In a post earlier this month, we shared our top 3 recommendations for creating a healthy organizational culture at your sober living home. As we created our list, we realized we had 3 more tips to share! Here’s those additional suggestions.
Happy, productive, well-organized, therapeutic sober living environments are difficult to create and even more challenging to maintain. With all of the demands put on sober living home operators, it can be tough to carve out time to be intentional about creating a healthy organizational culture at your sober living home. While you can’t control everything that happens at your sober living home, there are things you can do to set the tone for staff and residents.
Start with our first three suggestions and then read on to learn about three more ways you can create a healthy organizational culture at your sober living home.
Encourage a Sense of Residents’ Ownership of the Space
Residents who feel that they belong at their sober living home are more likely to maintain the space and cultivate respectful relationships with their compatriots. For owners, this translates into less wear and tear on the property and fewer behavioral issues among residents. While true pride of ownership isn’t possible for residents who are essentially renters, you can facilitate a similar feeling of belonging and responsibility for your residents by allowing them to take ownership of the space in a limited way. Certainly a major remodel is out of the question, but consider giving residents a say in any changes that are going to be made to the property. Need a new vanity? Pick two and let the residents choose between them. Have residents who are interested in gardening? Let them start a plot in the backyard. Look for ways to make residents feel respected and appreciated in the physical ways that show up in the actual space of the home.
Empower Sober Living Home Managers in Their Roles
It’s human nature: when you know something is yours, you care about it more. Like your residents, your sober living home manager will benefit from a sense of ownership over the home’s day-to-day activities. Hiring people you can trust and getting out of their way to let them do their job is a highly effective way to cultivate a sense of ownership and leadership in your sober living home managers. This is, of course, easier said than done, especially if you’re used to relying on yourself to make most of the important decisions at your organization. To start, begin looking for opportunities where you can say: “I fully trust you to make this decision” and stick to your commitment. Turn the reigns of that particular project, issue or decision over to your sober living home manager and see what happens. If you’ve hired well, the outcome should usually be a good one.
Create Space for Feedback
Do you have an “open door policy” at your sober living home? Do staff and residents feel comfortable talking about their suggestions, complaints and issues? How would you know?
It’s important that you create space for your staff and resident’s feedback on how your sober living home is functioning. When people don’t feel that they will be fully heard, they are unlikely to share. Resentment and unhealthy communication is usually the result. Consider making the first move by creating an anonymous suggestion box where residents can offer ideas for improvements at your sober living home. Conduct formal exit interviews with residents so you can get a sense of where your sober living home can improve and what you’re already doing well. Always leave time in your weekly or monthly house meeting agendas for residents to have unstructured time to bring up any issues they may be experiencing at the home.
We’re Here to Help
At Sober Living App, we are laser-focused on creating the tools you need to easily optimize your sober living home business and finally get rid of the bloat, inefficient time-wasters and hair pulling frustrations that too often plague smart sober living home operators like you. If you’re ready to finally take your sober living home to the next level and you want to see how we can help you get there, claim your no-strings free trial today.