These tiny parasites are annoying and spread dangerous disease. The same can happen in your organization if you allow it.

These pesky creatures are more than annoying, they carry real health dangers to dogs and humans. Part of the challenge is how hard they are to find, lurking silently for days as they dig into your body. Unlike other warm weather bugs, like mosquitoes who let their presence be known with a sharp, buzzing sound that drills into your ear or the black flies that swarm you, ticks attach themselves quietly and hang around indefinitely, taking as much as they can from you while offering you nothing. You have to be alert to know they are there.

You know where I’m going with this, don’t you?

Ever feel like someone in your organization sucks the life out of you? Or that sometimes the drain is so slight and so constant, that you don’t even know that its happening until you get a break from it and only then become aware of how overpowering it is?

Earlier this week, I met with a very talented and competent executive who shared her story with me, a perfect illustration of that scenario. She has worked in the same organization for several years, and over that time, has consistently dealt with peers and the top leader who (in my words not hers), act like parasites. After her return from a short medical leave of absence that allowed her a fresh perspective, she could more easily see how they had been feeding off her ability to get things done, without offering any encouragement, direction, or leadership in return. They have used her expertise as their own fuel, providing nothing productive to support her. She has been able to accomplish major initiatives, in spite of the relationship being one-sided. Now that she sees the situation for what it is, she’s ready to tackle it constructively.

One of the dictionary definitions of a parasite is a person who receives support or advantage from another without giving any useful or proper return. In our workplaces, these relationships don’t build the organizational trust and respect that is needed in order to reach any kind of sustainable success.

Another example of this type of destructive relationship is a team member who rides along the coattails of others, hiding behind others doing the work. I often hear complaints of this at a Board of Directors level. Unfortunately, it’s all too common when someone takes credit for being a Board member, makes an effort to attend meetings and social functions where they are visible, but is absent when the real committee work and generative thinking are required.

Whatever our position is, our work will always impact another person, team, or department. I believe that everyone needs to be aware of the impact we are having on others. Are we the parasite? Or the host that allows the parasite to exist? It takes two to tango, as they say.

That’s why I recommend that you get ticked off, so to speak. If you’re feeling that someone is taking advantage of a situation, you have a responsibility to address the situation. There are constructive ways to do so, and the earlier you catch it, the easier it is to solve (ever tried to remove a tick after it’s gorged itself? Not fun).

Interestingly, my husband and I have witnessed Grace pick two ticks off herself without any assistance from us. I’m not sure if she sees it or feels it, but it doesn’t matter how she found it, the important part is that she does. Once she’s located it, she starts to lick it, pulls it away from her skin, and then she has chewed it or tossed it aside. She’s found her own way to say, “Stop free-loading off me, you annoying nuisance, you.” And she does so while it is still moving, not after it has laid into a cozy situation and becomes hard to deal with.

The first step is recognizing there is an imbalance in the relationship. If you are constantly feeling that you’re carrying more of the workload than others, pause, and examine why.

The next step is to find ways to discuss the situation openly and respectfully. Ask about obstacles they face. Maybe it’s training or time. Those are easier to resolve. If the person lacks interest, then their participation should be evaluated; it’s likely that continuing to have the “body in the seat” without any meaningful productivity is doing more harm than good.

Just as Grace has removed her own ticks, I think you should remove yours. Can you think of situations where you’ve been faced with a parasite hanging on you? What are constructive ways that you have changed the dynamic?

Grace knows her boundaries and used her body language to let me know she was too frightened to handle our walk route. Finding real solutions will require a collaborative approach, but it's the right thing to do.

Here in New Hampshire, the weather forecast is calling for four straight days of sunshine. I couldn’t be happier after all the consistent off-and-on (more on) cloudiness we’ve had, culminating in a thunder and lightning storm last night that frightened the wits out of Grace.

