Creating Your Dream Team

MONICA MANABE, RN, PHN, BSN, MPH-HSA

DISCLAIMER

This is to note that I am in no way representing Kaiser Permanente in any form during this presentation.

Objectives

Learn ways to built trust and credibility among your management team, front line staff and physicians.

Learn about some techniques to engage and build your staff.

Operational Aspect

Make sure you have the right people at the right time for the needs of the department.

Review your position control. Is it balanced? If position control is not balanced then create a plan

on how you will correct it either by attrition or by realignment.

Your Team: Trust and Credibility

Trust and credibility is the foundation for building my dream teams.

If you don’t have the trust of the team and credibilit, you really can not lead to a high performing team.

What does this mean? There needs to be follow through, consistency, and presence of management.

Start from your management team down to the front line.

Quote from one of my ED Techs,“ we were like a well developed pit crew but with no driver”.

Trust and Credibility

Credibility can be defined as having two components trustworthiness and expertise.

Staff want to know do you know what you are talking about and do you understand their work.

We use our experience as leaders and clinicians to gain the credibility by putting our patients first.

Your consistency with the message and the follow through. Everyone is treated the same. Concerns are heard, investigated and close loop

communication.

Creating My Dream Team

First off this is an ongoing process. It is never ending. Start from the top and who I can most influence.

Management team, front line staff (direct reports), and then front line physicians.

Are you hiring the best of the best? When you can. Ask does my team have the tools to do their jobs? Do they know the expectations? Lastly, are they being held accountable.

Right Tools

Staff need to have the training and the tools to do their jobs.

Ask yourself are you providing the training required to meet the expectations and be able to hold staff accountable from the beginning?

It’s difficult for anyone to come back and say no one told me or I didn’t know when it’s part of their normal on-boarding and its documented.

For current staff do you need to offer retraining? This is an investment that will safe you time.

Setting Expectation

Once staff have the tools to do their jobs then the expectations can be set and reinforced.

This takes consistency and credibility. Staff will push back. Take the time to listen to the barriers and the why’s staff

can’t accomplish what they are being asked to do. Remove some of those barriers. This goes to the Hawthorne

Effect and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Creating big wins. Practice and lead by example. Be present in the

department. Be the leader staff say, “I’ve never seen management clean the gurneys” or “this is the first time I know my director”.

Accountability Now that you gave them the tools. You invested in their ability to

do their jobs. It is easier to reinforce and hold them accountable to what they should be doing. For me that is providing the best possible care to each and every patient that comes to our department.

There are no more valid excuses not to do something. Challenge them as the experts in doing their jobs. When physicians complain about staff get specifics, research

and close loop on your actions. Staff complain about other staff get specifics, research and close

loop on your actions. This will start raising the awareness of all and there is no guessing.

Dream Team Now that you have done the hard work. Established relationship of trust and

credibility with the whole team. Some of the pay offs to look forward to. Internal Recruitment: Staff refer others to come work for you. I can text my

nurses and ask them about specific candidates. Because they are now helping you create the best team, they have the same goal of hiring the best for the team.

Engagement increases. Staff want to provide the best care and service possible. They start bringing concerns/issues and solutions forward. They participate in committees and meetings. They start creating their own quality checks based on what they are experiencing on the floor.

Support management: Staff are supportive of management and the decision making. They trust you in the direction you are asking them to move in. There are less complaints and concerns from staff and physicians. Valid concerns are brought forward real time.

Summary

We spoke about the importance of building trust and credibility with your teams by being consistent, visible, having follow through, and closing the loop.

Building your dream team includes ensuring they have the tools to do their jobs. This allows you to set expectations and hold them accountable.

Questions?

References:

Credibility: Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credibility The Arbinger Institute. (June 1, 2012). Leadership & Self Deception:

Getting Out of The Box. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.