A Transition Team Can Bring New Board Members Up to Speed

As summer shades into autumn, it’s a good time to think about transition. In the business world, transition teams are standard operating procedure at large public or private corporations. If the board president or CEO is stepping down, corporations take the time to make sure the newly elected officers have familiarized themselves with the company’s current status such as financials, capital projects, and day-to-day operations. Although many of the properties we manage are the size of some of these corporations, co-ops and condos rarely establish transition teams. 

Boards should consider forming a transition team. Such teams are very helpful and informative to new board members, not only to get them integrated into the governing process, but also to get them into the management process. You don’t have to make the process as formal as it is at many large corporations; transitioning can be informal. It can be as simple as sitting in someone’s living room and discussing the building’s current projects, any financial issues, concerns with house rules, and what the goals are for the upcoming year. As managers, we help by providing board minutes, project status, and financial information to new members. Everyone’s goal should be to make sure the newcomers understand what might be different between the old and new board administrations.

New board members also come in with different reasons why they were motivated to join the board. For some, it may be from a business sense. For others, it may be from wanting to be a good neighbor. Ultimately, we have to remind them that there’s a fine line between the heart and the head. They need to make sure that certain decisions are made for business reasons – but at the same time, they have to look out for their neighbors and make sure they’re treating everybody equally and fairly. It’s a balancing act, and it can get tricky. A transition team can help the board keep its balance. 

Robert Ferrara is president of Ferrara Management.