Poor attendance at your condominium’s AGM can delay your building’s initiatives. Failure to achieve quorum typically results in having to reschedule a new meeting. It’s frustrating, disheartening, and a waste of everybody’s time and money, especially for those volunteering on the board of directors.
When the year’s most important meeting fails to draw the bare minimum of the invited participants, it’s often a sign of a bigger problem.
What is it that is keeping people away? Is it apathy, poor communication, or a little bit of both? Whatever the reason, it’s an issue affecting many condo properties.
The CondoVoter Virtual Meeting and Electronic Voting service is the booster your condo AGM needs.
The Reasons You Had an Empty AGM
People just aren’t interested
Whether it’s reading the latest set of minutes or assigning their proxy, there will always be people who don’t want to be bothered. The old way of doing things is no longer effective.
People expect convenience in every aspect of their lives. And that means thinking digitally.
People value their time. No matter how simple your request may be, it will likely be ignored if you don’t make it easy to respond.
And that’s where CodoVoter comes in. With CondoVoter, owners can participate and vote at their convenience. Owners can join via phone, tablet, or laptop. If the owner cannot attend a meeting personally, he or she can vote in advance using an electronic ballot. With CondoVoter, electronic voting is intuitive and easy to use for those who are unfamiliar with this technology.
The growing gap between property management companies, condo boards, and owners
Paper minutes slid under the door. Flyers posted in common areas. Mailed reminder notices.
All are easily ignored.
But that’s not the only issue facing a board of directors looking to improve AGM participation.
For some, attending an AGM in person with their fellow neighbours isn’t exactly an inviting situation.
Even if you haven’t filed a complaint against someone down the hall, you may not be comfortable with the idea of everyone seeing how you vote with “a show of hands.”
CondoVoter delivers important messages to the one place everyone pays attention: their electronic device. People can respond instantly and privately, which makes it a more appealing method for collecting votes.
How to Boost Attendance/Participation at AGMs
It’s a familiar scene, it’s your annual general meeting
You’re on the board of directors. You’ve made yourself a coffee and you’re taking a visual headcount. The meeting is about to start and things aren’t looking good. Where is everyone who lives in the building?
Give advance notice for AGMs so that attendees can plan accordingly
The typical problem with condo AGM’s is that you never know who will attend. CondoVoter eliminates this problem as invitees are prompted to register well ahead of time. No more surprises. With CondoVoter, achieving a quorum is always predictable.
Have a clear agenda
When people come together in a public space, the situation lends itself to impromptu conversations that can easily veer off course. CondoVoter lays out the itinerary for the meeting on the screen to keep everyone focused.
With screen shares, virtual hand raising, and moderated real-time Q & A sessions, there is less chance of distractions while providing ample opportunity for people to express their concerns and ask their questions.
Location (and timing!)
With CondoVoter, everyone involved shares the same easy-to-access interface. Why stress about booking a cheap spot for your next AGM? With CondoVoter, people can join in from any location and vote by phone. Users can see the voting results in real-time.
Stick to the timeline
CondoVoter doesn’t complicate your AGM discussions and voting, it streamlines them. The intuitive interface invites participation and offers full transparency. All pertinent information is clearly laid out. AGM speakers are listed before the meeting to help manage expectations.Getting started with a Virtual or Hybrid meeting can be daunting, so we take the setup process off your hands entirely with a dedicated setup and a practice session for Panelists before the meeting. In addition to the dedicated setup, the CondoVoter moderator interacts directly with the participants/attendees during the meeting (Poll, Chat, Motions, Q &A, troubleshooting) which keeps the meeting flowing.
Plan well in advance
Once CondoVoter has sent all the owners the notice of meeting, email reminders are sent to only those who need the follow-up (those who haven’t registered or used advance voting) to keep everyone informed about the AGM in the weeks and days leading up to the big meeting.
Consider a Virtual or Hybrid AGM
The pandemic has changed how businesses operate, with video conferences and remote work seemingly the new normal. They’ve followed provincial health guidelines for a long time, so now owners may not be comfortable going ahead with in-person meetings. It is important to consider the comfort level of everyone involved. Owners should be able to attend condo AGMs from the comfort of home. Forget the glitchy video conferencing. CondoVoter’s on-screen presentations and convenient phone-voting capabilities ensure a trouble-free electronic AGM experience for all.
One thing’s for sure, as younger homeowners enter the housing market, the traditional ways of conducting business will need to modernize in order to adapt.
We know getting familiar with new technology can seem daunting. At CondoVoter, we’re here to offer the guidance and support you need to help you ace your next meeting. With our tech expertise, we can provide our Communities with confidence as they navigate their electronic AGMs and SGMs. We’ve hosted thousands of meetings, and we’re committed to working with you to support your big day.
