Create interest and motivation within a department by announcing your desire to highlight their service.

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Try a New Approach for Internal Buy-In

Author: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA
Updated in 2009 to the reflect current market

Sometimes the best way to get the attention of others inside the box (for example, leaders on your team) is to do some serious out of the box thinking, No we're not talking about doing any mental gymnastics here. We're simply taking the current, accepted do's and don't in your work culture and rethinking the process, measures and accepted limits.

Here are some general and service specific ideas to get you started. Look them over and then work with your internal team to enhance the list. Next try one our ideas, give it time and see if you get some attention for your areas and your needs.

• Find new ways to measure. Create interest and motivation within a department by announcing your desire to highlight their service. Implement a new internal process, a new vendor or a special study

• Keep consistent records. If you manage a call center for example, figure out what's good for your bottom line- number of calls, number of referrals, a chance to make a patient or customer contact, etc. Then make a plan to track types of calls according to when advertising and marketing campaigns launch, when a new physicians group joins the organization, and so on. Then follow through with your record keeping and use it as a comparison for the future.

• Use customer connections to show impact. Consider connections with consumers, physicians, and employers to demonstrate perceptions and satisfaction. Beyond the standard yearly surveys, you can do focus groups, mystery shopping and meeting tracking tools- even looking at how long employers have contracts with you. Use a simple tool that can track and trend, or us it to spot check a vulnerable area.

• Invite "outsiders" to share what they know. Bring in vendors, industry speakers or people who have had success in other industries, or in other healthcare environments. Invite them to present their thoughts in a staff meeting, so your team can expand their understanding from a different perspective.

• Assess your personal style. We are not talking about fashion here, but what's inside. Take a look at your personality type or invite a colleague to share what she sees. Then take a look at the people you most need to win over. Note who your styles match; or don't and take steps to manage the rub. It's a strategy that works whether you're a staff person working with a manager or CEO or an executive working with your board of directors.

• Make it visual. Healthcare people are often visual learners. So show your team the goals or outcomes you desire through a simple graph, pie chart- or something else that paints a picture. They'll be more likely to remember what you've said, and more motivated to deliver results.

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