Sunshine just makes me happy. It seems to bring out a cheeriness and certainly an ease in enjoying outdoor activities. This weekend, I’m yearning to find a new place to walk with Grace. Regular readers will know that our walks are a much awaited-for and treasured part of our day. But for the last several weeks, Grace has not been asking for her walks. Whether sunny or overcast, she naps quietly as the afternoon rolls on, silence coming from her instead of her normal exuberance to get outside.

She has become unhinged by the noises associated from randomly timed target shooting that have become a frequent occurrence from a home on our walk route. The first few times it happened, her body tensed as we carried on. A few times, the shots were so loud she trembled, and I picked her up to carry her past the worst of it. It didn’t happen every day, but enough that as we walked by, she started to shake just in anticipation. And finally one day, as we left our house and neared the edge of our yard, she tugged at her leash and sat down. “I’m not going on that walk, Mom. It’s too scary down there.”

On that day, and the days that followed, we have played in the yard instead. I set up some agility jumps and we spend a little time with that. She meanders along the river’s edge, and nibbles on the taller grass that borders our mowed lawn. It’s nice, but we both know we miss our walks.

The man who enjoys the target shooting is doing nothing wrong. It’s a hobby that appears to make him happy, it’s legal in the area we live in, and he has every right to do this on his own property. I’ve met him on numerous occasions, always with Grace, and he’s kind, enjoys dogs, and is a very pleasant neighbor.

If I walked at the same time every day, I would talk with him about some options that would allow us both to do what we enjoy. I know he would work with me. And I think there are other solutions we could brainstorm, even to the extent of enlisting his help to retrain Grace’s fear of the sounds. But first I need to give Grace some space and not make her go where she doesn’t want to go.

What can leaders take from this experience? Finding real solutions requires that all parties work together.  It’s the right thing to do.

It’s all too common where one person or team decides something is broken and goes off in an isolated effort to find solutions, without engaging those that are involved. For example, a manager has an issue with an employee’s performance but doesn’t ask the employee for their perspective. They just tell her that she needs to change. Or leadership of an organization puts out a directive that customer service is a priority without truly listening to the employees about what obstacles they face to meet the expectations.

On Monday, I was a presenter and attendee at the New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR) conference. Andrew Winston was the keynote speaker and was the highlight of the conference for me. He shared data and stories that confirmed my existing belief: companies that accomplish great things are the ones that understand — and live — the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These companies understand we need to care for our planet, but it’s oh-so-much-bigger than that. It’s realizing the need to do the right thing in all aspects of your business operations. Winston said these companies achieve success by asking the tough question: “What’s your heresy?” and then they do something about it.

One of the many examples detailed by Winston is a shipping company that slowed down the transport time of selected products by decreasing the speed of the shipping vessel. This lessened the fuel consumption, decreased carbon emissions, and saved millions of dollars. Rather than perpetuating a more acceptable, even revered, practice of providing the fastest delivery possible by a shipping company, they took a risk with slowing the process, but it was the right thing to do. There are lots of examples of environmentally focused initiatives, but I believe examples that illustrate the successes (or failures) of our human interactions have equal (perhaps even more) impact on our outcomes.

Leadership, all too often, takes the easy route. They switch out people or products without examination and involvement of all stakeholders towards a more successful outcome. Finding real, sustainable solutions is not always easy. It takes courage, time, and effort.

If you’re in NH, I encourage you to learn more about NHBSR. Wherever you are, I hope you’ll explore how CSR can improve your organization’s bottom line. There are amazing and prevalent examples of how companies are changing the face of how we interact, for the better.

CSR starts in our own neighborhoods: I need to work with this gentlemen instead of against him (or without him) if I want to find a real and lasting solution for my walks with Grace. The same is true in our organizations. We need to be mindful of how we are impacting those with our interactions, and that doesn’t just mean our employees and customers. It extends to those in our supply chain, service providers, stockholders, community members, and indeed, even those outside the local community of where we work and live. That shipping company had me in mind when they put in place processes that would impact air quality, and quite possibly reduce the price of the product they were transporting.

