Interested in alternative perspectives and more dialogue about the case?
Check out additional participant discussion on Case Study 3: Workflow Management .
This page includes previous original posts and follow-up responses that are no longer active on the main case study page. Lots of great thoughts and discussion here!
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24 Comments
Shannon Pukl · October 3, 2021 at 11:41 am
The long-term plan for the team cannot be to have Savannah to come to the rescue. That isn’t sustainable. Savannah should begin with establishing the goals portion of her bucketed list. It is hard to delegate, prioritize, and arrange workflow if you don’t know where you are headed.
Savannah needs to establish what she wants to accomplish first and by when making some specific goals with timelines to share with the team. She should then have individual team meetings to discuss and provide specific feedback to help move the team toward these goals.
Beyond communicating goals, Savannah can then set the priorities of what matters helping the team identify the most important and urgent items to be done.
As part of her one-on-one meetings, she also needs to evaluate and discuss objective performance metrics of the individual employees. Using a workflow model can help assess skill vs. will, execution and improvement. Additional training might be the next step or perhaps the individual just needed to know members will be accountable for their results.
For the star players, Savannah can leverage their skills delegating specific tasks or training to get the total team on board.
Savannah has got quite the road ahead of her!
Josh Pukl · October 3, 2021 at 9:10 pm
Individual feedback is going to be very crucial to get this pharmacy operationally sound. She needs to have a firm/fair base set to understand who is contributing what in the grand scheme of the business. By having this data available, she can then understand what should be the standard acceptance then follow-up individually from there. It’s a great callout that we need to have some one-on-one conversations to get things aligned!
Josh Pukl · October 3, 2021 at 9:08 pm
Savannah has a good start with her 4 categories so I would take it a step further and note the following:
Delegation – Let the runners run! She will find her strong associates and leverage their abilities to bring others up to speed and help to own certain parts of the business. This isn’t dumping or overburdening! Simply supporting the total practice with their enhanced KSAs.
Goals – Set expectations! Savannah needs to have base minimums on order completion tasks and hold associates accountable when they miss the mark in a patterned fashion. Additionally, stretch assignments and larger total pharmacy goals should be made as well to encourage future progress.
Priorities – Do what matters! The pharmacy unravels quickly so it’s evident that they’re not focusing on the core items. With goals and expectations set, priorities can be drawn as well to make sure they’re getting healthy on their core business before taking on too much, too soon.
Workflow – Have a plan! Setting a workflow rotation is what is foundational to ensuring daily tasks are completed. This will keep everyone honest and their performance objective as well. From this outset, Savannah can begin to better assess her team and where breakdowns occur and who she should follow-up with as a result. This daily game plan will balance workload and showcase where development or advancement is necessary.
Shannon Pukl · October 12, 2021 at 5:23 pm
Goal-setting is so important! If Savannah doesn’t set expectations, then how can her team hit the mark? Also establishing the goals bring objectivity to holding individuals accountable for their performance. The other topics – priorities, workflow, and even delegation – all stem from knowing what the goal is then building from there on what matters most in reference to the goal, the plan to achieve what matters, and using the resources within your team to execute the plan to achieve.
Amy Woods · October 14, 2021 at 2:42 pm
Great points, Josh! I especially like your comment about priorities. They need to get to the core business. A great practice would be revisiting the mission and incorporating priorities that center around the mission to increase morale and excitement during a challenging time.
Kamal Althobaiti · May 12, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Amy, revisiting the mission and focusing on the core items will definitely help Savannah’s new role. This will also keep her away from poor prioritization.
Danny Sharara · March 20, 2022 at 2:37 pm
Josh, I liked your points about the importance of setting a workflow rotation that allows for tracking the completion of daily tasks as well as facilitating individual accountability with the system. It is also important to emphasize, as you did, the fact that an effective workflow rotation with robust metrics will make clear not only areas of improvement for each employee but also rendering visible individual achievement and strengths, which can facilitate well-earned advancement that benefits both the individual and the team as a whole.
