The process is built around the simple concept that many physicians have neither the training nor the desire to lead in the new healthcare environment. The solution is built in two threads that converge and gradual enable the team to take more responsibility for their actions and performance.
The two threads, giving leaders performance information that is both relevant and can be influenced. Giving them insight and allowing them to choose the most appropriate responses.
The second thread is to change people’s thinking and in turn influence their behaviour to enable them to use the information to make appropriate changes.
The champion should understand and agree the 12 month plan to change the organisation. They will understand where they will need to gain influence to achieve outcomes.
Identify the initial cohort of leaders within the hospital:
The first cohort of leaders will be champions in making this a success in their areas and throughout the hospital.
These should be individuals with a great influence who are open to change and are eager to attend and change things for the better. These individuals need not be the most senior leaders in the hospital but should have wide circles of influence with colleagues.
Support will be given with this selection process.
Coaches – Implementation:
Each hospital will need to identify some implementation coaches to make sure leaders carry out their commitments. These coaches will initially be selected from the first cohort of leaders but others may identify themselves throughout the process. The coaches should ‘early adopters’ and leaders that are capable to coach and support others in achieving their commitments and goals.
The behaviour/Leadership process:
Built over 5 days – including measurement and ongoing coaching, provided externally.
As leaders begin to implement their learnings every opportunity should be given to help them become successful. External coaches and later internal coaches should help the leaders, supporting them with communicating to their teams and moving things forward.
Ongoing bespoke support sessions with leaders and their teams helping to further implement the concepts and ideas taught. This support will initially be provided by external support but will gradually transfer to the internal coaches as they become more comfortable.
Process for initial cohort of Leaders:
These leaders will be hand-picked and identified as potential ongoing champions
Each will complete a 360 degree feedback exercise that looks at their leadership skills. The 360 is benchmarked against other leaders in other countries and will go to building a local benchmark for Doctors in the region.
Each leader having completed their 360 feedback will attend the 5 days of the Service Line Leadership training. In these 5 days the leaders will be exposed to materials which will enable them to become aware of some of their paradigms and what it will take to truly engage their teams to make a difference to the performance of the hospital.
They will explore their views of leadership and what leadership will need to look like to implement the changes the hospital needs. Leaders will explore the foundation to leadership and change being trusted and look at how they can grow their credibility as leaders as opposed to clinical credibility and what behaviours they will need to introduce or reinforce to increase trust levels in their teams. Once trust levels are in a positive place these can be then be used as a start point in trying to make it very simple in the tem on what they are trying to achieve. One of the starting points is to understand who the ‘teams’ customers are and what they want from the team. Customers provide a paradigm shift for leaders who are used to patients. Customers do 3 basic things, they pay for services/products they consume them and they can offer feedback on them. This now makes leaders become aware of whom they support and that many provide services to other teams rather than to patients. Understanding what the customer truly wants opens the opportunity to build a vision for the team. An aspiration on where the team needs to be in providing to its most important customers in the future. The purpose is factual to vision is engaging and enables leaders to visualise the future and engage others.
Getting teams to understand, recognise this vision is a key skill for leaders to enable others to engage and offer their full commitment.
Once leaders have understood and constructed the first visions for their teams they will explore some of the tools they have in place to make things happen.
Specifically, we will explore 3 tools, firstly the team’s ability to focus and execute on priorities. Teams need to be able to make decisions and understand what their priorities are that will help to move things forward. They avoid the whirlwind of urgencies that will prevent them from delivering. Build this decision making with clear team accountability is critical to the success of the team of executors.
The second tool is to explore how leaders look after their teams and develop their talent. Exploring their people management skills a common gap to begin to think through succession planning and development within teams and into the larger organisation.
Finally, the need for customer feedback, many teams have patient feedback, the ability to understand the outcomes but for many teams they produce outcomes for other teams, far removed from the patient.
Once they have the relevant information or have constructed systems to collect this data it is about leaders having access to this information and using it to influence performance.
The final ‘Imperative’ for leaders is within this environment how do you let others go and show some of the potential you identified when interviewing them. Leaders need to be able to release the potential in others, far from telling them what to do, let them go and then support their performance. Rather than the leader constantly inputting the energy leaders should harness the energy within the team and direct it towards the priorities.
Once the 3 days have given leaders new paradigms and some new tools the next stage is to support them.
The culture will be strong and difficult for them to resist and to be drawn back into behaviours of the past. Support comes in the shape of coaching either face to face or on the telephone to help leaders resist and focus on their priorities within the team.
This coaching is undertaken by an external expert to help them implement their action plans and overcome any hurdles they have bumped into or foresee.
Day 4:
Following on approximately 3 months after the first development session the leaders are brought back together to build accountability and continue their development. The fourth day of the program focuses on what has been achieved and what has stopped further progress. Tools are used to help leaders focus on them personally looking at the level of control they have and how to gain more control and influence over what they will go onto achieve. Vision for their teams and development plans are revisited. Each leader then builds a contract detailing their commitments and what needs to be implemented to make this happen.
Support and coaching is again offered by face to face or telephone coaching to review implementation plans and overcome obstacles.
It is at this stage that internal coaches from the first cohort of leaders may start to present themselves. They will be the leaders that have actively taken their plans started to implement them even with limited success it is the willingness to act that will make them strong influencers and will show their ability to learn and help others learn.
Day 5:
After 6 months from the initial intervention leaders have put in place new paradigms and ne behaviours on their own or with support. The fifth day is to enable tis process to accelerate by working on trust levels within the team and looking at how team work is further fostered.
This bringing together offers a further level of accountability with their peers an takes things a little further. Leaders are challenged to explore how to increase their team’s credibility and get them to build a ‘pit crew’ mentality where we understand each other and have clear focus on the goal.
Leaders are further asked to develop their teams by reinforcing behaviours which will strengthen the culture and grow personal responsibility and accountability. These behaviours offer leaders a further tool set to help them confront any difficult situations that persist and offer them a process they can be coached with after.
Progress is reviewed in line with the plans and contracts built on day 4 and lead towards the completion of the post 360 feedback tool approximately 12 months after the first one.