I hope you’ll be a part of doing the right thing in all aspects of your life. It’s like feeling the warmth of beautiful sunshine all around you.

Grace definitely has the personality that is best managed with kindness. She is circling here looking for treats, which to her are a sure sign of kindness.  But what's even more important is that she can trust the other person to treat her consistently and fairly. Those are important components of a strong, and kind, leadership style.

This past weekend, my husband and I walked about 10 paces behind Grace as we were ending up our Sunday hike. We had gone out with a small group of people in search of mushrooms, now that spring is here and morels might be out there to be found. We watched her as she kept in perfect step with a virtual stranger. She could smell the doggie treats in his pocket, and on a previous outing with this kind gentlemen, had known him to offer up some of his goodies. She circled him on occasion to alert him that she was there and available to receive evidence of his kindness. Her overwhelming nervousness around people trumps her love for food. As much as she wanted that treat, she was cautious in her approach.

I was reminded of how much kindness matters in the workplace last night when I attended the retirement party of my dear friend, Sue. She has worked at the same company, a well-respected New Hampshire employer, for 41 years (I mean, who works that long at one place anymore?!). The event was attended by more than 100 people, many long-time co-workers, some even retired themselves who had come back to celebrate the occasion with her.

Also in attendance were family and friends who were generously invited to be there for Sue. It was particularly appropriate in Sue’s case that friends be included, and not just because she had so many. But because of the way Sue brought people together and mingled them together, not just as her friends, but that many had become friends to each other. Her kindnesses generated such goodwill amongst and between others, a rare and remarkable outcome of being associated with Sue, and something that might have gone unrecognized if her employer had been stingy with the guest list. (The leadership at this organization clearly shows a great deal of kindness, too.)

I was asked to prepare a few words to say about Sue from the perspective of a friend. And as I thought about that assignment, I realized how difficult it was to speak from that vantage, because Sue viewed everyone as a good friend, no matter whether she knew you from her workplace, from her many interests, or were part of her family. Everyone was treated with the same high standard by Sue.

One woman (who knows Sue from outside of work) spoke to me afterwards and said, “You know, hearing what I’ve heard today, it makes me realize that Sue wasn’t just a good friend to me. She’s a good person at work, too!” She followed that to say that it shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it became apparent from everyone’s comments, acknowledging that Sue was an exceptionally kind person to everyone she came in contact with. How rare is that?

I’m not talking about the sappy sweet kindness where you get walked all over. Sue can hold her boundaries as effective as the most domineering person in the room, but she doesn’t do it by dominating.

The irony was not lost on me that Grace is also part of Sue’s wide circle of friends. It’s not just that I have enormous trust in Sue to watch Grace when we travel. Grace trusts her, too, and it has nothing to do with treats in her pockets (though she certainly does offer favorite morsels on occasion.) It has more to do with the consistent, fair, and kind approach that Grace knows to expect from her. Grace also knows that Sue will hold her accountable to behave when she needs to.

I think that’s a powerful lesson for us all, especially managers and leaders, in organizations. Treat others with kindness. Do it consistently. Use treats when you need to. Hold people accountable, too.

Thank you, Sue, from all of us who know and love you. We appreciate your kindness.

These two find their own ways to enjoy the home office. Grace and Dodger love sunbeams from either side of the door and I can get my work done easily while they are nearby. But it's not that simple at most places of business.

This post isn’t about whether you should allow dogs in the office. But it’s an excellent example of the types of tough decisions a manager has to make when balancing employee perks and the demands of a job.

When I made my customary stop at the dry cleaners on Tuesday morning, there were no dogs there. The atmosphere was drastically different than the place I had become accustomed to.

The woman who cheerfully and efficiently greets me each visit always has her sidekick with her, a tiny Yorkshire Terrier, named Athena. Athena is quiet and well-mannered, friendly but not overbearing. On occasion, I’ve had to be careful not to trip over her as I enter or leave, but she’s never truly in the way and I like the warmth that it adds to a mundane errand I run.