Amy Woods · October 14, 2021 at 2:48 pm
This a very challenging situation for Savannah! Transitioning into a new leadership role, gaining trust with the team, and dealing with a store in disarray sounds daunting. However, by employing strategies learned in this program, Savannah can navigate a few challenging weeks to have a smoother operation that is sustainable.
While Savannah wants to come to the rescue, she simply cannot keep doing this. She will burnout, which will certainly not help the situation. She needs to set aside time to learn more about her team – their strengths/opportunities, and then she can delegate tasks to not only help the pharmacy but empower her employees to find meaning in their work. Delegation begins with setting clear expectations and having open communication. Savannah needs to make sure to follow-up once she delegates tasks to ensure that there are no changes or updates necessary with the new process.
Nick Bileck · December 8, 2021 at 1:25 am
Amy, follow up in this situation is key for continued success in the pharmacy. Everyone may be agreeable to the plan initially, but as the hours and days go by, some flaws and inconsistencies may arise. It is important to talk with the team and ask them for feedback to see what is going well and what could be improved. The most dangerous phrase an organization can make is “we have always done it this way.” Change and improvement in workflows and processes is the only way that companies and organizations can continue to succeed without crumbling from within itself.
Lisa · August 17, 2022 at 8:43 pm
I think Nick brings up good points. Just because something has been done for a long time, doesn’t mean it is the best way. However, changes need to be made slowly in order to not disrupt staff’s confidence in management. Using What-Why link is important to explain to the staff the reason behind all the changes. If everyone is working for the common goal, performance and efficiency will improve.
Nick Bileck · December 8, 2021 at 1:20 am
Since Savannah is the manager, she should start with the Goals that she has for the pharmacy. What does she want to accomplish while she is there? What does she want the operation, mission, and vision to look like? Are they attainable? What parameters should be set to make sure that goals are met or in reach?
What are the Priorities of the pharmacy? What needs to be done now and what can be done later? Utilizing the Eisenhower matrix can help put these priorities in the appropriate boxes.
What does workflow look like for the pharmacy. Can there be 1 tech that does order entry, 1 that does filling, and 1 that intake and pickup exclusively? What processes could make this easier?
Finally, how do we delegate these tasks? For order entry for example, I would be assigning Aaron and Martin to these tasks because they are objective the fastest and produce the most. Katerina and Paula fill fairly quickly, so I would be comfortable putting them in these spots. Both Aaron and Martin are efficient at both order entry and filling, so maybe I could switch them between roles so they are not burnt out at a particular role.
I would seek open and honest communication with my team and see what works for them and come up with a plan that is conducive for the whole team and get buy-in from them by including them in the process.
Shannon Pukl · December 8, 2021 at 3:21 pm
Great suggestions Nick on using the Eisenhower Matrix as a tool for categorizing the priorities and seeking team feedback in developing the plan!
Considering the workflow section of Savannah’s plan, what impact could one technician being exclusively responsible for a task have in the future? What might happen if one of those employees exits the company or takes a leave of absence? What else might Savannah do to help improve workflow? What could Savannah also delegate to the team aside from basic job responsibilities?
Samantha Hanna · December 16, 2021 at 8:31 pm
Agree – great suggestions!
I think it would great to add in a rotation for the technicians so that there aren’t gaps in competency/physical gaps in the scheduled during times of PTO or FMLA. I think she could also improve workflow by assigning each shift specific responsibilities since it looks like there’s a mix of work being done by everyone, including pharmacists. Shifts might run more smoothly if everyone had an chunk of the pharmacy assembly line to call their own.
As for delegation, that could be expanded to the signing up of vaccines, running med rec clinics, if they wanted to expand services to do a smoking cessation clinic etc. There are plenty of opportunities to delegate responsibilities and also enhance the pharmacy experience for their patients and maybe gain some back that they lost recently.
Samantha · December 16, 2021 at 6:25 pm
Savannah has to start with setting goals for her team. I have found that the initial goal setting process is a good group activity, especially in a group that may already have reached a group consensus that their needs are not being met and they cannot find a way within the group to make the situation better.
