Consulting Services

Medical Team Resource Management
(M-TRM)

Morbidity and mortality due to medical errors occurs at an alarming and unacceptable rate. This was brought to national attention in 2000 through the Institute of Medicine's report "To err is Human". The health care industry has begun to address this through national efforts such as the 5 Million Lives Campaign as well as local efforts such as patient safety committees, morbidity and mortality conferences, and a heightened awareness of the issues. However, nine years later, morbidity and mortality rates are not much better than they were when the IOM report was initially released. 


In addition to the efforts already underway, we are in need of a cultural change related to safety in medicine. This is not unlike the situation faced by the aviation industry several decades ago. At that time, aviation accidents and incidents were taking an unacceptable toll on life. The FAA and the aviation industry worked together to develop training programs centered on communication and teamwork as well as investigation of human factor error that dramatically reduced the error rate. The aviation industry is now considered one of the safest industries in the world. Teamwork needed in the flight crew is similar to the teamwork needed in the "medical crew". Application of safety ideas and principles that reduced aviation incidents and accidents can be applied to the field of medicine in order to reduce the error rates that cause morbidity and mortality. Society today demands a greater degree of transparency and accountability from the medical field, and rightly so.  Our patients, healthcare team, and community deserve our best and we can deliver it. 


Medical Team Resource Management (M-TRM) is a comprehensive program that will transform your health care system and create a culture of safety. Using Communication as the common thread we focus on the human factor elements of Leadership, Decision Making, Situational Awareness, Workload Management, and Conflict Management. In addition M-TRM teaches the concepts of Command, Team Climate, Inquiry, Advocacy, Error Chains and Red Flags.   Our program is designed to complement and enhance patient safety efforts that are already taking place in your organization. Transforming your culture will reduce errors, decrease morbidity and mortality, increase patient and staff satisfaction, and provide a significant return on investment.  What value do you place on the accident that "never happened?"

 
The M-TRM Culture Process

 
Step 1: Snapshot (Internal Reality Assessment)

An internal reality assessment is facilitated through interviews, focus groups, and surveys of senior leadership, management, MD's, nurses, techs, and other health care team members to determine the organization's safety culture and team culture as well as it's readiness to embrace change and a safety/team paradigm shift.

 

Step 2: Plan (Leadership Preparedness and Strategic Planning)

ILS begins a partnership with the leadership team by laying the ground work necessary to lead their organization in this safety/team paradigm shift. The learning and conversations will focus on Leadership, Organizational Change, Building Effective Teams and other relevant topics.

 

Strategic Planning is accomplished through a highly structured two day retreat bringing together medical, organizational, training and aviation experts, along with key change agents from within the participating health care organization. A new approach to safety and team work is created with the final product being captured in an action plan, including expected outcomes. This becomes the strategy for the "new way of doing things."

 

Step 3: Implement (Transformation Partnership)

With a strong plan in place for organizational change, ILS partners with the health care organization to execute the change. Through training, interactive sessions, process change and improvement, and coaching, we will help you execute the strategies designed to move your organization to a place of excellence and safety. This ultimately leads to the sustainability that is desired for the organizational cultural shift.

 

Training and interaction sessions are facilitated by medical (MD) and aviation experts from the ILS team.

 

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Strategic Jam

A Strategic Jams is an intensive, structured one or two day session that helps an organization create change. Usually 6-12 creative thinkers participate in a step-by step process to "invent" a new approach or strategy. Participants include consultants from the ILS team, organizational design specialists, subject matter experts (i.e. diversity, leadership, etc.), as well as members of our clients' executive team and company.

The final product is captured in an action plan of 5-10 pages. It includes the outcomes expected, the parameters within which the strategy was developed, the strategy itself, and identified follow-up action items. The result of this methodology is a detailed solution of the original problem and a strategic plan for continuous improvement. 

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Facilitation

In business, individuals with diverse opinions, positions, experiences and talents often come together to accomplish specific goals. Whether in the form of a committee, a focus group, a business unit, a board of directors, or a team, the purpose is the same…make great decisions.

