Homeowner associations are notoriously bad about raising volunteers for the board and committees . But not for lack of trying. The call goes out and too often, no one answers. It's often blamed on apathy. Nobody really cares. But they do care, at least some of them. It's not that they don't want to volunteer. The reasons for doing so are often just, well, too vague or uninspiring. While "serving the community" and "protecting your own interests" may seem motivation enough, where's the excitement, where's the glory in it all? Isn't it time to "punch up" the job?

Raising volunteers takes planning and the "vision" thing. As far as planning, board candidates should be sought out months before election time. The goal is to find people with the experience and ability to serve. Many good candidates fail to step forward because the job is not explained to them properly. There is a natural fear of the unknown; not "fear" fear but fear of being trapped in an open ended commitment that's going nowhere. A huge part of wooing volunteers is defining it in terms that make it clear it's something to look forward to, not endless drudgery. Painting a "vision" is everything. So what kinds of things will help set that vision?

Scheduled Meetings Far in Advance. For successful people, knowing what the future holds is exciting. There is no reason that all meetings can't be scheduled a year in advance. Scheduling meetings far in advance sets deadlines for accomplishment. It identifies points in time when decisions are going to be made. It allows decision making to be focused at predictable intervals rather than on the fly. And planning far in advance eliminates the excuse that someone is already booked. It also produces a subtle calming effect on the other owners who sense that someone really is steering the association ship.

Getting Business Done. Serious volunteers want to know that real business will take place, not just cheap talk. All meetings should have a well defined "action" agenda. An Action Agenda calls for, as the title implies, decisions. Instead of "Discuss Landscape Contract", try "Approve Landscape Contract" which implies decision making. Use the same concept for all agenda items when possible.

Distribute Agenda in Advance. Many meetings waste time defining what the agenda items are. Rather than show up and take on anything that comes up, narrow the field before the meeting so business can actually get accomplished. This means eliminating or deferring less important items. The well defined agenda should include supporting information and recommendation for decisions. In other words, "The committee recommends that the plan be adopted as presented." This approach points to decisions, not discussion. All of this should be distributed at least three days in advance (a week if the topics are complex). Keep the supporting information as brief and to the point as possible. No one wants to wade through piles of files.

Time Limit Your Meetings. Most would be volunteers have full lives and endless meetings are a real turn-off. They usually happen because there is no agenda to begin with and discussion is allowed to meander aimlessly. Agree that meetings will not last longer than two hours and that all agenda items need to be covered during that time. Keep your promise. It's up to the Chair to move things along. Bring a food timer along if necessary that "dings!" when the preset time limit has run out on each agenda item.

Follow Meeting Protocol. Roberts Rules came about for a very good reason: Unstructured meetings will often deteriorate into chaos if there are no rules to guide the discussion and decision making. An abbreviated version of Roberts Rules will generally suffice at HOA board meetings. Follow this Cardinal Rule: If at least two people aren't interested in discussing a topic, move on. If two do, one makes a motion to discuss and the other seconds the motion. Discussion should follow an alternating pro and con argument. When the pros and cons start to repeat, vote on the motion and be done with it

Open Meetings. To eliminate suspicion and rumors, board and committee meetings should be open to all owners for the purpose of auditing (that means "to listen", not participate.) Allow for an owner forum preceding the meeting to answer their questions or allow them to make statements. Once the meeting starts, they should be welcome to stay but not interrupt business. To make that clear, have them sit away from the board meeting table. Guests, of course, should be allowed to speak to specific meeting agenda items that involve them or they asked to be put there.

The value of maintaining open meetings is to eliminate the "us and them" (owners vs. board members) mentality that can crop up when meetings are closed. Few neighbors want to be at odds with other neighbors. It's important not to create an illusion of pecking order. If non-board member owners are welcome to the meetings, they'll get a taste of what happens and could become potential volunteers.

Keep a Sense of Humor To attract and hold volunteers. It's very important to keep business from becoming ponderous or confrontational. There are few topics in HOAs that are life or death. If someone gets overwrought or agitated, it's time to ratchet up the Mirthometer. If a particular owner or board member makes a habit of being obnoxious, insist in private that they either leave it at home, not attend the meeting or step down off the board, as it applies.

Serious volunteers want to know that their time will be well spent. Woo them with a well defined mission, limit the time to get it done and protect the good mood of the woo-ees.

For more information on this subject, see www.Regenesis.net.

Published: April 24, 2002

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Richard Thompson owns Regenesis, a management consulting company that specializes in condominium and homeowner associations. He is a nationally recognized expert on HOA management issues. Regenesis publishes The Regenesis Report, a monthly newsletter for HOA boards, developers and managers. To subscribe, go to Regenesis.net. He can be contacted by email at .