I’ve watched many a customer dote over this little puffball of fur and observed Athena’s mom just beam with pride. There are always animated conversations that involve Athena; it’s a happy place, full of life. (In fact, I’m just now realizing that I know the dog’s name, but not the employee’s name!) Last week, Athena had company — a newly adopted, gorgeous 9-week-old Australian shepherd, and even I, a dog-lover, wondered how anyone could focus on their job and watch a puppy. Yet I was so taken with P.J.’s beauty and how incredibly well-behaved he was, it didn’t strike me as an issue.

This week, expecting to see the playful pup, I opened the door and was met with stark quiet, a most obvious emptiness that was foreign to my experiences there. The employee wore a smile, but something was different. I immediately asked about the dogs, and with just the tiniest hint of a somber mood and astonishingly absent of any bitterness, she explained that the owner felt the shedding of dog hair in a dry cleaning business wasn’t going to work anymore. It made me wonder what the complete story was, and I’m sure I’ll never know. It’s likely there were many factors, and also as likely that it may have been the best decision for the business. Still I couldn’t help but notice the difference in the environment.

Of course, there are never any absolute ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ decisions in these cases. Managers, leaders, and business owners must look out for all stakeholders, including customers, vendors, and all employees when evaluating what an employee can and can’t do or have in the workplace. The reason these decisions are so hard is because what is best for one might not be best for the other.

There are a ton of examples of these types of situations. Are flex hours acceptable? Can an employee hang personal pictures in their office space or should the look be consistent with the corporate image? Can a manager insist that an employee organize the unsightly piles of paperwork from a person’s desk? Can an employee work from home when they feel like it?

So how should a manager approach these tricky situations that involve a preference with an employee that may conflict with a traditional workplace environment?

• Be genuinely open to what’s right for the business. When both parties can be focused on what’s best for the business objectives, it’s likely that everyone can live with the answer, even if it’s not what you wanted. And remember that the way it has always been done before is not the only measure of what’s right moving forward.
• Establish a time period, where you’ll review and assess how it’s going. When trying something new, things will likely crop up that you didn’t anticipate. A pilot program sets the expectation that you’ll be testing it out, and gives everyone a mindset to objectively evaluate the successes and challenges of it. Talk about the fact that you may have to nix it all together, depending on the evaluation. Hope for the best, but think through what could go wrong so you can figure out how to prevent issues at all.
• Be clear to everyone in the organization when and why any changes were made. If some employees are allowed to work in ways that appear unique or special, it will create resentment, unless you can state legitimate reasons that explain your rationale. Of course, you want to design policies that are fair. But fair can result in differences as well. For example, it may be completely appropriate to allow telecommuting for one job function but not another, based on the work itself and how that person(s) interacts with others. You can’t have a manufacturing worker conduct assembly line work from home, but you could have a data analyst work from a remote location without any issues.

We need to tap into ways that make the workplace more enjoyable to an employee, because it does impact productivity. But both the manager and the employee need to focus on what’s best for the organization when making the tough decisions. When the goals are clear and understood, the decisions become simple.

These two brothers fight like all siblings. Their personalities are very different, but it's not always clear what triggers them to instigate a tussle. Just like in the workplace, we don't always see or understand the triggers that ignite a confrontation.

Dodger definitely instigates situations that he knows will pull Grace into a tizzy. He sticks around long enough to see her reaction and then finds something else more interesting to do. We chuckle at the antics and try to console Grace, but don’t do much more as we figure there isn’t a lot we can do to train good manners from a cat.

Lucky for me and my husband, the animal kingdom is much more skilled at working through their conflict than most people are. We do our best to stay out-of-the-way of their skirmishes unless absolutely necessary.

Dodger (on the floor) weighs in around 13 lbs, while his lightweight brother, Oliver, at seven lbs, is a formidable opponent. Size and position are not always an indicator of who yields the most power.

When two or more co-workers are experiencing some time of friction, it needs to be addressed. The best case scenario is when the individuals most directly involved can work it out together. That’s not always possible, and if it’s not happening, the manager should take the initiative and help.

