I recently created 2 documents outlining expectations for physicians: one addressed professionalism and the other productivity.\u00a0 The intent was to articulate what is needed as a baseline from each physician, and point out the importance of discretionary (extra) effort\u00a0for us to be successful. \u00a0Acknowledging and thanking those\u00a0who go above and beyond on a regular basis was essential to this exercise.<\/p>\n
The activity was undertaken because of complaints from a number of colleagues about low productivity and poor professionalism among a few; this small minority was threatening the joy and pride in work of those many who go above and beyond.\u00a0 Although obvious but not always front of mind is the connection of professionalism and productivity to burnout \u2013 the more individuals in the workforce underperforming in either, or both, the higher turnover, the lower overall engagement, and the more likely burnout will occur. \u00a0The underperforming few can drag the hardworking majority down.<\/p>\n
As leaders we know clarifying expectations is important. \u00a0It sets the bar, and it also provides the opportunity for us to remind those\u00a0pushing themselves way beyond the bar to cut back and strike a healthier balance.<\/p>\n
Expectations need to be clear before people can be held accountable,\u00a0self-reflect and resolve to improve where appropriate, whether it be on one’s balance, commitment or focus. \u00a0The under performing who feel burned out despite doing the minimum need to improve\u00a0efficiency and cut out activities that aren\u2019t aligned with what is needed (i.e. essentialism).<\/p>\n
The explanation of professionalism I drafted centered on the following principles:<\/p>\n
Respect<\/strong> for the voice and value of others – listen to learn and understand; value others contributions.<\/p>\n Kindness<\/strong> – speak with humility and respect, not dogmatism or for the purpose of demoralizing another.<\/p>\n Focus<\/strong> on the mission and\u00a0core functions of the team; avoid drama, avoid drawing attention to oneself unnecessarily.<\/p>\n Professionalism<\/strong> – balanced and non-judgmental communication; courage balanced with consideration<\/p>\n The explanation of productivity centered on the following:<\/p>\n Time<\/strong>\u2013 >50 hours a week on average outside of night call is almost always needed \u2013 professionals who need to work less than this may need to go part-time.<\/p>\n RVUs<\/strong>\u2013 a starting place for reflecting on efficiency and contribution \u2013 it\u2019s not a 4-letter word, but it is an imperfect measure, and needs to be taken in context. \u00a0Yet its needed because it\u2019s too easy (and very human) to be biased about how hard one works.<\/p>\n Discretionary effort\u00a0<\/strong>for certain committees, projects (e.g. quality improvement) and activities (e.g. teaching) is a must for us to be successful. \u00a0Yet one must feel that this work is meaningful and making a difference.<\/p>\n Triaging<\/strong>\u2013 invariably individuals and teams need to prioritize their activities, schedules, patient care, phone calls, who and what they teach, etc.\u00a0 We can\u2019t do it all.<\/p>\n Still a work in progress, yet it does drive a good dialogue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently created 2 documents outlining expectations for physicians: one addressed professionalism and the other productivity.\u00a0 The intent was to articulate what is needed as a baseline from each physician, and point out the importance of discretionary (extra) effort\u00a0for us to be successful. \u00a0Acknowledging and thanking those\u00a0who go above and beyond on a regular basis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions\/277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadingachildrenshospital.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}