This time of year, kitchens everywhere are buzzing with activity; mixing, baking, tasting, and sometimes – improvising. In healthcare, building a productive department is not all that different from cooking up a holiday feast. It takes the right ingredients, teamwork, and a willingness to adapt when things get a little lumpy.
Now is the time to roll up your sleeves and determine what the recipe for perfect productivity in your organization looks like. Below are some steps that Altius suggests to cook-up cost savings and lasting efficiency!
- Step 1: The Base Ingredient – Reliable Data
Every great dish starts with quality ingredients. The same goes for productivity—if your data is not dependable, everything that follows risks falling flat. Think of data as the flour or stock, the foundation of the recipe. It needs to be measured, consistent, and reliable. Without it, any productivity initiative that is implemented will come apart.
Collect data that is accurate, timely, and relevant to each department’s real-time activity. Whether it is patient days, encounters, procedures, or visits—make sure that what is being tracked accurately reflects the work being done.
- Step 2: Season to Taste – Tailored Benchmarks
Once the ingredients have been selected, it is time to season. Benchmarks are what bring flavor to the productivity mix—but be cautious of using someone else’s recipe! A benchmark that works for another hospital or department might be too spicy (or too bland) for yours.
Instead, tailor benchmarks to your organization’s unique operations, patient population, available resources, and performance goals. One-size-fits-all does not apply! Productivity needs to be customized in order to gain buy-in and realize a positive impact.
- Step 3: Mix Well – Realistic and Achievable Targets
Everyone wants seamless implementation and strong results, but expecting perfection can burn the batch. Setting realistic and achievable targets keeps morale high and progress steady.
Think of this as preheating the oven to the right temperature—too high, and your team will burn out; too low, and momentum never builds. Targets should challenge a team’s performance just enough to optimize efficiencies and encourage growth, but not too much where cracks in operations will form under the pressure.
- Step 4: Fold Evenly – Team Collaboration and Input
No one cooks a holiday dinner without support – and if they do, they probably never want to do it again! Productivity thrives on collaboration and input from the whole team. The magic truly happens when performance improvement is a group endeavor. Everyone contributes something to ensure success and lighten the load.
Healthcare leaders need to bring staff into the conversation—identify what is working, where improvement is needed, and what tools would promote greater efficiencies. When everyone has a hand in the creating the plan, they take more pride in the quality of the outcome. Teamwork transforms productivity from a “you must” to a “we can!”
- Step 5: Taste Along the Way – Routine Monitoring
No one puts a turkey in the oven and walks away for the five hours it takes to cook. They consistently check progress and make any necessary adjustments along the way to guarantee the final product is as expected. Routine productivity monitoring allows leaders to track improvement, identify challenges early, and update the approach to stay on course.
Bi-weekly reports/performance dashboards and regular check-ins ensure consistent performance reviews. Data should never just be collected – it should be used to drive decision making! Like a bubbling casserole, progress may be messy on the surface, but cooking beautifully underneath.
- The Secret Ingredient: The final and most important tip is to define what “productivity” means to you. Every healthcare organization has its own flavor—its specific mission, goals, and pressures.
Productivity management should be individualized and not mimic another organization’s feast – consider the size of the dinner party, any dietary restrictions, and special requests. Once you define your version of success, you can build a recipe that truly nourishes your organization.
This season, as you gather around the dinner or conference room table, take a moment to be thankful—for the data that guides, the colleagues who collaborate, and the small wins that build big progress. Perfect productivity is not about perfection—it is about finding the right balance of ingredients and finding the joy in the process along the way.
Remember, a few lumps are normal. Productivity efforts are seldom perfectly smooth – there will be staffing challenges, technology changes, and shifting priorities. What matters is consistent effort, stirring through the obstacles and continuing to refine the recipe over time. Now go ahead—grab your apron, analytics, and maybe a slice of pie—and get cooking.
Altius offers the data, tools, and support needed for healthcare organizations to realize improved performance, empowered leadership, sustained cost-savings, and enhanced operations. Ready to refine your own productivity recipe? Visit our website or contact us today to get started.