The best home owners associations are those in which everyone is the same page. Owners, as well as board members and other staff, must remain informed and engaged in order to operate as a well-functioning community. The key to all of this is communication. Unfortunately, with larger HOAs, this can become much more challenging. If you are the manager of a sizeable community association, here are a few tips that will ensure fast, reliable and effective communication across the board.
Provide plenty of options.
The saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” comes to mind here, because not everyone communicates the same way. If you are only sending out messages using one tool or platform, you risk alienating a portion of your audience, which could be disastrous in a large community. To prevent this, utilize as many methods of communication as you can to ensure maximum reach. This means email, text, social media, and yes – even snail mail.
Use technology to your advantage.
Manually sending out communications to a few owners may not be a big deal, but when you’re dealing with a community that houses hundreds or even thousands, that process becomes nearly impossible. That’s where technology can help. By leveraging tools like owner databases and automation, suddenly that overwhelming task becomes simple and straightforward. If you don’t have these tools in place yet, consider investing in property management software. It will make your life infinitely easier.
Make it a two-way street.
Good communication works both ways, and this should be the case with HOAs – especially large ones. Giving owners and other interested parties the ability to access the information they need, the moment they need it, without requiring human intervention is something that benefits everyone. With a secure online portal, for example, users can find what they need at the click of a button, which will proactively keep the lines of communication flowing without further burdening yourself or your team.
Track and measure resulte
Don’t just assume that your communication strategy is working well. Find out for sure by routinely polling owners and measuring your online results. Send out surveys and review the results. Evaluate things like traffic to your website, engagement with your social media posts and open rates for your texts and emails. If you find an area that could use some improvement, make the necessary changes. Your communication policy and processes should evolve and improve over time.
Effective communication is important to any HOA community, but it’s especially critical for larger associations. A well-thought-out and polished communication strategy that takes the above tips into account will ensure that all relevant parties stay connected and in sync, thus improving the quality of life for everyone involved.
