The Pulse of Your Community
Let’s say you go out for an evening with friends or your significant other to dinner, a concert or another social event. The waiter asks how you enjoyed your meal, and you diplomatically respond. Afterwards you take a cab to your next destination. That’s when you might confess to one another your real thoughts and feelings about the delicious or not-so-delicious meal, outstanding or not-so-outstanding service, exciting or not-so-exciting entertainment, and fun or not-so-fun social gathering. And the cab driver usually gets an earful of your reviews.
The same is often true in senior living communities.
At one community I recently visited, I discovered drivers who shuttle people from point A to point B on campus had a good pulse of what’s going on within their community. The shuttle driver, just like the cab driver, many times gets an earful from residents about how they feel about community amenities and services. For example, after dinner residents may offer feedback on the new dining staff and service or changes in the menu, or after attending a social event they may share the highlights of the event and recommend having more similar events in the future.
As a leader, do you make it a point to talk with the shuttle drivers and other grounds staff, occasionally invite them to meetings, or have some other method of collecting feedback? If not, it might be something to consider, as they really do have a good pulse on your community, and can share valuable insights into the feelings of your residents.






