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North CarolinaDepartment ofHealth & Human Services

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Communication

March 25, 2014

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Agenda

Communication Resources Communication Points of Contact Standard Communications Help Desk FAST Help County Best Practices Brainstorm Activity – Reaching Stakeholders Communication Planning Communication Do’s and Don’ts Brainstorm Activity – Areas for Improvement

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Communication Resources

County Liaisons NC FAST Website FAST Help Email Lists County Champions Work Support Strategies Website

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Communication Resources

Issues and status

Issues and County status

Refinement of Approaches

Issue resolution andCollaboration on Deliverables

Status Updates

Knowledge Transfer

County Staff and Supervisors

Champions Champions Champions

County Readiness Team

Supported by C

omm

unication Resources and

NC

FAS

T H

elp DeskProject Business

StaffImplementation

Leadership

DHHS Leadership Project Leadership EAC

Issues and statusKnowledge Transfer

Pilot Users Group

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Standard Communications

Director’s Call Director’s Meetings County Champion Calls Pilot Calls Weekly Project Emails Ad-hoc Project Emails Postcards

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Help Desk Backlog Reduction

Actions to Address Backlog:• Co-located all resources working on

Help Desk tickets at Camden building • Implemented IVR updates on 3/24• Met with ITS Remedy team on 3/18 to

discuss Remedy enhancements to streamline ticket management; Remedy training held on 3/24

• Deployed select FFM OSS resources to Help Desk; going through Medicaid troubleshooting training

• Implemented agent performance measurement

• Analyzing tickets received since 2/20 (the end date of prior analysis data)

• Sending tickets back to counties that lack sufficient problem or troubleshooting documentation (going back to 2/1/2014)

• Delivering supplemental MAGI training to Help Desk Medicaid team resources on 3/28

• Assigned MPRs to support the Help Desk full time (Sandy Danner and Valerie Sutton – week on/week off)

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FAST Help

Trainer Office Hours Webinars Weekly Troubleshooting Tips Postcards Help Desk Troubleshooting Tips Communication Resources

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Home Page

Trainer Office Hours

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Webinars

A library of targeted training

webinars

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Weekly Troubleshooting Tips

Topics include:• Matching Clients• Simulating Payments• CNDS Verifications• Case Status Types• Troubleshooting MAGI Applications Using

the Validate Changes Feature

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Postcards

Available in both standard and PDF

versions – plus Excel listing of

resolved defects.

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Help Desk Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting tips developed by the NC FAST Help

Desk

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Communication Resources

PowerPoint templates and

ePASS posters

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County Best Practices

Develop formal communication plans Create targeted messages for audience Develop timeframes for sharing messages

Have staff subscribe directly to NC FAST Have staff work in groups during webinars Have question/answer troubleshooting

teams Internal newsletters/flyers/fact sheets Regular staff meetings

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Brainstorm Activity

Best methods to get information out Targets:

Staff County Officials Clients General Public

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The Communications Plan proactively delivers open, honest, and timely communication and enables the organization to embrace changes to people, work processes, and planning.

The Communications Plan…

• Is primarily a tactical action plan and management tool developed to confirm information is distributed to county staff in a timely manner

• Identifies key individuals who will serve as sponsors and change agents, and highlight specific development / support activities that need to occur

• Defines the Key Messages and Communications Channels to obtain required awareness, understanding and commitment from Key Stakeholder groups and individuals

The Communications Plan will create and build…

Awareness and understanding Consistent information Realistic expectations Commitment

Communication Planning

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Communications Principles, including; honesty, timeliness, and consistency will generate awareness and commitment.

Principles of Effective Communications…

• Relate information to the daily work your audience does every day

• Acknowledge and validate concerns of the target audiences

• Commit to realistic timeframes and share as much relevant information as soon as possible

• Use language relevant to your audience, avoid jargon

• Ensure face–to–face communication comprises at least 50% of the communications activity, if possible

• Use multiple channels over time to address various communication styles and preferences

• Provide frequent opportunities for questions / feedback

• Ensure honest and consistent behavior in both word and action

Effective Communications Generates…

A feeling that we are all in this together

Understanding of the benefits of the project and recognition of the potential pain

Awareness, Understanding and Ownership of the change through participation and involvement

Commitment to sustaining the proposed changes implemented

Greater trust in the integrity of the organization

Higher morale, lower potential for implementation problems

Communication Principles

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Commitment to the change is achieved by communicating and engaging stakeholders to raise their awareness and facilitate understanding and acceptance.

