A Physician's Guide to Navigating a Bureaucracy -

A Physician's Guide to Navigating a Bureaucracy (via Clinical Key)RS

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by Dike Drummond, MD.
Family Practice Management, 2020-05-01, Volume 27, Issue 3, Pages 26-30, 
Copyright © 2020 The American Academy of Family Physicians

"To get what you need to create a more ideal practice, you must learn to navigate the bureaucracy of your organization. Here's how ..."

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I stumbled across this article earlier this week while I was sending out eTOCs, and thought it had some good advice for Medical Librarians, too, as we are all attempting to operate efficiently and get things done within the much larger context of our matrix-sized organizations.    

The article offers some pointers for managing your boss by understanding your boss, and yourself, and then building your relationship -- not just when things go wrong, or when you want / need something.  Find out what their goals are, and how you fit into that bigger picture.    If you want to try something new, couch it as an innovation project.

It also offers 5 tips for maintaining a position of influence within your organization:

     1. Stop acting like a doctor. 

     2. Know when to ask forgiveness vs. permission.

• Administrators have several concerns you must honor: money, staff, policy, and mission. If you need something that does not require more money or more staff, does not violate policy, and is consistent with the mission, just do it. If anyone objects later, beg forgiveness (or ask to be an innovation pilot project).

     3. Don't be a whiner.
     4. Remember the continuation rule ...

• Every interaction you have with your boss sets the stage for your next encounter. If you end on a positive note, your next meeting will continue on that same positive trajectory — even if your discussion is about a problem. 

     5. Avoid the "disruptive" label.

If you follow these steps, you may have some pleasantly surprising results.   This general approach has worked well for me through the years, with a number of managers.    

Now if I could just figure out how to find the right people to get things done in the matrix ...  

What do you think?  Has this approach worked for you?  Why or why not?