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Transcript

(Intro audio) Lisa Cohen, CHCP, FACEHP: I think our community is fantastic when we're sharing.

Kenny Cox, CHCP, FACEHP: Hello, and welcome back to the Alliance Podcast continuing conversations.

Lisa Cohen, CHCP, FACEHP: I'm Lisa Cohen. I'm the director of education and professional development for the Society for Vascular Surgery.

KC: And I'm Kenny Cox. I am the VP of CME for ArcheMedX.

LC: And we're here live from the Alliance 2024 Annual Conference in New Orleans, after presenting our session, More Than Just a Quick Read: Putting the Top Almanac Articles to Work for You.

KC: As members of the Alliance Editorial Board, we, along with Katie Robinson, designed this session tailored to helping you integrate what you read on the Almanac into your own work.

LC: We invited three of the Almanac's top authors to join us and discuss how to effectively interpret key article insights and develop strategies to use articles to identify trends and advancements in healthcare CPD. And we're excited to share some of our learnings to our listeners today, not only about what we learned from the authors, but also from our session attendees. But first, I just wanted to start by asking Kenny a question about his experience thus far at the annual meeting.

KC: I think the thing that really broke out for me at the annual meeting already was the keynote speaker on the first day. So Carol Cohen did a fantastic job talking about her experience, blending that into how we could look at education within CPD. The whole CME community could use the various tips and techniques that she's used in other industries. And I think that's so important. Quite often we get in a little silo, and we think about only what's happening within medical education. But what other industries are doing might be more advanced, might be unique, might use different technology. And it's great to hear from somebody that has really walked in those shoes and done things. Lisa, what have you seen so far?

LC: Yeah, I attended that session as well. And I've attended a couple more today, which really made me pause. So today, I attended also the keynote who talked about physician burnout. And you know, I've sat through these sessions before, and I kind of internalized them and thought, well, we're burned out too, you know, but I think his perspective on how to be a healthy, well-rounded human being, and this holistic approach to look at all of the different ways that we can support our staff and our team and our physicians and our CME providers and our learners. It really just struck a chord with me, and I had to take a moment to really think about what can I do every day to really drive home, the importance of the work that we're doing with our team, how they fit into that bigger picture and how I can be available to listen to them when they're getting burned out? And what can I do to help them, so that, starting my morning that way, it just was a little, it was just a moment of time where I could be reflective. We're just going to switch gears a little bit and talk about one of the two Almanac focus sessions that were presented at the conference this year. Kenny, as a member of the Almanac Editorial Board, and also a member of the Annual Conference Planning Committee, what value does this type of activity learning bring to our community, when using the lens of the Alliance publication?

KC: I think it really is two key things that I would mention here. First, it's just overall awareness in looking at the type of education, type of articles, type of things that we do within the Alliance and bringing awareness to the attendees about that. I think so often with the Alliance and looking at the Almanac, we get lost a little bit in some processes. There are certain people that absolutely love the Almanac and read it every single month and listen to all the podcasts and do everything. And there are others who are more on the fringe and are aware of it, but really don't jump in deep. I think what we can do with is creating awareness with these active learning environments that we're using in these sessions is such a great way to get people to know the people of the Alliance, to know the depth that you can get of the articles in the Alliance. It gives so much. The second, I think it also operationalizes what we do with articles in the Alliance, so you could take an article and start parsing it out about well, how can I apply these things in my own practice, in my own life, what I do with my children and organizations and things like that could apply to so many things that we do. And I think that's a key thing. Being able to take the processes and create a practicality that you can apply. Takeaways that you can use next time you're sitting at your desk. I think that's so important for all of the folks that come into this session.

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KC: We ultimately invited the three Almanac authors to present along with us. And I really think that added value to the session, I think about the interaction between myself and Andy Crim. Talking about generative AI and, you know, our ability to relate to things that we've done with GenAI, not just listening to Andy, but him responding to my questions. And then me being able to talk about things that I've done with it, and him asking me things about that. It was such a good interchange. I think it also happened in the discussion between Katie and Katie and talking about compliance, and their ability to talk about their own experiences, not just from an interview, interview II type of setup, but an interviewer giving some context about what they understand around the issue as well. What did you think, Lisa? What did you find?

LK: I found the experience of interviewing Brandi Koskie really interesting. I have to be honest, I really struggled with the article itself, meaning that when I saw the title of the article, which was something like A Call to Arms: White People Need to do Better. You know, I definitely clicked on that. And I read through the article. And I was thinking about all of the ways at work, where we are trying to move the needle, where we're taking small steps, with representation, with ensuring that our physicians understand the importance of these things. And when I was sitting up there, on the panel interviewing, I kind of had this aha moment where I went, Oh, my goodness, I didn't do this for this session. We had four Caucasian women and two Caucasian men talking about, you know, this really important topic. And I realized that I should have taken a moment when we were sitting around with the Almanac board, talking about putting this session together to take a moment to really think through how can we make sure we have representation on the panel? How can we ensure that we're doing the hard work, and leading by example. And so I think, I think it's important when you do put together these kinds of programs, that it's not for someone else. The things that we have to do is for us, as well. And so I'm going to really be thinking about this more. Every time I sit down now, putting together a program, putting together a session, when I'm looking at an article. I think this might be my whole thing that I take away from this year's meeting is just what can I do to be better, which is what Brandi was saying, in her article. So Kenny, for our listeners, and attendees who were not able to attend today's session, do you have any recommendations as to what they should do next? Maybe with the three articles or anytime that they're either listening to a podcast, or reading one of the Almanac articles?

