Participatory planning. An interactive management approach

Planning meetings are usually viewed as a means for accomplishing tasks, creating plans, exchanging information, or analyzing material. Although a large part of this article includes a description of work that resulted from planning meetings, the value of the meetings should not be overlooked. Working together on common problems at the hospital regenerated esprit de corps and served to remind individuals of their shared goals. The process fostered an appreciation of the constraints, objectives, and external demands of each professional group using the OR and helped explain seemingly arbitrary or irrational behavior. The meetings also forced tensions out into the open and helped defuse "hot" issues that might have been played out in the OR suite. Although most work units engage in some form of planning, there is a tendency to "get it over with" as quickly as possible until another crisis occurs. Another approach is to schedule group planning and design on a regular basis as a form of group catharsis. Given the high levels of stress that members of the OR are subjected to, this idea may make more than just good planning sense.