Supporting Remote Teams: Maximizing Employee and Patient Experience

By Laken Francis 

In an ever-evolving digital age, remote working has become prevalent in all industries. Remote working has become increasingly popular since the introduction of laptops and portable hardware, but we all saw the boom that took place in 2020 when COVID-19 became a pandemic.  

There were many people, including myself, that never had the chance to work from home prior to the pandemic. While working remotely is known to benefit work-life balance, transitioning from in-person to remote work may have a significant impact on your team. How you support your team members through this transition will set the tone for employee engagement as a remote team. 

The experiences and stressors your team faces—both positive and negative—will inevitably impact their performance, which in turn shapes the quality of your patients’ experience. Press Ganey collected data from 1.72+ million employees and clinical personnel from 509 organizations, finding that employee engagement is strongly linked to performance across patient experience, safety, and DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion).¹  

Most people enter healthcare because they truly want to take care of others and make a difference in their lives. What’s important to consider is that we must fill our own cup before we can fill anyone else’s. It is easy to feel isolated, disconnected, and lonely when adapting to a new working environment. It’s important to mention that it is normal for you and your team members to feel this way. Focusing on engagement and connection are major pillars to ensuring that these feelings do not become detrimental.  

Consider this scenario: Tonya, a team member who has worked in person for seven years, has recently transitioned to working from home. For all those years, she started her mornings with Betty and Nancy, sharing a 30-minute lunch and two 15-minute walk breaks each day. Now, with no other members in her household, Tonya may be experiencing feelings of isolation or loneliness.  

As a leader, how can you support Tonya during this transition?   

To best support your remote workers, consider these strategies to help them stay connected as a team:

• Engage 

• • Communicate with your team at least once daily. This does not need to be elaborate. You can message each team member individually, or if you have a large team, create a group chat where you can start the day with a friendly “Good morning!”
  • Message each team member individually once a week. This will create a personalized interaction that reminds them you still care about them as a person, not just as a group. Adding in a compliment or praising them for their recent performance is also a nice touch. This shows that you see them and their hard work, even if they are not sitting in front of you daily. 

• Connect 

• • Host a team meeting bi-weekly or monthly depending on your departmental needs. This gives your team the opportunity to reconnect with their coworkers and you as a leader.  
  • One-on-one meetings are highly encouraged at least once monthly. Spend this time focusing on team member development and inquiring about ways you can support your team member. 

• Integrate 

• • Show your team how their work ties into your organization’s mission and goals. Providing positive patient stories and performance measures will help your team stay connected to the meaning of their work. 

Transitioning from in-person to remote work will inevitably impact your team. As a leader, you can ease this transition by minimizing potential stressors and fostering positive connections. By focusing on individual needs and providing personalized support, you can help your team maintain strong performance, which will, in turn, enhance the patient experience.

Reference 
1 Dudley, J., Eagle, M. (2023, August 9). Why Employee Engagement Matters for Optimal Healthcare Outcomes. Press Ganey. https://info.pressganey.com/press-ganey-blog-healthcare-experience-insights/why-employee-engagement-matters-for-optimal-healthcare-outcomes 

About the author 
Laken Francis is a Patient Experience Specialist at Summit Medical Group and has worked directly with patients and customers in the field of experience for seven years. She supported a hybrid remote team of up to 40 direct reports which is where she developed her passion for leadership and employee engagement.