KC: I think that's a great question. The key thing that I keep looking back on anytime I read an Almanac article is break out the highlighter. Or if you're electronic, get something where you can annotate if you're not printed out, you know, there's different ways of doing it. But highlight those things that you really feel like you can come back to and use it another time. A great example is the prompt article that Andy Crim and I were talking about, the article that was written by myself and Andy and Brian McGowan. That prompt article was chock full of different ways to write prompts for GenAI. It's a terrific thing to just sit there. And yeah, that's terrific. I'm gonna highlight that, I'm going to highlight that, and then you can come back to it, and just pull those key things out and use those in your everyday work. Put a post-it note up on a screen with something you pulled out of one of the articles, something that you could come back to again. Brian does this all the time when we do elements together, when we're doing outcomes reports together. The last thing we want to ask somebody is, what are the three things that you're going to use from this article? Grab a post-it note, write those three things down on that and stick it on your computer, stick it on your monitor, whatever you might be using. I think there are all kinds of ways that we can jump in and use things that we read and listen to on the Almanac in our everyday work. Did you find any interesting questions or comments coming out of the audience in this session that you'd like to share with the greater healthcare community?

LC: I definitely think the article that Katie O'Connell and her team wrote about the new standards, and how folks are really putting those into practice every day was really interesting because some of these new terms, some of the way that we are working with the new standards, can be a challenge and and so we talked a little bit, we heard from an audience member who was talking about how they, you know, pull together their materials and keep them up to date. You know, I talked a little bit about how we established like a handbook, with a goal of it being a couple of pages long. And now it's like over 50 pages long of every example you could possibly use. You know, I think, I think our community is fantastic when we're sharing. Like, I think that is the unique thing about the community here at the Alliance, is that we're always willing to give people examples, always willing to share our experiences, our pearls and our pitfalls. And I think, you know, we saw that in the session. And I'm sure we're seeing it at the meeting in the conference in nearly every session as well. So those were just some of the things that people talked about, and had questions. One of our Editorial Board members is working on an article about leadership and people management. In the spirit of the Almanac, we're going to answer each of the following questions live for the author to use as a source in an upcoming article. So Kenny, from your perspective, what are some creative ways managers can show gratitude to their employees, especially during challenging times or high stress periods? I’m specifically also asking about what role does recognition play in a healthy work environment? And how can managers effectively acknowledge and celebrate their team's achievements?

KC: I think those are all great questions. When you think about your staff, and you think about being able to recognize them, you need to recognize the big end and the small. Never miss a birthday, never miss a work anniversary, things like that, that just should be automatic, because all those things are important. And everybody, no matter where their position in the pecking order is, should be recognized as well, from the smallest to the biggest. I think the other thing to look at when we look at the idea of recognition, there are more subtle ways of recognizing individuals within the team, in particular inclusion into decisions that are being made, seeking their opinion about the next step that you're taking on a particular project, or asking their advice, not just using them to do tasks. I think that really kind of demeans, and doesn't build them up. The other thing I think about when someone comes to us with an idea is an old element that a marketing guy that I saw speak once, read all of his books, he's written many, but is no longer around with us. And his name is Tom Peters. In a conference that I was at with him one time, he talked about working in the Pentagon, and having one of his staff come to him with a project that they wanted to do. And he turned around and looked at the guy and he said, Yeah, don't do that. We've done it before but it didn't work. And what a horrible thing to say to that individual. Even though it didn't work before, that individual may be able to make it work for them and their process and the way they want to do it. And the interesting thing that Tom talked about, in his speech, he said, he went back to the staff member and said, I was totally wrong, you go ahead and go do that. And he did. And it was a total failure. But it didn't really matter. Because letting the person go through that process and figuring out and recognizing them for coming up with the idea. Having the gumption to go out and want to do it, those things are all important. So recognizing the little things along with the big wins, to getting the next sale, pulling in the next grant, all those types of things are important for anytime you want to build a relationship with your employees, build them up into your community. So Lisa, what do you do? You have a staff and all kinds of things that you have to go through with them. How do you handle that issue?

