When it comes to running effective annual community meetings, the battle is often won or lost before the meeting is even called to order. If the residents of a building or association are fundamentally satisfied with how their community is being governed and managed, meetings tend to be low-key, conflict-free affairs where routine business is handled over coffee and baked goods, and everybody goes home after an hour or so. 

On the other hand, if residents are frustrated, feel that their board-management team is unresponsive to their needs and dismissive of their concerns, and are generally unhappy with how their community is being run, the annual meeting is where they’ll make those grievances known. If the board and management has failed to effectively address resident concerns throughout the year, they must be prepared for potential disruptions and fireworks. 

Whether it’s expected to be uneventful or uncomfortable, the board-management team should come to every meeting with a plan in hand. Here are some tips that can help:

What’s the Agenda?

There are some generally accepted components to keeping a meeting on track, even if the assembled group is contentious. They include setting an agenda, understanding basic parliamentary procedure as laid out in Robert’s Rules of Order, setting ground rules at the beginning of the meeting, and appointing a parliamentarian to address procedural issues. 

Regardless of whether a meeting is formal or informal, and even in jurisdictions that don’t mandate an agenda, attorneys and property professionals still recommend creating and distributing one to let the membership know what to expect from the proceedings, and to help the chairperson keep the meeting focused. It can also encourage more people to attend, says Chicago-area lawyer James Arrigo of the Wheaton, Illinois, law firm Rathje Woodward LLC. “While you don’t have to put the entire agenda on a notice, I always encourage boards to include a little more info, because it might entice someone with particular interests to attend.” He adds that the removal of a director is one item that does need to be included in the notice of meeting if it is a planned topic of discussion and/or vote.

Richard Brooks, principal at the law firm of Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, a law firm based in Braintree, Massachusetts, agrees. “The best way to keep tight control over an annual meeting is to have a specific agenda that everyone has seen in advance,” he says. “List out exactly what will be covered, and make time for questions, comments, and other business. Try to follow the agenda as closely as possible, and make it clear that attendees are not to interrupt or talk over each other. Assure everyone that they will get an opportunity to ask questions and make comments at the end of the meeting.”

And, says William McCraken, a partner with Moritt Hock & Hamroff, a law firm based in Manhattan, “You need a presiding officer who can communicate effectively, in words and actions, that the meeting is for the conduct of business, and not for any personal grudges or challenges or one-upmanship. Of course, part of the business of the meeting can be to hear complaints and concerns, and those should be taken without defensiveness or combativeness. But as soon as someone’s grievance turns into a personal vendetta, the chair needs to be strong enough to pull the plug and keep things moving.”

Basic Parliamentary Procedure

The acknowledged standard blueprint for meetings large and small, from the U.S. House of Representatives to your condo’s annual meeting, is Robert’s Rules of Order. First published in 1876, this “pocket manual of rules of order for deliberative assemblies” spells out step by step how to conduct an orderly, well-structured meeting. 

To chair an orderly, productive annual meeting, “One must understand basic parliamentary procedure,” advises Kris Kasten, a principal with Chicago-based law firm Bartzen Rosenlund Kasten. “For example, you should understand the role of the chair, how to make motions, whether seconding a motion is required, voting on motions, discussing or debating motions, etc. Some associations are required to follow specific parliamentary procedures such as Robert’s Rules of Order because they have either chosen to adopt those procedures or their governing documents require it. 

“Even if an association is not obligated to follow specific parliamentary procedures and can choose to adopt its own, knowing basic principles of parliamentary procedure still helps,” Kasten continues. “Robert’s Rules can be a good source for guidance, even if the board doesn’t follow those exact procedures.”

Michael Simone, principal with the Simone Law Firm based in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, practices in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania and notes that “circumstances may differ between smaller and larger associations. In a small association, less formal arrangements may be warranted. However, in New Jersey specifically, the Radburn decision requires all associations to publish an agenda prior to a meeting to give all members sufficient notice. Similarly, notes of the meeting must be taken, and a print copy must be provided for the members to review thereafter.” 

“If the board and/or manager are insufficiently familiar with Robert’s Rules,” Simone continues, “they can lean on the association's attorney for any procedural questions and required notices. Both are key.”

Following the Rules

Once an agenda has been established and all present have an understanding of the rules governing the meeting, what’s the next step to keeping the meeting moving and on-task?

