Jim Rohn Quote

“Don’t join an easy crowd. Go where the challenge is great and the emotions are high. Go where the expectations are so strong that they provoke you, push you, and urgently insist that you not remain in one place. That way, you will grow and change.” -Jim Rohn

You need to develop and improve your managerial skills on an ongoing basis as your career develops and as you meet new managerial challenges.

Whether you manage a department or a project team, it’s important to know how to get the work done right. When you’re asked to achieve something with the help of others, it’s complex – and you spend much of your time managing relationships instead of doing the actual work. So, you must develop not only your technical skills, but your management skills as well.

Delegating, motivating, communicating, and understanding team dynamics are some of the key skills needed. With those skills, along with patience and a strong sense of balance, you can become a very effective manager.

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Sometimes, despite your best efforts, there are problems with individual performance. As a manager, you have to deal with these promptly. If you don’t discipline, you risk negative impacts on the rest of the team as well as your customers, as poor performance typically impacts customer service, and it hurts the team and everything that the team has accomplished. It’s very demotivating to work beside someone who consistently fails to meet expectations, so if you tolerate it, the rest of the team will likely suffer. In our article on team management skills, we explore this issue in further detail and give you some examples.

Team performance will also suffer when differences between individual team members turn into outright conflict, and it’s your job as team manager to facilitate a resolution. Read our article on Resolving Team Conflict for a three-step process for doing this. However, conflict can be positive when it highlights underlying structural problems – make sure that you recognize conflict and deal with its causes, rather than just suppressing its symptoms or avoiding it.

Good management means understanding how teams operate. It’s worth remembering that teams usually follow a certain pattern of development. It’s important to encourage and support people through this process, so that you can help your team become fully effective as quickly as possible.

When forming teams, managers must create a balance so that there’s a diverse set of skills, personalities, and perspectives. You may think it’s easier to manage a group of people who are likely to get along, but truly effective teams invite many viewpoints and use their differences to be creative and innovative.

Here, your task is to develop the skills needed to steer those differences in a positive direction. This is why introducing a team charter and knowing how to resolve team conflict are so useful for managing your team effectively. Finding great new team members, and developing the skills needed for your team’s success is another important part of team formation.

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For any healthcare administrator to discount quality results – with documented evidence – and revert to justification based on square footage borders on the unconscionable and very possibly unethical.  To ignore your results and measures and revert to staffing levels and budget levels based only on square feet of floor surface will certainly have a detrimental effect on overall patient health, outcomes, and survival.  Just as proper staffing and proper processes in place by nursing saves lives, proper staffing and proper processes used by Environmental Services saves lives.  Environmental Services should be viewed by everyone in healthcare as an investment in patients and quality outcomes, not an expense to the bottom line.

I consider myself a very progressive person who stays current with the latest technology and methods for cleaning and disinfecting healthcare facilities.  I learn and share best practices. I communicate with my peers all over the country and I have more than a few years experience in healthcare cleaning.  That said, I am getting more than a little tired of so called “experts” who think they know better how we should run our business.

It is my firm conviction that the EVS profession has allowed itself to be corralled, hobbled, hoodwinked, and kidnapped by so many experts doing time studies specifying cleanable square feet.  It’s time for EVS professionals to take back our profession and present the facts of life to the number crunchers, statisticians, human resources, CFOs and the like by doing their own time studies based on their own individual facilities.  No one knows, or can know, their facility and what it takes – people, time, equipment, and supplies -  to clean and disinfect their facility better than EVS.  The problem is that many EVS directors and managers have not taken the initiative to know what it takes to produce a quality outcome for their facility.  Too many want someone else to give them a formula, a policy, a procedure, practice, numbers, metrics, guidelines or whatever to get the job done then they complain when their Administration brings in an "expert" who tells them they should execute a terminal cleaning of a patient room in 12 minutes!  The experts bring in their BRIM, their ISSA, Premier, or other "studies" and handcuff the EVS department and who suffers?  Patients!  We are here for the patients, to give to them a clean and disinfected, and safe patient care environment.  No one can do it better.  But when EVS professionals abdicate their position and authority to others who many be experts in their field but don’t know EVS from shine-ola, well we asked for it and what else would we expect?

As far as these “benchmarks” are concerned, I have one question for everyone who is being asked to follow those guidelines (as good as they may be for non-healthcare) and others like them:  "What is their definition of ‘cleanable square feet?’  If it’s just the floor surface, I would ask what about the number of square feet of wall space that needs to be dusted down and cleaned?  Ceilings?  What about the square feet of windows that need cleaning?  How many square feet are they allowing for the surfaces of a patient bed – six sides plus the bed frame? A barbaric bed?  An over-the-bed table? Chair surfaces?  Bathtubs and showers?  A toilet?  How many square feet are granted in time allowance to remove and replace a cubicle/privacy curtain? You get the picture.  A cookie cutter "standard" cannot address all of the variables found in a patient room.  But EVS professionals can and should. 

