Whether you are the president of a professional association, or on the board of your HOA, managing a membership-based association can be very time-consuming and challenging. After all, most people who manage associations do so in addition to their full-time jobs and family obligations. You want to to an effective job of managing your association, without being spread too thin or stressed out. Here are three tips for streamlining your association management so you can meet your organizational goals without going crazy in the process:
Clearly Define Association Management Roles
If you feel like you're being spread too thin, it may be because your role and the other management roles haven't been clearly defined. Meet with your association management team and focus on narrowing down each role and getting it in writing. For example, if you are currently taking meeting minutes and distributing them after each meeting, decide if this task would be more appropriate for the secretary and then delegate it to them instead. You may find that distributing tasks and duties in a more equal way streamlines things for everyone.
Don't Be Afraid to Say No
If you happen to have people pleasing tendencies, you may find it hard to say no, even when requests are unreasonable. The truth is that effective leaders say no all the time, especially if a request is outside the scope of your role or would require an unreasonable time commitment that you can't easily manage. While it's okay to just give a polite no without an explanation, sometimes a better approach is one focused on finding a solution.
Saying something like "That won't work with my schedule, but let's discuss alternatives to ensure it still gets done. What do you think we should do?" invites collaboration without over-extending yourself.
Outsource to the Experts
Whether you opt for association management software or hire a professional association manager to help you, outsourcing to the experts is the ultimate way to streamline your processes. When you outsource and automate your management, you can have software or a professional manager handle mundane tasks like recruiting, collecting dues, and scheduling meetings and presentations. This ensures these things get taken care of in a consistently professional way while also freeing up your time to focus on the aspects of association management you most enjoy.
By following these tips, your association will soon be run in a much more streamlined and efficient manner, leaving you with more free time and less stress. For more information, contact companies like Duval Realty Inc.
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