Boards of Directors as Volunteers – its harder to volunteer at a shelter than “volunteer” for a condo board -

#condoliving #condos

There have been many times over the years where I thought about volunteering and reached out to the food bank, the library and many other organizations in hopes of giving back to my community. I even went to orientation to become a candy stripper until I discovered I don’t like hospitals and could never have been a candy stripper! Thank goodness for the hospital orientation otherwise I would have committed my time to something that I did not enjoy (enjoy is not the right word but we will leave it at that) let the hospital down and wasted everyone’s time. Most organizations that need volunteers require some type of orientation to ensure that the volunteer has the skills and is able to do the required job… every organization except condo board of directors. The majority of successful organizations that use volunteers require a few hoops to jump through before they let you loose in the corporation. Most organizations will require volunteers to complete an orientation, training, they want to see resumes and references and once you’ve jumped through the hoops you then need to work on their time! Most organizations give you a schedule and tell you when they need your services you don’t just get to show up when you have the time if you decide to be involved that day. Volunteering requires a commitment, an approval process even a police check for some positions and if you are not doing the job they ask you not to return or find you something else to do. Organizations need volunteers to understand their roles. If your condo board hasn’t created an election procedure and just grab anyone who will sign up then you are opening yourself up for problems in your condo corporation.

Boards need to be accountable and when there is no procedure or rules for elections then this is where the problems start. Be weary of condo corporations that are desperate for board members there is something fundamentally wrong with the corporation.

If your condo corporation is not running efficiently or successfully then you need to start now and shake off this volunteer mentality! Condo boards needs to start adopting the process that charities use and start screening and scanning your board members. Just because you are a volunteer board member doesn’t mean you can’t get sued … While I don’t advocate legal action board members need to remember…. even “volunteers get sued”? That means that board members should not be ignoring issues that aren’t relevant to them, and they need to stop making excuses and find ways to deal with the issues and understand the basics. If you a board member who starts every conversation with I’m just a volunteer or I didn’t have time because I’m a volunteer then you probably aren’t doing a great job as a board member and your condo corporation is suffering and you need to educate yourself as a board member as to your roles and responsibilities.   

Condo boards need to adopt an election procedure and a board education system so they are effectively acting in the best interests of the corporation.  When you have volunteer condo board member mentality these board members often do more harm than they do good. Owners don’t expect board members to know everything or have answers and solutions to all problems or issues in the building, they are given a lot of leeway by their owners but a “volunteer mentality” is not in the best interests of anyone. Owners need their board to be held accountable for their actions and inactions. Healthy condo boards understand that their boards need education and understanding of the roles and don’t govern in silence they are loud and proud. Healthy boards encourage owners to participate in the governance of their building and that starts with proper elections and then moves into open board meetings and committees. Open board meetings provide full transparency and owners are involved in their building. When you have open board meetings, board members and owners can work together to solve issues. There could be an owner who dealt with a similar problem or has knowledge or experience in a certain area – opening up the governance in buildings serves everyone and actually assists your board members in being better board members when everyone has a stake in their community.