Most board conflicts don’t start with bad decisions. They start with poor communication about perfectly reasonable ones.

I’ve watched Century Village boards approve necessary repairs, only to face owner rebellion because nobody explained why the work mattered. The decision was right. The communication failed. That’s the pattern.

The Real Cost of Bad Communication

When owners don’t trust their board, everything becomes harder. Special assessments get challenged. Elections turn hostile. Board members burn out and quit. The legal bills pile up.

The alternative works better. Boards that communicate consistently face fewer complaints, pass assessments more easily, and actually find volunteers for open positions. The difference isn’t what these boards decide. It’s how they explain it.

Why Century Village Makes This Harder

You’re not communicating with a uniform audience. Some owners check email three times a day. Others haven’t opened their inbox since 2019. Some want every detail about every decision. Others just want to know if it affects them and how much it costs.

The technology gap is real. I’ve seen boards assume everyone can access a portal, then discover 40% of owners don’t know their password and won’t call to reset it. You need multiple channels because your community needs multiple channels.

Florida’s Sunshine Law adds another layer. Owners expect transparency because the law guarantees it. That’s actually helpful. The law forces you to do what builds trust anyway.

Pick the Right Channel

Email works for regular updates, meeting notices, and anything that can wait 24 hours. It doesn’t work for emergencies or for owners who don’t read it. Send a consistent weekly or monthly update. Friday afternoons work well. People scan it over the weekend when they’re thinking about the building.

Keep the subject line specific. “Board Update” tells them nothing. “Elevator 2 Repair Update: Back in Service Monday” tells them whether to open it.

Text messages cut through when it matters. Water main break affecting ten units? Text them. Non-urgent budget summary? Email. The test is simple: would you want to be interrupted for this? If no, don’t text.

Phone calls still matter for sensitive issues. You can’t fire a difficult vendor or explain a noise complaint via email without creating more problems. Pick up the phone for anything that needs tone of voice.

Don’t abandon printed notices. In Palm Beach County, I’ve worked with buildings where 30% of owners don’t use email at all. You’re legally required to post meeting notices anyway. Use large fonts (14pt minimum) and post them where people actually walk, not just the lobby bulletin board nobody reads.

Your website should be the archive. Meeting minutes, budgets, vendor contracts, maintenance schedules. Everything that someone might ask for at 9 PM on a Saturday. If it’s there, you can answer “it’s on the website” without sounding dismissive.

What to Tell Them

Monthly updates should cover four things: what the board decided last month, what it’s working on now, where the money went, and what’s coming up. That’s it. Three paragraphs, not three pages.

For financials, most owners don’t want line-item detail. They want to know: are we on budget, are the reserves funded, is anything broken that costs real money? Give them the summary. Post the full statements for the three people who’ll actually read them.

Project updates prevent surprises. Roof work starts next month? Tell them now what it affects, how long it takes, and where to park during construction. You might think this is obvious. It isn’t obvious to the owner who finds a contractor blocking their spot at 7 AM.

Meeting Notices: Get This Right

Florida law requires 48 hours notice for board meetings, posted conspicuously. That’s the minimum. I recommend a week. It gives owners time to plan and shows you’re not hiding anything.

The notice needs date, time, location, and major agenda items. “Special assessment discussion” is better than “financial matters.” People deserve to know what you’re deciding.

Annual meetings need 14-60 days mailed notice. Not emailed. Mailed. Include the agenda, proxy information, and voting procedures. This isn’t optional. Miss it and your meeting doesn’t count.

Special assessments require advance notice and detailed explanation. You can’t spring a $2,000 assessment on owners with 48 hours warning and expect cooperation. Explain what it funds, why it can’t wait, what happens if you delay, and how they can pay. The more expensive the assessment, the earlier you explain it.

Emergency Communication

When something breaks badly, communicate in layers. First, send a brief text to affected units: what happened, what’s affected, when you expect it fixed. Post a notice in the building. Update the website. Then follow up with a detailed email once you have real information.

The template is simple:

What happened
Who it affects
What you’re doing about it
Where to get updates
Who to call with questions

Don’t speculate. Don’t blame. Just facts and next steps. You can explain what went wrong after you’ve fixed it.

The Hard Conversations

I’ve made the mistake of responding to an angry email while I was still angry. It never helps. The 24-hour rule works: acknowledge you received it, promise a real response within 48-72 hours, then actually think through your answer.

When delivering bad news, be direct. Assessments are going up $45 per month because the reserve study shows we need to fund roof replacement over five years. That’s the message. Don’t bury it in positive spin about “building value” before you get to the number. Lead with the number. Then explain why.

Angry owners often just want to be heard. Let them vent. Don’t interrupt. Don’t get defensive. When they’re done, repeat back what you understood. Then stick to facts. Emotions escalate when people feel dismissed. Facts defuse.

Board-to-Board: The Sunshine Law Trap

Florida’s Sunshine Law means you can’t use email to discuss board business outside properly noticed meetings. That includes reply-all discussions. I’ve seen boards violate this accidentally, then face legal challenges to decisions they made.

Email is safe for sharing documents, scheduling meetings, and reporting factual information. It’s not safe for “what do you think we should do about…” That’s board business. That happens in meetings.

Your board meetings should have agendas sent 48 hours ahead. Supporting documents attached. Start on time, stay on agenda, document decisions, assign action items with deadlines. The discipline helps. Meetings that wander waste everyone’s time and miss important issues.

Build Transparency Without Asking

Post meeting minutes within a week. Not perfect minutes. Good-enough minutes that capture decisions and action items. Owners care about what you decided, not who said what during the discussion.

Share monthly financials without being asked. This prevents the conspiracy theories. When owners can see where the money goes, they stop assuming it’s being wasted.

Create a FAQ document. Answer the same ten questions once, publicly. How do I request documents? When are meetings? How do I submit maintenance requests? What’s the process for architectural changes? You’ll still get these questions, but now you can point to the answer instead of typing it out again.

Use the no-surprises rule. Tell owners about upcoming projects before contractors show up. Mention potential assessment increases before the vote. Explain rule changes you’re considering before you pass them. Surprises breed distrust, even when the decision is right.

What Works, Measured

You’ll know communication is working when you get fewer repeated questions, calmer meetings, easier assessment approvals, and more volunteers for board positions. These things correlate directly with how well you communicate.

Bad communication shows up as owner complaints, contentious meetings, difficulty passing necessary votes, and boards that can’t find anyone willing to serve. The pattern is consistent across every Century Village building I’ve worked with.

Start Small

This week: audit your current communication methods and create an email template for monthly updates. Set a schedule. Weekly or monthly, but consistent.

This month: send your first real update, post your meeting schedule for the year, and build a simple FAQ.

This quarter: get your documents into a portal owners can access, establish response time standards (48 hours is reasonable), and create templates for emergencies.

You don’t need to fix everything immediately. You need to communicate consistently. Start with one monthly update. Add from there.

Make owner communication effortless. CenturySync provides email, SMS, document sharing, and two-way communication tools purpose-built for Florida COAs. Schedule a demo or visit our office hours every Wednesday, 2-5 PM at 100-110 Century Blvd, Suite 202.

Effective Board Communication: Building Trust in Your Century Village Association