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Quarter One 2006
President's
Message
By Stephanie
Hearn
This will be an exciting year
for our chapter: New Year. New Name. New
Newsletter! Publishing a quarterly
newsletter that includes information regarding
upcoming programs, articles of interest and member
highlights is just one of the goals established by
the Board of Directors for 2006.
Another
key focus area is providing exceptional education
programs. This year we will offer four
Category I educational programs in addition to
hosting an on-site ACHE program in Gaylord,
Michigan in the fall. Since our chapter
represents all of central and west Michigan,
including the Upper Peninsula, we will be rotating
locations of the programs throughout the
state.
Your Board is dedicated to making the Great
Lakes Chapter an organization that provides value
to its membership. With your support, I plan
to continue the momentum that was initiated in the
last two years and move GLACHE toward becoming one
of the premier chapters in the
country.
Upcoming Events
"Developing
and Mentoring Coaching Skills"
Friday, April
7th, 2006, 2:00 - 3:00 PM at McLaren Regional
Medical Center, Ballenger Auditorium.
Located at 401 S. Ballenger Highway, Flint,
MI. Target audience is early to mid
careerists with 0 - 10 years of
experience. A panel will discuss the
importance of mentoring relationships as an
effective way to offer guidance and support for
healthcare executives who are entering the field
or who are seeking career advancement. One
(1) Category I credit hour will be
available.
"GLACHE
Annual Dinner"
Please mark
your calendars for the first annual GLACHE
Annual Dinner on May 4, 2006 in Grand Rapids at
the Kent Country Club. Networking and
reception will begin at 6:00 PM. Dinner will
begin at 6:30 PM followed by a program. Dave
Corteville, Vice President, VHA will be
speaking about the state of the health
industry. Stephanie Hearn, President of
GLACHE, and Regents will discuss GLACHE
initiatives for next year.
"Decision Making for Improved
Performance"
Friday, September 15th, 2006,
2:00 - 3:30 PM in Lansing, MI. Target
audience is mid to senior executives. This
one (1) hour Category I session will present a
step-by-step guide for eliminating inefficient
decision-making. More information coming
soon!
"Organizational
Transformation: How Leaders Make Good
Better"
Friday, September 22, 2006 at
Treetops Resort Conference Center in Gaylord,
MI. Six (6) Category I hours will be
available. The cost for this one day program
is $515 for GLACHE members. If interested,
please contact Nancy Ragan at (989)
731-2258.
Article of Interest
The Art
and Practice of Agreement
Clear and
complete agreements often make the difference
between success and suffering in workplace
relationships. When each staff member knows
what is expected or desired and then follows
through on his or her own part of the agreement,
everyone wins. But when someone drops the
ball on a project, everyone loses.
One problem is that requests are often
indirect: "I was hoping you could think about the
possibility of maybe someday considering..."
Another challenge is knee-jerk "yes" responses to
requests--before people even know what's being
asked. Then they run into trouble when they
can't fulfill their promises or don't have the
resources necessary to do the job. Use the
following tips to address these two
issues:
Making
Requests
To make your requests more
effective, be sure to include the following five
elements:
1. Requester--who is doing
the asking?
2. Listener--who is being
asked?
3. Action--what is the
desired future result?
4. Conditions of
satisfaction--how will both of you know if the
requested task has been done properly?
5. Timing--when should the
request be fulfilled?
Listeners need to understand all
five elements, so double-check with a statement
such as "Will you tell me your understanding of my
request? I want to make sure I explained it
right."
Getting Responses to
Requests
Instead of settling for
ambiguous responses such as "I'll try," "maybe,"
"I'll think about it," or "I guess I could do
that," make sure you get one of the following
responses from the person who is considering your
request:
Promise--a statement that says,
"Yes, I will do that."
Turndown--a statement that says,
"No, that doesn't work for me" and also means,
"Don't count on me to do that."
Counteroffer--a statement that
says, "No, I won't do that, but here's what I will
do..." A counteroffer essentially opens up a
negotiation. Remember: If someone
immediately says yes to your request, ignoring his
or her concerns and resistance (or worse, if you
ignore them), you will be prevented from
fine-tuning your request or asking the
right person.
Commitment to commit--a
statement that says, "I don't know yet, but
I'll get back to you by noon on Tuesday."
Note that this kind of response must include the
"by when," or people really haven't made a
commitment to do anything. If they don't
know when they'll know, ask for a counteroffer,
ask what information they need to make a decision
or ask someone else.
With practice, you can learn to
make clearer, more complete requests of others and
then take time up front to carefully consider
responses to requests. By clearly laying out
what you need, drawing out concerns and discussing
potential obstacles, and then getting a definite
commitment one way or the other, you will foster a
more efficient and enjoyable
workplace..
Adapted from "The Art and
Practice of Agreement," by Daniel Robin; http://www.abetterworkplace.com/.
12 Habits of Effective
Writers
By
Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove
Whether it's
transmitted through printed material, e-mail, Web
sites or any other multimedia tool, the written
word is a fundamental tool of communication.
Therefore, being able to write effectively and
persuasively is a skill you need to
cultivate. Follow these tips for
effective business writing:
Get real. Writing
is something we do all the time, so you should
think practical rather than
poetical.
Distill it. What
is your message in a nutshell? Effective
writers are masters of distillation. Think
of advertising slogans and newspaper
headlines.
Think reader.
