Get involved

As I talked about in my previous posts, since this is a new year, I am shifting my focus on to teamwork.  Going along with teamwork, is getting the team involved.  This is now my problem.
Asking everybody to speak up and put in their ideas is great,  you give them the feeling of empowerment since they can be a part of the solution or decision making rather than just a follower doing what they are told.  But……getting individuals to actually step up and do what is needed is another thing.

I just had my staff meetings for the month of January.  I asked for volunteers to be on committees, but it was the same people that volunteer for all the other stuff.

I have talked about in the past how to make yourself stand out when interviewing, but being a part of committees can help you stand out when you are a part of the team already.  This shows your manager that you are the willing to come in extra, work a little bit more and make a few sacrifices to improve the unit, team and experience for your patients.

I know that when I look to my team members for someone to bounce ideas off, or to help move up the organizational ladder, it is those individuals that stepped forward to join committees and voice their ideas for our team.  They have shown me and the organization that they are willing to work a little bit harder.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want everybody to everything, I would just like everybody to do just a little extra to help out; that is what shared governance is all about.