What information do condo boards sometimes forget to communicate regularly to residents?
The majority of information routinely shared with condo residents pertains to daily operations and service repairs, including information about window cleaning and fire alarm testing. Although this type of information is important, there is a lot of other information that fails to make it to residents on a regular basis – information vital to stabilizing condo fees, minimizing legal risk and protecting property value.
Residents are interested in knowing about routine maintenance in their suites but are less likely to seek out information about what not to do in their condo. Information about what not to put down garbage chutes, parking rules, obtaining insurance and how to maintain suites and common areas fail to regularly get shared with residents, yet are essential to a condo’s communications and a board’s fiscal responsibility.
A condominium should have a strategy in place to ensure it is communicating all aspects of living in a condo. In addition to day-to-day notices and emergency messages, it’s vital that a condo board post reminders about building rules on a regular basis. Residents will think twice before setting off their fire alarm if they know how much it costs the corporation. Similarly, residents are less likely to tamper with elevators if they are aware of the costs associated with elevator service repairs.
Essential to a communication strategy is routinely reminding residents that costs to the condo corporation will raise their fees. In addition, reminding residents about the benefits of respecting the condo’s rules can help to stabilize fees and promote compliance.
Often neglected in a communication strategy is sharing information about community events and activities. Establishing a sense of community through simple welcome messages and messages encouraging involvement are fundamental to promoting an inclusive environment. This is especially true in a condo with a diverse population.
Educating residents about different ethnicities in the community is critical to bridging cultural gaps. Communities where people respect one another and their condo have a reduced number of infractions, experience less wear and tear and have fewer resident disputes.
Kim Mancina is the sales and marketing coordinator at WOWnetwork. She can be reached at kim@wownetwork.ca.
There is often a disconnect between what the board calls "good communication" and what the residents deem "good communication". The idea of creating a communiction strategy/protocol and then actually following it (board, manager and service providers) is a great idea who's time has come! Great article.