Collaborative Engagement: An Overdue Update

This week, I had the pleasure of facilitating a medical staff meeting in which we discussed survey results regarding provider engagement.  Engaged workers strongly agree with the following statements:

• This organization really inspires the very best in me
• I am willing to put in a great deal of effort beyond what is normally expected to help this organization be successful
• I talk up this organization to my friends as a great organization to work for
  (Achieving Breakthrough Engagement: Lessons from High-Performing Organizations. 2007. Washington: The Advisory Board Company, p.3.)

Engaged workers:

• Exceed expected level of effort
• Are inspired to do their best work
• Feel part of the greater work community
• Make meaningful contributions through their work
• Are personally motivated to help their organization succeed
  (Achieving Breakthrough Engagement: Lessons from High-Performing Organizations. 2007. Washington: The Advisory Board Company, p.14)

We began with a discussion of time wasters in which people feel disengaged (meetings rose to the top of that list) and ended with a discussion of the organization’s strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats.  I was impressed with the engaged body language and respectful listening in the group breakout sessions as well as the quality of their insights.

My previous post on Collaborative Engagement seemed more antagonistic than this one.  Perhaps it relates to the double meaning of engagement, a pleasant experience, as in engaged to be married and a negative, engaging the enemy.

A strategic approach to increasing engagement lies in the development of a collaborative physician-hospital compact that delineates shared expectations

What do you think?

• How many providers meet the aforementioned definition of engagement where you work
• What can we do to increase providers’ feelings that their organization  inspires the  best in them
• Is the above process a journey worth taking

As always, I welcome your input to improve healthcare collaboration.

Kenneth H. Cohn

© 2011, all rights reserved

Disclosure:

Although I received compensation for facilitating the medical staff retreat, writing this content is totally of my own volition.

Posted in Physician Engagement

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