FRUSTRATED RESIDENTS
KEEPING YOUR COOL WITH Or “I knew I had a Reason for Volunteering”
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o paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, You can please some of the people all the time, please all of the peo-
ple some of the time, but never please all of the people all of the time. In- variably, as a director, manager or staff member, when a residentap- proaches you in person, online or by telephone, that something is wrong
In the space of a single recent day, I have been confronted with com- plaints covering a wide range of top- ics including, but not limited to, “My lawn is brown and you need to fix the irrigation,” “I always pay my assessments on time and you are still billing me,” “You are spending way too much money on frivolous things like the pool,” and my personal fa- vorite, “Who says I can’t spray paint my cars on my driveway?”
As a member of my Board for the last two years, I had begun to think it was my fault and that I should resign my position before the community starts to think stringing me up in effigy is a good idea or maybe, alternatively,
gathering some tar and feathers. Wasn’t I the one who ran for office hoping to contribute to the wellbe- ing of my fellow man and woman?
Y
Although I am not claiming to being the guru of HOA directorship, I have come upon some ideas that seem to help in positive relationship between the residents of an HOA and its di- rectors, managers and staff members.
1. Listen and Observe
It’s extremely important to listen to what the person in front of you is saying. Active listening is either a God given talent or seriously learned and practiced. Don’t start out by im- mediately assuming everything and anything. Once you assume, you close off understanding. The resident may begin the conversation with one complaint but is really looking to solve another entirely different topic.
For example, one resident came to me one day complaining that her bushes in the front of her house needed trimming but after ten min- utes of discussion, she revealed that
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