How to Run Successful Resident Council Meetings

Please share some samples of open ended questions for resident council meeting for assisted living

any tips on what to do when your resident council tries to take control of all aspects of the building?

Hi Anonymous
Thank you for all the valuable information you shared
Because each facility is so different and the ability of the residence is different and fluctuates
I think you can determine what the role of each officer is and which officers you want to have
You may have to re evaluate from time to time as the residents change

We have a resident council that has attained a certain amount of success by defining up front what we can and cannot change.

It helps if you have good manager to work with. Sometimes we invite ours to meetings so she can clarify what she can or cannot do. That saves us from going on wild goose chases. We learned that some issues will ultimately end up with her anyhow.

We try not to talk about conflicts between residents in our meetings. We have a rule that anybody in the meeting can do a time out sign and stop us from gossip. We empower each other to hold us all accountable. A particular resident may be a pain to everybody else. But we don't take that on. We cannot ameliorate personal conflict between residents.

We do address issues that affect us all. It could be laundry room etiquette. A sign that says, "Please don't leave your clothes in the washer because other residents need to use it too." is not out of the question. A lot of our projects are building safety issues. Like ensuing parking spaces are repainted. We requested that overgrown brush be cleared out of an area in the back. And we checked our security cameras to make sure they are pointed toward the right places.

We are self monitoring. We question our projects. Is this idea progressive or a dead end? Does the purpose serve all residents? Can we perform the solution on our own, or do we need outside help? Can management secure a grant to help us with our vision?

For big projects we might assemble a team. If a person comes up with a really good idea, we might ask them to lead the team because they have the passion. Or they ask another person to lead if they are shy about it. Then the team will report back periodically to give a status report.

The use of teams is common in manufacturing. It is all about an end product. You can look at your resident council the same way. Your successful accomplishments are an end product. Even a sign in a laundry room is something that wasn't there before. Why not see it as an end product? Like a car on an assembly line. It takes effort to create a sign. It takes effort to create a car. Thinking it through and doing it is the exact same process. It doesn't matter that one product is far more expensive. Have pride in what you do. What you do is value added. A resident council has value.

A lot of a resident council is discussion. But taking action will eventually generate complex ideas. If an idea does require team development you can give your team a name. Team "Potluck Recipe Book" or whatever you desire.

Some projects can be very serious. For instance. Some resident councils may have a disagreement with management about lighting in the parking lots at night. Or changing traditions that are so outdated they don't serve a purpose anymore. So they negotiate with management at first so they can eventually have a common goal. And that takes a different kind of work than making a recipe book. But the people on the resident council make the difference. Harnessing the talent of those people makes all the difference in the world. Some people have a natural talent for negotiation. A resident council allows those talents to be expressed.

I am still looking for a resource that explains in detail how an effective resident council is run. What the distinct roles of the officers are, etc.

Here is another minutes template provided by Susan.

Thanks for offering this information..great help

Perfect timing as I have to run a residents meeting tomorrow. Thank you very much for your very helpful site!

Thank you Josephine. We wish you luck with the meetings.

I have just gone through to find information on running a meeting as we have been informed that Lifestyle is now responsible for our Resident & Family/Friends meeting. I am currently putting together a Procedure Manual for all the little things that Coordinators so that others can follow certain aspects of the managerial side of things. The information here I can use, so even though it was posted almost 1 year ago, it is wonderful to be able to go through and pick up info that is very very useful. Thank you for this, it certainly will mean I am not spending too much time to put information together !!

Thank you solange for this I found it very interesting and helpful.
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