What makes a successful 15s30m Mission?

By 5th January 2019Uncategorised

What makes a successful 15s30m mission?

Creating a good mission is the key to reducing frustration, increasing joy and improving patient care through our social movement. The ethos behind 15s30m is that anyone can get involved from Chief Executive to Porter; clinic or non clinical; frontline or back office.  You don’t need to be in a leadership or quality improvement role to start a 15s30mMission – it shouldn’t take lots of planning or emails or resources – just something you can decide to do – and then do it!

We’ve collected hundreds of missions over the last year, and thought we’d share the common features of those which have been most successful.

  1. Make it yours

We have a long list of missions which you can access via the website, but we’ve found that the best missions are personal to your workplace. Our 15s30m Hero Gallery highlights the first mission each of our 15s30m Heroes launched to get them started. Plus we have some general  mission categories which you might find useful as a spring board. You may find that your original #15s30mMission idea changes and morphs into something else – that’s fine – its best just to get started!

Remind – remind someone the time of their appointment, of where to go, to bring medications, glasses, hearing aids into hospital

Let Someone Know – if you’re running late, if there’s a change to the plan, who to contact if they have questions

Don’t be a Dead End – if you don’t know the answer to a query, help someone find it, signpost them to someone who does know the answer, offer another number or name

Update – allergy status, phone numbers, clinical diagnoses

Refresh – restock equipment when its low, plug in rechargeable kit

Quick Check – patient name on paperwork, if the patient’s ward is written on their wristband, if the patient you are sending for is on the same ward as you expect,

Replace – putting portable equipment back where it should be, taking paper with you to the photocopier

What’s Next  – helping patients understand what to expect next, how long they might wait, what the steps are between them and a treatment, investigation or discharge

Recognise – say well done, thank you or even just “how are you?” to colleagues and patients – it’s amazing how much joy it can bring and help someone else’s day go a little bit better.

2. Use the TARDIS

The TARDIS is a quick checklist to keep you on track and avoid falling into the trap of making you mission something bigger than 15s30m. It is the way of making sure you can incorporate and stick to. Often in workshops we find ourselves embroiled in trying to change national or local policy: while these things might be a good idea, its not something a #15s30mMIssion can achieve.  15s30m missions bring the most joy when they don’t feel like a hassle, and you feel a buzz from knowing you’ve done something to help someone else. If you find you’re adding to you to do list, perhaps its not a real Mission.

 

 

  1. Its something YOU do

Sometimes in workshops we find ourselves getting distracted towards a list of things SOMEONE ELSE can do to make OUR lives less frustrating. We feel we’d like to influence someone as our mission; to get THEM to change the way they do something. This approach is less likely to create joy: in fact waiting for someone else to do something is more likely to increase your frustration   Move past it towards something YOU can do that YOU are in control of, and you’re much more likely to find joy.

  1. A sign isn’t a mission…

Everyone loves a laminated sign don’t they?! And they’re really quick to make…around 15 seconds…. But think carefully about whether the sign is a mission,or just a pointer to someone else. A sign is a great way of highlighting the mission you are doing, and to remind yourself, but can be a bit too passive to create the impact you need.  So while putting a sticker on a piece of equipment to remind people to return it, plug it in, or top it up is great, the mission is when YOU remember to do those things yourself- and that’s where you’ll increase the joy.

  1. Record it

Many #15s30mMIssions are invisible – its something you are doing to prevent someone else’s frustration, they won’t see you doing it or know it’s happened.  A useful way of helping you feel the impact of your mission, and of sharing it with others, is to record how often it’s happened.  For instance, if you are wanting to refill the kettle, replace equipment after use, remember to record an allergy, why not pop up a laminated sheet on the wall with the mission at the top. Then use a whiteboard pen to create a tally chart to show how often it’s happened – even just a post it note by the keyboard or phone would do. To start with it might just be you doing the mission, but we’ve seen a huge wave of uptake with missions when people join in. If you’re competitive, you could set up a challenge between two areas, or try and beat the previous week’s score.

 

6. Let us know!

We’d love to hear about your mission, to share it on twitter and on the website. Send us a pic info@15s30m.co.uk or tag us @15s30m #15s30mMission on twitter .