Following holiday festivities, the new year invites the creation of resolutions that tackle change and challenges. Whether you pledge to exercise more or vow to stay organized, New Year’s resolutions provide motivation for improved well-being. Resolutions not only apply to personal developments, but to your association, as well! New ideas often accompany the excitement of another year, and your community can benefit from setting goals.

Some common HOA resolutions include:

  • Budget. Perhaps the board wants to adhere to the budget more strictly, build reserve funds, or review contract prices.
  • Socialization. Maybe your association desires to create or improve committees, increase volunteer turnout, or host more social events.
  • Communication. Your board may want to strengthen communication through newsletters, regularly scheduled eblasts, text messaging, flyers within the community, etc.
  • Meetings. The association strives for increased meeting attendance, meeting efficiency, and board education.

Establishing goals may seem intimidating, but the process is both entirely possible and exciting. Before jumping into completely new ideas, you can try building on previous goals. What goals are still in process? What can be improved upon this year? What has happened since making your last goals that need to be addressed?

In conjunction with these reflective questions, try the SMART method. According to SMART Criteria: Become More Successful by Setting Better Goals by 50Minutes.com, this method involves goals that encompass the following criteria: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. Consider these pillars for setting your association’s goals for the new year.

  1. Is your goal specific?

The goal should be clear and simple; avoid being too vague or broad. Home in on what your association needs and define a singular focus for each goal.

For example, one association (let’s call it Smart HOA) wants to set a goal to improve communication. Smart HOA will want to consider a specific facet of communicating, e.g., sending periodic newsletters. The idea is clear and simple: create newsletters to be sent regularly to homeowners.

  1. Is your goal measurable?

Ensure the goal’s progress can be tracked. Establish goals by writing them down – communicate them to the association to hold the board accountable and stay motivated.

Smart HOA will take this simple idea and enact a game plan for the newsletters. For example, the association decides to create a quarterly publication, allowing progress to be visible with each newsletter released every three months. Additionally, homeowners are informed of happenings in the community and can hold the board accountable for the expectation of a quarterly newsletter.

  1. Is your goal achievable?

Encourage a consensus of the board about the idea and make sure the goal falls within legal requirements. Always dream big, but also keep in mind that goals should be achievable and within your control!

Agreeing that quarterly newsletter installments are manageable, the Smart HOA board will allocate the responsibility to a few volunteers to avoid overwhelming one specific member and prevent the task from being spread too thin. Furthermore, the Smart HOA decides to distribute the newsletter via email to conserve resources.

  1. Is your goal relevant?

Create goals based on realistic results that pertain to the association and its governing documents. Additionally, check that a goal makes sense for your association right now and fits with other goals.

Currently, Smart HOA sends daily eblasts. By instigating quarterly newsletters, information can be compiled to save time by condensing the number of eblasts into a more efficient amount. Also, Smart HOA wants to host more social events, so the newsletter allows a medium for promoting social events in bulk.

  1. Is your goal time-based?

Decide if the goal is short-term or long-term. Ultimately, the goal should be timely. Prioritize goals with set deadlines that can be reached within a reasonable time frame.

Smart HOA proceeds in solidifying the goal with an established calendar of release dates for each year, or even a few years at a time. Quarterly publications allow for a reasonable amount of time for production and distribution. Sending via email, the newsletter will take little time to reach the homeowners after its completion.

So, with the SMART method, Smart HOA has decided on an effective goal: increase communication with homeowners by creating and distributing a volunteer-led quarterly newsletter via email.

With these tips tied to your toolbelt, setting goals should be a piece of cake! Remember to keep goals specific, measurable, assignable, relevant, and time-based.