Words of improvement that hit the target and leave their mark!
By Nicola Davey. 6th July 2023
Engaging other people in your improvement efforts is vital if you want impact when you’re not around. And let’s face up to reality – there WILL be times when you are not around: like when you’re off duty, on holiday, training, or when you’ve moved on to another project!
Getting other people on board is as vital as lifeblood to quality improvement. The challenge is making your priority, their priority. And if you’ve struggled so far, you may now be thinking about what you can do differently to get a different outcome!
Critically, you need to generate enough interest for your audience to REALLY want to KNOW MORE, as you won’t get there in one stride. Of course, to do this you’ll have to contend with the invisible competition, by which I mean all the other things vying for their attention like: the meeting they are about to go to; the sick patient in bay 6; the budget that isn’t yet balanced; the staff shortage on B ward; the difficult conversation with a colleague; national targets at risk of missing; the inspection team visiting next week; their niece who is getting married next month; and the shop for tonight’s dinner etc..
To start your conversation you need to be able to describe the ONE thing you are trying to improve succinctly whilst winning over their hearts and minds. The ONE thing should be the problem, as it presents itself to the patient – regardless of how process driven your brief seems to you. And your description needs to have impact with your audience, cutting through their thoughts, and making a strong connection that will be hard for them to turn their back on.
Once you are clear about the ONE thing you are trying to improve, think about the information you already have about the impact of this problem on patients. You should be able to think about hard information (e.g. numbers, money, hours) and softer data (e.g. misery, frustration, anxiety, fear, discomfort). Think about how you would describe this problem to a neighbour or colleague who does not know your ‘work world’. This is important, because the people that you often need to engage may not be familiar with your ‘work world’ either.
Why not check out some of the problems our learners have explored on our Improve ONE thing course via the QIClearn Poster Gallery.
Give it a go! We’d love to see your work, Tweet us @QIClearn