Know your audience. Tune into your readers'
world. What matters to them?
Prepare to write.
Think before you write rather than writing before
you think. Effective writers don't use the
writing process to discover what they want to
say. They have thought about it already and
know what their point is.
Find the story.
Effective writers--whether composing an e-mail, a
report or a newspaper article--decide on the
angle. If you're writing an e-mail, fill in
the subject box before you begin.
Don't reinvent the
wheel. Seek out templates, style guides
and anything else that will make your
life easier. Most organizations have
these, but employees often are unaware of their
existence.
Map it out. Good
writers start with a structure. They
think and write in modules--from the Ten
Commandments to the four Ps of
marketing.
Keep it simple.
Effective writers aim for clarity. They know
that an average sentence length of about eight
words is the most readable and
understandable. At 15 words a sentence,
comprehension falls to about 90 percent. At
20 words, it drops to 75 percent, and at 25 words,
it drops to 62 percent.
Make an impact.
The first line counts no matter what you are
writing.
Stay fresh. The
clearer your mind, the clearer your
writing.
Make it fit. Edit
the length and ask, "Does what I wrote fulfill its
purpose?"
Deliver and follow
through. Make sure that what you have
written arrives safely. Otherwise, your
effective piece will not serve its
purpose.
Adapted from "Making Yourself
Understood," by Stuart Crainer and Des
Dearlove. Across the
Board, May/June 2004. http://www.conference-board.org/.
ACHE National
News
Don't Miss ACHE's 2006
Congress on Healthcare
Leadership
Congress maximizes your time by
packing educational seminars and numerous events
into a few energy-filled days that can provide you
with best practices to last throughout the
year. ACHE's 2006 Congress on Healthcare
Leadership will be held March 27th - 30th in
Chicago, IL. You can access a PDF of the
Congress brochure as well as online registration
and Congress details online at: http://www.ache.org/cong2006/CongressIntroPage.cfm
Education Committee Chair
Report
By Tina Freese
I am excited to serve as your
Chair for the Education Committee in 2006!
The Committee is planning several educational
sessions for the year. You will receive an
informational brochure one month prior
to each event. Please refer to the "Upcoming
Events" section of the newsletter for the next two
scheduled events. If you have comments or
suggestions for the Education Committee, please
contact me (christina.freese@spectrum-health.org.
We will be rotating the educational sessions
around the state so all members have the ability
to attend. Every session will provide one
(1) Category I credit for a total of four (4)
credits this year. I look forward to seeing
you at these events.
Communications Committee Chair
Report
By Kaley Sholes
As Chair of the Communications
Committee, I look forward to enhancing the means
of communication among our chapter. This
committee will be responsible for writing a
quarterly newsletter with columns including but
not limited to upcoming events, chapter news, ACHE
national news, and other articles of
interest. If you have articles or
information that you would like included in the
newsletter, please email me (Kaley.Sholes@priority-health.com).
In addition, I am interested in other ideas you
may have as to how we can enhance communication
within our chapter and improve the
newsletter. If you are interested in
becoming involved in the committee, please contact
me.
Congratulations to the 2006
Officers, Directors, and Committee
Chairs!
OFFICERS
President
Stephanie Hearn,
FACHE
Administrator, Spectrum Health -
Kent Community Campus
stephanie.hearn@spectrum-health.org
Vice President
Joanne Fredericks,
CHE
Corporate Vice President, Human
Resources, McLaren Healthcare
jof@mclaren.org
Secretary
Dan Borton, FACHE
Corporate Director, Leadership
Development, McLaren Healthcare
danb@mclaren.org
Treasurer
Tom Lemon, CHE
CEO, Otsego Memorial
Hospital
tlemon@otsegomemorialhospital.org
DIRECTORS
Robert Betka, FACHE
Executive Director, ACS
Healthcare Solutions
rdbetka@acs-hcs.com
Barton Buxton, Ed.D.,
President & CEO, Lapeer
Regional Hospital
bartonb@mclaren.org
Barbara Cliff, FACHE
President & CEO, Cheboygan
Memorial Hospital
barbara.cliff@cheboyganhospital.org
Tina Freese, CHE
System Director, Planning and
Strategic Development, Spectrum Health
christina.freese@spectrum-health.org
Ned Hughes, FACHE
President, Gerber Memorial
Health Services
nhughes@gmhs.org
Scott Kashman, FACHE
Director/Administrator, St.
Mary's, Saginaw
skashman@saintmarys-saginaw.org
Michael Kennedy, Ph.D.,
FACHE
Associate Professor, Central
Michigan University
kenne1m@cmich.edu
G. Curt Meyer, FACHE
Principal, Health Integration
Partners
gcurtmeyer@msn.com
Mary Neff, CHE
Vice President, Patient Care
Services, Mercy Hospital
neffml@trinity-health.org
Brian Smit, CHE
Senior Manager, Trinity
Health
smitbd@trinity-health.org
Matthew Thompson, CHE
Director, Ancillary Operations
& Regional Development, Pennock
Hospital
thompson@pennockhealth.com
Jane Toot, Ph.D.
Dean College of Health,
Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences
GVSU
tootj@gvsu.edu
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Communications Committee
Chair
Kaley Sholes, MHA
Administrative Fellow, Spectrum
Health/Priority Health
Kaley.Sholes@priority-health.com
Education Committee
Chair
Tina Freese, CHE
Spectrum Health
christina.freese@spectrum-health.org
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