8 Common Sense Skills - for Recruiters, Managers, and PI Specialists

8 common sense skills - yet not so common to find ..

http://www.ere.net/2011/10/12/8-skills-recruiters-should-have/#more-21422

This article was written with recruiters in mind, but it applies to all managerial and leadership roles. It also applies quite well to performance improvement specialists, as they need to possess many of the same skills:

(1) Listening - Can't identify gaps/ barriers without being a good listener.

(2) Sales - Need to be able to convince others to participate in the initiative.

(3) Followup - Many performance improvement projects languish because of "action-item neverland".

(4) "Hunter mentality" - Not typically thought to be a "PI skill", but the best PI specialists will be incessantly searching for new ways to drive their projects to higher performance.

(5) Big picture thinking - In order to get the organization's resources and commitment behind the project, the capable PI specialist will be thinking about how the initiative impacts the organization at the "big picture" level; for example, this can improve outcomes, which improves patient satisfaction, which improves word-of-mouth, which increases the customer base.

(6) Consultative in nature - There are many roles on a PI team, but in general the PI specialist plays a facilitation role, rather than enforcement. The idea is to get staff and physicians engaged and involved rather than feeling that they are being dictated to. The PI specialist keeps the project organized and moving forward, but is not trying to insist upon a particular format or intervention.

(7) & (8) Personable, approachable, cultivates relationship - I haven't met a PI specialist who has succeeded if they don't have a core personality that is agreeable to work with. The work of the PI specialist is "teamwork" and these skills are essential to well-functioning teams.