However, great decisions come from synergistic groups…from teams that interact in a highly effective manner. When a group doesn't connect, frustration and competition often get in the way of success. A third party can bring the group's strengths into focus and help facilitate the team to a win win solution.

ILS offers an extensively trained team of professional facilitators. From the simple task of keeping a group focused on an objective to the more complex challenge of orchestrating collaborative decision-making, ILS associates work hard to exceed your expectations

Our facilitators:

  • Cultivate unity
  • Listen to understand
  • Ask critical, thought-provoking questions
  • Introduce problem-solving techniques
  • Encourage varied points of view
  • Reach consensus
  • Create SMART action plans
  • Implement solutions
  • Propel your team toward success

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Focus Groups

Focus groups are a valuable tool for gauging organizational climate, gathering employee input and launching discussions on vital topics of business.

ILS can make the "Focus Group" process simple and help you maximize your results by providing expertise in the following areas:

  • Creating objectives
  • Developing facilitative questions
  • Defining the approach for sessions
  • Identifying potential participants
  • Creating a comfortable environment
  • Ensuring confidentiality
  • Establishing ground rules
  • Building rapport with participants
  • Taking notes/recording information
  • Providing a detailed report of both the process and the outcomes

The final report gives an organization a clear picture of the issue and a valuable tool for strategic decision making.

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Creating a Fit Team

"In the course of my experience working with CEOs and their teams, two critical truths have become clear to me. First, genuine teamwork in most organizations remains as elusive as it has ever been. Second, organizations fail to achieve teamwork because they unknowingly fall prey to five natural but dangerous pitfalls." -Patrick Lencioni

Encouraging individuals to work together and be productive in the workplace should be a relatively easy task. However, all too often, we find people function as a "group" of individuals, but never make the final leap to become a true team.

When ILS partners with an organization, we begin the process by conducting an Internal Reality Assessment, which includes interviewing team members and conducting focus groups to gauge team climate. The data we collect allows us to identify several critical team issues. Then, we design and implement follow-up sessions to teach team members techniques to better "connect" with one another.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Lencioni, frequently serve as a working model in our sessions. We explore team issues such as trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and results. We identify the ways these issues interconnect and then work through them in a systematic manner.

We also identify various team roles, leadership challenges, along with the strengths and weaknesses of team members. Then we look at strategies for both problem solving and conflict resolution. At the conclusion of the session(s), the team departs with "working documents," which reflect the participants' agreement regarding team functionality.

As the team members become healthier in their relationships with one another, they are better able to focus on and enhance their productivity, which positively impacts the entire organization.

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Transformation to Excellence

Transformation to Excellence is a comprehensive consulting strategy designed to transform an organization's culture to pursue excellence. This strategy creates an organization-wide awareness, ownership and desire to go from good to great in your industry. The design is intended to engage and inspire all levels of the organization to prepare for and create the future. As partners in this process, our role is to cultivate the expertise from within your organization to lead change…not react to it.

Stage 1: Clarify Success
ILS will conduct an internal reality assessment through interviews, focus groups, and surveys of senior leadership, management, and a cross section of employee groups to determine the existing corporate culture as well as change readiness. The consulting relationship will also provide a venue for change throughout your organization through education, facilitated discussion, coaching, and experiential learning.

Stage 2: Transformation through Strategic Design
It is our experience that organizational change requires not only a careful "analysis" but a "strategy" for moving forward. A methodology called a "strategic jam" can help an organization invent new approaches to fulfilling its mission. A Strategic Jam is an intensive, structured one or two day session that helps an organization create change. Usually 6-12 creative thinkers participate in a step-by step process to "invent" a new approach or strategy. Participants include consultants from the ILS team, organizational design specialists, subject matter experts, as well as members of our clients' executive team and company.