If I were Savannah I would have a group meeting with her team to set baseline goals of how to she wants to run operations and what the group sees as an ideal workplace. This will bring her team together from the start with an agreed upon list and she can also gauge what are some areas that may need addressed on a one-on-one basis based on the reactions of the group to each goal she tries to set. While setting goals she should also set up parameters for how she will address the department if these goals are not reached by their deadlines.
Once the goals are set she can talk priorities with the group. I think its important to involve the group as much as possible when making decisions that will impact everyone with the caveat that the manager does have the final say. They can decide what changes need addressed immediately and what are more “annoyances” that can be addressed once the pharmacy is running more smoothly. Outside of the group setting I think some of the top priorities should include efficiency as evidenced by the data given in the table. I think getting everyone comfortable with each station within the pharmacy workflow and setting a baseline expectation of productivity with each employee should be addressed early on in private meetings.
Once goals and priorities are set, Savannah can start delegating operational tasks to her high performers. When the employees that need to work on meeting minimum expectations meet those goals, they can also be delegated some bigger stretch projects to make everyone feel that they are being included and that they are expanding their KSAs.
As for workflow, I think to get the pharmacy set up for success Savannah should put employees in their strongest roles until minimum competencies are met across the board. As employees start to show competency, they should be put into a rotation to various roles in the workflow.
Ruth Juul · January 31, 2022 at 6:23 pm
Starting with the goals of the business is a great way to team build! I too believe that getting everyone involved on the same page and working cohesively to a common goal is a perfect way to start the changes needed here. Following up often, especially at the beginning with how things are progressing should be the second step to help facilitate the team to reach those goals.
Melissa DeMarco · August 3, 2022 at 5:51 pm
Looking at the data by itself doesn’t answer what the root cause of the underperformance of some of the employees. How long have Jose and Katerina been there and is their underperformance due to lack of training, lack of motivation or just a bad attitude? I agree that a team meeting and individual meetings are a necessity to get to the root cause of the issues. From there she will be able to set the goals and future expectations.
Ruth Juul · January 25, 2022 at 6:42 pm
I think delegation, goals, priorities and workflow is a perfect place for Savannah to start. Putting some trust in her team is key to this pharmacy’s success. Savannah should start with what goals she feels is most important for the pharmacy and then give each goal a priority, from urgent to less urgent but still important. Once discussing and motivating her team its time to delegate responsibilities. She can post a daily chart and place those on staff for the day in specific areas of the pharmacy where they are the strongest fit. Later on, down the line she can train across so each member of the team feels confident in all stations of the pharmacy. This will create a smooth workflow within the pharmacy to build the teams confidence.
Heather Lindell · May 18, 2022 at 9:24 pm
Hi Ruth,
I like your mention about ‘trust’. yes, I can see how building trust with the team could be helpful. Since the past manager had ‘”checked out”‘ the team may be feeling a bit lost and misdirected. I can comprehend how Savannah coming in offering support and structure could help build a bridge of trust with the team.
Danny Sharara · March 20, 2022 at 2:16 pm
An excellent place to start would be to identify in a more concrete and measurable way the goals that she has for the pharmacy. Once these goals are clearly articulated, Savannah might consider identifying priorities and assigning each goal a level of priority (i.e. along the dimensions of importance and urgency). It may be helpful to hold a team meeting in which these goals and priorities can be communicated to her team alongside expectations and her vision for the pharmacy. I would also recommend one-on-one meetings with each employee in order to better understand their perspective, what motivates them, and ways that they can most effectively be supported in order to bring out their best workplace performance. Also, with regard to workflow – it makes sense to give her star employees the opportunity to mentor others who are falling behind while also establishing regular lines of communication to be able to gauge and intervene early if her top talent are approaching burn out.
Kamal Althobaiti · May 11, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Savannah is in a tough situation. The good thing about this case is that Savanah knows the place and is familiar with the clients. I assumed that she had gained a rich experience in the city. Although it is challenging, she can bring the pharmacy back to track and she sounds like the perfect manager to run the place. If I were Savanah, I would start meeting with individuals and seeking feedback. Something I would like to know more about is clients’ complaints and as meetings go along, more issues and feedback will come to the surface. Meeting with employees will effectively inspire and motivate them in the workplace.
