Shared walls, strong opinions: What trustees can learn from PR
At Stampa, we help organisations navigate complexity, change, and reputation every day. And often, the same principles that guide our work apply beyond the office. Our ‘PR principles for everyday life’ series explores where professional insight meets everyday experience – because good communication doesn’t clock out at 17.30.
In this instalment, we turn to something many homeowners know all too well: being a trustee in an apartment building or residential complex. Shared walls, shared costs, and shared decisions can be a surprisingly volatile mix.
On paper, trusteeship is about governance, budgets, and maintenance schedules. But in reality, it’s about people, with different personalities, expectations, and frustration thresholds. Minor issues can quickly escalate, a carefully drafted email can be misunderstood, and suddenly what should be straightforward feels anything but. The real challenge, much like in the workplace, is often less about the topic at hand and more about managing emotions.
Here are six practical communication principles that can help trustees navigate difficult moments (and people), with a bit more clarity and a lot less stress.
1. Set expectations early and clearly
Many disputes don’t start with bad behaviour, but with differing assumptions. Owners aren’t always clear on what trustees can realistically do, how decisions are made, or why things take time. In PR, we’d call this stakeholder alignment. In everyday life, it’s about spelling things out early, including timelines, processes, and limitations. It may feel unnecessary at first, but it’s far easier than trying to rebuild trust once expectations have slipped out of sync.
2. Separate emotion from the issue
Noise complaints, parking disputes, and levy increases are rarely just admin matters. They often arrive wrapped in frustration, anxiety, or anger. As a trustee, your job isn’t to absorb that emotion or push back against it, but to acknowledge it without becoming defensive. A simple “I can see why this is frustrating” can lower the temperature immediately. It shows you’re listening, even when the answer doesn’t change. In PR terms, it’s about empathy without losing sight of the facts.
3. Use structure to take the heat out of conflict
Agendas, formal meetings, written processes, and minutes can feel unnecessarily rigid until you need them. Structure removes personality from decision-making and gives everyone the same reference point. When discussions are rooted in agreed procedures, issues are less likely to feel personal or targeted. Just as in corporate life, structure creates fairness, and fairness builds credibility, even when decisions aren’t popular.
4. Choose the right channel
Not every issue belongs in a group email, a WhatsApp thread, or an AGM. Some conversations are simply better handled quietly, one-on-one. Good communicators know that how you say something matters just as much as what you say. A short phone call or face-to-face conversation can save ongoing tension and passive-aggressive messages, especially in a shared living environment where you’ll keep crossing paths.
5. Unite as a team before engaging others
Sometimes the most challenging dynamics aren’t between trustees and residents, but between trustees themselves. Different personalities and long‑standing frustrations can derail even straightforward decisions. Before addressing issues in public, take the time to agree privately. Presenting a united front reduces noise and keeps decisions focused on substance rather than internal tension. In communications terms: always get your internal comms right before moving to external comms.
6. Keep the long view
Being a trustee is about keeping a community functional over time, rather than winning arguments. That means picking your battles, staying consistent, and remembering the bigger picture: people living together, sharing responsibility, and protecting a collective investment. The same is true at work. Leadership isn’t about being liked in every moment, but about acting fairly, transparently, and with integrity.
Being a trustee can be challenging, thankless, and occasionally exhausting! But it’s also a reminder that the communication skills you use in the office can be just as powerful in everyday life.
