Like Clockwork
Like Clockwork
At World Pediatric Project (WPP), there are so many moving parts. Communicating between staff, interns, volunteers, doctors, nurses, hospitals, housing facilities, and the families here in the United States is a lot. Then, add on the communication required to sponsor 50 mission teams abroad, and all the volunteers, doctors, hospitals, nurses and families in the host countries— it can get crazy! Not to mention the amount of different languages that are spoken throughout the process. Needless to say, communication enables the company to work soundly. Another expectation that the company operates on is the willingness to be responsible and take on new tasks. Because there are so many moving parts, it is expected that if you see something that needs to be done, you do it rather than waiting to be told to do it.
At WPP, we all stay on the same page by communicating through Google Outlook. By putting everything that needs to be done there, as well as who will be completing it and when, at any given moment we are all able to check the calendar and see what is happening when. The shared calendar creates an informal, but up-to-date means of communication. Additionally, team meetings and organizational meetings allow for everyone in the wider company to be on the same page, more so than just a department. These meetings serve as a more formal way of communicating. Because of who the company serves and how, communicating well is particularly important.
WPP is a nonprofit serving both children internationally, and by bringing them to the U.S. for surgery. By having two very large and distinct areas, it requires that the company have two major areas of organization; U.S. referrals and mission teams. Devoting time and energy to the patients’ and their families is a priority. Given that, the site’s context requires the leadership to be more attentive to certain issues than to others; in this case the children’s needs mores than anything else. By having communication and responsibility as clear expectations, informal and formal ways of communicating, and by focusing time and energy to specific areas, it allows the company to run smoothly— like clockwork.
Indeed, there are myriad parts to WPP made only more complex by the international AND domestic arms and the language/cultural differences. It seems, thus far, that you’ve found the communication strategies to be effective. It is good to hear that the children’s needs prevail for both the domestic and international areas; would be interested to learn – as you are there longer – if these two areas (international and domestic) have unique contexts that require different types of leadership; if the nature of their work requires different styles, approaches, strategies.