March 2, 2007

Service Learning Series: Creating a warm welcome

It was a standing room only crowd in the Thier Conference Room Feb. 21 as the MGH Service Improvement Department hosted the second Service Learning Series, "What is Welcoming at the MGH?" Forum leaders Sandra St. Fleur and Cindy Sprogis (left), both of the Service Improvement Department, began the session by sharing and analyzing the results of focus groups and interviews conducted with both patients and employees about what a welcoming environment means to them. They also introduced tools and strategies managers can use to assess the welcoming environment in their own departments. One such tool is the "culture walk," in which managers are encouraged to walk through their departments to actively look for visual clues and staff behaviors that may influence how others perceive their service culture. At the end of the session, participants were given a comprehensive toolkit with additional assessment strategies to assist them in examining the service culture in their own departments.

The next Service Learning Series will be held March 21, from 9 to 10:30 am. The location will be announced. For more information about the series, contact Sprogis at csprogis@partners.org or (617) 726-1030.