This was a new one for me, but now that I think about it, it is so obvious.
I just received a phone call from a great husband and wife who have been residents of a retirement village for more than 15 years. They were ringing me to talk about village managers, communication and respect.
One of the points they made was that they have a new village manager who talks so fast many residents can’t understand her. It’s a young person thing.
It made sense. I struggle at times to understand my own 31 year old daughter.
The couple also pointed out that the community centre sound system is not great, which compounds the problem when the new manager is trying to explain the budget. And they only have one microphone which means it’s hard for all the residents who wish to speak to do so.
Simple things but with a great impact on ‘communication’ and the feeling by residents that they don’t have the opportunity to be heard.
What does this tell us? Residents, resident committees and operators need to be vigilant on barriers to communication that may creep into the system. Speak up, but more slowly.