LC: Yeah, I mean, I think it is something you have to be consciously aware of. I think you have to take the time to get to know your staff, and personalize their recognition. For sure. There are, of course, things that our organization does. And they really have set up wonderful, wonderful opportunities for you to recognize the small. We have like an Amazon gift card quick thank you kind of thing that you can shoot someone, you know, HR, a message about what the person did. And then they'll give them like a small thank you card and to the bigger things,where you can actually go to your leadership and really request even potentially, like a bonus or something like that for really phenomenal work. But I think it's in those personalized, those moments one on one, where you really tell your staff how proud you are of them, when you connect what they're doing to the bigger mission of the organization. I think those things, especially for me, are important, but that's what's important to me. So I want to get to know my staff members. I want to understand what really drives them forward and then connect the recognition to what that looks like. Some people definitely don't like big gestures, or recognition in front of big crowds of people, and it makes them really nervous. You really need to get to know them individually to know how to do it the way that they'll really hear it. Because thank yous can feel impersonal, they can feel like throwaways. But if you really get to know the person, and you do it in the right way they really hear and can accept it. So I think those are like some of the things I think about when recognizing my team members.

KC: I really like that statement that you just said: throwaways. Some people do look at it that way. And they're like, Yeah, okay, they recognize this, okay, that's a big deal. But it's really the subtle little things and really getting to know the individual. And that kind of leads us to our next question is like, when you talk to someone that's becoming a new manager, and you know, they're aspiring to be great in their role with whatever they're doing? How can they really demonstrate and consistently give their team notice that they're really genuinely valued? You know, how does someone do that when we're trying to break into the ranks of being a great manager?

LC: Yeah. Practice, practice, practice, right? I really do think that you have to get into the routine of it. It sounds a little bit strange. But unless you actually put into practice all the time, you won't do it, right? Because it's the last thing on your mind, just get to the next project, get to the next project. But if you don't take a moment, to like, sit back, sit with your accomplishments, sit with your team members’ accomplishments, practice, the thank you, practice how to genuinely recognize. I'm sorry to say you're going to lose that person. You're going to lose that incredible genuine contributor to your, you'll lose them, whether it's today, or like five, five years down the road, they'll start drifting away from you. They'll start drifting away from the organization, because they'll feel that they're not valued there. So I really encourage practicing, and then just get into the rhythm of it. But you’ve got to make it genuine. You really do.

KC: I think the same thing. You really have to get to know that individual, and not just when they're sitting in their queue or their office, or wherever they might be working, but get to know them as a person, you know, understand their likes and dislikes. Be their friend to a level. But I think it's such a key thing to know what makes them tick. And you said this before, sometimes that big gesture is not comfortable for them. Some people aren't as motivated by money. And we always say that, but it is very true. It's more of the recognition of who they are, understanding their life, understanding that, okay, maybe they're having a problem with their mom or their dad getting older, or understanding issues they may have with their children or what they're going through in life, and being able to recognize and let them know they're valued. By understanding those other aspects and incorporating them, then how you respond to them about work issues. I think it's such a key. If you don't do that, you're missing out on such an important part of being a good manager or a great manager in this case, for that particular individual on your team.

LC: Yeah. And I'll just add one thing, which was in one of the first questions, which was about, you know, recognizing during high stress periods. So I think one of the key things when things are really high stress is to take the opportunities when things are not as high stress, like, I'm, I think, at high stress periods, let your staff lead. Let them do what they need to do. Let them go where they need to go. Support them in whatever they need in those situations. But when the stress goes down, is the time to recognize the time to have fun. Work should not just be this grind that it shouldn't lead to burnout. Right? We had that conversation this morning at the plenary but I think in those moments where things are less stressful, take the time, go and have lunch with your team. Go and bring them together. Like us, a lot of us work remotely. What can you do online, you know, go into an escape room, you know, online or you know, go in, you know, you can tour museums online together. You can do things in person, a lot of us now have staff all over the place to make sure it's equitable. For those people that are in person and also online. You have to be thoughtful in these moments where they might be brief. So take advantage of them.

KC: Such a good point, and one more little thing that just ties back into something you said and you know, it is celebrating the small wins, but it's celebrating the big, finding those opportunities. But you said something that I think is such a crucial element. It's like when you're in crunch time don't be a controller. Don't step back and try to do everything yourself. Allow that individual that's on your team or team of individuals that are working together, let them run with it, let them be the lead, you be the supporter, you be the person that is right there behind them, helping them in any way you can to be successful. Let them be the ones that not only get the glory, but also get to make the decisions, walk through issues. There's always plenty of time to step in if something is not going in the right direction, if something has an issue of failing, you know, those are things that you can do, but that initial really getting people started, let them do that. Let them take the lead and really attack any challenges.

LC: Yep, totally agree, Kenny.

KC: Lisa and I would like to thank you all so much for tuning into today's discussion. It's been really nice to connect with our community at the Alliance Annual Conference down here in New Orleans. So stay connected with us all year round by visiting the almanac@almanac.acehp.org and subscribing to our twice monthly newsletter. We always welcome article submissions and pitches from new and returning authors as well. We hope to see our listeners in Philadelphia, September 16th through 18th for the Alliance Industry Summits, and thank you all for listening.