Engaging staff in Quality Improvement initiatives
For any Quality Improvement initiative to succeed in health and care, it must have the active participation and engagement of a wide range of stakeholders, including staff, patient representatives and other critical partners. While the technical aspects of Quality Improvement focus on refining processes and outcomes, the human element – how people engage with these efforts – is often the decisive factor in the initiative’s long-term success.
Engagement is about more than just participation; it’s about fostering a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for the outcomes. Whether it’s the frontline staff delivering care, patients providing feedback on their experiences, or external stakeholders contributing resources and support, the quality of engagement will influence the effectiveness of any Quality Improvement programme. In this blog, we’ll explore how engagement can be fostered and sustained through communication, recognition and collaboration, ensuring that improvement efforts lead to real and lasting change.
Effective communication is central to these efforts. Healthcare staff, patients and stakeholders need to understand not just what the initiative is, but why it matters, how they can contribute and what to expect along the way.
When launching a new initiative or programme, take time to explain:
- Why do you want them to participate? Share programme objectives and the advantages of getting involved – there will be different motivating factors for different groups.
- What can they expect? Share the process for reviewing and actioning data, as well as providing progress updates.
- Who are the faces behind this initiative? Share group leads, champions or executive sponsors – people prefer to know where their feedback is going and who is involved. A programme championed by individuals who are known and trusted by colleagues is more likely to succeed.
- How can people get involved? Share the ways staff, service users and other stakeholders can take part, either as a participant or champion.
Consider spreading the word using popular communication channels such as email, the intranet, staff meetings and huddles, senior leadership meetings, posters in areas of heavy traffic and social media platforms. Where possible, involve colleagues from the communications team.
In addition to communication, other key ways of engaging staff in Quality Improvement projects, as well as building and maintaining momentum, include:
- Make it simple: integrating any new programme into existing processes wherever possible, so that it becomes the norm.
- Demonstrate impact: show the difference being made as soon as possible and celebrate the wins and staff achievements. No matter how big or small, progress updates and success stories are powerful tools for accelerating a programme’s implementation by reinforcing the message that the management and leadership teams are listening and that change is happening.
- Consider running a campaign: focused campaigns or challenges are great ways to start the conversation, encourage uptake or galvanise a programme over a specific timeframe. For example, a “5 ideas in 2 weeks” campaign could kick things off; entering everyone who hits the target into a prize draw.
- Incentives and recognition: there are many ways to do this, for example: highlighting an improvement of the month, or an improver of the month; nominating a star of the month; running a thank you scheme for people who have gone above and beyond; or certificates of recognition.
- Recruit champions to help spread the word: the more people to help champion and embed this new way of working, the better. Champions are key individuals who understand the importance of these programmes and can help to spread the word and encourage others to join in.
Last, but by no means least, don’t be afraid of failure – it’s critical that we minimise blame and fear of failure when embracing frontline feedback.
The ImproveWell solution has been designed by healthcare for healthcare and ensures everyone has a voice in driving change. Learn how the solution is engaging staff in Quality Improvement in diverse health and care settings around the world here.
