My Current Work and Digital Tools I Use
I work as a frontline supervisor in public oral healthcare. My work includes leading and guiding the daily work of employees, planning work shifts and resources, supporting employees and developing our work processes. I also make sure that employees have up-to-date information about instructions, procedures and organisational goals. I follow the quality of our work and different performance indicators and share relevant information with employees and management.
Digital tools are an important part of my daily work as a supervisor. I use several different systems and services for communication, finding information, handling personnel matters, planning work and monitoring our activities.
Teams is one of my most important communication and collaboration tools. I use our team channel, for example, to share agendas and minutes of weekly team meetings and NPS results. I also use Teams to share other current information with employees and to participate in different meetings. Other Microsoft Office tools, such as Outlook, Word and Excel, are also used daily. I use Outlook for emails, calendars and meetings, Word for creating documents and instructions, and Excel for example for handling information and planning resources.
Life Care patient information system is one of our most important and central digital tools. The system is needed both in clinical work and in supervisory work. As a supervisor, I use the system, for example, to monitor activities and check necessary information.
An Excel-based system is used to help with planning workstations and ensuring that there are enough resources. With this system, I can see the availability of workstations and whether the available resources are sufficient for the planned activities. I also use it to plan work pairs and the placement of employees at different workstations, while taking into account, for example, absences and the need for substitutes.
In my supervisory work, I also use different HR and payroll systems for handling personnel-related matters. Workday is an important HR tool that I use, for example, for making working time changes, handling holidays and absences, creating employment contracts and recording and monitoring completed training. Power BI is also an important tool for monitoring our activities. The information provided by Power BI can be used to follow different results and indicators, such as NPS results and access to care.
I use several intranets to find information that I need in my work. They provide current instructions, procedures, organisational goals, announcements and information about different changes. Following information from the intranets is an important part of my supervisory work because I need to make sure that I can provide employees with up-to-date information and instructions. I also use Moodle and Oppiportti for training and maintaining my professional knowledge.
Digital tools are therefore involved in almost every part of my work as a supervisor. They are needed for communication, sharing information, handling personnel matters, planning resources, monitoring activities, reporting and development. Using several different systems also requires the ability to find the right information in the right place and to use different digital tools appropriately.
Digital Applications I Chose
Doodle helps find a suitable time for meetings, training or other events by letting the organiser suggest several options for participants to choose from. This makes it easier to find a time when most people can participate.
Even though we already use calendar tools, it can still be difficult to find a time that suits most people. Doodle could help find the best possible time more quickly. As a supervisor, I could use it to find a suitable time for a group meeting, especially when employees have different work shifts. The tool could save time and reduce the number of emails needed to arrange a meeting.
However, our organisation may already have calendar tools that can be used for the same purpose. I would also need to check the organisation’s data security rules and make sure that no confidential information is added to the poll.
Miro could be particularly useful for the supervisor team when working on a specific topic or developing our processes. It is often difficult for supervisors to find a common time when everyone can meet. With Miro, everyone could work on the topic independently when they have time. They could add their own ideas, notes and suggestions to the shared board before the meeting.
When the team has a common meeting, the ideas could then be reviewed and developed together. This could make the meeting more efficient because everyone has already had time to think about the topic beforehand. It could also make it easier for everyone to participate and share their ideas.
Vimeo could be useful at my workplace for creating, storing and sharing introduction and training videos for new employees. The videos could explain work practices, important instructions or how different systems are used.
These videos could make it easier for new employees to learn and return to the information later when needed. They could also save time because the same information would not need to be explained separately to every new employee. However, the organisation’s data security rules should be checked before using the service. Confidential or sensitive information should not be included in the videos without permission.
iAuditor could be useful at my workplace for creating checklists for tasks that need to be done regularly, for example once a month. These tasks could be added to a checklist, and the checklist could be used to make sure that all the required tasks are completed.
This could help to make sure that important tasks are not forgotten. When a task is completed, it could be marked in the checklist, so there would also be a record that it has been done. This would make the process more organised and documented. This could be useful for example for regular safety checks, checking equipment or other monthly tasks that need to be completed
Asana could be useful at my workplace for planning and managing projects, for example when creating a digital care pathway for patients. Building a digital pathway often requires several different experts because the information and skills needed are diverse. There could be healthcare professionals, people with digital skills and other experts involved in the work.
The work could be divided into smaller tasks, and each task could be assigned to the person responsible for it. For example, one person could work on the content, another on the technical part and another check that the information is correct. Everyone involved could see what has already been done, what still needs to be done and who is responsible for each task. This would help everyone stay up to date with the progress of the project and see where the work is in the timeline. It could make it easier for different experts to work together and keep the digital pathway project organised.
I chose Doodle, Vimeo, Miro, iAuditor, and Asana because these applications differ from the digital tools I use in my daily work. They also seemed interesting and offer new ways to develop and organise our processes.
Doodle helps find a suitable time for meetings more quickly, while Vimeo can be used for orientation and training videos. Miro supports the supervisor team when working together on specific topics. iAuditor works well for regular checklists, ensuring that important monthly tasks are completed and documented. Finally, Asana is useful in larger development projects, such as creating a digital care pathway involving several different experts.
Good and Bad Sides of Digital Applications
Digital applications can have many positive sides at the workplace. They can make communication easier, save time and support cooperation. They can also help with planning, training, sharing information and developing work. Different applications can offer new ways to work and can make some tasks easier and more organised.
However, there are also negative sides that need to be considered. Data security and privacy are especially important in healthcare. Patient information, employee data and other confidential information must not be shared through applications without permission. The organisation should also have clear rules about which applications can be used and what kind of information can be entered into them.
Another issue is that the organisation may already have digital tools that offer similar services. Using too many different applications can make work more complicated because information may be spread across several systems. Learning a new application also takes time. For an application to be useful, the people using it need to be willing to learn how it works and use it in a way that gives the most benefit. If only some people use the application, it may be difficult to get the full benefit from it.
When thinking about using new digital applications, I think there are also some important things to consider. In my opinion, successful use of a digital application requires a clear purpose and that the application really supports the work. The users need to understand how and why the application is used. Data security must also be considered, especially in healthcare. It is important to choose tools that are suitable for the organisation and do not create unnecessary extra work. When these things are considered, digital applications can support the work and bring new ways of working and developing services.
Self Evaluation
I found this task interesting because I got to learn about many new applications and digital tools. I noticed how many different tools are available and how they could be used in working life. The task also made me think about how I could make my own work more efficient and develop it with different digital tools.
I chose five applications that I found interesting and that could offer new ways of working. I am planning to try some of the applications I chose, if my organisation approves their use. Overall, I think this task gave me new ideas about how digital tools could support and develop my work.