Engaging Hearts and Minds

Thomas Kaster: WHA Quality CoordinatorMBA, CPHQ

WHA: Coaching for Improvement Series

Session One: A Coaching Mentality

Thomas Kaster: WHA Quality CoordinatorMBA, CPHQ

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•Please put your phone on mute. •*6 to mute •*7 to un-mute

•How to chat!

Webinar Series Plan

• Session 1: A Coaching Mentality• Session 2: Engaging Hearts and Minds• Session 3: Effective Coaching Interactions

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Today’s Objectives

• The Power of WHY• Finding the North Star• Building your Story• Preparing your Message • Adapting your Coaching to the Individual

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Chat Discussion: Do you feel the below reasons foster

sustained change and why?• Have to do it because of Joint Commissions• “Quality” says we need to do this.• It is in our strategic initiative• There is a new regulation• We will pay you more if you do it well

TED TALK

• Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

-- :20 – 8:00 and 15:20-16:15

Chat Discussion

What are your immediate thoughts on how you can use the “Why/ How / What” model in your improvement conversations?

Action Item: 1Identifying the Why and What

Use the table below to help articulate your improvement message…Why What

Why is this important to the patients? What are you asking to be accomplished?

How does it help improve care and safety? What are they key steps to accomplishing the request?

Why is this important to the employee? How will you know when the request is completed?

How does it positively effect the work they do?

Why is this important to the unit / hospital?

How does it positively effect the unit / hospital?

The Foundation of Improvement

• Deming’s first principle:

“Create consistency of purpose toward improvement of products and services, with the aim to become competitive, stay in business and provide jobs”

The Foundation of Improvement

• Deming’s first principle if applied to health care:

“Create consistency of purpose toward the improvement of patient care, safety and outcomes, with the aim to provide high quality, high value health care.”

Other Consistency of Purpose Perspectives

• What is your unit’s / hospital’s North Star?– What is the consistent focus that each decision,

action and improvement project points towards?

Chat Discussion

• What is the consistent focus that each decision, action and improvement project points towards?

• What is your North Star?

Customer / Patient Service Focus• What makes more sense in health care?

– “The patient is always right.”-Or-

– “Always do what is right for the patient.”

This is an important clarifier when coaching for improvement in health care. One provides consistency of purpose. The other can be dangerous.

Harness the Power of Stories

• It is a skill. • It’s more impactful than “facts” alone. • When done well, the audience is

“transported” and the vicarious experience is almost as powerful as if it were a personal experience.

Storytelling for Culture Change and Staying Power

• Intention + measurement = important for change • Intention + measurement + impactful storytelling =

inspired and enduring culture of change

Knowing the evidence based practices and measuring their prevalence is essential. To get a change to stick it needs to be embedded in the culture…Stories help it stick!

Develop your Story Framework

1. Decide what qualities make you trustworthy. 2. With your chosen quality, tell a 3 minute story that delivers

evidence of that quality, e.g.: –Person/event in your life that taught you the importance of that quality –A time that you failed your own standard and vowed to never let it happen again –A specific event that exemplifies this quality in you

3. Find a trusted colleague to listen to your story and give you feedback.

4. Use it, more than once.

Why are you in health care?• My story• Who wants to share their story?

Other Story Telling Considerations

• Help each employee develop their story of why they work in health care

• Actively seek out positive and constructive patient stories

• Harvest stories to use and reuse to help maintain focus on your “North Star”

Adaptive Coaching

• Is everybody coached the same way?• Does everybody take feedback the same way?

Individualize the coaching; no one size fits all

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The High Performers: Characteristics

Pros Considerations

Are usually self-driven Positive recognition refuels their tank

Can take a general idea and run with it May take on too much

Have lots of ideas for improvement Can get burnt out

Are driven to improve You may rely on them too much

Can get a lot done for you If they are over used, peers may start to resent them

Are often looked upon as leaders

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The Naysayers / Negative Nellys: Characteristics

Pros Considerations

They are often willing to comment when others are not

Sometimes they are not aware of how they are perceived

There are always elements of the truth in their comments

Coach them (privately) on how they are perceived by valuing their opinion but helping them communicate differently

Help them understand “it is not what you say, it is how you say it that counts.”

They may need periodic tune ups

Encourage them to come with solutions

Catch them doing things right and publically (or privately) acknowledge

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Those Along for the Ride: Characteristics

Pros Considerations

They may be an untapped resource Start to engage them slowly

They may have a unique point of view Learn what energizes them

Give them small challenges to see if they will take off

Remember that not everyone wants to go the extra mile and we need them to do their thing

If they do accomplish a goal you assigned, make sure to positively recognize

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Influence LeadershipWhen those that you are coaching for improvement don’t

directly report to you…

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Common Perceptions Common Realities

If I do not have any authority they will not respond for me

Sometimes by eliminating the hierarchical title, people open up and feel more comfortable and safe

Since I do not do what they do, they will not find me credible

Often, when driving improvement, not having all the answers is a benefit. You are better suited to drive engagement through facilitation, and asking questions not by giving orders

The managers want to do this work Often managers are so buried in the day-to-day operations that they gladly welcome improvement support

Influence Leadership Considerations• It is important to foster a relationship with the managers of the

teams you are helping, as well as the staff you are working with– Sometimes your manager can be a great help with this

• Work with the manager to clearly define the role of the improvement coach and manager in the project

• Be mindful of maintaining trust between all parties

• Inform the managers of your “informal feedback” strategies

• Work within the system of the operations and if you cannot, work with the managers to find a solution

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Closing Comments • To engage hearts in minds you need to

communicate the “WHY”.• Consistency of purpose is essential to maintaining

focus on improvement • Telling stories is a highly effective strategy to

engaging hearts and minds• Coaches need to adapt their strategies to the

individual

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Coaching for Improvement Workbook

Task 1: Complete the “Identifying the Why and What” worksheet on a challenging improvement project to help build the WHY story.

Task 2: Build and practice your story about why healthcare quality and patient safety is important to you.

http://www.whaqualitycenter.org/PartnersforPatients/PfPTools/PfPWebinarstoolstemplatesCoaching.aspx

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Coaching for Improvement Series:

– Oct 31: Developing a Coaching Mentality – Nov 20: Engaging Hearts and Minds – Dec 18: Effective Coaching InteractionsNext month action items:Complete webinar #2 section in workbook, which

includes goal setting. “If you write it, it will come.”

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Questions?