The first step is acknowledging the situation. The sooner the better, before the layers of hard feelings get too thick. Sometimes, believe it or not, talking it over once can be enough to solve it. Setting expectations for what behavior is acceptable might be enough to change the interactions.

After "talking it over" they walk away without any hard feelings. It's all play to them.

It may not happen overnight, but watch for small things to indicate movement. Acknowledge and celebrate those; remember it’s not easy for those involved so do what you can to keep the momentum.

It’s fun to watch cats play. But don’t let your team get into a cat fight.

What's the big deal about getting low on dog food? Sometimes the extraordinary things are right in front of us, looking ordinary. When managing yourself and others, be sure to recognize and appreciate the triumphs, which can be too easily forgotten.

This past winter I was going through a rough spot with Grace and her food. The dog chiropractor we were seeing had urged me to think about changing to a more nutritional diet. That set me off on a journey that I never imagined. It was a very frustrating, but extremely educational, interesting, and rewarding, process for me. (Grace probably wouldn’t have called it interesting, but I know her system is much happier now!)

Grace is like “Mikey” — remember, years ago, that little boy in the cereal commercial who “would eat anything.” Turns out even though she likes most any food, not all foods like her. I spent untold hours researching and reading literature on how dog foods were made, what foods were good for dogs, and tried (unsuccessfully) to analyze the issues we encountered. I reached out to friends and experts who knew more than I did on the topic. I explored a lot of food options. First, I tried three brands of high-quality manufactured foods: all made her sick in some way. Then I switched to homemade food, which she loved. But even some of that didn’t settle well with her system or I might still be going through the effort to cook up turkey and carrot muffins for her, despite not really wanting to spend time in the kitchen for my own meal preparation.

You may recall, that at my wit’s end of what to feed Grace, we headed off to a holistic vet who provided much appreciated answers about her food tolerance. That put us on solid ground with healthy food choices and for the past three months, meal time is easy again. I feel good about the quality of food that Grace is eating. Her system is happy. And I don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen preparing it. It was a real accomplishment, as I achieved all the things I wanted when I started with the transition that took three months to work through. It was not an easy path, but we stuck with it without giving in or giving up.

So now that I need to restock her food, I have almost forgotten how much effort it took to get to this point.

During the course of any day, it’s all too common to become only focused on our current issues and problems. We forget what we have already accomplished, what we have achieved, even if those items are seemingly simple. Time helps us forget how arduous and challenging the obstacles were that we faced. This narrow focus on problems impacts our mood, and therefore our ability to be as effective as we can be. Giving too much energy to the negative areas of our life will hinder the amount of happiness we feel. If we’re only thinking of all the problems we have, without appreciating what we have achieved, that’s a drag on our mental state.

This is especially relevant when managing others. Yes, we need to be honest about performance issues and provide accurate feedback when mistakes occur or improvements are warranted. But we also need to be sure that we acknowledge the times when a person has made changes or completed acceptable work. If we are constantly projecting dissatisfaction about someone’s performance, it impacts their ability to move beyond that.

So today, I am appreciating how easy it is for me to go pick up more dog food. That’s because I know how hard it was for me to arrive at a point where it’s such a simple thing to do.

What extraordinary things can you see today, by just taking stock of the ordinary things around you?

P.S. Check out my guest blog post over at Charney Coaching and Consulting; Renee and Michael are awesome people and talented consultants and I was honored they asked me to contribute to their successful blog.

Our warming spring temperatures are making walks easier, but Grace and I get out year-round, even in frigid temperatures and sometimes icy conditions. The walks are good for both of us and I'm lucky to have her motivating me to get out, especially on those days when it would be easier to say I don't have time or have something more important to do.

But I do understand how important it is to stay active, mentally and physically. Grace sure helps with both.

One of the many things I love about having a dog is that she encourages me to get outside and move around. Even yesterday, I found myself walking down the street while there was a misty rain falling on us. She’s not a fan of rain, but she didn’t even mind the wet drops falling on us. Nor did I.