Do your own time study; you clean a discharged room and an occupied room.  Then have a similar room cleaned by your "slowest" and "fastest" staff members (be sure you inspect the rooms afterward to ensure completeness).  Take the average and you have then done a very basic time study.  Be sure you do rooms at different times of the day to take into account the energy levels of the staff because as the day progresses their energy level decreases.  Cleaning patient rooms has so many variables its not an assembly line.

The truth is that you must set your own time standards and be prepared to defend them against all comers!

Sometimes you are not in a position to give your employees more in terms of tangible rewards. Increases in pay or benefits, for example, may not be possible.

But there is no limit to the intangible rewards you can give them. These "psychological paychecks" require little effort and cost the company nothing. They represent an excellent way for you to compensate your people during times of transition and change.

Don’t underestimate the value employees place on simple things such as a word of encouragement or a compliment from you. Give them a listening ear and show empathy. Ask their opinions about things. Call them by name, ask about their family, say thank you when they have the right attitude and effort. Write a short note to the employee expressing appreciation for quality work, initiative, etc. When you hold staff meetings, single out individuals and give them a word of praise or commendation for good job performance.

If you take the time to be nicer, you will energize, and encourage your staff. This has many far reaching benefits, particularly during periods of organizational change. There is a real payoff for you, the employee, and your company.

Are people afraid to speak with conviction? Or are we losing people who really know, or at least believe they know what they are talking about.

Lose the weight. I’m not talking about physical weight but dead weight from your department. Deal with staff who negatively affect the department. They “weigh” on time, energy and morale and are preventing the team from achieving excellence.

Exercise your role and lead by example. Now that you can move about freely because you cut away the dead weight, use the time and energy wisely to walk and talk to your staff on a daily basis. Share in their world; hear their suggestions, concerns and ideas. They are the people who make it happen daily. Demonstrate that you value the staff members who make the department and institution look good every single day.

We are currently experiencing economic situations not seen in many years. The times are extreme and uncertain. What does this mean for us in support services departments? Given the current economic environment, we need to develop extreme leadership skills, which means being more, doing more and accepting more. Not only must we be conservative with budgetary issues, but we must utilize the resources we are responsible for in a way that gets the job done and accomplishes what is expected.

Be an extreme leader in these extreme times. Get out of the office, share your knowledge and include your staff and peers in the solutions. In doing this, you will be part of the solution and will show how invaluable your knowledge and skills are to your organization. True leaders rise to the occasion during the most extreme times, so be a positive force in making necessary changes.

Accomplishing the difficult in a positive, optimistic process is a true example of extreme leadership. As part of my practicing extreme leadership I have taken over the safety and security department, the hospital safety officer responsibility and am chair of the environment of care and emergency preparedness committees. I also serve as vice chair of our service excellence council. I do these things because as a leader and advocate for environmental services I am responsible for providing guidance, resources and knowledge. What better way to gain more knowledge and resources to share and to learn as much as I can about the hospitals business beyond the ES department.

Today there is more to environmental services than keeping the environment safe and clean. Success is achieved through a strong commitment to professional development and extreme leadership

Do have your 2011 yearly goals written down yet? I sure hope you do. If not, while no one is looking, get busy and do it already. Do you have your 90-day goals written down? Your weekly goals? How about your daily goals?

Unfortunately, the vast majority would have to admit that they do not have these written goals and that is a gigantic blunder.

Did you know that upwards of eighty five percent of all written goals come to pass. With that being the case, why don’t more people use this incredibly powerful tactic? First, most probably had no idea that was true and secondly most are living in a situation called the tyranny of the urgent. They are dealing with day to day situations all day long and never get to thinking about or planning for the future.

If you are one of the few, great job. You are achieving more than most. If not, get some paper and a pen, and start with long range goals. What do you want to be in ten years? If that is too far out, try for five. Work backwards from those long term goals and build smaller goals, steps really, to help you achieve them.

So now you have these goals all written out. What next?

First of all, unless someone is critical to helping you achieve your goal(s), do not freely share your goals with others. The negative attitude from friends, family and neighbors can drag you down quickly. It’s very important that your self-talk (the thoughts in your head) are positive.

Reviewing your goals daily is a crucial part of your success and must become part of your routine. Each morning when you wake up read your list of goals that are written in the positive. Visualize the completed goal, see the new home, smell the leather seats in your new car, feel the cold hard cash in your hands. Then each night, right before you go to bed, repeat the process. This process will start both your subconscious and conscious mind on working towards the goal. This will also begin to replace any of the negative self-talk you may have and replace it with positive self-talk.

Every time you make a decision during the day, ask yourself this question, "Does it take me closer to, or further from my goal." If the answer is "closer to," then you’ve made the right decision. If the answer is "further from," well, you know what to do.