According to McCracken, it’s adhering to that agenda. “It is an important principle of any public meeting to be predictable and stick to the schedule,” he says. ”We always want our residents to have an opportunity to comment and ask questions, but we also need to get through the official business of the meeting first. If the building’s accountant is presenting the annual financials, it’s not uncommon to have a mini-Q&A just with the accountant so that he or she can go home, but otherwise we usually ask residents to hold their questions to the end of the stated agenda.” 

While it’s often best to assign the responsibility for conducting the meeting to a single person, that person must be someone who communicates well.  “Some board members are better than others when it comes to conducting a meeting,” says Simone. “The board needs to pick a point person who is calm, knowledgeable, and proficient in Robert’s Rules of Order. It depends on the association, but if the board knows a meeting will be contentious, consider delegating the running of the meeting to the property manager or attorney, or a board member who is not the president.”

Musical Chairs

Power dynamics come into play in organizing meetings and keeping control of them once underway. How should the room be set up?  Who should sit where?  Does having refreshments at the start of the meeting make the proceedings more convivial, or should they be made available at the end?

While many communities meet on their own property, in a common room or clubhouse, Brooks says the best way to keep control and stick to both an agenda and a time frame is to hold the meeting in a neutral public space, like a meeting room in your local library or community center. Participants are less likely to get “loud” in a public place, and knowing that the next user of the room may be waiting at the doors for their turn can keep things timely.

When it comes to how the meeting space is set up, “It’s common for the board members to sit at a table at the front of the room facing the members,” says Kasten, but he adds a caveat: “Although there’s nothing legally wrong with such a setup, it can give the impression or feeling of the board versus the membership. That can create an undesirable atmosphere that’s especially problematic when there is a contentious election for the board or a divisive issue is brought before the membership for a vote. 

“Generally, the board president is the chair of the membership meetings,” Kasten continues. “The rest of the board are typically not acting as board members, but as part of the association membership. Therefore, having only the board president or chair sitting at the front of the room with the rest of the board sitting with the membership is appropriate, and may ease tensions. Of course, the association’s managing agent can sit with the chair when he or she is assisting the chair in running the meeting. Also, if a board member is giving a report to the membership, he or she can be at the front of the room to give the report. When finished, that board member should then go back and sit with the membership.”

While it’s not necessary to provide refreshments during meetings, doing so is an easy way to garner some goodwill. If you do have them, keep things simple. Water, soda, coffee, tea, and lemonade are all good choices. Tempting as it might be, most pros advise staying away from alcohol, including beer and wine. Meetings are business functions, not social events—and in addition to liability concerns, the disinhibitory effects of alcohol can cause focus to wander and raise the odds of disruption. As for food, light snacks like cookies, cheese and crackers, small sandwiches, or pizza are more than enough. 

Don’t Get Your Feathers Ruffled

If a meeting does get testy, how should a board, or the board member conducting the meeting, handle it?

First of all, “Don’t take it personally,” says Brooks, a veteran of literally hundreds of such meetings. “It’s very hard, but you have to keep your distance from any personal attack or grievance. There are always competing views—two sides to any story, and as members of the association, these people are entitled to their say. If someone is disrespectful, don’t attack back. That will disarm the person. You want the room on your side. You don’t want to have a fight, because you’re all still neighbors when the issue is resolved. As the association’s attorney, I will step in if the temperature gets too high.”

If things do get truly ugly, can a meeting be adjourned for acrimony? In a word, yes. Unless your governing documents say otherwise, the board does have the authority to adjourn a meeting if necessary. On the remote chance that a conflict turns physical, or threatens to, it’s not unheard of to call in police assistance—but of course the goal is never get anywhere near such a point. 

McCracken points out that “much depends on what has happened prior to the meeting. If management has already done what they can to address residents’ concerns in good faith, yet that resident or residents remain unhappy, it makes it easier not to get defensive about it at the meeting. If necessary, just to declare very plainly that we are moving on.”

Few people would say their annual co-op or condo meeting is the highlight of the calendar year, but with a little planning, forethought, and cooperation, your community’s next business gathering can be efficient, cordial, and best of all, quick. 

A.J. Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter for CooperatorNews, and a published novelist. He may be reached at alan@yrinc.com.