Creating an Environment of Cross Training & Sharing

Creating an Environment of Cross Training & Sharing

I was recently asked by a friend of mine who manages several interface engineers, “How do I create an environment of cross training and sharing of information?  We are working in silos, and it has been costly to the organization.”  When you only have one person working on interfaces this can still be an issue because most likely you have another individual who supports the interfaces when they are out.  Most interface engineers that I have worked with are introverted geniuses.  They can usually make interface engines do things that no one ever thinks of; however, many like to keep their “cards close to their chest”. 

In most cases, it is always best to relate a problem in ways that will benefit the individual.  Here are some ways an open environment will benefit the individual:

• When each individual is out, it will help the team cover for them.  This means less calls to them on their days off.
  
  
• We need to work smarter not harder.  If we are sharing ideas and solutions, we all benefit. 
  
  
• We must have consensus on the common factors and each individual is executing them across the board.  It should not be a free for all and everyone doing his/her own thing.  This will decrease the analysis time when something goes wrong because everyone is on the same page.
  
  
  • Naming conventions
    
    
  • Common store procedure are used by everyone.  E.g. filter patient by outpatient location by passing department codes as parameters.  There is no need for multiple procedure to do this. 
    
    
  • Time Out/Alerts Management.  Who gets notified when an interface gets hung up?
    
    
  • Etc.
    
    
• Don’t become so rigid or controlling of the environment that easy fixes become hours’ worth of work. 
  
  
• In weekly meetings, each team member reports on what they are working on and its progress.  No one has to second guess what the other team member are working on.  If a team member is stuck on a project, others can help.
  
  

It is human nature to adhere to what we know.  When an engineer learns a system, it is only natural that they develop all the interfaces for that system.  There are times that this approach does make sense especially if it is a new system being implemented.  However, I would like to challenge you on this.  The downside to this is that only one person learns it.  Try to break up the assignments across your engineers.  This will create an environment of cross training and sharing of information once they can break through the silo barriers.  It will force them to work together as a team.

If you are a manager, it is sometime difficult to make a culture shift in your group.  In the short term, this requires people to slow down and re-think what they are doing.  Again, it is human nature to become creature of habits.  Breaking those habits is not always easy and there could be some complaining.  However, keep constantly in front of your staff why we are doing this and it is to benefit them.  Show month progress to be 100% complaint and celebrate when you do hit the 100% mark.  Be strategic in your planning, it will benefit you, the department, the organization and your team!

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