The importance of community

Community in sectional title schemes

It has become apparent to me that the fight for getting things done right cannot just rest with the trustees.  Unless you plan to stay a trustee till kingdom come(you shouldn’t!), whatever your team is trying to achieve needs to be taken on and championed by the next group of trustees – at the very least there should be a commonality on basic principles.  The danger is all the hard work expended can so very easily be undone by the next group who have an entirely different agenda.  That would be heartbreaking.

The challenge is the apathy and the very real reluctance to ‘get involved’.  We are talking about the owners you actually want in the position of trusteeship.  A common and frustrating response to any owner approached is – they have no time, not interested.   How can this be tackled?

Time and Apathy

The biggest issue facing trustees is the time requirements on constant challenges which demand attention.  There can be ‘ball dropping’ as there typically is no time to attend to everything.  Time has to be made and eked out.  This would be a common challenge for any involved trustee.  The last thing on most normal trustees’ minds is the need for public relations and ass-kissing (political savvy).  This is where your service providers can be of assistance.

It became very apparent to us as a team that the most effective way to right our ship was to ensure we had ethical and professional service providers on board.  ALL service providers would need to qualify.  It took us a lot of time and effort to see some light on this.  This effort would be ongoing, however, it gets better with time when there is consistent and united, uncompromised application of oversite by all trustees.  Your service providers are your best marketing team.  When things run smoothly and your service providers start getting more compliments than complaints, some light bulbs go off indicating some competency in trustee involvement.

Engaging with Owners

Referring to this article, I think efforts to engage identified owners need to be explored.  Typically owners that stay onsite need to be identified and engaged.  A possible approach is to have a dynamic and engaging Estate Manager do the groundwork for contacting and maintaining a relationship with these owners.  The same can be followed with all other service providers engaging directly with owners.  Social events such as a braai at the complex clubhouse can be arranged on occasion so that owners and trustees can meet and establish a more natural connection.  By virtue of the fact that the duties of a trustee are done outside the public eye, it almost seems natural for anyone to automatically view all decisions with suspicion.   Meeting your trustees and having a conversation is necessary in order to get a feel of the person and what they are about.  It goes a long way to arrest the natural instinct to assume the worst.

Changing the Mindset

A far more important reason is that the good guys are in the minority.  It is a constant battle to ensure things are done right and that the usual practice does not gain a footing.  Parties and groups of individuals who want to exploit and take advantage of what is available simply have ALOT more energy to expend in getting what they want – believe me, it is astounding how incredible amounts time and effort are put in by those who have set their sights on exploiting the system! See here. You have to be exhaustively vigilant in standing firm.  This can only be sustained if a critical group of individuals come together and quietly and firmly establish what they want for their complex.  Until you reach critical mass, you are fighting a losing battle.  A culture has to be developed that stands the test of time.  Owners have to realise that it’s in their best interests to have an ongoing stake in the running of their complex.  They cannot have the attitude of thinking that paying their levies and exercising their voting rights automatically ensures the proper running of their complex.  It simply does not work that way.  Involvement and quiet authority with influence in the running of their complex is necessary in order to overcome the influence and machinations of those who would have it otherwise.

It falls unto the current trustees to be the catalyst’s in engaging and encouraging the involvement of owners for the good of the complex.  I hope to have more on this as we try to engage owners to achieve the above.