I had some bloodwork done today. When I arrived at the lab it was completely full of patients. My first thought was, “I'm going to be here forever.” Then I rethought that. Labs don't take long. I knew the room would clear quickly. I signed in and took a seat.
As you all know, I'm keenly interested in the premise of the situation I'm in. In this case, the unrelenting flow of patients meant the staff was not getting a break. One woman was working the front desk. Her voice was louder than it needed it to be, and it was a bit strained. She was calling people and then speaking to them at the same volume. And she was cranking through appointments fast. Finally, another woman asked if she needed help. The first response was, “No. I got it.”
This is a full body massage mat. Get this for your staff and YOU schedule their breaks to use it. They'll be afraid to give themselves the opportunity for fear of getting in trouble if they do it on their own.
She needed help.
Here's the deal.
She was so inundated with patients, she set her mind and body into a furious rhythm and didn't even have the mind space to consider the offer. The other woman said, “It's almost your lunch break.” And she sat down to help. She muttered under her breath, but still audible, “I shouldn't be up here doing this because I have a bad attitude.”
I'm going to ask you, reader. What's the premise here?
Because it most definitely exists. Think about it as you read on.
The bathroom door in the waiting room had a tendency to slam against the wall when someone opened it. I had to use the bathroom, and that door slammed against the wall. A worker came to the reception area and told the front desk workers that was the third time today that door had slammed and caused everything to fall off the wall in one of their work rooms. She was stressed and pissed.
I spoke up and said, “The door needs a stopper.” To which the worker with the self proclaimed bad attitude said, “We should call maintenance.”
Whether this staff had minimal critical thinking skills outside their day to day work or whether they were so overwhelmed that they couldn't problem solve that door is fodder for leadership discussion. But consider this. Every time stuff fell off the wall, someone's work flow was disrupted as they put the items back on the shelves. When people work themselves into the what I call a "stress flow"," any wrench in the cog is emotionally catastrophic. They didn't design their flow for interruptions.
By the time I got to the back, the phlebotomist was juggling multiple patients and paperwork. Calling us up two at a time. She hurried down the hall pointing, “You go there, and you go there.” She walked back the front and called more patients. Then she came into my space and without losing her “flow” started adjusting forms, giving me something to sign, and then sort of spinning around and looking for something she couldn't remember she was looking for. She asked for my urine sample. I said it was in the box I was instructed to put it in. She said, “oh, good,” and walked over to where blood vials and urine cups are stored, and she grabbed a urine cup. She stopped herself and said, “What am I doing?” This young woman was so into the stress flow that her head was working faster than her body. She wasn't making the context switch successfully. I assured her I totally got it and saw what she was struggling with.
As she started the blood draw, I could see the smallest little tremor in her hand. She was very young, so that, my friends, was stress.
Here's a 50% off code - CJSTN7B5 - Talk about a gift of appreciation! Or just get a few for the office.
I looked at the notice on the wall that encouraged patients to call the manager if they were unsatisfied, and I thought, why do I need to call the manager. WHERE IS THE MANAGER?? Her team was imploding on itself. They were overworked, understaffed and unsupported. If one worker cracked under the stress, she was branded as “a bad attitude.” That same worker was muttering, “I need a new job I need a new job I need a new job.”
Anyone in leadership (from shift manager to CEO), this is completely unacceptable working conditions.
You've had time to come up with a premise. But if you're not sure what I meant or what it is, let me help you.
In fact, I'll give you a few.
- Understaffing leads to poor patient care
- Understaffing leads to mental stress
- Staffing efficiencies lead to systemic breakdown
- Small staff with same workload as larger staff leads to failure
- Absent and out of touch leadership destroys the core business; in this case, patient care
We see this premise play out in healthcare, customer service, retail stores, and even in tech offices. When companies need to reduce overhead, they automatically go to staff reduction. No research, no operations reviews, no deep dive into workflows. Just cut staff. Cut “bloat.” Never mind the bloat might be useless tasks (like putting things back on a shelf every time a door slams).
If you have humans working for you, you have to understand human nature. People who are overwhelmed will make mistakes. They may mess up a task, use the wrong patient chart, or simply utter a negative phrase within earshot of a person who doesn't know the premise.