Teamwork Articles
Articles may be reprinted in their entirety but must include:
"Used with permission from Regenesis.net"

Soon, rescue teams and news cameramen arrived. Dozens of men worked to secure cables and a hoist to the car. Whenever the car moved, the woman screamed in pain. After several tense hours, the hoist was able to pull the car up and back on to the road, thereby saving the woman’s life.

Afterwards, when the news media was interviewing a rescue worker about the event, he said, "You know, the funny thing about this whole rescue was that after hours of work by dozens of people, whenever we tried to move the car, the woman would yell ‘Leave me alone, I can do it myself!’"

Many of us are hanging from the same delusion that we are self sufficient and capable of doing anything we want, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. While people that care hover around, we push them back. In the final analysis, the only thing we can truly do ourselves is self destruction. All else requires the help and cooperation of others. A self made person is a self deluded person.

As you hang precariously to your life, remember to reach out from time to time to your fellow cliffhangers. It will do you both good.    BACK

Volunteer Attraction
Moths give off "pheronomes", a peculiar scent that attracts mates from many miles away. Oh, that it were so easy to attract volunteers to the Board. Just spritz some Eau de Volunteer in the air and Nellie bar the door! Okay, that won’t work but what does it take to attract good volunteers? Here are a couple of suggestions:

Develop a communication system. A frequent complaint of members is not being kept informed. To draw out volunteers, it’s critical that they know what’s going on. Also, some owners develop a suspicious nature about Board motives when kept in the dark and resist being involved. Let’em know what you’re up to early and often! Repeated pleas for help will have their effect.  A newsletter and flyer distribution box (the kind used by real estate agents) is an inexpensive and convenient way to get the word out.

Give credit where credit is due. People love acknowledgment. Make sure that directors, committee members and homeowners are given formal recognition for their efforts by way of the meetings, the minutes and newsletters...every opportunity where there is an audience. Point out particular owners that show superior landscaping abilities. (They are obvious candidates for the Landscape Committee.) Consider awarding certificates of achievement at the annual homeowners meeting. Remember also that not all tasks have an end and many faithful volunteers doing more mundane tasks often get overlooked. It is a wise board president that makes a point of recognizing effort for its own merits.

Provide social opportunities. People tend to want to help those that they know personally. However, many are shy and don’t easily make friends. The association can promote several socials annually to facilitate the process. Consider a spring clean-up party, pool party or just plain potluck. It will help create a real "community" and provide volunteer recruitment opportunities.

Assign real jobs to do. It’s been said, "A committee takes minutes and wastes hours." There is nothing more frustrating than a job with no job description or substance. There is real work to do at each association. Directors and committee members should have clear "marching orders" detailing exactly what the objectives are, the time frame and the money available to help get the task done.

Get organized. Have meetings scheduled well in advance. Have a proper agenda, run the meeting in a businesslike way (save the wine until afterwards) and limit your meetings to two hours. Endless rambling meetings are a real turnoff to successful people (the kind you want as volunteers). Your meetings should be decision oriented so things get done.  Worthy volunteers have many options for their time. Sitting around shooting the bull has limited appeal.

Be an encourager. It is incumbent on the Board President to take the lead in promoting volunteers. The successful leader motivates by persuasion and not authority. Remember, "A servant does not lower himself but elevates others".

Unless the current board wants a life long job, it's important to always be in the volunteer recruitment mode.  Since uncommon scents don’t work, use common sense by making the call too attractive for volunteers to resist....like a moth to a flame.  BACK

HOA-ability
One of the advantages of HOA living is the ability to join forces to achieve goals that individuals by themselves could not. HOAs can take advantage of volume discount opportunities like Cable TV bulk rate contracts that can save individuals up to 50% of what they’re already paying. And sharing the cost of a pool makes it affordable to members who otherwise could not. But there are many more untapped possibilities waiting to be discovered. Take this real life example:

McNary Estates Homeowners of Keizer Oregon (a master planned community of 600 homes with a number of sub-associations) has run a community garage sale for the last four years. While many HOAs prohibit garage sales entirely, McNary has found a way to make them happen in a way that produces many benefits. Marvel at what they’ve done:

A steering committee organizes the event by choosing a date, gathering a list of homeowners that want to host a garage sale, recruiting Block Captains and other volunteers to assist. Each garage sale host pays a nominal fee for advertising that is run in both the McNary and Keizer newspapers starting several months in advance. McNary requires that each attendee must present either two cans of food or $2 to get in. Volunteers collect the donations at the gate and provide each car with a map of the community showing where the garage sales are. This year, in addition to McNary volunteers, the Keizer High School Golf Team and a local Church Youth Group assisted.

This year, over one thousand attendees lined up to take advantage of this Mother of All Garage Sales. Volunteers in golf carts scurried around directing traffic. The event was not without its glitches and naysayers, but besides ninety residents making some handy cash, 2914 pounds of canned food and $1345 was donated to the Keizer Foodbank (biggest single donation ever). The Foodbank, Keizer newspaper and the Mayor loudly and publicly applauded McNary’s effort.

