Innovation in Hospitals - Dr Higinbotham - Assignment Example

Leadership and management Student’s name Course code Professor’s name University name City, state Date of submission Task 1 Innovation is important in ensuring effective delivery of quality services. Innovation in hospitals ensures that medical procedures are conducted using the latest technology and ensures the well-being of the patients. Greater Western Hospital intends to introduce an innovation where the doctors will receive a text every morning stating the profit and loss data of the previous day. However there is great resistance with Dr Higinbotham stating that doctors should not be treated like accountants. In order to influence the medical staff to accept the innovation, Dr Higinbotham needs to portray certain leadership qualities in order to gain the cooperation of the medical staff. Cuddy et al, 2013 in their article, “Connect then lead” state that in order to influence people in any sector; one needs to balance competence with warmth. The article states that leaders and people in positions of influence can use warmth towards people in order to influence them. Leading people cannot be done effectively through strength but rather through the leader’s capability to show them warmth. Warmth creates trust in people which then provides the leader with the opportunity to influence them in the way he desires. (Cuddy, et al., 2013) Dr Higinbotham therefore needs to show warmth towards the medical staff in order to make them trust him. The way he portrays himself in their presence needs to show concern and make him approachable. This will influence the medical staff to trust him and in that way he can be able to gradually change their perception about the innovation. People generally oppose change and at all times the goal is to maintain the status quo. However where people resist change, different methods can be used to turn them around. When William Bratton was the commissioner for the New York Police Department, he implemented several changes to make the police more responsible in the fight against crime. First, he changed in the organisation in the department by giving more authority to precinct commanders. Every precinct was organised like a police department where the commander was responsible for assigning the police officers in performance of their duties and also to fight corruption in the precinct. Second, he increased the level of accountability of the precinct commanders. This meant that Bratton could use a tracking system to monitor the location and types of crimes. Commanders would meet monthly to account for the increase in crime around their precincts and also to be rewarded where there was significant decrease in crime. The effect of these changes was felt through the immediate reduction of crime and the boosting of the morale of the police officers. (Bratton et al., 1998) Bratton had realized that if change was to be felt; only the middle managers, the precinct commanders, would bring about that change. They were given more authority and also made more accountable to the overall commander. In Great Western Hospital, the same could be used to influence the medical staff in to looking at the profit and loss emails as a way of improving the condition of the hospital. The medical staff could be divided in to different groups depending on the field of practice. Leaders should then be selected to head the different departments established and power given to them to assign duties to the staff under their command. The heads of those departments should then be made accountable in the way their departments use medical supplies and other equipment. The departmental heads are to be held accountable for the losses made in their departments. According to Kouzes and Posner’s model in transformational leadership, there are key elements that a leader should have in order to accomplish the achievements they have set. A leader should be a person capable of challenging the process. This means a leader who is ready to take risks and adopt a new approach to doing things. Leaders should also inspire the vision to those below them to ensure that they all are working towards the same goal. This brings about uniformity such that the followers understand what the goal is and are determined to achieve it. A leader must also let other people to act, that is, involving other people in decision-making to allow others exploit their potential. Leaders should also model the way. They should lead by example in order to influence their followers. A leader also needs to be able to encourage the followers and give them motivation to accomplish the goals that have been set. (Kouzes, et al., 1987) In changing the position of the medical staff, Dr Higinbotham needs to apply these elements of transformative leadership. It begins with accepting that it is time for change and embracing the new technology as a way to show readiness to challenge the process. It is also important to share with the rest of the staff that the new innovation where the staff receive information as to profit and loss is to ensure that the hospital remains functional and open. That it is in the interest of all that such measures are taken to help the hospital accomplish its goals. The staff members should also be involved in the process targeting to improve the condition of the hospital. This will give them a sense of belonging and an opportunity to exercise their potential. The medical staffs need to be motivated to keep them working towards the achievement of the goals set. Dr Higinbotham also needs to be on the forefront in accepting the need for the change and adopt the new innovation. Greg Brenneman helped revive Continental Airlines at a time when the airline company was almost collapsing. The company was losing money and it was on the verge of its collapse. However, Benneman and Bethune devised a plan to save the company and prevent its collapse. There was a change in the management of the company through the replacement of a majority of the vice-presidents of the airline. The components of the plan involved correcting all the actions that resulted in the loss of money, also known as the fly to win objective, the funding of the future objective which focussed on improving the cash flow and earnings of the company, ensuring that the airline was reliable to its customers and working together as a group to achieve the goals of the airline. Benneman was able to make the airline company recover through eliminating the causes of the significant loses, improving the cash flow and above all working together as a team to implement the goals. (Brenneman, 1997) This could be applicable to the hospital in that the daily emails providing data on profits and loses will help the hospital cut on the areas that are contributing to loses and proceed to improve the areas that benefit the hospital. The implementation of the new innovations however need the input of the entire medical staff to ensure that the goals are achieved. Hospitals cannot survive while making loses hence, just like in business organizations, there needs strategies that will help the hospital make gains in order to remain open to patients and offer quality medical care. This means that the strategies used in improving business organizations are applicable even in hospitals as far as the business of the hospital is concerned. The theory of business applies in the context of a hospital in order to shape the general behaviour of the hospital and to determine what can and what cannot be done. Task 2 Part A The ability to convince people or influence them in to doing something will depend on the approach taken by a leader. In this case, the way to ensure that the nurses understand why they should train families in non-ICU postoperative care must begin with the leaders making them understand the reason as to why it has to be done. Kouzes and Posner state that a leader needs