The Greaser Approach (Nursing)

00:00 One of my favorite books of all time is the Outsiders by SE Hinton.

00:06 The book and movie speak about a group of teenagers that try to meddle through the complexities of life together.

00:14 They stick together through thick and thin and when one is hurting, they are all hurting.

00:20 When one is happy, they are all happy. When one speaks, they speak for the entire group.

00:28 They call their friendship the greasers because they grease their hair with a tremendous amount of product.

00:36 In the story, one person speaks on behalf of the group.

00:41 Another person speaks on behalf of another group.

00:45 The result is a dangerous ramble in which no one wins.

00:51 Sometimes when giving feedback, I'm reminded of the greasers.

00:56 When addressing unmet performance expectations, you may know of other people that feel the same sentiment of frustration as you.

01:08 With few exceptions, do not address your frustrations with a colleague speaking on behalf of an entire group.

01:19 This greaser approach will often lead to the colleague feeling attacked and the response will likely be defensive.

01:30 This can diminish the trust within the group dynamic and cause skepticism of who said what.

01:38 How many people think this? Who is thinking what? and Why aren't the people with the problem coming to me? Rather, address your individual frustrations with the person.

01:54 Try to use language and observations that are as personal to yourself and directly related to your experience.

02:08 A simple "I have noticed that" or "I have observed that" can frame the conversation much differently than "We all feel that" or "It has been reported to me from several sources that" type of conversation which can invoke a feeling of attack.

02:31 In the Outsiders, the conflict of one person results in the conflict of the entire group and consequently warrants a giant ramble.

02:43 People get hurt very badly and no one reaches a solution.

02:49 Similar ramble type situations can happen in our work situations if we create a feeling of us versus you approach to our feedback.

03:02 Approach feedback from a personal angle. It's true.

03:08 The idea of speaking on behalf of everyone can act as a shield to confessing personal emotions and frustrations that are actually specific to one person or maybe two.

03:22 When speaking on behalf of others, it is difficult to gauge the depth of the frustrations and how much weight the performance challenges carry.

03:33 Don't hide behind a shield of other people.

03:36 Be vulnerable and bring up frustrations specific to you.

03:42 If you bring up the frustration one on one with a team member and no change is observed at that time, I would encourage you to utilize the support from your charge nurse, supervisor, or manager.

04:01 They are there to help you navigate these challenges.

04:05 If the challenge is with the leader or with the leadership or they do not support you, then I would encourage you to discuss the challenges with human resources.

04:18 They are also a resource to help champion your success.

04:23 Either way, do not take a greaser approach. Here is what I want you to do instead.

04:30 Address your individual frustrations and unmet expectations and come up with an action plan for improvement.

04:39 If other people have frustrations, encourage and support your team with the tools to address individual challenges with the individuals.

04:48 This is how you can improve performance.

04:51 Keep harmony within the team with minimal escalation and stay gold.