Blindfolds, Bikes and Boys & Girls Club
Powerful Lesson in Teamwork for Skilled Nursing Team Ends with Bikes for Local Kids
Communication and teamwork are essential to the outcome of any company. But when it comes to healthcare, lives depend on it. That’s why the regional team at SKLD in Michigan decided to teach their leadership a lasting lesson in communication and trust.
How do you set up skilled nursing administrators and directors of nursing (DON) to work together in a way that can permanently transform their partnership? Regional operators of this innovative skilled nursing company came up with an extreme challenge. What should have been a traditional meeting of system and processes improvement became a workshop to remember for a lifetime. In the end, participants saw how far teamwork can take them and just how powerful the outcome can be. There were lots of laughs, follies and even a few tears.
SKLD operates 20 facilities across Michigan and Ohio, and on February 26, administrators and directors of nursing from 11 SKLD Michigan facilities gathered for a regional meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The day started out as usual, until after a few hours, the blindfolds came out.
The Ultimate Teamwork Challenge
Every facility administrator was blindfolded by their DON and led to a partially assembled children’s bike. If you’ve ever assembled a kid’s bike the night before a birthday, you know just how frustrating this task can be. But blindfolded? That’s even harder.
The administrators got to work assembling the bikes, relying on instructions from the DONs. SKLD Plymouth administrator Yehuda Kenzer says, “I gained understanding on how to read people and saw firsthand that not everyone communicates the same way. If we have great teamwork and communication, the residents are the ones who reap the benefits, and that’s of course why we are all here.”
The teams all managed to complete the bike building challenge eventually, although some of the handlebars may have been off kilter and more than one person may have sported a black eye the next day.
In the end it was worth it because there was no doubt among any of the participants that they gained a new appreciation for teamwork, trust and communication. They also launched into discussion about culture at each facility and in the region.
Biggest surprise of all
The SKLD Beltline maintenance team then stepped in to adjust the bikes and run a safety check. Some of these newly minted bike mechanics hopped on to take the first spin before the best surprise of all occurred.
Twelve children from the Grand Rapids Boys and Girls Club showed up to find shiny, new bikes built specifically for each of them.
Wendy Jeppson, SKLD chief nursing officer, who spearheaded the program, says, “What it really comes down to in the end, is that leaders realize that if this is what you’re feeling when you have to depend on one another’s trust and communication, you’ll have a greater understanding of what is it like for the team members you’re leading in your facility.”
Cheryl Keenoy, administrator at SKLD Zeeland summed it up best when she said, “The bicycle giveaway was a perfect ending to a great day. SKLD is a generous, caring organization who demonstrates their commitment in many ways. I loved being part of this.”
SKLD is leading the way in modernizing skilled nursing care and rehabilitation at 20 facilities across Michigan and Ohio with short-term, transitional treatment and rehabilitation and long-term nursing care. Click here to find a facility near you. Click here to join our team.