This workshop will give leaders the tools and strategies to address disruptive conduct. A July 2008 a Sentinel Event Alert was issues by The Joint Commission on Behaviors that Undermine a Culture of Safety. The JC has found that intimidating and disruptive behaviors in Healthcare environments can:
- Foster medical errors.
- Contribute to poor patient satisfaction and to preventable adverse outcomes.
- Increase the cost of care.
- Cause qualified clinicians, administrators and managers to seek new positions in more professional environments.
Behaviors can be considered disruptive when they interfere with the ability of others to effectively carry out their duties. The common assumption is disruptive behaviors originate from physicians. The reality is that disruptive behavior occurs among all members of a healthcare team, not just doctors.
The Joint Commission recommends that skills-based training and coaching is provided for all leaders and managers in relationship-building and collaborative practice, including skills for giving feedback on unprofessional behavior. Feedback on early stage disruptive behaviors can head off the formation of persistent patterns.
Workshop Description
The Challenge
Disruptive behaviors are often hard to isolate, difficult to prove and uncomfortable to address.
Such behaviors can be passive aggressive and include reluctance or refusal to answer questions, return phone calls or pages; condescending language or voice intonation; and impatience with questions. Overt and passive behaviors undermine team effectiveness and can compromise the safety of patients
Often, the hardest part of a manager's job is talking with employees or peers about performance related issues. Nearly all supervisors dread initiating these kinds of conversations and many avoid them whenever possible. This inherent avoidance causes performance issues to worsen over time.
The underlying problem is the inability to translate what is "known" into effective words that are comfortable to say and will positively affect the employee.
A New Approach
The Performance Continuum Feedback Method® (PCFM) bypasses the need to raise negative performance examples, thus representing a healthy departure from the established feedback approach known as "constructive" criticism. Alleviating defensive reactions enables managers and employees to come to terms more quickly around developmental solutions and goals.
Even with the best of intentions, constructive criticism usually feels confrontational. Not surprisingly, it typically elicits defense reactions from most employees. Utilizing the PCFM, performance messages come across as non-threatening so the feedback recipient is much more likely to remain open to listening to the information, as opposed to engaging in a confrontational exchange with the person delivering the message.
What Participants Can Expect During This Action Learning Session
Through this experiential program feedback providers will gain new skills to assess performance, create the right talking points and manage the resulting discussion.
Identify the Stages of Intervention and Learn How to Provide Just-in-Time Informal and Formal Feedback on:
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One time incidents of disruptive behavior (before they take root and turn into bad habits)
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Newly forming patterns of disruptive behavior
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Long standing patterns of disruptive behavior (it's never too late and we'll show you how to effectively manage these discussions)
Diagnose Performance Issues
- Accurately and quickly assess the overall employee performance levels of your entire team.
- Uncover behavior based issues that are disruptive and quantify the impact.
Craft Performance Messages
- Learn to think and talk in terms of the desired performance as opposed to creating messages based on calling attention to performance deficiencies.
- Find the right words to describe behavioral aspects of performance such as interpersonal skills, temperament, attitude, motivation etc.
- Depersonalize tough messages by positioning the information alongside the business rationale for change.
- Address performance issues in a non-critical tone and avoid the number one trap that most managers fall into.
- Turn real-life, challenging performance scenarios (including participant examples) into constructive, accurate and honest messages.
- Learn the types of phrases and words to avoid.
Manage the Resulting Discussion
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Present feedback in a manner that minimizes awkwardness and defensiveness.
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Demonstrate support of the employee while at the same time making it clear that the employee is ultimately responsible for attaining performance objectives.
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Anticipate and respond effectively to employee reactions to feedback, including typical objections.
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Maintain control over the discussion's direction and outcome.
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Conclude performance discussions by assessing and confirming the employee's willingness to take responsibility for the area(s) of development.
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Follow up to verbal agreements for change by translating feedback into written goals- even for difficult to measure behavioral type issues.
Tools Attendees Will Take Away
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The PCFM tool and Participant Workbook with the right to reproduce the conversation planning tools for use back on the job.
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Creation of at least one actual performance message.
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A time saving performance feedback tool that can be used right away.
The ability to communicate performance feedback that has a greater chance for a "you're right, I do need to work on this" employee response instead of a defensive reaction.
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An manageable action plan for where to start
Who should attend?
Feedback providers such as, physicians who provide feedback to peers, supervisors, managers team leaders and HR professionals.
Resources:
Behaviors that undermine a culture of safety, Sentinel Event Alert 40 http://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/Sentineleventalert/sea_40.htm