The communications plan is a systematic method that supports each stakeholder (and the organization as a whole) to encourage the adoption and sustainability of the change.

Time

Su

pp

ort

fo

r C

han

ge

Awareness

Understanding

Acceptance“Oh yeah, I‘ve heard of ‘that”

“Well, sounds like the Medicaid Unit is

committed to learning MAGI policy. I

understand the role I will play. I understand that it will take time to

make this work.”

“I believe this transformation is

valuable to citizens and my area.”

“I actively support the new policies

and practices and assist those who

may require additional

information, or may not understand the

purpose.”

Commitment

Communication Plan Purpose

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Purpose of Communication

What is the key message and who is the audience?

When is communication

required and how will it be delivered?

How effective was communication and

Feedback?

The Communications Plan is an iterative process that is refined and amended over time.

Stakeholder Groups must be identified to better tailor messages and communications effort

Messages must address the concerns of each targeted stakeholder group

Measure and amend Plans as needed:• Surveys• Debrief sessions• Leadership feedback

Timing and type of communications is influenced by commitment level of target audience

Utilize sponsors, change agents, and presenters that are:

Knowledgeable of subject and have credibility with audience

Demonstrate the ability to listen to and gain confidence of the audience

Communication Cycle

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Feedback from impacted employees helps gauge how the communications messages are being received and enables the Communications Plan to evolve as the targeted audiences move through the transition process.

Feedback can be collected through:

1) Email - where queries and comments may be submitted and answered

2) Face-to-Face - provided through Q&As or responses received from staff.

3) Surveys - specifically conducted to obtain feedback

NC FAST County Leadership

DHHS

Email Focus Groups

County Champion/OSSEnhance communications, sponsorship and change activities as needed based

on feedback

Provide Feedback

Disseminate New Communications & Sponsorship Activities

Feedback

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Survey Monkey

Surveys with up to 10

questions are free

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Poll Everywhere

• Replaces expensive audience response hardware with standard web technology

• Uses cell phone technology to have users answer poll questions that update live on the web

• Free/Premium, online• www.polleverywhere.com

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Jing

• Take Screenshots: Capture an image of what you see on your computer screen

• Record Screencasts: Record up to 5 minutes of onscreen video

• Collaborate: Share recordings using Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, and Screencast.com (where permitted by policy)

• Free

• www.techsmith.com/jing

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Communication Planning

Group Activity

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Effective Communications

Clear

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!)Short, focused & to the point

Consistent

Same frequency, style, format

Convenient

What channels do your staff use?Which are most effective?

Compelling

Get their attention! Think about what they will see first (e.g. Email subject line)

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Characteristics of an effective communicator:

• Focused and Interactive

• Create Flow and Direction

• Generate a productive Atmosphere

Characteristics of an ineffective communicator:

• Uninvolved and Inattentive

• Obstructive to flow

• Negative and intimidating

Effective Communications

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Always Consider…

“Seek first to understand and then to be understood”

The 7 habits of highly effective people - Stephen Covey

What

Are you trying to say?

Why

Are you saying it?

How

Are you going to say it?

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Purpose

• Educate• Influence• Direct• Encourage• Motivate

Knowledge & Understanding

Transparency Complexity

Connection

• Establish Common ground

• Develop Empathy• Eye Contact• Smile• Talk at regular pace• Be Deliberate

• Remove Jargon• Breakdown Ideas• Encourage Questions• Use Examples

• Listen and be listened to• Positive Mood• Get audience to

emphasize

• Know your audience• Preparation

How to communicate key messages effectively

Your Role

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• Include only one message in each email

• Tell people what you want before you go into details

• Make your message visually easy to read

• Focus on your reader

• Proofread your email

• Follow acceptable terminology and abbreviations (e.g. FYI, ASAP, etc.) to direct the reader’s attention

• Attach lengthy files when the reader only needs to know key points from them

• Ignore good sentence structure, punctuation, grammar and spelling rules

• Send (or forward) your message without checking who you are sending it to (& the content)

• Use CAPS, exclamation points, underlining or bold type to convey a stern message

• Use abbreviations or acronyms unless the audience knows what these mean

Do Don’t

Email Communication

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Weekly Project Email

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The Inverted Pyramid

Technique for writing all communication:

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• Communications are best delivered when they are clearly structured and cater for their audience

• Effective communicators are integral to each and every organization

• It is possible to effectively communicate difficult messages, and often is necessary to do so

Communication is 10% what you say, and 90% how you say it

Summary

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Brainstorm Activity

Things we could do at either DHHS or NC FAST to improve communications