9,000 emails - Whew!

Communications is critical in a Homeowner's Association.  The problem is that someone has to formulate that communications in a responsible way.

Among board members, that may mean preferring phone calls.  We aren't up to the level of "groupware" yet. In fact, regular access to a PC or the ownership of a "smart" phone is not a board requirement. However, with free email readily available (such as gmail) and a nearby college and the computers of the public library, it is possible for even those board members who don't have high speed internet at home to access email on a frequent basis.

Of course, that is not adequate when there are urgent matters to attend to.

Is a phone a problem? Well let me simply state that in our HOA we've had cliques formed from time to time among board members. That means a small group stays in communications, keeps others in the dark and then runs the agenda of their leader. That has been a problem in our HOA from time to time. It is a great way to hold and consolidate power, and it is a great way of manipulating the process while keeping other board members in the dark.  Politics and these types of power games have no place in a HOA and among the board, but this is reality. Not everyone should be on a HOA board, not everyone is willing to act as a team player, not everyone is willing to be a fiduciary and some do prefer to play these types of games.

I prefer email and that generally worked. Why my preference?

1. It is self documenting - information can be formatted, proofed and sent to everyone who needs to be informed. 
2. It can be forwarded to interested parties, and to others who "need to be in the know".  This is particularly valuable when promises are being made, timelines and dates established or duties and requests are being made. 
3. People act differently when writing email. It's amazing how much more cordial and thoughtful people can be when they know whatever they send can be printed and distributed. There is no "he said/she said" confusion. 
4. It can be sent to everyone on the board, or just those board members who must be informed. For example, financial needs or info or requests to the Treasurer, with copies to the vice-president and to management.
5. It can be prepared in advance, saved as a draft and then sent at the opportune time. For example, I preferred not to send emails to management on the weekend. They are entitled to time off, and I didn't want the emails to get buried. I don't know about others, but until recently because of business, I frequently received 100 emails, or more, each day. These were all directed to me and required some sort of a response. 
6. If used properly, it can be readily searched and threads are apparent. 
7. If a unique subject line identifier is used, then even large email databases can be searched. For example, if the HOA initials are used as a subject item, such as BLM. 

Email does have limitations.

1. Some people will refuse or avoid using it. In particularly those who are lazy, don't want to be accountable or responsible. Sadly, that's not the way it should be in a volunteer organization which is supposed to be comprised of fiduciaries who are supposed to be on a team and share the load. But this is reality we are talking about. So some won't use it, won't reply to emails and so on. The most intransigent will argue against communications. We've had one board member who has argued this way, going so far at to take the position "No one reads the Newsletters" as a position to avoid writing articles. Sad!
2. I say "if used properly" because that requires sticking to the "Subject" in each email thread and creating a new email for new subjects and topics. You would be surprised how many people use email as a kind of "stream of consciousness" communications device.
3. Likewise, it is easy to create "data storms" where people begin to respond to an email, then a thread, and then to another thread. Get five or more board members doing this over a day or so and it is almost impossible to deal with the messages which become cross-threaded and jumbled. 
4. Email should not be used to avoid public discussions during association meetings. But some boards use it that way. 

How many emails did I send or receive during my short time as a board member?

About 9,000 emails according to my records!