So, my employer has recently contracted with a new provider for our eMR (electronic medical record). This will bring a lot of big changes to our hospital because it will integrate many of our systems in to one, simplify workflows, and bring us in to compliance with many government healthcare regulations.
Personally, I'm very excited about the upgrade to Epic, because it means a promotion and new professional experiences for me. This past week, I have spent most of my time in orientation and kick-off meetings, and getting to know my new supervisor and teammates. The unique thing about my new team is that less than 1/3 is comprised of existing hospital employees, and the remainder (including supervisor) are external hires. Some of my new team members have ID experience, while many do not. Instead, some have experience supporting applications and others come from a clinical background. It is a very diverse group, but this was the hiring manager's strategy.
My question for all of you this week is...
How would you approach a situation where several of your coworkers did not have ID experience? How would you get them up to speed without overwhelming them? What do you think would be your "top priorities" in terms of teaching them what it means to be an ID?
Hi Adrienne,
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you’re in a tough situation. Change can be difficult. If you were to draw a bell curve you would have early adopters (far left), pragmatists (center left), conservatives (center right), and laggards (far right). Essentially not everyone will be as accepting to change. You need to show them “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM). Perhaps you can show them samples of ID materials that you or others have created and identify the benefits associated to your content.
Are you eventually going to be overseeing this team? I’d be very cautious how you approach the team members who have little to no ID experience. You don’t want to come off to aggressive and scare them away – or worse, have them resent you.
Adrienne- I have been hearing all about the new changes with EPIC, my fiance works for SCL Health System. I feel your pain/excitement in a round-about way! Secondly, on another completely different side note- I applied for the ID job at Denver Health and I REALLY wish I would have seen your blog post sooner and reached out! I would really like to get into the healthcare field on some level in the future. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I am in a situation where my coworkers do not know Instructional Design very well. I have set them up with mini-tasks or small projects where they are able to achieve a goal with minimal instruction from me, but I am there if they need support. I might say today were working with Dreamweaver and give them small tasks/repairs for courses to upload on the LMS. I am constantly providing feedback and giving positive reinforcement which I think is the best way to get them on your team and want to learn and do more. We meet F2F quite a bit so we can discuss our goals and challenges. As far as a top priority, I would say familiarizing the new ID's with whatever main/critical program(s) they will be using as much as humanly possible, everything else can be taught in time. -Amy Linville