Caught in the Middle: Roadblocks in middle management’s path to healthcare innovation

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There is an absence of coordination between

Initiation of the process is more difficult

Leadership doesn’t always hear. There are

terms of what projects they are working on.

to and who to involve. The majority of the

each other. Employees don’t feel connected

different teams within a department in

The managers need better coordination, communication, alignment of processes

as sometimes different teams are working towards the same goal, consuming the

resources twice or thrice. Creating ownership of processes is a difficult thing to do.

Improvement/innovation doesn’t fall in

anyone’s job description. Thus, all of that is considered as extra work for which no one could be held responsible.

as the staff doesn’t know whom to connect front line staff expressed this. However,

after being in the job for years they all seem to have figured out one or the other go-to

person. Often times their manager seems to fill in the role of that mentor. The pace of

communication in committees is less efficient. There is immense power play and people talk in circles. Making a decision collectively is

too many leaders who often don’t talk to

to the mission of the organization. Speaking

specifically about the managers, there are lots of requests/ ideas and it’s hard to prioritize.

Also, there is not enough knowledge sharing in the system across. People do think that

they can learn from each other on one hand but feel devoid of resources for the same.

tough and so is making ideas visible to others.

“There is not a specific person we can go to with our ideas or needs” - Carmen Guerra, Physician

“We have to bring new ideas to various committees; it is a long and tedious process that has a lot to do with cost” - Patrick Higgins, Operational Manager

“I don’t understand how things happen here. Everything is behind the scenes” - Karen Furtek, Patient care representative

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