12 Steps to Successfully Chair Body Corporate Meetings
General meetings in sectional title schemes often drag on. Without an effective chairperson, owners can go off on long-winded and wild tangents that leave the other members frustrated and restless.
Effective chairing of meetings is a skill.
This skill can (and should!) be learnt by persons elected to serve as chairpersons of bodies corporate as they are responsible for chairing both general meetings of owners and trustee meetings.
Here are 12 Steps to get you on the right track:
1. Proper Notice and Paperwork
Make sure proper notice is given to all persons entitled to attend. Send all the relevant paperwork in advance so that everyone entitled to attend and vote has all the information required to make up their minds about how to vote, in advance. This will save time at the meeting.
2. Adequately Prepare
Make sure you are adequately prepared by pre-reading the relevant paperwork and by taking the necessary documents with you to the meeting.
3. Arrive Early for the Meeting
Set a good example and make everyone feel welcome.
4. Make Sure a Quorum is Present
Before you start dealing with the business on the agenda.
5. Open the Meeting
And stick to the agenda.
6. Allow Discussions on Each Agenda Item
- But politely rein members in when they start repeating themselves, waffling on or moving off topic
- Invite quiet members to contribute
- Request a member whose body language indicates disagreement to express their opinion
- Summarise the main points at the close of each discussion before voting takes place
7. Remain Impartial throughout the Meeting
Don’t take sides, or appear to take sides, with particular members.
8. Keep your Cool
Don’t raise your voice or become visibly upset if a member tests your patience.
9. Make Sure Everyone Knows their ‘Action Items’
That is, their ‘to do’ list resulting from the business of the meeting.
10. Close the Meeting
And thank members for their attendance.
11. Send Out Meeting Minutes Timeously
If drafting the minutes yourself do it as soon after the meeting as possible while it is still fresh in your mind. Try to send the minutes out within a week or two at most.
12. Do it all over again for the Next Meeting
What are your successful sectional title meeting tips? Share them below.
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Thinking Inside the Box 
How should issues raised by trustees be dealt with? Should they be required to submit their issues in advance so that the issues can be added to the Agenda? Or should there be time set aside for matters arising where trustees can raise issues that they want to discuss?
I always try to make all present agree to a decision after every discussion. In this way issues are not left hanging, actioned and implemented.
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Yes I never thought of that but it is a brilliant idea, well done Rod.
alongside each item on the agenda, I insert approximate time span totalling up to the total duration of the meeting. This way, i find that each member is forewarned and would prevent unecessary drag-on of meetings
Setting time expectations in advance is a great idea Rod!