HOW TO ESTABLISH CRITERIA

Criteria are standards. One excellent criteria might be called "Best Practices." Business criteria are based on industry standards and defined in specifics according to the company needs and preferences. Criteria can be arranged in such categories as performance, economics, or ethics. An industry, business, or individual can develop a list of behavior criteria that become the baseline for best practices. A criteria can establish the standards of practices for hiring, promoting, evaluating, auditing, filing grievances, or terminations.

The following list is a set of criteria developed by a health care delivery team when they were invited to set standards of best practices and establish their criteria for their unique team's view of excellence. The team wanted to communicate to each other what they hoped to see from one another and from themselves . Each member wrote their own criteria, and then a list was complied eliminating duplications. Their team had been disrupted by Emotional Terrorism and they wanted to avoid future upheavals. After developing a list of industry standards and expectations for their job performances , they began to discuss ways of managing past, present, and future emotionally disruptive outbreaks by using this list to create their own No-Emotional-Terrorists-In-Our-Department policy. The team graded each other on these standards on an ongoing basis to maintain a peer driven criteria for excellence.

Case Example

Fiona Feenie Memorial Hospital's Widget Packing Department Criteria for Team Excellence

As a team, we will strive to:

• Let Go Of Past Grudges

• Assume The Best From One Another

• Seek Outside Feedback Carefully

• Not Participate In Emotional Drama

• Not Initiate Emotional Drama

• Remember We Are Not Victims Because Adults Have Choices

• Put Clients First

• Maintain A Good Attitude

• Use The Chain Of Command To Effect Change

• Use Policy Format To Offer Complaints

• Show All Memos To All Staff Always

• Strive For Cooperation

• Verbally Appreciate Help Given

• Show Respect For Each Other

• Model Appropriate Business Site Sense Of Humor

• Not Participate In Humor Which Includes Sexual Innuendos

• Model Flexibility

• Be Examples Of Personal Truthfulness

• Show Personal Accountability

• Give And Receive Forgiveness

• Offer Clear Communication

• Demand And Offer Equality

• Perform The Highest Work Ethics

• Complete Follow Through

• Not Engage In Second Hand Gossip

• Not Spread Or Encourage Rumors

• Actively Participate

• Show Consideration For Others And Courtesy In All Situations

• Stand By Confidentiality Standards

• Be Professional In Front Of Clients

• Give More Than Just The Minimum

• Work With Cooperation Between Hierarchies