On the other hand, Savannah must start setting and determining priorities. This will help the pharmacy; thus, a sustainable operation is expected. She also may need to set a team meeting to discuss the goals and objectives, so everyone can engage, as this isn’t completed by the manager only.
A significant point worth mentioning is that Savannah must be careful and needs to avoid poor prioritization. She also needs to engage her team and use it as a source rather than only delegating.
Heather Lindell · May 18, 2022 at 9:17 pm
It is great Savannah came in ready to make a change and is “determined to bring the shine, luster, and amazing patient care back.” Although from her first experience, it seems she needs to take a deep breath, slow down, and accept the challenge as a work in process. It will not happen overnight and if she thinks it will she may become disenchanted. Here she can engage change management strategies and well as many people management techniques. Keeping Goodhart’s law in mind, she can examine data that is useful and contextually sound to help her. Not all hard data is going to be useful. I would likely perform several observation analyses to observe culture, workflow, interactions, and emergent data I may have overlooked without a purposeful qualitative approach. Next, I would probably engage document analysis. Meaning, I would pull the mission/vision/values statements to determine if we are working towards a purpose of if it needs to be updated (or even created!). I would also pull other documents that may be useful (e.g., client feedback, etc.). Before I engage interviews I would likely want to have a team meeting where I would share my expectations. Those would be my expectations of the team, what they can expect from me, and what are my deal breakers (e.g., stealing drugs). Hopefully Savannah has learned about the focus funnel (eliminate, automate, delegate, concentrate, and procrastinate). She can definitely use this in combination with the Eisenhower matrix to come up with a good game plan for prioritizing tasks identified, and after learning more about each of her team member’s KSAs she can delegate effectively. She can circle back around to assure the established what-why link and the change approach matches the mission of the pharmacy.
Melissa DeMarco · August 3, 2022 at 5:38 pm
Savannah has a lot of things on her plate, but as she said, she knows has a team that will help her.
First, Savannah needs to communicate that she has confidence to her team to succeed and that it will take a team effort to accomplish the mission. There are two things that she should start with: 1. Gather information from Samuel about what the process breakdown was when she left for the week, 2. Make a list of the tasks that she is doing and use the Focus Funnel to prioritize. Team development is one thing that sticks out to me based on the data. She should have a discussion with each team member and set goals for performance and future expectations and schedule follow-ups to evaluate progress and make staffing changes if those expectations are not met. She has a some strong team members (Martin, Paula, Aaron) who may be able to peer-coach Jose (what is he doing with all his time there) and Katerina on Data Entry/Fill. Delegation to Samuel should be utilized with stretch assignments incorporated. A daily to do list/schedule and workflow rotation should be introduced.
Lisa · August 17, 2022 at 8:02 pm
Savannah needs to start off on the right foot by having a staff meeting. At this time, she can lay out her goals for bring the pharmacy back to its glory and how this will occur in both the long run and immediately. So, she won’t overwhelm the staff, prioritization and reasonable timelines will be made for the pharmacy, not for individual staff members. She can create job duties and expectations for each shift and positions to even out the work and maintain constant workflow, keeping the patients and staff happy. The next step would be for Savannah to meet with each staff member and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. She can then come up with induvial plans on how they can complete all assigned tasks during their shift.
The data gives insight to the workflow issues. The pharmacist should not be doing data entry. By giving specific tasks for each workstation, these issues could be minimized.
Marketing new management to the patients and getting Savannah out to speak with patient will renew the faith in the pharmacy and bring more business.
Savannah has the desire and knowledge, with organization, delegation, and improving workflow, the flow will get back to becoming successful.
Healthcare Leadership Certificate · August 17, 2022 at 10:42 pm
Wonderful idea to highlight “new management”! This invites dialogue for patrons to be heard and share feedback with the new leader. As operations and morale begin to improve, the changes will help restore confidence among patients and the community.
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