Welcoming new members into your HOA can be exciting if they’re educated and introduced properly. Existing Board members need to take some crucial steps to make sure new members feel prepared and motivated to take on their new responsibilities.
Here are four ways to properly onboard new HOA members and welcome them into your community.
Send A Welcome Letter & Orientation Packet
The HOA welcome letter should include information on what to expect and create excitement for your new members. The HOA Board orientation packet is meant to be a crash course in your HOA. It includes governing documents (CC&Rs, bylaws, rules and regulations, etc), the HOA handbook, a summary of roles and responsibilities, financial reports, meeting minutes, and more. This gives new members easy access to everything they need to know about the HOA and can answer many questions they might initially have.
Allow Time To Get Acquainted
With all the information they’ll receive right off the bat, give new members time to read over everything and absorb all the information. Make sure they know that if they have any questions, existing Board members can answer them. It’s important to create an environment where they feel comfortable and not overwhelmed by existing members.
Setting up a Q&A session would be beneficial for new members. Not only is it a way to ask questions, but it gives everyone a chance to meet and learn more about each other.
Introduce Your HOA Management Company
Board members work closely with the management company and can help new members understand more of the day-to-day operations. Becoming familiar with maintenance projects and service providers and even meeting homeowners can help them understand what to expect.
Provide First-Hand Experience
Once new members feel comfortable taking on responsibilities, let them get involved as soon as possible. Some people learn better when they’re hands-on, so providing them with opportunities to learn from projects and special committees can help them give them an overall understanding of the HOA. Make sure help is available to them if they need it to avoid any mistakes or errors.
This also allows you to see how many responsibilities they can handle. Assigning a full workload from the beginning may be too much for them to handle, so staggering their daily responsibilities can help them gain confidence and experience.
If your HOA Board needs help with welcoming new Board members, contact Prism Realty Management. Give us a call at 512-676-5842 — we’d be happy to talk to you about who we are, the services we offer, and our process.