If you follow this process everyday you will be on your way to achieving unlimited success in every aspect of your life.

At our hospital we are in year three of a Service Excellence Initiative. Partnering with Custom Learning Systems we have been been teaching all our staff hard and soft skills to improve customer service through service excellence. Being on the Service Excellence council has given me many opportunities to directly and indirectly influence the process and see first hand the cause and effect results of the program.

Here on my website I try to focus on Environmental Services related topics and the all important “room and restroom always clean” question.

Here are some initial steps for improving your HCAHPS scores:

Train and implement patient visits and staff rounding, utilizing HCAHPS scripting

Have regular, (daily or weekly) 15 minute stand up huddle with each shift to share HCAHPS scores, patient satisfaction and tips to continuously improve the patients experience

Create a regular report to share with your staff and direct reports recapping your scores, efforts and results

Pick one thing to focus on each month to increase your performance. Preferably something you can tie back into your HCAHPS questions.

According to John L. Mason these are some of the qualities that make a
good leader.

. Leaders are always full of praise.

· Leaders learn to say "thank you" and "please" on the way to
the top.

· Leaders are always growing.

· Leaders are possessed with dreams.

· Leaders launch forth before success is certain.

· Leaders are not afraid of confrontation.

· Leaders talk about their own mistakes before they talk about someone
else’s.

· Leaders are people of honesty and integrity.

· Leaders have a good name.

· Leaders make others better.

· Leaders are quick to praise and encourage the smallest amount of
improvement.

· Leaders are genuinely interested in others.

· Leaders take others up with them.

· Leaders look for praise someone doing something right.

· Leaders respond to their failures before others have revealed them.

· Leaders never allow murmuring from themselves or others.

· Leaders hold others accountable.

· Leaders do what is right rather than what is popular.

· Leaders are servant.

"BUT" is a word that usually signals negative speech. For example, "Jason is a nice guy, BUT he can’t get his work done." or "Robin is a good cook BUT I can’t stand her taste in clothing." When we speak negatively about another person we try to excuse ourselves by asserting the truth of the negative fact we have expressed. After all, how can we be blamed for noticing such an obvious flaw in another person?

On the other hand, when the subject is ourselves, the word BUT is used as an excuse for our error in judgment or a flaw in our performance. "I would have taken care of it BUT I ran out of time…" or Yes I did that BUT it was because…"

A "complainer" is a person who sees the negative aspects in everyone and everything around them. This type of person cannot accept the good in his or her surroundings without the need to complain about what is not to their satisfaction. The type of person would be happy BUT…

A happy person will explain rather than complain. Looking for the good in others and for the best in every situation, this person says BUT when justifying the negatives in another. "She would be a better dresser if she came from a better home" or He would be a better student if he had the proper tutoring."

Make yourself and others around you happy. Train yourself to spend time explaining rather than complaining. Look for the good in others and talk about that. You can do it if you really try BUT maybe you have not tried yet.

Not everyone wants to be a leader, but I think it is safe to say
everyone wants a leader. And not just any leader, but someone who
inspires, who creates, who energizes. What if you want to be a leader,
and you don’t know how. No problem, just hang around a leader you want
to be like.

By surrounding ourselves with leaders and through a process called
modeling, their leadership has a way of rubbing off on us.

Step one in developing as leaders is to realize your true potential to
lead and inspire others to take action. For some this can be tough due
to self-esteem and deserve issues. So get over it. One of the best
ways I know to combat this is to repeat to your self, “I am the leader
that people are looking for.” Say it over and over again. Write it on
post-it notes and stick them on your bathroom mirror if you have to.
Say or sing it in the shower and as you go through your daily
activities. This is guaranteed to get people looking at you if nothing
else.

Many people rob themselves of the opportunity to become leaders
because they are constantly dwelling on past events. The past is
history and only has the relevance we give it!! So forget about it.
Drop the drama and the self-esteem issues that hold you back and
realize that it serves NO ONE especially your self. Do this and you
will inspire others to take bigger actions by your example. See, you
are already a leader.

Leadership really is the greatest commodity on the planet and REAL
leadership is needed in the world now more than ever. It is extremely
marketable and there will always be a market for it. Companies and
people all over are desperate for real leaders.The one person who can
guide them silently through life.

Life really is one big game of follow the leader. The more you can be
the leader the more successful your life will be. Just remember one
thing, you must learn to follow before you can lead. True leaders are
humble. They lead not for recognition but because they are leaders and
that’s what leaders do!! They give generously. They lead by giving and
offering themselves where they are needed. They are the type of person
others flock to.

So there you go, just follow my directions and see what happens. If
you don’t see results right away, then go here and make this. It will
change your outlook…
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/key-lime-habanero-cheesecake-recipe/i…

John