to be able to share his vision or the vision of the organization with the followers. The nurses need to understand that the reason for the training is to allow patients to have a smooth transition from the hospital to home based care. The families are trained so that they will be able to take care of the patient even after the patient is discharged from the hospital. The training will also help the hospital cut down on the cost of care to patients. The nurses should be informed of the financial position of the hospital and the need to cut down costs. (Kouzes et al., 1987) In order to make the nurses understand the reason for the training of families, they need to be able to trust their leaders and understand that the efforts are meant to improve the condition of the hospital. Trust will depend on how the leaders in the hospital treat the nurses and their warmth towards them. To influence people to understand something does not mostly depend on the ability of the leader to use their strength to command the followers but depends on the warmth towards them. (Cuddy et al., 2013) The nurses need to be at the point where they can trust their leaders. In that way, they will be open to implementing the requirements or the changes in the hospital. The power to make the nurses understand the need for the change in terms of training the families on non-ICU postoperative care lies with the leaders of the hospital. The nurses have to see that the idea is in good faith and hence should be incorporated in to the hospital. There needs to be no suspicion as to the hidden nature of the change in the hospital. The idea of transparency is important to help the nurses have the entire picture on the need to have the families doing postoperative care. Part B Motivation of workers or followers by a leader is a great leadership quality that makes it easy to for any organization to achieve the goals set. In applying Kouzes and Posner’s leadership model, motivation of workers depends on whether the nurses understand the vision of the hospital. It is important that the nurses share in the vision of the hospital such that they see themselves as playing an important part in the achievement of the goals of the hospital. (Kouzes et al., 1987) The way to motivate the nurses begins with sharing the goals of the hospital and the challenges that are to be addressed to be able to achieve the set target. The nurses have to know that their contribution is vital in the achievement of the goals of the hospital. It is also important to make the nurses understand that the innovation which allows the families to be trained in non-ICU postoperative care, is meant to make sure that the medical staff only deal with the complex matters in the hospital. The innovation is only meant to ensure that the nurses do not do what the families can do hence reducing the costs. Organizations motivate their staff in order to have high performing employees, provide job satisfaction to the employees and to make both the employees and the organisation more competitive. The ability of an organization to perform towards the achievement of its goals depends on how motivated the employees are. In the hospital, the hospital leaders can embark on a process to apply the expectancy theory of motivating the nurses. This involves helping the nurses believe in themselves and that they can exploit their potential through putting more effort in to their work. Once the nurses are able to believe in themselves then they must also understand that their performance in the hospital determines whether or not the hospital will achieve its goals. This makes them understand that their work performance determines the end results. The nurses will be able to look at their work more from the perspective of the hospital in order to know that their commitment and performance is of importance to the hospital. (Rost, 1998) Part C A leader is a person who has the ability to influence a group of people towards achieving a certain goal. Such a person has to strive to understand and develop themselves in order to acquire the ability to influence other people. Ms O’Hara therefore has to begin by understanding herself in order to regain her confidence in being a leader. (Rost, 1998) Ms O’Hara has to pursue self-awareness so that she can be able to understand herself and her potential to lead. Self-awareness in this case means that she has to be keen to understand how her emotions and attitude affect her performance as a leader. It requires her to be able to control her emotions and maintain her confidence as a leader. In becoming self-aware she has to conduct a self-assessment in order for her to know her potential as a leader and also her limits. This will make her understand the things she has the potential to do and therefore can focus on them. It will also help her know her limits to avoid disappointments through trying to achieve what is beyond her limits. Self-awareness will help Ms O’Hara regain her confidence in being a leader through an understanding of her capabilities. (Goleman et al., 2002) The next step would be to strive to achieve social awareness. This involves the ability to know and understand how people feel and also appreciate different people for their different points of view. Social awareness is important to help Ms O’Hara understand that there are people looking up to her as a leader and therefore challenge herself to rise to the task. The key to gaining confidence also lies with the ability to know that people are ready to support and work with you. Social awareness will help Ms O’Hara understand other people’s strengths and use them for the growth of the hospital. It will help her understand that she is not a loner in the job but can rely on other people for support and to provide new ideas. (Goleman et al., 2002) Ms O’Hara also needs to strive to attain self-management which will help her to not only keep disruptive emotions in check, but also to control her impulses. This means that she will be capable of keeping negative thoughts at bay. She will also be able to motivate herself through appreciating the achievements she makes as a leader, however small they may be, and striving to achieve even greater achievements. Self-management will also help her to be able to adapt smoothly to the changes in the hospital and to avoid circumstances where the changes make her lose control and doubt her capabilities. Ms O’Hara will also require being optimistic and being persistent in accomplishing the goals that have been set even when there are barriers and challenges to such achievement. (Howell, 2014) In order to regain her confidence as a leader, Ms O’Hara must concentrate on developing who she is. This means that once she has discovered who she is in terms of her weaknesses and strengths, she has to strive to act on the strengths and develop them. As she continues to understand herself, she regains her confidence and her ability to influence others. References Kouzes, J and Posner, B 1987, The Leadership Challenge, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. George L, Kelling and William J, Bratton, 1998, ‘Declining Crime Rates: Insiders’ Views of the New York City Story,’ Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, vol. 88, issue 4: pp. 1217-32. Howell, T, J (2014), Daniel Goleman–Emotional Intelligence, Instructor. Goleman, D, Boyatzis, R, E, & McKee, A 2002, The new leaders: Transforming the art of leadership into the science of results, London: Little, Brown. Joyce, W, F (2005), ‘What Really Works: Building the 4+ 2 Organization’, Organizational Dynamics, 34(2), 118-129. Cuddy, A, J, Kohut, M, & Neffinger, J 2013, ‘Connect, then lead’, Harvard business review, 91(7), 54-61. Brenneman, G, 1997, ‘Right away and all at once: how we saved Continental’ Harvard Business Review, 76(5), 162-4. Rost, J, C, 1998, Leadership and management, Leading organizations: Perspectives for a new era, 97-114. Read More