The pandemic forced the healthcare industry in Australia to dramatically change the way they operated - while still expecting the best possible patient outcomes.
The priority for healthcare operators now is to improve processes to deliver operational excellence – both now and in the future. Within a complex and project-intensive environment, the ability to bring new solutions to the market faster and accelerate improvements to existing solutions can certainly be a challenge at the best of times, let alone in times of uncertainty.
Leading healthcare organisations are looking to Agile, a set of management principles initially developed for the software industry, to help broaden operational change and improvement projects in an ongoing Covid era. However, it’s proven to be another challenge to implement it, where challenges around organisational culture, resistance to change, and lack of support and training have led to Agile methodologies and tools being adopted in a piecemeal way.
Healthcare organisations acknowledge the business case for Agile innovation, in response to the tumultuous changes within the industry. With no two days ever being the same for healthcare professionals, such practices will help the healthcare sector move towards acknowledging, planning and embracing change – ultimately for the benefit of patients and end-users.
Managing changing priorities
The pandemic, and resulting shift to remote working, served as a reminder to the industry that current processes were not suited for teams to perform to the best of their abilities. When communication and innovation are not embraced, employees can find themselves feeling like resources, rather than valuable participants.
Agile methodology recognises the importance of responding to the needs of the organisation, using individuals and interactions as the starting point to enact change. A collaborative and disciplined approach provides the flexibility to respond to changing situations and meet the needs of patients and customers receiving the service first. New knowledge, tools, and technology are also embraced as an integral part of the iteration process.
Communication is also key in improving how health solutions and medical services are delivered – both for users for today, and tomorrow. Inconsistent processes and practices across teams, whether medical or non-medical can hinder how patient and customer needs are served. Collaborative work management platforms, such as Smartsheet, have capabilities that can automate multiple workflows and centralise information to enable users to track and manage processes. For the right people, having visibility into data at the right time enables the right decision to be made.
A collaborative partner to support future growth
Nearly two-thirds of organisations in Australia are engaging with collaboration software to coordinate large-scale and complex projects. Collaboration software is recognised across industries for supporting projects to be delivered on time and on budget, enabling organisations to tap into its growth potential. However, the success of agile approaches is likely to fall short if wider issues surrounding organisational governance and engagement are not addressed.
For healthcare organisations, it is important to partner with software vendors who aim to support their customers during this change. This is not just limited to implementing the technology, but also understanding the unique challenges within the industry, including existing regulation and business planning. This will help enable agile efforts to collaborate better, deliver value faster and manage projects more efficiently.
With Smartsheet – the enterprise platform for dynamic work – you can make the move to more efficient project management today with our 30-day free trial that comes with access to many pre-structured and customisable templates. Streamline your projects by following these best practices to increase consistency, from project initiation to completion.