Short-Term Teambuilding: Think Olympics, Not the NFL

You’ve done it. You’ve convinced the people you need to convince that it’s time for a Community Health Assessment process. Someone is going to invest in the project—maybe the taxpayers, maybe hospitals, maybe the local philanthropic foundation—but someone, somewhere agrees with you because of your deliberate advocacy and persuasive arguments. Now it’s time to build the team.

This part can be very cliché or chocked with bureaucratese. Don’t let it be trite or wordy. Don’t lose yourself or others in “collaboration” discussions for hours. Time for precision and accuracy. Cogent, concise, to the point. You need to recruit decision makers and experts for a finite period of time. Once you do that, it’s time to get to work. In fact, try these steps:

• Plan for three meetings for 90 minutes each, around lunch

• Recruit the following participants:
– United Way
– Local Hospital administrators or COOs (must be decision makers)
– Local university social sciences, biostats, or public health professor
– City and County officials
– Local health department
– School superintendent
– Largest employer management representative (not the ISD or hospital)
– State health department
– Local workforce expert
– Local clergy alliance representative
– Largest local volunteer association
– Social service club representatives

• Have no more than 15 people on the committee

Plan to conduct your three meetings in an open and collaborative fashion, but be a slave to the clock. You MUST accomplish your action items and respect everyone’s time.

Here is the overall objective: build a team to do this specific work. These are not the same people you would choose to run a hospital or school. You aren’t working through a church retreat planning session. You are not building a football team with a quarterback for an entire season. You are choosing an Olympic team representing the best and most knowledgeable people possible to come together and contribute for one project and product. You want specialists with the clear understanding and expectation that this is a short-term commitment with long-term effects. Yes, more projects and momentum may come from this work. But be clear: we just need YOU! for three lunch meetings to make decisions based on your experience.

With that kind of focus, dedication and skill, you just might win a medal, stand on the podium and make a measurable difference.

If you are interested in discussing how a Community Health Needs Assessment and related planning activities can help your organization make a greater impact, please contact Mary Coyne at (806) 670-7440 or Mary@AscentHealthConsulting.com