You have been working in your electronic medical records (EMR) system for the past 5 years. The system isn't perfect, but you've made it work. You know where everything is. You know all the work-arounds. Then you find that your organization will be switching to a new system. It has some functionality that goes beyond what your current EMR can do, but mostly it feels like a less sophisticated system and a step backwards.
You are a master of the current system and feel like you'll be starting from square one with the new system. But you've been told that the change will happen, and it has a date attached to it. You aren't an influencer or a decision-maker in this situation. You have a team of 100+ employees to lead; employees who are already overworked and under-appreciated. You are supposed to lead them through this massive change. What do you do?
1. Feel all the Feels
When you've finally achieved mastery of a system, and then you find yourself starting all over again you FEEL some type of way! It SUCKS because the EMR is supposed to be a tool for you to do your job better - NOT the FOCUS of your job! It may feel frustrating and unfair - especially if you were not involved in the decision-making process. Change is experienced as a death of sorts; a death of mastery. We go through all the stages of grief that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross describes: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. And we may find ourselves cycling backwards through the stages - it isn't a linear process.
2. Identify What You Can Control
Maybe you can't change or even influence the fact that you will be switching systems, but you might be able to guide the timing of the implementation, the training plan, the customization of the system, or the knowledge sharing as the system is deployed. Identify what you can control and take action on that.
3. Get in Touch with YOUR Why
Especially in larger organizations, the decision behind a change is often motivated by profit; if we switch to a different system, it will save us money. The folks on the front-line not only cannot connect with that reasoning, they reject it. The change will come anyway, so can you find something about it that you can agree with? For example, if you are part of a larger healthcare network, will the change in EMR allow patient information to be shared more freely and transparently between hospitals and clinics? Is that something you can get behind? If so, tell the story and make it personal; talk about how a patient benefitted from the transparency of shared records. If not, what reasoning will resonate with you? You may not be able to influence whether the change will come, but you have 100% control over how you respond to it.
4. Coach Your Team (and Yourself) to Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
People are willing to let go of their current reality if they believe that the new reality they are moving towards will be better in some way. As the team expresses their frustration while they climb the new learning curve toward tactical competence, respect their frustration AND remind them of why this is better for the organization and the people they serve. If you can't quite get there, remind them that they will learn this new system just like they did the old system and their frustration will not last forever.
5. Keep Track of Your Progress
Small gains are often overshadowed by larger frustrations. It is important to celebrate the small wins and show the team their progress: the first time 100% of the team was able to log into the new system; when time-on-task starts to decline; when you sense that people are starting to "get it" through anecdotal evidence. Make sure ALL of that unseen progress is seen! Similarly, if it looks like there is a backslide, use that as an opportunity to conduct a root cause analysis to find out what is going on and what needs to be done differently to move forward.
6. Find Your Champions and Super-users
Is there someone who never used the old system or prefers the new system? Ask them to speak up in a work huddle or a department meeting. Is there someone who is already proficient in the new system? Ask them if they would be willing to be labeled as a 'super-user' and act as a resource for their colleagues.
7. Celebrate Success
You WILL get to the other side of the change. When you have substantially arrived, CELEBRATE! Literally, have cake and ice cream and let the team vent about how horrible it was in the beginning and how much better it is now.
8. Learn from the Experience
Throughout the process, what did you do that worked well with the team? What failed miserably? What will you do differently next time? There is an adage, "Never waste a crisis." Were you able to leverage a sense of urgency or a collective mission? Were there some folks who just never bought in and to this day are still grumbling about the change... and that's OK? If you can learn from the experience, you will be that much further ahead the next time you are asked to implement a change.
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