Zig would be Proud

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 11^th,  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.