And a New Year will soon be here...

I hope each of you are ending your 2007 with many happy memories and are ready to start making new memories in 2008.

I will be back in the New Year with hopefully many, many new ideas and thoughts for you and I hope you have many, many thoughts and ideas to share with me...

Be safe bringing in the New Year.

I've not forgotten you or this blog

Hello all:

I just wanted to put a short note up to let you know that I have not given up on this blog and am still very interested in sharing ideas with you and learning from you.

I have been very busy (as I am sure most of you have been) with the Holiday Season, not only personally, but also at work. I am hoping that I will be able to catch up soon, so please keep checking back with me.

I am sorry for the delays and I hope you can forgive me. I may not be posting, but I am researching, so when I get a chance to catch up...I will have ideas after ideas.

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple Sweetie - this goes for getting people to turn in applications to live at your complex.

Offering your residents a referral gift is a great way to get the word out about your complex. This can be something as simple as offering a carpet cleaning or a gift card as long as the person they bring to you signs a lease, pays the first month rent and security deposit.

Offer a gift card to a restaurant (especially if the resident has a family).

Or give one big gift out and put every one's name in a drawing for that...

Sometimes giving away something, gets you a great resident...

Activities with a twist

I have a family property, and I do tend to lean my suggestions toward families, but I recently decided to have a "Soup Off" with my residents and found that more of my elderly participated than my other residents. I asked one of these residents why I hadn't seen her at any of the activities before now and she told me that this activity was something she was comfortable with. This was something that she loved doing, but because it was just her in the household she didn't do much cooking. And she hoped I did more of these types of activities in the future.

So I have planned a "Pie Off", and a "Cookie Off", etc. next year and I hope this will bring out more of my elderly residents.

How do these "Cook Offs" work? You need to make it manageable. You can have each person bring in their soup and then you dip it out and everyone gets a taste. You have a questionnaire ready for each of them to fill out about what they like and dislike about the soup and they give it a score and then each of them put their questionnaire in a "suggestion box" type of container. I purchased some Ziploc freezer bags and put about 2 cups of each soup in a bag. I wrote the name of the soup on the bag (before filling it). This way everyone got a sample of the soup (and the recipe which the resident brought with them and I made copies of to hand out).

I then went through the questionnaires, added up the points and announced the winner while everyone was enjoying the soup and company.

I ended up with 6 different soup recipes to try at home and they ended up with some new friends. They have talked about doing some kind of cook off each month. I can't wait for the desserts, cookies, pies and cakes cook offs.

So try something a little out of the box. You might find your residents enjoy it and you might even get something special out of it.

Friday - Laugh day?

I've had a few people mention to me that they aren't sure telling stories about things that happen on their properties that involve residents is a good thing.

This whole blog is a learning in progress, so I appreciate the suggestions and comments...although, I would love to hear more from you on the blog. Let your comments help others...

So once again, I am asking for your help. What should Fridays be about?

I had thought about maybe moving the Q&A to Friday and leaving the weekend open...

Thanks,

Thursday - Your Staff

Recognition is a motivating tool that is easy to do and can go a long way. Here are some ideas:

Most employees want individual recognition and that doesn't necessarily mean money.

Make sure you give the recognition soon after your employee does something. Match the recognition with the performance.

Make sure you are specific about what you are giving recognition for. It helps the employee know what they did and helps them continue to do them.

And make sure you know your employee. Some employees don't want to be the center of attention, so making a big deal out of something in front of everyone can do more harm then good.

Wednesday - Extras

Bulletin boards can be a great feature in a community room or laundry room. Have one with a theme for each month. Hang up recipes, or craft instructions, make copies and put them in a wall file folder so your residents can enjoy them.

You can have one that has information on it about activities that are happening in your area, financial help fliers, information about flu shots and where they are giving them out, activities pertaining to your elderly. This bulletin board is your information area, so make sure the information that you post here will help your residents.

Another bulletin board can be used as a classified bulletin board. This is where your residents can post things that they have for sale or things they want to buy, etc.

Bulletin boards can be fun and interesting and something that your residents just might enjoy!

Tuesday - Move-ins

Send a survey to your new move-ins. Find out what they like or didn't like about the whole process and about their apartments.

Surveys can help improve ideas that you are already doing, and it lets your move-ins feel like what they have to say is important.

Make sure your questions are yes or no and give them a comments section.

Monday - Keeping Your Residents

Late again...sorry.

I think I've touched on this a little bit in other posts, but it is worth saying again...

Don't forget the children! If you have a complex with children then you know that they can sometimes be a handful. If you keep them active and give them things to do that are fun, then I have found that you have less trouble with them. And if the children are happy, then the parents will be happy.

So what ideas will entertain the children:

1. When it is time to plant flowers, give the children their own flower bed. Let them plant the flowers. I found that the children didn't run through my flowerbeds after they saw how much work went into planting the flowers.
2. Have coloring contests. This is something that is so simple and you can have a theme for just about every month. Give away a $10.00 gift card to the winner.
3. Have parties. A Fall Party can be great time to have a party. The children have just started back to school. They are half way between summer and Winter Break. Have games for them to do and fun food to eat.
4. Do a contest that helps the children in school, or if they volunteer.
5. Set up an "Adopt a Grandparent" day with your local nursing home. This is where the children will do activities and spend time with the elderly at the nursing home. Or if you have an elderly complex near by, see about setting something up with them.

Letting children have a little fun doesn't hurt and it can help a lot!