When I was a kid, my Dad had a thing for Zig Ziglar.
We had videos, cassette tapes, scheduled listening times, and lots of
conversations. Dad would say “If you don’t know where you are going – you
won’t know when you get there.” Coming from a man who I saw as remarkably successful,
I was intent on learning his secret.
He wrote his goals down – he made them attainable,
measurable, and part of his overall strategy. I never had a problem writing
down my goals….I found a notebook a while back from 1993 (you can guess my age
later) and I had 10 goals written down, even a plan to obtain each of
them. The problem I have had since 1993, and even still today, is
measuring along the plan consistently. Generally, my measurements are
done on a schedule, but often take several hours to collect information or run
a report.
It’s interesting when you are running a growing organization
how measuring consistently sometimes escape us in the hustle of things – new
version releases, launches, growing customer lists, etc. It’s more fun to
think of new software features based on the latest customer feedback then to
focus on the “details”. As a small company – the devil is in the
details…..as we have gotten “bigger”….we have found the devil is still in those
details.
Setting and managing goals is more than measuring the end
result, it’s about measuring along the process, measuring each individuals
contribution…….and doing it in an efficient way.
On February 11th, Sphere3 will be releasing
a new tool for our clients called myMetrics™
this tool measures individuals progress in specific categories using not only
patient feedback from our Leadership Rouding tool but real metrics of actives
from your call light system. It gives the caregiver an understanding of
how their efforts play into the whole strategy of improving HCAHPS.
·
What is the individual’s ability to respond –
whether they are the first person to get the call or the third?
·
What is the individuals visit rate – how often
does this individual go to the patient room whether beckoned or not?
·
How does the patient perceive the care they are
receiving?
HCAHPS is a balance between perception and actual execution
of task. Goals of perception mean nothing if you don’t have a
quantifiable balance point – a benchmark on the task associated with achieving
that goal. A quantifiable balance point means nothing unless it can truly
be applied to an individual’s performance.
Here are some thoughts as you enter the new year:
1)
A paper or “report” based process to manage
these items won’t cut it – you will spend more on the resources to pull the
data then you would having a tool to do it for you “auto-magically”.
2)
Caregivers (any employee) needs a concise view
of their contribution to the overall vision and strategy of the
organization.
3)
Your job as a manager should be coaching them to
improvement not compiling data, and creating a report.