We’ve come to love our walks. It’s become such a routine that I am very aware when we don’t get out. Upon our return, I feel much more physically and mentally alert. We walk fast (though it certainly wouldn’t be considered speed-walking!), yet moving around in the fresh air definitely makes a difference to how I feel.

I tried to find some data on the effects of healthy employees in the workplace. One report, entitled “Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond” suggested that organizations need to view employee health as a productivity strategy as opposed to their more typical exercise of finding ways to manage costs for healthcare coverage.

The report noted that only 26% of U.S. adults report vigorous leisure-time activity for 20 minutes or longer three or more days per week. One of the major barriers is lack of time and inadequate access to convenient places to exercise. Walking can happen almost anywhere. So now we just need the time.

Finding time is not always easy. Our plates are full, not just at work, but at home. There is no way I would walk as much as I do if I didn’t have Grace encouraging, and yes, sometimes nagging me, to join her. Even as much as I love that time, I can find myself saying I have too much to do or that something “more important” should come first. We need that additional motivation to help us keep our commitment.

Maybe it’s a dog that’s by our side to encourage us. Or maybe it’s a progressive-minded employer. The report I mentioned above includes a short assessment that will disclose gaps and weaknesses in how your organization approaches employee health management. There are also sections in the report that will help you develop strategies for strengthening your initiatives. I encourage you to take a look; the report “Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond” and many more resources can be found here.

I need to finish this up and get some work done so Grace and I will have time for our walk today! But I’d love to hear what you do to stay active. What are your challenges and how to you address them? What suggestions do you have for employers to help all of us be healthy?

Grace will always love to hunt for frogs at the water's edge. There is no way I could stop that instinct. Are you expecting changes from someone that are unrealistic?

I don’t post this lightly. You know how devastated I was the first time it happened. And by admitting a repeat performance, well, it’s like admitting failure. How could I allow a horrible thing to happen not just once, but twice?

I can’t blame Grace, even though that would be convenient. I was sure she could tell how distraught I was before. Animals are supposed to be so in tune with their owner’s emotions. How could she not know that I was so upset over the incident? And therefore, if she knew how distraught I was, I could surmise that there was no way she would do it again.

Does this situation sound familiar in your workplace? Somehow, we think that the other person “just knows” that what they did was something we didn’t want them to repeat. We have this impression that after just one conversation, magical changes will occur and we’ll never have to address the issue again.

It just doesn’t work that way. Changing an action is a very difficult thing to do. We do things for a reason. It could be that it’s our comfortable style or that it’s something we never had a problem with in the first place.

With Grace, it’s her instinct to chase a rabbit. There is little hope that I would ever be able to successfully call her off such a hunt. Being on a leash would be the answer, of course, and trust me, in the seconds that the events unfolded, I realized that the leash was doing no good in my pocket.

The first time this happened, I was totally taken off guard. I’d never seen a rabbit around there before. Two days ago when Grace plucked an unsuspecting bunny from underneath a fallen tree trunk, I wasn’t prepared, but I instantly knew what was happening.

I have no idea how many rabbits have taken up residence near our home and I definitely don’t want to find out the hard way. I haven’t gone back there with her, nor plan to anytime soon, and when we’re anywhere near there, she’ll be on a leash.

Asking her to change from doing something that is completely within her instincts and nature is just setting us both up for failure. It’s just as ridiculous to expect overnight changes in behavior from a co-worker, even when there has been conversation.

We have to create a new structure, or alter a process, that will allow for new pathways of change to occur. For me and Grace, it’s removing the temptation.

I often work with situations where a manager and an employee have opposing work styles. The balance of those different styles can sometimes be a real advantage but it also creates friction. A common difference is Energy level. This pertains to the way one approaches the flow of their work. On one end, a person is more methodical and focused, working to complete one thing before moving to the next, often giving the perception of working more slowly. Meanwhile the other person is juggling a thousand things at once, reading email while talking on the phone and motioning to the person standing in front of their task. Asking one person to operate using the other person’s style would be pointless. They may be able to handle it for a short period, but the stress of behaving in such a foreign way would be unproductive for everyone. We need to find ways to adjust the structure of the environment that will allow for the most natural fit of the way a person needs to operate.

