and present positions and decisions will ensure the board's positions make sense and sound appealing to members.

If your HOA board membership and leadership duties have become overwhelming, or your HOA is not operating in an effective and productive manner, get in touch. As an HOA management company, RealManage is here to help.

Purpose of an HOA Board Meeting - Download

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