Described as “the bible of service improvement strategy”. Tailored to the needs of administrators, strategy coaches, middle managers, consultants, teams and task force members, this book presents the nuts and bolts of a systems approach to service improvement. The best- practice tools and processes described help you align your organization’s cultural practices and every program, department and individual’s behavior with your service mission.

• Customer’s Definition of Quality
• Service as the Competitive Edge

• The Ten Pillars and How to Strengthen Them
• Strong Pillars Make Strong Service Cultures

• Lead with a Service Vision
• Talk Service Passionately
• Listen and Communicate with Your Employee Customers

• Stating and Sharing Vision
• Model Great Customer Relations
• Modeling Collegial Support

• Hire Service-Oriented People
• Expectations of Managers, Employees and Physicians
• Service Standards and Protocols

• Applicant Behaviors
• Performance Standards
• Adapting the Discipline Process

• What and How to Measure
• Turning Data into Feedback

• Importance-Performance Matrix
• Internal/External Customer Survey

• Service Recovery
• The Customer-Driven Management Process
• Step-by-Step Improvement Process

• Flowchart for complaint handling
• Prioritization Process
• PDCA Cycle and Team Tools

• Enable Everyone to See the Big Picture
• Reinforce Service Commitment in Writing
• Share Feedback and Progress

• Round-the-Clock Briefing
• Employee Sound-Off Meeting
• Form Letter on Unsolvables

• Learning Beyond Training
• Skill-Building for All Levels
• Targeted Training

• Skill-Building Modules
• Quality Merit Badge Approach
• Job-Specific Training Plans

• Using Feedback to Improve Physician Behavior
• The Service-Oriented Medical Practices
• Staff Relationships with Physicians

• Speech for Physician Leaders
• Physician Feedback Tool
• Medical Staff Workshop

• Aligning Compensation with Your Service Mission
• Management and Team Recognition
• Targeted Recognition and Hoopla

• Recognition Audit
• Recognition Tools: Cards, coupons, Olympics

• The Six-Factor Formula
• Staff Roles in Effective Service Recovery
• Remove Barriers to Empowerment

• Defining Boundaries for Staff
• Model for Coaching
• Decision-Making Practice

• House Rule of the Month Campaigns
• Posters, Pins, Events and Celebrations
• Staff Meetings to Improve Service

• Confidentiality Campaign
• Noise Reduction Campaign
• Meeting: From Good to Great

• Comprehensive Planning Process
• Organizational Assessments and Service Audits
• Why Plans Fall Apart

• Benchmarking Questions
• Culture Audit
• Mapping Strategy Components

• Functions of Infrastructure Personnel
• The Steering Committee and Subcommittees

• Questions for Planning Teams
• Org. Chart for Service Leadership

• Department Alignment Process in 12 Steps

• Mission-Building Worksheet
• Service Quality/Culture Audit

• Improved Relationships by Design
• Relationship-Building and Skill-Building

• Service House Rules/Report Cards
• Service Contracting

• What Drives Resistance?
• Resistance Tactics for Service Strategies

• Demography of Change
• Subgroups Merit Special Planning

• Patient-Focused Care
• Planetree and NYU Cooperative Care

• What to Do with a Stall Out
• How to Do Follow-Through Planning

• Taking Your Strategy’s Pulse
• Pursuing Breakthrough Objective