Talk about building community pride! Last year, a home was even sold because of this event when it attracted home buyers that might have otherwise overlooked it. The Sale provided a mechanism to promote dozens of McNary volunteers and hundreds of residents got to interact in a positive and profitable way. What a winner!

But it doesn’t end there. McNary Estates also has the Mother of All Newsletters. What is normally a one or two page quarterly for most HOAs for McNary is an anxiously awaited monthly of over thirty pages, all produced by volunteers. It includes Letters to the Editor, personal stories and travel experiences, upcoming events, financial and health advice and other special features. But where the newsletter excels is in advertising. There are dozens of paid advertisers. (The August 2002 edition had sixty seven). Some are integrated into the newsletter copy and others as inserts. All advertisers have a vested interest in doing business with McNary residents. Besides dozens of home improvement companies, there are real estate agents, restaurants, insurance agents, car repair, auto dealers and travel consultants. Even the local politicians campaign there. The advertising rates are very reasonable but all told, the revenue pays for all production costs and them some.

One of the most significant community building aspects of the McNary newsletter is that it makes a point of honoring volunteers. Articles profile volunteers and include personal background, pictures and, of course, the reason for recognition. This kind of recognition goes light years toward recruiting other volunteers. The proof of that recruitment success is plainly seen in the numerous folks that want to serve.

The McNary experience demonstrates that creativity and a can-do attitude can bring about memorable results. And even though McNary is a relatively large homeowner association, even a small HOA can achieve impressive results. This is the kind of progressive thinking that binds neighbors together and produces "HOA-ability".   BACK

Hands On Democracy
Homeowner associations offer the members one of the most accessible forms of democracy around, if they choose to use it. But most folks don’t have much experience with hands on democracy so tend to treat the HOA like the county, state or federal government. The approach boils down to "take as little of my money as possible, handle it and leave me alone." While this attitude is understandable when dealing with nameless bureaucrats in an incomprehensible tangle of laws and regulations, HOAs provide a whole different mix: neighbors controlling their own neighborhood with plenty of say how it’s done if, and only if, they choose to participate.

Most don’t participate preferring to leave their destiny in the hands of the Board. The Board is a select group of well intentioned folks who are doing their best with limited information and experience. But all’s not lost. The Board, fortunately, is not expected to know everything. Seeking wise counsel is not only an option, it’s mandatory to produce the results the members deserve. The wise board selects good people and lets them do the work they are being paid for.

Still, the fact that many in the HOA choose not to take advantage of their democratic rights, the Board can coax participation by keeping lines of communication open. First, and foremost, running open meetings is a must. Symbolically, it demonstrates the Board has nothing to hide and is open to member input. Whenever a new policy is being considered, member review prior to adoption builds trust and cooperation. Newsletters keep members in the loop about important information and provides a mechanism for recruiting volunteers. Distributing meeting minutes keeps members abreast of the latest financial and maintenance issues.

Each of these mechanisms is designed to attract participation by an otherwise disconnected group. It also builds trust and makes the Board’s job much easier. Hold it, circulate it and distribute it and they will come. Just give them a helping hand in how democracy works.   BACK

Bogged Down Board
"Now I saw in my dream that...they drew near to a very miry slough that was in the midst of the plain; and they being heedless, did both fall suddenly into the bog. The name of the slough was "Despond." Here, therefore, they wallowed for a time, being grievously bedaubed with the dirt." The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

An interesting phenomena that occurs from time to time in an HOA is a Board’s inability to break with the mistakes of the past. Longtime infighting and discontent has created malevolent stagnation. Recrimination abounds, credibility is lost and the Board flounders in its own Slough of Despond. This HOA is stuck in quicksand that is sucking the life and joy out of the community.

To those so entrenched, it may just seem business as usual. Another Board Meeting, another shouting match and little gets done. Adrenaline pumps, hearts and fists pound. It’s Friday night at Pro Wrestling. It’s Gettysburg with brothers and neighbors locked in mortal combat against each other.

Okay, quick! Show of hands. Who wants to volunteer to serve on the Board? [sound of crickets] No, really! We need you to step up. [sound of pin dropping] Nobody? I’ll never get off the Board!

Effectively, an HOA like this plays out a self fulfilling prophecy. And tragically, getting bogged down like this is not all that uncommon. Some folks love to dwell on the past to keep others off balance. It’s a form of control that keeps things in a brouhaha. But who in their right mind wants to play the game for long?

In this slough of despond, however, is a great opportunity. Learning from past mistakes is some of the best education there is. Dwelling on them is fatal. If the Board is in a dwelling place, it will take a strong decisive action to break free. Here are some of the ways:

© Copyright by Regenesis.net
All rights reserved