Distractions, fine-tuning and perseverance
Spring 2016. Essential to the project is the so-called detective phase. The challenge is to identify, in a short space of time, the key topics that form the basis for shaping the learning and development track.
That information is gathered actively by being present, Sherlock Holmes style, in all manner of meetings. Above all it is a matter of listening well, and that turns out to be no mean feat. There is nothing wrong with our hearing, so that is not it. What is tricky is that the various meetings go deep into the content. And the staff have barely any subject-matter expertise on the EHR.
By asking lots of follow-up questions and testing constantly, the key issues were brought to the surface. A longlist of some 700 little learning questions was the result.
In this detective phase a good deal is also invested in the implementation team. They above all need to learn to trust their expertise as educators. Some knowledge of the EHR is handy, of course, but it is no precondition for the project to succeed. The presence of the 70/20/10 philosophy keeps growing, and with it grows the organisation’s capacity to accept it.
To anchor steering and support properly, something in the project organisation is changed. The Tulser adviser takes on the role of project leader, with the mandate that comes with it. Commitment, consensus and equal collaboration form the basis, but when the project leader says the team should turn left, they turn left.
This approach acts as a catalyst. Outside but expert eyes evidently compel, because from that moment on the group really starts to move. The team goes out into the organisation a great deal. It is present in meetings and at the moments when things happen, and is increasingly sought out by stakeholders. The coordinator of the team that develops smart support tools even chooses a desk in the wing where the application managers work. The difference between “you’re welcome if you need us” and “we’re here for you” becomes visible.
Embedding and building
The deployment of the embedding teams, which act as a point of contact for all questions around learning & development, is a bullseye. From the very start there are countless questions. The make-up of the teams means most questions can be answered quickly, or the question is passed on to the right people.
The build teams are busy developing smart support tools to guide end users through their learning process. Help cards are developed with which actions and processes in the EHR can be taught step by step, in a visual way.
However, the EHR is not yet finished for the hospital. This means no support material can be made for EHR components or processes that have not yet been settled.
Instruction and guidance for key users
A broad network of key users is set up across the organisation. They cover all layers and disciplines. Every key user uses a plan of action that is unique to their target group. Each key user attends at least two sessions in which they are prepared for their role according to the 70/20/10 principles.
The Jeroen Bosch Academie delivers these sessions in collaboration with subject-matter experts from Application Management. In every session the shortlist of learning points and bottlenecks drives the content. Each one starts with a short demo of the EHR (the “10”). The key users then get to work themselves (the “70”) with help cards to learn to understand the EHR. The sessions involve plenty of interaction and discussion (the “20”).
Alongside the guidance sessions, other forms of support are deployed: formats with which key users can brief their team, drop-in sessions, and a training environment in the EHR where they can practise as needed.
70/20/10: count me out?
Most people in the organisation commit to this approach. Among some key users, line managers and end users, though, a clear demand for a traditional approach remains. This is seen as a kind of homesickness for the classroom. The choice is for a consistent approach: listen, explain, but above all be visible, head off questions and actively support. As long as it fits within the 70/20/10 approach, a maximum number of extra team sessions is accommodated. The principle remains: no training sessions, but facilitating learning in one’s own work context as much as possible.
The question is asked: and what about the implementation team itself? Has the team now reached the point where it can act as an ambassador for 70/20/10? Whether the philosophy is genuinely embraced as an ideal is unclear. The team does, however, act on it, and is ever more consistent in safeguarding the principles of workplace-supported learning.
Heading for go-live
Two months before the switch is flipped, there is still a mountain of work to do. Time and again the staff are at their wits’ end. Because the EHR is still not finished. Because so much will therefore still change. Because the time available to practise properly is getting shorter. Because a slight panic is palpable in the organisation.
But above all, the conviction prevails that, come 24 June, they will be ready.
This blog first appeared on tulser.nl.