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Claude
Registered: 02/28/08
Posts: 3

02/29/08 at 04:28 PM

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Hey LifeWings,

Do you see any problem in creating a new Steering Committee and having leadership as invitees to the meetings, but not active in the tasks at hand? My plan is to form a new Steering Committee made up of the department chair, surgeons, and key surgery staff people. I will invite our Chief Quality Officer, VP Quality, CNO, and COO for their input and to keep them in the loop. Trying to schedule them all to coordinate their calendars is nearly impossible and it's delaying our progress in the department.

Frustrated CRM Coordinator

smontague
Registered: 03/03/08
Posts: 1

03/03/08 at 01:25 PM

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Great question, and the answer is "it depends".

During the LDI, we stress the importance of leadership involvement in a discussion called 80/20. During the 80/20 segment we introduce the "law of disproportionate returns" with several real-world examples, and then an analysis of each participant's work life. We close this segment with a statement like "The leadership in this room will only expend about 20% of the total time and effort necessary for your hospital to implement our system, but it will produce about 80% of the results." That 20% of the time is inclusive of the LDI, participation in a skills seminar, attendance for the Hardwired Safety Tools inbrief and outbrief, and then most importantly leadership actions to reinforce the system.

You'll note that the 20% doesn't necessarily include steering committee meetings, but I can tell you that the hospitals that are reaping the greatest rewards have very active engagement from the senior leaders (especially the CMO and CNO) who run the steering committee meetings very professionally. If you're finding that you can't schedule meetings because key people are "just too busy", then I'd recommend that you strike a verbal agreement with them that they:

1) Endorse and support any policies created or revised by the Steering Committee.

2) Provide resources as necessary to support new-hire, refresher, and T3 training.

3) Stay current on the latest Hardwired Safety Tools developed, and those that have been implemented. They need to know this so that they can ask effective questions as they round (a "Must Do").

4) Delegate authority with respect to carrying out the agreed to actions in response to very likely reactions to implementation: What will you do with the clinician who says "I'm not going to use the Tools"? What about the nurse who says "I"m not going to be responsible for compliance"? What about the technician who refuses to speak up because of fear of repercussions?

5) Provide information and/or guidance on what department will be the next one to receive training and develop Tools.

6) Provide leadership support to enable interdepartmental cooperation with the LifeWings initiative.

That's a pretty tall order, and most institutional leaders have found it simpler, and easier, to just run the steering committee meetings themselves.

Good luck as you continue to create a model that will work with your institution. There's rarely only one way to solve the challenges of implementing culture change, so maybe at your hospital you'll have to create a different way. The most essential element in any of the above is that the leadership remains committed in word and deed to the project.

Please feel free to contact me directly if I can be of any further help.

__________________
Steven Montague
Vice President
LifeWings Partners, LLC
smontague@saferpatients.com

swharden
Registered: 03/25/08
Posts: 3

03/25/08 at 03:59 AM

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Claude

Hey LifeWings,

Frustrated CRM Coordinator

Yes, I see a problem. The most successful CRM Steering Committees are "chartered" by a member of the Executive staff - hopefully by the Chief Executive. Membership should be approved by that executive and members should be held accountable for participation and RESULTS. The methods to create this structure are all covered in the Leadership Development Institute.

If you have already had your LDI and the structure created there has fallen apart, go see your Chief Executive. He or she attended the LDI and approved the structure and membership. Enlist their support in re-engaging the chartered members.

In our experience, an effective CRM Steering Committee is the single most critical element of project success. If you need our help in regaining the support of the executive team, call me personally and I will help you.

Even with the support of the executive team you will occassionally have a member of the Steering Committee who misses a meeting. If their input or a[[rovalis needed for an action, using the strategy of "Unless otherwise directed" is very efffective. It works like this: When you need to move forward and an action must be taken, send the missing member a message like this..."Unless otherwise directed, on May 12, 2008 we will (perform this action). If your intended course of action is not overruled, proceed. This strategy gives you a bias for action and helps prevent getting bogged down by missing members.

Steve Harden
President
LifeWings Partners LLC

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