Condo Media - January 2021 - 23

● Before the Meeting. Describing his
own approach to meeting preparedness, McNabb says, " It's not always
easy, but I try to get what I call my
'meeting package' in the hands of
board members at least four to five
days before a meeting so they have a
chance to review it. This enables them
to come to the meeting and be ready to
discuss agenda items without needing
to be brought up to speed on all the
issues. " He says when the meeting is
open, pertinent information is also
provided to the community.
He considers a prepared agenda
that is distributed in advance key in
running effective meetings of all kinds.
" The agenda streamlines communication, the discussion process, and lets
people prepare for the type of meeting
they're going to be attending and
know what items will be discussed "
(see sidebar below). The package will
also include the previous meeting's
minutes and whatever documents will
be reviewed. Although hard copies
can be supplied, increasingly due to
COVID-19, the package components
are sent exclusively via email.
● During the Meeting: Roberts Rules?
Both Brooks and McNabb stress the
importance of preparation in advance
and maintaining some semblance of
order once the meeting is in progress.
Brooks says he doesn't usually attend
board or annual meetings, but when
he does, just the fact of his presence -

WHAT'S
ON THE
AGENDA?

as an attorney on the clock - usually
means trouble is anticipated, while
as a property manager, McNabb
regularly attends these meetings as
part of his job. This may explain their
somewhat divergent views on the
grandfather of all meeting wranglers,
Roberts Rules of Order-the 12th
edition of which came out in 2020.
While Brooks considers it outdated,
McNabb favors the use of a somewhat
modified form of these parliamentary
procedures modeled by Henry Martyn
Robert in 1876 after those used in
Congress, adding, " I'm no parliamentarian and don't advocate following
every rule and procedure dictated by
Roberts, but I feel rules provide some
semblance of process and decorum.
They allow people to speak and be
heard without being interrupted.
Their framework - waiting to be
recognized, establishing motions, and
seconding the motions - also facilitates the process of memorializing the
meetings in the minutes. " McNabb
feels the very formality establishes
that a meeting conducted thus should
be taken seriously and has implications. Brooks on the other hand
describes his own more simplified approach to the likely more contentious
meetings he attends this way, " I start
out by telling boards at a two-hour
meeting, 'We have one hour of venting
and anger and one hour of healing.'
You let everyone speak if they want -
they do need to raise their hand to be

MCNABB'S APPROACH to generating
a Board of Trustees meeting agenda is
to first send a draft to the board chair
to share with other board members -
all of whom should review and make
suggestions. The final version is sent to
the entire board four to five days before
the meeting. He says if an item requires
a vote, " vote required " in boldface type
is added. " This gets people's attention
and lets them know this is a serious item
that needs to be discussed and resolved
before moving to the next item. "

called on - although you might need
to limit them to give others a turn.
Some boards try to prevent association
members from speaking to avoid disrupting the meeting, but they're going
to disrupt it anyway, so, as I see it, all
owners should have their moment.
Interestingly, those who abuse this
rule often face the wrath of the group,
which usually turns on them. "
● After the Meeting. McNabb says
meeting success does not end when
the motion to adjourn is seconded
and approved. " Once the meeting is
over, there is plenty of work still to be
done to ensure that the meeting and
the ones that follow it are successful. " Especially important, he says, is
promptly drafting and finalizing the
minutes, which is the responsibility
of the board's secretary. " It is such a
useful tool to be able to review the
minutes, which provide a record of
the meeting and the decisions made.
Therefore, draft minutes should be
distributed as soon as possible by
the secretary to the remainder of the
board to review. At the next meeting,
they are ratified and voted upon. " He
says as a supplement to minutes, he
sometimes recommends generating
an action item list of the things that
require follow-up and by whom. " This
keeps the flow going so it's easy to see
what's done, what isn't, and why. It's
an important part of being effective
and being respectful of people's time. "

McNabb says he always promotes
the notion of keeping time, and
therefore considers a timed
agenda - one that specifies an
amount of time for each item -
to be an especially helpful tool.
" The advantage is that it limits
discussion and focuses people.
Also, if a decision on an issue
can't be made in the allotted
time, it's a good indication that
it should be tabled and revisited
at a later time. "

January 2021 CONDOMEDIA

23
Condo Media - January 2021

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