Cross-Community Communication

It’s your neighborhood and you should be able to communicate freely with the other homeowners about emergencies, right? One of the trickiest topics is how to effectively handle and moderate internal neighbor communication.

As a former board member, I can promise you that this still gives me anxiety. If you open up a portal and encourage community members to participate, this does create a potential need for channel moderation. The channel should be positive, helpful and uplifting. It should not be used to air grievances.

There are multiple communities who do a great job of making sure the communication portals are open, active and most importantly, positive.

Here’s some of the communication channels we would recommend if you decide to move forward with a cross-community communication platform:

1. Text Chains

The quickest solution in small neighborhoods is to create a text chain. As events happen or questions arise, homeowners start a new text to the HOA text chain.

Setup Process

Each member of the community would provide their mobile phone number to the text chain administrator to opt into this communication
The text chain administrator would be responsible for adding and removing community members as they move in, move out or opt out
Any member of the community can message all of the other homeowners through this text chain
We recommend adding in hours so that homeowners know there are regulations and don’t start a text chain at 1 am

Pros

It’s quick to send a message, easy to set up, and simple to manage
In most cases, people already know how to use their phones to text
No login onto a website or management portal required
Not cost prohibitive, because most homeowners have phone plans with unlimited texts

Cons

There is no control or moderation of content
Homeowners may not want their phone number “public” for all other homeowners to access
If you have a transient community where homeowners move in and out regularly OR a community larger than 20 units, a text chain can become difficult to manage

2. Facebook Group

Another great solution is creating a Facebook group for the community. As events happen or questions arise, homeowners start a new post within the Facebook group.

Setup Process

A board member creates the Facebook group and publicizes the group to the entire community
Each homeowner logs into Facebook, locates the Facebook group and clicks “Join Group”
The moderators would make the determination as to who is an HOA member and approves only those join requests
The moderators would be responsible for removing members once they leave the community

Pros

It’s quick to send a message, easy to set up, and simple to manage
Notifications can be turned on, alerting all members of new messages as they happen
Moderation controls are available
This is a free solution

Cons

Some homeowners may not be active on Facebook
If you turn on moderation, someone has to read and approve all comments before they are posted – which may delay the timing of urgent notifications

3. Slack

As working from home has become a new normal, Slack has become even more integral in helping businesses communicate. With Slack, having a series of channels for the community could be a solution to help manage communication across topics and serve as a resource for information for your community. As events happen or questions arise, homeowners start a new post within the appropriate Slack channel.

Setup Process

A board member creates the Slack channel and invites the individual homeowners to join
Each homeowner would need to download the app or login via web browser, then set up their account
The moderators would set up public and private channels
Moderators are responsible for removing members once they leave the community

Pros

A private channel for the board members only could be instrumental in facilitating board communication
It’s quick to send a message
Notifications can be turned on, alerting all members of new messages as they happen
Moderation controls are available
The free version of slack should work to get you started

Cons

Homeowners that already have Slack channels for their business may not want to login to another account to review HOA notifications
Homeowners may not be able to use the app on their phone
Homeowners may struggle to learn the technology
As communications and needs increase, there will eventually be costs associated with a bigger package for Slack