View From The Chair: Lost In Translation

I recently chaired the Annual General Meeting of a condominium community made up primarily of two distinct and dominant cultures. Different languages were utilized, with seemingly half of the community unable to understand one language, and the other half unable to make sense of the other. When a common language cannot be used, communication can be difficult. While technology has provided for digital signage and translation resources that can be put to use for the day-to-day operation of a condominium community, such are of limited assistance in the course of the annual opportunity for owners to have their say (until such time that real time audio translation technology becomes widespread).

On this particular occasion, the condominium’s property manager was fluent in both dominant languages and, along with the President of the Board of Directors, served as an active translator throughout the course of the meeting. While I was brought in to facilitate the meeting as someone neutral from outside of the community and without political ties to it, the property manager and President did not present the same way. This posed a problem when discussions turned to contentious issues as questions arose as to what was being said in translation.

While it is understandable that condominium communities do not want to waste money, it should not be forgotten that internal resources can be negatively viewed as tainted or biased. Even if the property manager and President provided a word by word translation in the course of the meeting I chaired, a concern about manipulation of the message seems more likely to arise than if a third party translator, without ties to the community, were involved.

At the Annual General Meeting cited, something out of the ordinary took place. Rather than leaving after giving his report, the auditor agreed to stay and act as a scrutineer. The participation of a neutral representative of all unit owners in the election process was very well received by the community.  It provided for a more peaceful atmosphere than that which typically develops when candidates for election each have their own representation scrutinizing the ballots cast.

Many condominium communities do not consider it worthwhile to incur the cost of bringing in outside help to assist with their Annual General Meetings.  When it comes to managing anticipated conflict, it can be helpful to have a chair, minute taker, registrar and/or scrutineers participate who do not have a direct interest in the community or the outcome of the meeting. 

All of the information contained in this article is of a general nature for informational purposes only, and is not intended to represent the definitive opinion of the firm of Elia Associates on any particular matter. Although every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this newsletter is accurate and up-to-date, the reader should not act upon it without obtaining appropriate professional advice and assistance.

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