Question: My board chair is questioning a recent decision I made about a staff member’s performance. I thought supervising staff was my job. Can she, for example, tell me I have to reinstate him after I fired him? Answer: This
Be particular about Consumer Control
Consumer control is the foundation of Independent Living, and permeates the board, staff and management of Centers as well as the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC). The requirements are clear: More than 50% (51% or more) of the board members
Improve Your Ability to Work Remotely
As many of you have already discovered, working from home requires some upgrades in both hardware and software. Staff used to desktops are moving to laptops or tablets. Working with cloud-based documents or your consumer database may be new to
I’m retiring. How can I assist my successor?
We have talked about succession planning before — how an executive director can assist the board in a transition to a new executive director. I’d like to drill down to a very specific role that the out-going ED plays —
Staff that do too much?
Question: I’m looking at the ILRU website hoping to find an existing training on Boundaries … topics like doing things for consumers rather than empowering them, stepping on consumers’ toes, respecting consumer privacy, etc. I’ve been having some difficulty with
Take time to listen to each other!
Is it just me, or does there seem to be more bickering in the world than there used to be? You can see it in almost every relationship — between countries, between races, between political parties and candidates, between other
Have you checked your listing?
ILRU maintains directories for CIL partners — for the Centers and state associations of centers at http://www.ilru.org/projects/cil-net/cil-center-and-association-directory and for SILCs at http://www.ilru.org/projects/silc-net/silc-directory I am always a little surprised when I get a question from our ranks about where a center
Are we required to do criminal background checks for staff?
Question: I’ve previously worked in long term care and with the department of health, and had some experience in group home services governed by the department over developmental disabilities. Those fields had very strict guidelines on processing a new hire.
Are your paying your consumer as an employee or a contractor?
The center has some odd jobs around the place — lawn mowing, cleaning, maybe web development or support of the Facebook page. Some centers pay consumers as peer support mentors. Is it okay to hire a consumer to do
New Executive Director? Do you really want to change that?
Every new executive director wants to make their mark. Take the time, though, to make sure that the change is what is really needed at this time. Here are some radical changes that Executive Directors sometimes make, and my comments