GETTING TRACTION

1. GETTING TRACTION Metrics@Work’s Inaugural Not Your Normal Lunch and Learn March 1, 2013 Presentation by Dr. John Yardley, PhD, President and Founding Partner, Metrics@Work

2. Explanation of what we’re trying to achieve We see a lot of variation in terms of how our client organizations “score” on employee Survey follow-up items We also get asked a lot of times as to how to create strong change, but …. We don’t get involved very often in an organization’s change efforts So, ….. We ask you to help us all learn about creating strong change efforts, …. “Strong” means change efforts that result in real changes, i.e., TRACTION. To learn from each other, we have constructed a series of opportunities for you to interact and for you to provide us with your experiences and opinions, so, …. We want the 3 hours to be efficient, engaging and fun – we need you to be ready to “jump-in” and “give it all you’ve got!”

3. The Front-line Team is a Critical Key to Positive Change and Better Services at your Organization • While there are a number of ways of creating positive change, there is no doubt that front-line teams are an important way of creating improvements across an organization. For instance: • “Front Line Service Providers: Quality is ultimately in the hands of those who actually deliver care. Their quality performance is dependent on their knowledge skills and attitudes, their beliefs about current levels of quality, their sense of the roles they play in quality, and their perception of the status quo. It also depends on how they define themselves as professionals – their values, aspirations, organizational ethos, information-seeking behaviours, sense of stewardship over resources, and inter-professional comfort levels.” (MacLeod, H. & Kirby, M. (2013). Courage A Rare Competency. Essays 2013. Longwood Publishing) • Front-line Team change actioning is literally a ground up approach to creating better services through stronger, more collaborative work environments Slide 3

4. Simple Change Model:Moving from Survey Results to Action (Action Planning 101) DesiredResult 4. Desired State Area to be Addressed by Actions Not Desired Result 2. Plan Actions to Create Desired State 3. Implementation and Evaluation as Interventions Unfold 1. Current State Positive change requires a front line unit’s staff to be aligned and agree with the desire to change and what to change, i.e., they take “ownership” in the effort and provide their discretionary effort to creating that change, i.e., they are “engaged” in the change processes

5. Importance & Follow-up of survey from M@W Database Database Average out of 100 Database Top-2 Box Percentage 23% 52% 29% 57% 46% 65% 61% 74% • Note: Surveys are seen in very positive light for quality improvement, organizations tend to do quite well in communicating the survey, but are much less able to “act on” the results, and even less able to create change, i.e., get traction. The hallmark of excellence in change efforts is “traction” – if your organization’s traction score is merely average – how could that be changed?

6. … changes in my immediate work environment have improved the quality of my work life BY Organizations Among the 28 most recent repeat client surveys, the highest scoring organization on “the traction item” is 66%, the lowest 31%, i.e., less than half as well as the highest! There’s lots of variation – why?

7. … changes in my immediate work environment have improved the quality of my work life BY Work Units in a client organization Within a single client organization with 42 front line units, the highest scoring unit on “the traction item” is 78.6%, the lowest 15.2%, i.e., 5 times less well as the highest! There’s lots of variation – why?

8. The Tensions Between the 3 Leadership Determinants of a Team’s Performance Tension between Efficiency/Effectiveness & Adaptability/Creativity Tension between Efficiency/Effectiveness and HRM Tension between Adaptability (Creativity) and HRM Y Axis: Desire Getting More Stuff Done at Work, i.e., Task Oriented Behaviours X Axis: Desire for Better Adaptability and Creativity to improve effectiveness and efficiency, i.e., Change Oriented Behaviours Z Axis: Desire for Better Human Resource Management (HRM) and Relationships, i.e., People Oriented Behaviours Adapted from Yukl and Lepsinger (2005): Flexible Leadership: Creating Value by Balancing Multiple Challenges and Choices. Jossey-Bass.

9. What Happens when a team is told, “Just Get the Job Done!” Increasing Task Oriented Behaviours Assumption: Managing Tasks, Change and People in a work system is done with finite resources, i.e., limited $’s, time, FTE’s, knowledge etc. Therefore, focusing on one area leads to diminishment in another. Focusing on Task too much Diminishes Ability to be Adaptable and Creative Usually means Decreasing Change Oriented Behaviours Focusing on Task too much Diminishes Ability to Manage your People Consequently: An over-emphasis on getting tasks completed is accomplished to the detriment of positive change, so improvements in efficiencies and effectiveness are reduced or lost and / or managing your people gets left behind And/or Decreasing People Oriented Behaviours Adapted from Yukl and Lepsinger (2005): Flexible Leadership: Creating Value by Balancing Multiple Challenges and Choices. Jossey-Bass.

10. What does the Iceberg Metaphor in mean for change? What is it really like under your team’s iceberg? Similarly for your Program / Division and Organization-as-a-whole? One of the most common reasons for not addressing issues within a team is the inability of the team to respectfully “confront the elephant,” dialogue calmly, and reach consensus on solutions that are mutually accepted by all team members – do “icebergs” sink your change efforts?

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12. Adaptation of Healthy Workplace Strategies: Creating Change and Achieving Results (Lowe, G. 2004) We took the Guiding Principles (p. 11) that Graham Lowe outlined and adapted them so that they more clearly reflect change among front line units. The Guiding Principles for Change are: • Supportive local work culture and values • Leadership and commitment from all staff and management) • Shared understanding of drivers to be changed • Participative team approach (i.e., consensual decision making) • Customized change plans (i.e., meeting the needs of individual units) • Links to a strategic plan with an accountability framework • Support and resources needed for change efforts • Evaluate progress and communicate Using clickers we want you to provide your opinion on the 3 Guiding Principles that provide the most challenge for Front-line Team change achieving traction

13. Which among the following 8 Factors, is the most challenging in your organization for creating front-line change and traction • Supportive local work culture and values • Leadership (Commitment from all staff and management) • Shared understanding of drivers to be changed • Participative team approach (consensual decision making) • Customized change plan (meeting the needs of individual units) • Link to a strategic plan with an accountability framework • Support and resources for change efforts • Evaluate progress and Communicate

14. Which among the following 8 Factors, is the 2nd most challenging in your organization for creating front-line change and traction • Supportive local work culture and values • Leadership (Commitment from all staff and management) • Shared understanding of drivers to be changed • Participative team approach (consensual decision making) • Customized change plan (meeting the needs of individual units) • Link to a strategic plan with an accountability framework • Support and resources for change efforts • Evaluate progress and Communicate

15. Which among the following 8 Factors, is the 3rd most challenging in your organization for creating front-line change and traction • Supportive local work culture and values • Leadership (Commitment from all staff and management) • Shared understanding of drivers to be changed • Participative team approach (consensual decision making) • Customized change plan (meeting the needs of individual units) • Link to a strategic plan with an accountability framework • Support and resources for change efforts • Evaluate progress and Communicate