BUILDING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATION FOR THE DISCIPLINE

Stacy Brungardt

doi:10.1370/afm.1329

What does it take to build a high-performance organization? Robert Graham, MD, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national program director of Aligning Forces for Quality and executive director of the STFM Foundation Bishop Fellowship Program, has done extensive work and thinking about how to define high-performance organizations. The fruits of his labors point to 6 things that high-performance organizations do well:

Plan regularly
Execute in a disciplined manner
Change/evolve
Maintain success over time
Show resilience in the face of adversity
Develop people

This report focuses most directly on the first 2 elements, highlighting the work the STFM Board and Strategic Planning Committee have recently done to move us in this direction.

Plan Regularly

There is a strategic plan that guides decision making and resource allocation choices
The plan is reviewed and revised regularly

Execute in a Disciplined Manner

There are clear action steps for each plan element, and a specific person/group responsible
Process in accomplishing tasks is tracked regularly and visibly with results fed back into the planning process

Introducing STFM’s 2012–2014 STFM Strategic Plan

The STFM Board of Directors implemented a strategic planning process in 2011 to develop a 3-year plan and a process for utilization, measurement, updating, and for adding new and sunsetting old programs. This was developed with extensive discussions by the Strategic Planning Committee; interviews of the leaders, non-members, and general members; focus groups; and a member needs survey.

This research resulted in the identification of 5 interdependent key priority areas for STFM to address over the next 3 years.

What does this mean to our stakeholders?

We are going to have a sharper focus on activities and initiatives that you have helped identify as high priority to you and the discipline. For example, based on feedback from you, we plan to create a national residency curriculum, likely in partnership with others.

This also means that the bar has been raised for our existing programs. Their continuation will depend on the extent to which they continue to have a significantly positive impact on our members and whether they contribute in a meaningful way to advancing family medicine. Without this critical examination, we run the risk of creating an even larger inventory of programs and not having the resources to give the highest impact programs their proper attention. By trying to do everything, we will do few of the important things well and will become a mediocre and irrelevant organization.

STFM Strategic Priorities (Not Listed in Rank Order)

Professional and Leadership Development

STFM will be the leader in training, leadership development, and creation of information that improves family medicine education and teaching.

Scholarship and Innovation

STFM will be the authority for innovation and research in family medicine education.

Workforce Development

STFM will promote family medicine workforce development through innovation, curriculum development, and practice redesign in teaching sites.

Professional Relationships

Relationships developed through STFM will enhance the professional well-being, vitality, and growth of members and the discipline.

Policy Advocacy

STFM will develop and utilize its members’ expertise to positively influence legislation and regulations that have an impact on family medicine education and workforce development.

The strategies related to this plan can be found on the STFM Web site. The staff and Board are adding timelines and responsibilities and already acting on several of the strategies in the plan.

Creating a high-performance organization is much more than developing a strategic plan. There are other critical elements integral to our success that require specific attention, such as a focus on innovation and being relevant to members and an ability to adapt to and manage change. The main takeaway should be that STFM leadership is paying attention to all these factors. We’re a work in progress but a Society that’s headed in the right direction.