FEATURE
Engaging Homeowners by Building Community Spirit By Bruce Latta, CMCA
A
ll of us involved in managing community associations run into disgruntled homeowners who just can’t be satisfied. Problems that occur where people live are understandably emotional. However, if we don’t respond quickly, matters can spread to other homeowners and become unmanageable. The entire community suffers. How do we stop negativity and build community spirit instead? When faced with unreasonable homeowners, I often recall when my children were too young to reason with. My wife, who still reads “self-help” books, would yell out “REDIRECT THEM!” Those of you who raised millennials and Gen X kids will remember the “redirect” trend.
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Quorum October, 2018
It worked. Can this be a lesson for association managers and board members? Can we redirect homeowners to focus on something positive instead of tearing down the community? The answer, according to CAI is a resounding YES. The standard dictionary definition for community spirit is, “People coming
many opportunities for homeowners to get involved as volunteers. If a homeowner has time to complain, imagine if they spent the same amount of time volunteering to make the community better. Make sure your community has volunteer committees set up to deal with typical community problems. Then, you respond to complaints with, “Why don’t you volunteer for the committee that advises the board on that issue?” Giving disgruntled people the opportunity to
"IF A HOMEOWNER HAS TIME TO COMPLAIN, IMAGINE IF THEY SPENT THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME VOLUNTEERING TO MAKE THE COMMUNITY BETTER." together to improve the community in which they live; it is people as a group affecting each other in a positive way.” That’s certainly worth pursuing. CAI’s Research Foundation took a hard look at community spirit and suggests that a healthy community has
put their time and efforts into solving their problem through committee work can quickly diffuse them. In addition to making sure you have committees to redirect homeowners, associations across the country are building community spirt by adopting