The final product is captured in an action plan of 5-10 pages. It includes the outcomes expected, the parameters within which the strategy was developed, the strategy itself, and identified follow-up action items. Ultimately the leadership of an organization gains more than a solution, they gain a strategic plan for continuous improvement.

Stage 3: The Transformation Partnership
Just as great leadership is a process of continuous improvement, so is organizational change. Innovative Learning Strategies will partner with your company to implement action plans, coach, and support the process where ever needed. We will help you execute strategies designed to move your organization to both a place of excellence and an employer of choice in the marketplace.

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Organizational Development Assessments

Whether your needs call for a 360 tool or a self-assessment tool, the goal is always the same – perspective. Who am I? What do I really look like to others? How can I be more effective? Assessments are an objective way to look at individual strengths and opportunities for improvement. They can transform the effectiveness of leaders.

360 ASSESSMENTS

BENCHMARKS®

A comprehensive 360-degree assessment tool for experienced managers that measures 16 skills (e.g., decisiveness, change management, resourcefulness, leading employees) that are critical for success, as well as, five possible career derailers (e.g., problems with interpersonal relationships). Benchmarks offers an in-depth look at development by assessing skills developed from qualitative research inside Fortune 100 companies with research updated over the last three decades. Leaders can receive feedback from their immediate boss, supervisors, peers, direct reports, family members and others in a confidential format.

Additional benefits include:

  • Learn how others perceive their strengths and development needs.
  • Learn how they compare with similar managers in other organizations.
  • Focus on skills and perspectives critical to being effective and successful.
  • Design a plan that links needs to specific developmental experiences.
  • Provides normative comparison of results with other successful managers
  • Provides ratings for both importance and competence
  • Provides information on potential career derailers
  • Offers a Development Learning Guide, helping participants focus feedback and develop a strategy for change
  • Available in multiple languages

SKILLSCOPE®

A straightforward 360-degree feedback tool that assesses 15 key job-related skills (e.g., influence, communication, managing conflict) essential for managerial success. Leaders can receive feedback from their immediate boss and multiple observers (e.g., peers, direct reports, supervisors, family) in a customized report and compare the feedback with their own perceptions of self.

  • SKILLSCOPE® provides insightful feedback on job-related strengths and weaknesses.
  • Feedback is provided in a clear, graphic format, enabling participants to quickly assess strengths and development needs.
  • Participants receive a workbook-style Development Planning Guide, which helps them analyze their feedback report, identify developmental needs and set an action plan for long-term development.
  • Simple, graphic rating scale makes SKILLSCOPE feedback straight forward and easy to understand.
  • Time efficient - SKILLSCOPE takes 20-30 minutes to complete.
  • Comprehensive Group Profile available.
  • Available in multiple languages.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS PROFILE®

A 360 assessment instrument dealing with conflict behaviors in the workplace or at home. Leaders receive feedback with verbatim comments from their boss, peers, and direct reports on constructive responses (e.g., perspective taking, creating solutions, expressing emotions) and destructive responses (e.g., winning at all costs, self-criticizing, displaying anger, avoiding) related to interpersonal conflict. The Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP) was developed to prevent harmful conflict in the workplace. It provides managers and employees with a greater awareness of how they respond when faced with conflict so that they can improve on those behaviors causing the most problems.

As a psychometrically sound instrument, the CDP shows solid evidence of reliability and validity and has been normed against a variety of organizations. Easily completed in 20-25 minutes, the CDP comes with a thorough Development Guide offering practical tips and strategies for strengthening conflict management skills. Applicable for all types of organizations, the instrument can be used within the context of an existing training program, as a stand-alone assessment for an individual or group of employees, or as part of a coaching intervention.

