I've been providing guides to the steps of successful shadowing in my past 4 posts, and today is no different, wrapping up with guidance on the follow-up.
In many sports moves, the follow-through is a vital aspect of success (think hitting a ball in tennis, baseball, or golf), the follow-up of a shadowing session is what delivers the real value.
There are four keys to a successful shadowing session follow-up:
Schedule this in advance to occur within 48 hours of the shadowing session so everything is still fresh in your mind and the mind of the person you shadowed, ensuring a productive and insightful follow-up discussion while the experience is still vivid for both of you.
Prepare an agenda, consistent for each shadowing event, that includes:
Thanking the "shadowee" for allowing you to shadow,
Asking the "shadowee" how they think it went,
Asking what they experienced during the session that either was consistent with their usual work experience or varied from the usual,
Ask questions about things you were not sure of, and
Share your thoughts about opportunities to improve the workplace and workflows.
Focus the discussion on problem-solving, taking the approach that problems are not the fault of the individual, but indicate a workflow issue that is worth redesigning.
Agree on 1-3 action items that you will follow up with as a result of this process and send regular updates on progress.
It also helps to communicate to the rest of the organization about the shadowing experience, what you learned, and what will change as a result. This will increase the interest of others in having you shadow them front-line in their work.
As your experience grows, and you become more comfortable with shadowing, you can encourage your colleagues to try it out as well. Imagine how relationships between the C-suite and front line clinicians could improve if the CFO, CIO, COO, and CHRO all shadowed people who are taking care of patients.
Follow through is critical to ensure that shadowing is a positive experience for everyone. To learn more about these details, schedule a call with me, I'd love to help you do this right.
Dr. Paul DeChant is a leadership coach dedicated to helping CEOs create organizations where their people and their businesses thrive.
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