Achieving Patient (aka Customer) Experience Excellence

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Chapter 7

Inject Fun to

Release Pressure

Rhonda: Have fun while guring out what fun means.

I was a teenager in the eighties, so I was fully subscribed to Cyndi

Lauper’s philosophy that we all just want to have fun. Working

in healthcare is the most satisfying career one can have, but face

it, it is work. ere are things that are frustrating, scary, sad,

and mundane. In developing this culture, we had concentrated

on motivation, servant leadership, employee engagement and

development, accountability, and recognition. It was becoming a

well-rounded culture. You could see the improvements reected in the expressions

on the faces of those you passed in the hallway. It just wasn’t complete yet. We were

working hard together; shouldn’t we play hard together, too? All work and no play

make for a very dull existence, right? So, we would play together and have fun, but

it would be fun with a purpose. It amazed me that not everyone wanted to have fun

together. When I mentioned fun sometimes, it was like I had said we were going to

do something bad. It had never occurred to me that I would have to mandate fun!

It has to start somewhere, so I started with my department. Timing was perfect.

Each year there is a week to celebrate the Business Oce employees. It is typically

just a routine celebration of cake and punch with an insignicant branded gift to

commemorate the appreciation. I saw an opportunity to do something big this

year! Business Oce Week was coming up the next month. At the huddle, I asked

the team how they would like to celebrate. I was made aware that in years past all

patient access team members received a gift from the system with a tray of cookies.

I agreed with them that gifts are nice, but I challenged them on what we could do

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