Resources & Tools

We have all been involved in a post-mortem project failure where everyone points fingers, blames other departments for not collaborating, and sometimes we hear conspiracy stories of outright sabotage. Nothing good comes from a post-mortem analysis; since we are too busy fixing blame, we seldom learn...

Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping offer a very intuitive way to organize your thoughts, since mind maps mimic the way our brains think—bouncing ideas off of each other, rather than thinking linearly. This tool helps an improvement team think outside the box in a non-linear fashion and determine how ideas, thoughts, concepts,...

Clean Sheet Process Redesign

Clean Sheet Process Redesign enables complete transformation of a process to change the existing work flow and culture. Developed by Public Health Foundation (PHF) Senior Quality Advisor John W. Moran and PHF quality improvement expert Amanda McCarty, this tool empowers a team to move away from the...

Facilitating and Coaching Teams: Tips and Techniques

Facilitating and coaching are learned skills that require education, observation, and hands-on experience. Facilitation is the process of helping groups or individuals learn, find a solution, or reach consensus without imposing or dictating an outcome. Coaching is defined as partnering with individuals...

Ingredients for Effective Meetings and Team Communication

Many people have learned to dislike meetings. When a meeting is disorganized, has no agenda, is poorly facilitated, or is disrupted by inappropriate behavior from attendees, individuals can develop an aversion to all meetings. It is the responsibility of the team leader and facilitator to plan ahead...

Roles and Responsibilities for Launching Teams

Teams are not new to public health. Health professionals have long respected the knowledge and opinions of others within the organization and the community served. Scarce resources and reduced staffing have led many health departments to cross-train staff in duties not part of their original performance...

Taking the Pulse of Your Team

Just like humans, teams need regular checkups to ensure that they are healthy and performing effectively. Regular checkups will catch deviations from normal performance and enable a corrective course of action. This article presents two diagnostic instruments to help the team facilitator or team coach...

The Genie is Out of the Bottle: From "little qi" to "Big QI"

The myth of Aladdin conjures images of a bumpy yet thrilling carpet ride; for some, launching quality improvement (QI) efforts is a similar experience. In Chester County, PA, the health department began its QI journey in much the same way as other health departments: while preparing for voluntary public...

Safety First: Helping Restaurants Reduce the Spread of COVID-19 (Online Training)

Health departments have an important role to play in helping restaurants keep their staff and patrons safe. To support health departments in providing guidance to restaurants, the Public Health Foundation (PHF), in partnership with the Food and Society Program at the Aspen Institute launched...

Quality Improvement Graphic Tools To Help Us Understand Data

To achieve measurable improvements, we must have a systematic and continuous process of measuring and assessing the performance and outcomes of our products and services. To make improvements, it is essential for a health department to have a robust Performance Management System that collects...

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