I cried when I buried that second bunny this week. It was heartbreaking to know an innocent animal was killed again. But it is unrealistic for me to think that Grace will change her ways just because it makes me so sad.

When managing others, remember that change will happen when the structure changes to support a different behavior. Are you expecting different results without doing anything differently? People won’t change just because you have asked them to do so.

So imagine my delight when New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) reached out to me last week and asked for an interview about how a dog can help a manager! A dream come true.

The segment was taped at the end of last week, and afterwards, I worried that I wasn’t nearly as articulate as I should have been when answering Dan Gorenstein’s excellent questions. My excitement got my tongue all tied and I nervously waited to see if it would really, truly be worthy of airing on this respected forum.

That answer came when the segment aired on Tuesday, April 3. NHPR has long been my radio station of choice and of course, now it is really my favorite! They turned my nervous responses into a great piece (all the credit goes to them). If you’re interested, you can hear it here.

Grace and I left the vet's office with a lot of documented instructions, some that went above and beyond what was expected, such as driving instructions to and from the nearest emergency vet clinic.

That was a statement made in the most recent post from the Patient Safety Blog, a forum dedicated to keeping us all safe from medical errors in our healthcare system. (I highly recommend this wonderful blog if you’re interested in learning more about the important topic of Patient Safety.)

This particular post from last Friday suggested that healthcare practitioners follow a simple and low-cost process of issuing written instructions for patients, a practice more common with veterinarians. Since most healthcare facilities are now using electronic medical records (EMR), it shouldn’t be difficult to do. Given the implications of serious medical complications that could arise if someone doesn’t understand or remember what to do, the benefits far outweigh any downside of figuring out a process to produce these instructions.

Some of you may recall the recent visit I made to the holistic vet when I was trying to sort through Grace’s dietary issues. As part of that visit, the vet offered a homeopathic remedy for the seizures that Grace has. I received thorough, detailed written instructions to remind me of what we discussed. She had even documented driving instructions to the nearest emergency clinic for any after hours situations. But it didn’t stop there. The instructions included how to get home! Presumably, once you arrived at the clinic, you’d know how to return, but she said, if it’s after hours, it’s likely dark, and you’re probably overwhelmed and stressed. She felt it was much better to have things clear and easy, precisely because you already have a lot on your mind. And she’s right. Even if you don’t have to look at the directions, it’s a good feeling to know you can.

Any business has risks when people fail to comply with delegated assignments. Patient safety is certainly an obvious one in the healthcare field. Other visible examples include automobile and medical device manufacturers that produce products with significant safety impact if processes are not clear and/or not followed.

But even if the process isn’t life-threatening, it can be a frustrating experience. My husband shopped for greeting cards, among other items, at a local store on Saturday. After getting home, he realized that the small bag had been left behind; he called and spoke to the service desk who found the cards and agreed to hold them until the next day. However, when I got there on Sunday afternoon, they couldn’t find the cards and assumed an employee had put them back on the shelves! They had taken the time to hand-write the 15 digit-SKUs from each of the three cards in the spiral-bound holder labeled “LEFT BEHIND BOOK” but no one had made the simple notation that we were coming back to retrieve (we had already paid for them after all!). Seems to me it would have been easier to skip the documentation of which cards were in the bag, but rather put a sticky note outside the bag that said, “Customer returning on Sunday for pick-up.”

Following this trail was easy, given how frequently the blue diamond markers were placed. You can see two in the short distance shown in the photo!

So what’s the importance of written documentation? What’s your opinion? Do you think it’s worth documenting hand-offs? Or do you see it as a waste of time?

Can you think of times when your work was impacted by the presence (or absence) of work instructions?