Managing Up & Taking Flight

Think about the first flight you took as a child, or the first flight of your children. Did your parents, or did you warn “There will probably be long lines in security and we’ll have to wait for a while. The food isn’t very good. It might be a bumpy ride. Your ears may feel like they’re imploding. You’ll have to sit still for hours on end in a small space.”? Probably not. Most likely you or your parents said “We’re getting to go somewhere new and exciting.” Or “We’re going on an adventure.” Consider how much that framing can affect a person’s perceptions.

"Managing up" is the act of providing information to a customer that highlights positive aspects of the service/organization. Many have heard that this can be a valuable tactic for better patient perceptions, but maany have also questioned the ease with which they can manage up. Many organizations are faced with real difficulties, whether it is older facilities, high turnover rates, a questionable financial future, etc. These organizations forget that even they are still able to provide excellent care to many of their patients and talking about that excellent care puts patients’ minds at ease.

Managing up is not about lying. It’s simply about highlighting the positive to put people at ease. Whether patients are in your care for a small outpatient procedure or a long inpatient stay, they are in a foreign environment. Not every healthcare encounter has people shaking in their boots, in fact most probably do not. However, healthcare encounters put people in unfamiliar territory and you can help them acclimate by providing information. If you are in an older facility, so what? Maybe you have a really experienced nursing team or maybe you have the latest technology that the patient will take advantage of, or maybe they will be treated by an extremely caring and patient physician…every person should know something about their organization that puts patients at ease. This is a very effective tactic for better patient perceptions, but more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.