WHY BODY CORPORATE MEETINGS DON’T BELONG AT THE BBQ AREA

Body Corporate Meeting Matters: Why the Right Room Leads to the Right Decisions

Many schemes hold their meetings in BBQ areas, beside the pool, or even around someone’s kitchen table.   While this can be OK for a social catchup, site visit or an informal catch up, they are not suitable locations for formal meetings of the Body Corporate.

It is up to the Committee to choose the location for formal Committee or general meetings. Choosing a boardroom or dedicated meeting room isn’t about being fancy—it’s about ensuring the right environment for the important business at hand. Here’s why the setting matters.

1. The venue helps shape the behaviour and outcomes

With Committee meetings, often there are non-committee members and or their representatives attending and on occasions contractors or ‘experts’ can be invited to attend meetings by the Committee.

A non-member may only observe the meeting and may only speak if invited to. Further, they can be directed to leave if they do not comply or are not privy to a topic or discussion.  For example, they can be asked to leave for a committee discussion or vote on a by-law contravention by that owner.

A meeting set in an ‘open’ or public space does not make enforcing such decisions practical or possible.

A professional meeting environment:

• keeps discussion focused on the agenda.
• reduces unrelated or personal issues.
• encourages respectful and structured participation.
• supports impartiality and procedural order.

2. Meeting Rooms Support Better Governance and Accurate Records

Accurate minutes are essential and form part of the official body corporate record. Drafting them at a BBQ area, with adverse weather, noise, or passing residents interrupting, makes the task unnecessarily difficult.

Proper meeting spaces minimises distractions, conversation is clearer, and the minute-taker can perform their role without fighting the elements or competing noise.

3. Proper Facilities, Including Technology, Are Now Essential

Nearly all the meetings we help organise involve remote attendance and electronic voting.   Some even allow for screensharing (eg: quotes or plans) and digital agendas and minute-taking.

A proper meeting space offers stable Wi-Fi, better use of screens or projectors, safe power outlets, space for laptops and devices and accessible bathroom facilities.

4. Control of Attendance and Minimising Disruptions

When sensitive matters are being discussed—such as by-law breaches, levy arrears, or contractor performance—privacy and control of the room are critical.

Common property or public access areas exposes meetings to unwanted interruptions from people genuinely using the public or common property area for their own valid reasons.   Further it opens the potential for onlookers to raise off-agenda issues.

A closed meeting room ensures that only those entitled to attend do so, and serious business is conducted without interruption.

5. Respect for the Committee and Strata Manager

A proper environment promotes professional service and deserves a professional setting.   Committee members volunteer their time to make significant decisions. Strata managers attend in a professional capacity and are expected to guide the meeting in accordance with legislation and procedure.

Meetings in open areas cannot support these requirements reliably. Trying to broadcast an online meeting while competing with wind, echoes, or background noise is a recipe for frustration and poor engagement.

Expecting Committee members or your Strata manager to operate in an unprofessional environment is both impractical and disrespectful to their roles.

Final Thought: The Venue Influences the Outcome

BBQ areas are for BBQ’s and social gatherings.  Professional services such as Body Corporate meetings deserve a professional setting.

Article Contributed by Sean Poole-Warren, Strata Community Manager at Archers the Strata Professionals.