By George Skrbin, The Management Trust

I began my career in community association management in 1980 after taking the leap from retail thinking I would do this until I found something better.  Fast forward to 2025, wow what a journey.  I quickly learned that to have longevity and represent myself as a professional, I needed to set expectations with limits and boundaries.  This business is incredibly rewarding— bringing order, harmony, and increased curb appeal to communities, making a difference in people’s lives and working with incredible teams. But the absence of clear limits and boundaries can quickly become a fast track to burnout. While the goal is to provide excellent service and meet the needs of homeowners and Board members, there's a fine line between being responsive and being overextended.

What challenges and consequences arise when boundaries aren’t clearly defined and how do we work through them?

The Challenge: when “going above and beyond” goes too far.  It's not uncommon for Board members to call at all hours, expect immediate responses, or rely on you for responsibilities that fall outside your contractual scope. You want to be helpful, so you say "yes" too often—whether it's answering emails on weekends or taking on tasks that belong to the Board or vendors.  This may seem like good service, but in the long term, it is unsustainable. The workload snowballs, professional relationships blur, and you become overburdened and reactive rather than strategic. The risk? Stress, resentment, reduced performance, and eventually, burnout.

Being “always on" will build emotional stress, exhaustion, resentment cascading into burnout.   When you feel like you are never off the clock, you lose the ability to recover between tasks and meetings. This doesn’t just impact your well-being— it affects your professionalism, decision-making, and ability to manage conflict.   Setting boundaries isn’t just about self-care—it’s about sustaining a productive career, relationships, respect and integrity.

How do you know when better boundaries are needed?  Watch for these signals within yourself:

• You feel guilty when you're not working.  Who hasn’t experienced this? What about vacation?  Is letting go a challenge. Trust your team to cover you.

• You frequently answer emails or calls during evenings or weekends.  Ok, guilty.  Consider using the “delay send” function if you insist on answering emails in the evening and on weekends.  This minimizes the perception that you are always available.

• You’re included in every issue—big or small—even when it's not the scope of service in the contract.

• You are accepting to do things from the vocal minority that pressures the Board to ask you to do those things while knowing that nothing will result from the request.

• You feel reactive and your hair is on fire, rather than being strategic and proactive.

• “That request falls outside our current agreement, but I can refer you to the right resource.”

• “Let’s add that to the agenda for our next meeting so we can address it thoroughly.”

• “I want to give this the attention it deserves; can we set up a time during office hours to discuss it?” Good to use when a Board meeting is running long into the night and rabbit trails off the agenda.

Boundaries can feel uncomfortable at first, especially if your style has been “always available.”  Here are ways to get started:

Help the Board understand what’s in the scope of the contract.  The contract outlines your duties, and hours of availability.  When Boards understand what's in scope, they’re less likely to overreach.

Be clear about communication hours.  Let Boards know your working hours and preferred communication methods. Set expectations about response times for emails and calls. For example: "Emails received after 5 PM will be addressed the next business day."  If emergencies are the exception, define what qualifies as one.

Have regular check-ins or written updates.  Schedule consistent (but time-bound) meetings with Boards to go over outstanding issues or send a written update on a consistent schedule, such as weekly, twice per month and so on. This proactive approach reduces the number of emails and phone calls and keeps everyone focused on the big picture.

Learn how to say “no” professionally and at times saying no without saying no.  Saying no doesn’t mean being uncooperative—it means protecting your time so you can deliver your best work. Try phrases like:

The payoff is respect and reduces the stress that contributes to burnout.  When you set limits, you teach others how to treat you. Most Boards appreciate clear expectations, even if they push back initially. Clear expectations improve efficiency, reduce conflict, and allow you to provide consistent, high-quality service without sacrificing personal well-being.  Then you will look back and say to yourself, “wow, that was an incredible 35 years” where I now serve The Management Trust team in Colorado.

About the Author: George has 35 years’ experience in community association management.  George now partners with The Management Trust team in Colorado.  His experience includes multiple markets from Florida to California and shares his insights with those he serves.