DENISON ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE SURVEY®

The Denison Organizational Culture Survey translates often difficult to understand behavioral concepts about organizational culture into tangible everyday business actions and strategies. It enables leaders, key stakeholders and employees of all levels to understand the impact their culture has on the organization's performance and learn how to redirect their culture to improve organizational effectiveness. Data can be broken out in many cohort groups as needed (front line, mid-manager, departments, work teams, etc.) Takes 15-20 minutes to complete.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT SURVEY®

An assessment used as a 360 tool to assist an intact teams in understanding of how each team member perceives their team's performance. Based on team research, the assessment can provide leader data broken out from the team's data which include 18 key topics of team satisfaction and success (e.g., unity, mission clarity, innovation, coordination, feedback). Additional customized items can be added to the online assessment for further insight into your team's dynamics.

SELF-REPORT ASSESSMENTS

CHANGE STYLE INDICATOR®

The Change Style Indicator® is an assessment instrument designed to measure your preferred style in approaching change and dealing with situations involving change. Gaining awareness on your change style will offer insight into how to manage your response to change, lead others through change, and increase productivity through effective responses to change style differences. Your score on this instrument will place you on a change style continuum ranging from a Conserver style to an Originator style. A third style, the Pragmatist, occupies the middle range of the continuum. The three styles display distinct differences and preferences when approaching change. Takes 10-15 minutes to complete. Available in English, French and Spanish.

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR®

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment is the best known and most trusted personality tool available today. From developing more productive work teams to building closer families, the MBTI can improve the quality of life for anyone and any organization. After more than 50 years, the MBTI instrument continues to be the most trusted and widely used assessment in the world for understanding individual differences and uncovering new ways to work and interact with others. More than 2 million assessments are administered to individuals annually including employees of many Fortune 500 companies. The MBTI family of tools reaches across the globe in 21 languages to help:

  • improve individual and team performance,
  • nurture and retain top talent,
  • develop leadership at every level of an organization,
  • reduce workplace conflict, and
  • explore the world of work

FUNDAMENTAL INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS ORIENATION-BEHAVIORS®

For more than 40 years the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior" (FIRO-B®) assessment has helped people around the world understand how their need for inclusion, control and affection can shape their interactions with others at work or in their personal life. Easy to administer online or in person, the FIRO-B assessment is ideal for one-on-one coaching, team-building initiatives, communication workshops and leadership development programs.

THOMAS-KILMANN CONFLICT MODE

The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) is the worlds best-selling instrument for understanding how different conflict-handling modes, or styles, affect interpersonal and group dynamics and for learning how to select the most appropriate style for a given situation. The TKI tool has been used successfully by businesses, educators, and organizational development professionals for over 30 years. Scoring for the TKI assessment is based on a revised norm sample and is presented in the updated TKI Profile and Interpretive Report with a more personalized analysis of results.

Benefits of the TKI tool include:

  • Offers a pragmatic, situational approach to conflict resolution
  • Demonstrates how and when to use the five conflict-handling styles effectively
  • Helps to initiate safe and productive dialogue to deal with conflict situations
  • Can be administered online or in a self-scorable format

INFLUENCE TACTICS ASSESSMENT

The Influence Tactics Assessment (ITA) is based on 30 years of research examining the behavioral strategies a leader uses to influence key stakeholders to a desired outcome. An easy to understand and apply assessment the ITA assists leaders in raising awareness as to influence tactics most used in any organization including television commercials and political campaigns. Additionally, leaders are able to assess their own influence behavioral preferences, learn new behaviors and apply them to their own unique situations. A guidebook accompanies the assessment to further assist leaders in applying their tactics to real organizational situations towards influencing up, down and across.

DISC – PERSONALITY PROFILE

We are all unique. Our values, our expectations, the way we communicate, the way we handle stress, etc…the list is endless. In the work place these differences can lead to misunderstandings and frustration. It can also lead to dysfunctional teams and ineffective leadership.

DISC is about understanding people. This assessment has been used around the world to improve working and personal relationships. Participants learn the strengths and challenges of their individual style as well as the strengths and challenges of other styles. In addition they learn how to communicate effectively with every style. The DISC personality profile contributes significantly to teamwork and organizational success.

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Innovative Learning Strategies 10 College Ave. Suite 126A Appleton, WI 54911 920.993.4405

©2010 Innovative Learning Strategies