My career of 40 years included one dreaded function that I doubt I’ll ever be sorry is gone – The meeting.
Why? Well, we always had to meet as a group thinking that it was necessary before we could accomplish anything worthwhile, even though said meetings were often filled with chaos and one-upmanship. The formalities required, typically meant that most meetings could have been cut in half, timewise, with everything from punctuality to endless minutia stealing the time needed to get any real work done.
Does any of this sound like your Strata or HOA Council or Board meetings you’ve attended?
Well, there’s hope, and it’s found in quite a simple solution that’s been around for a long time, based on Roberts Rules. It can save up to 30 minutes per meeting once implemented, and is called the Consent Agenda.
In brief, it breaks your regular meeting Agenda into “Consent” & “Action” segments, with only one motion and one vote required to deal with everything packaged into the Consent segment. Examples of items that might appear on the Consent Agenda include:
• Minutes of Previous Meetings
• Non-controversial items
• Items not requiring further discussion
Basically, the Consent Agenda uses a format in which items requiring agreement or “rubber stamp” approval, are discussed and agreed upon prior to a meeting. Other items, particularly those needing strategic thought, decision making or action, are handled as usual.
The actual gathering then becomes one in which the weightier decisions are the focus. Items such as those requiring strategic thought, decision making or action, are handled at that time.
CSFTS is passionate about improving Strata owner’s life style and peace of mind in more ways than just the obvious physical aspects of maintenance, inspection, repair, financial planning and so on. We can help to even make your meetings more efficient through the Consent Agenda format.
