In this episode, Beth O’Riordan reflects on the daily pressures and challenges she faces as an Operations Manager in the Emergency Department at QEHB. Beth highlights the importance of ensuring that we always lead with the patients’ best interests at heart and consistently deliver high quality patient care. She shares some great advice on prioritising, being open and honest and building and maintaining strong working relationships with all of the specialities you work alongside.
3 Quotes to lead by...
1. be tRANSPARENT AND SUPPORTIVE
‘I’ve always been really transparent with things, and I’m always willing to listen to anything they’ve (staff) got to say. I really take the time to go and talk to people, engage with them, listen to feedback, and find out what’s working and what’s not in order to improve their lives and their jobs, but also, it ultimately all falls back to our patient’s experience of the service.’
Q. When was the last time you sat down with your team to listen to their feedback? What changes could you make or have you made based on this feedback?
2. organise and prioritse
‘I think it’s really important to be organised and set exactly what the expectations are for the day, which can be really challenging in the emergency department where there can be ten urgent things that need to be done immediately. I think the best way to deal with that is I split them down into what are the most important issues that are affecting patients right now in the department.’
Q. How do you prioritise your day? Could you do this more effectively?
3. build and maintain relationships
‘One of the most important things about being an Operations Manager is the relationships that you have to build and maintain with a range of different people, divisions and specialities. We all work together to ensure that we deliver high quality patient care.’
Q. How effective are the relationships that you have with your colleagues?
External Resources
5 Powerful Things Happen When A Leader Is Transparent
How to prioritise work when everything’s important
Building Good Work Relationships
