THERE IS NO “I” IN TEAM MANAGEMENT

MR. JOHN THORPE, PCAM, AMS, CCAM-LS, WALTERS MANAGEMENT

We have all heard the saying, “There’s no “I” in team.” Whether you played sports and listened to your coach, acted and listened to your director or it could even be said by a parent. It takes a village to be successful in fulfilling your life’s aspirations.

As we start each day, we will inevitably need the assistance of any number of people that will assist us in making the completion of our task more efficient. The question is always, what task do you tackle first? Let’s start with that large project that was just presented to you, such as pool or street resurfacing, landscape renovation, roof replacement or painting. Are you the best person to draft the bid specification to complete any of these types of projects? Probably not. Since we all continuously work with various industry partners, a majority of them are willing to assist us in putting together a bid specification to help ensure that all proposals received are for the same work. This will also help prepare a recap of the proposals to the Board of Directors.

During a recent annual meeting with a Board of Directors and the association’s legal counsel, a question was posed to the attorney on who should the Board rely on for information on a particular aspect of the community? Should it be a knowledgeable committee member or the expert hired by the association? As we should be transferring risk and/ or liability to a third party when appropriate, the attorney’s answer was clear that the Board should be listening and acting on the information from the expert.

We all have our strengths that help us navigate through various situations or projects throughout our management careers. Something to remember is that we also need to continue to develop or work on our weaknesses to make us a more well-rounded asset. Without the support of colleagues, vendors, etc. these projects could be more challenging to accomplish. If we learn the strengths of our board and committee members, coworkers, etc., we can make a good product great and an acceptable bid specification better. When we present proposals to a board they want to see the specification that each vendor based their pricing. If there is no foundation for their proposal, there will be a struggle to determine who has the best, most inclusive proposal.

Depending on the intricacies of the project, it may be prudent to establish an ad hoc committee to help work through the bidding and selection process. This committee may be made up of board or committee members, individual homeowners and/or independent parties (if acceptable in the governing documents). Working as a team to gather, develop, review and select a contractor. Your community will appreciate the diligence put forth to determine the best contractor.

Remember, it is not a crime to ask for help; we are only as strong as our weakest link. All hands on deck; think smart.

John Thorpe, CCAM, AMS, PCAM, has been managing community associations for over 27 years and is the Regional Manager for Walters Management’s Inland Empire office.