Key takeaways
- Google+ Hangouts lets board members join meetings by live video from home.
- Older tools require monthly fees and someone to act as the meeting conductor.
- The whole board has to agree, and everyone needs a webcam of some kind.
- If meetings are less productive, a board can go back to traditional meetings.
Anyone that has ever lived in a HOA or Condo Association community knows that the feeling of being persuaded by a neighbor to volunteer for the board of directors for their community. Most people are scared to death to add any additional responsibility or obligation to their already jam packed schedule. They are worried about attending long meetings usually in the evening after an already exhausting workday. Google+ Hangout video conferencing tool may just make attending those long meetings a little bit easier.
HOA Board Members
Google+ hangout makes it now possible to attend virtual meetings with live video feed. This would make it possible for HOA board members to attend their important community meetings in the comfort of their own home, while also being able to have a full interaction with their fellow board members.
Tools like this have existed in the past like “Go to Meeting” and “Fuze Meeting” but haven’t been widely used by most HOA volunteers. These services require monthly fees along with someone that has to be the “conductor” of the meeting. Google+ Hangout allows instant video feed from everyone along with the service being free of charge.
Below are a list reasons why a board of directors would be interested in conducting their meetings with this new technology:
- Save Time: On preparing documents and getting to meeting location
- Convenient: attend a meeting while still at home with your family
- Access to important information: Ability to for all parties to review the same document or video
- Easy to use: 350 Million People have a Google Account already
- Ability for all parties to join and leave as schedule permits
This is far from being standard. This meeting option will need to be generally accepted by the entire board. HOA board of directors will range in both age and technical skills depending on which community you are involved with. Statistically speaking, this would be a much viable option for a lower average age of the board you are serving. You also have to insure that everyone would have access to a webcam of sorts. Many have them built into new laptops, but there is a large percentage of the country, that still actively use desktops for everyday use.
Technology has found its way into the HOA and condo management world and it is here to stay. It is only a matter of time before all HOA board meetings and possibly even annual meetings are conducted online from the convenience of their own home. If your board of directors is tech savvy enough, give it a shot. Worst case scenario, if meetings aren’t as productive as they need to be, you can always go back to traditional meetings.
“Technology has found its way into the HOA and condo management world and it is here to stay.”
