6 minute read
The New Rules of Engaging Community Members & Staff
By Marne Logan, CCAM-LS
I say “new rules”, but it is not so much new rules as we have been heavily in the midst of the viral experience in mass proportions already. It is just how we are handling that experience that is the kicker. Certainly, you could say that engagement has morphed into a whole new animal this year since the events of March and April changed how we do engage and move forward. In the beginning, I decided that I was going into work no matter what was mandated as I did not want to leave my community high and dry. Most of my fellow compatriots felt the same way. It was the right thing to do. Good news, that down road a couple of weeks, we, the management framework for a plethora of communities, would be considered essential to the workforce. Phew!
As you would guess, moving forward is the common thread and like any kind of change, there are some who are more reluctant than others to put one foot in front of the other. I am not wild about the kind of changes that have been forced upon us all, however, being smart and leadership minded about moving through those changes is also the key and a must.
I digress. There are government-mandated closures that took effect quickly and left us all spinning in place with a lot of energy and questions and not a lot of answers or movement, in a positive manner. In our industry, luckily, community members familiar with the digital age transitioned more quickly than those who are resistant to technology as you would imagine – especially important, since it would become our primary point of interface. Staff at almost every community location are in the digital age and can’t even contemplate going back to what some would consider the Stone Age (before cell phones, texting and instant messages).
So, here we are in the fall of 2020 and a smidgen of light at the end of the tunnel, less restrictions, I hope is at hand. However, in the meantime necessity creates and stimulates some great inventions, thoughts, interactions, and processes.
I posed some questions to Carl Weise, CAMEx, CCAMHR.AA and General Manager at Four Seasons at Terra Lago, due to his innovative staff and highly positive outcomes regarding his collective pandemic muscle. As soon as the virus haze and spin diminished, Carl and staff were ready with creative assistance and support for each other and for the community.
Phone was an obvious prerequisite–calls increased and staff were kept quite busy mapping out solutions via electronic means of every known variety. However, in Carl’s words, there was still some need for in-person interaction that could not be avoided–sometimes, faceto-face is the only way to accomplish a goal and support either staff or a community member in need.
For example, owners with architectural applications began submitting their over-sized blueprints via dropoff locations along with physical samples needed for the submittal. (Distances have been kept and masks are required and gloves when handling documents from owners.) Or, oftentimes, a face-to-face is needed for a completely frustrated and angry community member, who just needed to vent and know there was support, and that they were not alone.
Other than the ARC applications and a few person-to-person meetings, at a distance of course, these days, most everything, is digital or virtual. Zoom is a household word now. My staff and Carl’s staff immediately assisted community members, if they were not already familiar with Zoom and their community’s website, with training sessions and how-to’s from soup to nuts on how to use Zoom and the best ways to set up their accounts and log into the community website(s).
I know he and I are both proud of the way our staff has jumped in and made the community members’ lives easier, and the transition to all digital or virtual a smoother process and less intimidating. Both of our communities are 55+, so some of our members had challenges that many overcame easily. It is great to empower members with the ability and confidence to march forward. This comfort level for community members was a process and now, months later, it seems more like it is being embraced positively. This is pretty wonderful just considering everyone’s adaptability.
Carl says Adrianna Ramirez, Lifestyle Director at Four Seasons Terra Lago, has modified everything she does for the community to an online platform. Sound familiar to any of you? I bet it does. One of the first events she hosted and presented was a workshop to aid homeowners in getting comfortable with the online “Quaran-tivities.” A few of these online platforms for the “Quaran-tivities are:
1. Zoom Around The Room
2. Live Trivia Game Show
3. Pet Photo Contest
4. Scrolling Through Memory Lane – Brain Game
Just like all things new, there was some experimentation to learn how community members preferred to participate. “We have learned to create a mixture of live, timed events, and other events that can be accessed at the user’s leisure,” Carl says. The new engagement for Terra Lago residents is evident.
For staff, Carl says, “We have learned how to physically space our work environments and respect each other even more. We take mask wearing and workstation cleaning very seriously. We do see it as protecting each other.”
What has been the impact? “The pandemic has made us more aware of so much,” Carl said. “We have a very solid work team, and this virus threw us all a curve ball, packed with initial uncertainty. The unknown is scary. In a few short months (which seems like 3 years), we have learned that we can hear the facts, react to them, plan for them and no longer be pushed off course by them. We have learned that we are resilient, professional, compassionate, empathetic, caring, and SAFE.”
How has the pandemic changed how you manage?
“Prioritization has always been a part of management. I see some difference when I overhear a homeowner who is upset… I try to jump in and recognize that they may be reacting to external COVID-related issues,” he said. “This is a time for us all to take some extra time to be even more forgiving of those who are angry, frustrated, etc. It is tough on all of us and all of our residents. Grace is needed more than ever.” All in all, this interim dynamic of COVID has produced many flux scenarios. Many of you bright General Managers and Community Association Managers have already addressed this flux situation with more communication plus creative communication.
Carl and I keep communication flowing with weekly updates to both the board and the community on general community issues. He has also included in his weekly community and board update a static element for addressing COVID changes when needed. Where some of us differ is my weekly updates are for my board and then I compile a community wide newsletter every few weeks, as well as supplemental COVID update to keep everyone in the loop (my community is seasonal and most reside in their primary residences out of state and out of the country).
In closing, I will try to resist using the now-cliché “we are all in this together” phrase as it really does not begin to describe impact, interaction, effect, flux, or outcome of our current environment. I will say instead that we are collectively moving forward, elevating our engagement to uplift communities and each other in these unique times. Sharing how we move through the COVID haze will give us each better understanding of and how to indeed move forward as strategic leaders.
Marne Logan, CCAM-LS is a general manager for The Management TrustCalifornia Desert, ACMC.
