Communicating change
It is important to communicate the change your improvement project will bring about by engaging relevant stakeholders and creating awareness through engagement activities.
A Stakeholder Engagement Plan is a way to communicate with project stakeholders (patients, carers, families and clinicians/non-clinical staff on the ward/unit, hospital executives etc) to achieve their support for the project. It specifies the frequency and type of communications and communication activities that will help communicate, build and maintain stakeholder engagement with your improvement project at all levels.
Use the Stakeholder Engagement Plan for your project.
Each of your stakeholder groups will have unique characteristics, needs and motivations and will require different engagement activities to communicate with them effectively.
Some ideas include:
- Utilising hospital wide communication channels, such as a newsletter, intranet etc.
- Using local nursing and medical champions to advocate for improvement and support clinicians on the floor
- Creating a display board on the wards with education, information and data about the improvement project
- Setting a standing agenda item at regular meetings
- Using double staffing time or staff meeting to provide short, regular updates
- Creating posters, lanyards and computer screensavers
- Holding a project launch
- Conducting a quiz
- Distributing information to general practitioner Visiting Medical Officers (in rural and regional areas)
- Integrating promotion activities into existing local events for example, Grand rounds.