Hello again, RHT Community!
As RHTP moves further into implementation, I have been thinking about something we may not see on our project plans:
The relationships through which transformation will actually happen.
We can identify initiatives, timelines, funding, deliverables, and accountable leaders, but implementation rarely moves through formal structure alone. It also moves through relationships. Who do people trust when something changes? Who do they call when a new process does not work as expected? Who connects clinical, operational, technology, and community partners? Who has influence across departments, or even across organizations, without necessarily having the title? And who is quietly becoming the person everyone depends upon?
This is where I believe Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) could offer an important lens for rural health transformation. ONA helps make visible the informal networks through which trust, information, collaboration, knowledge, and influence actually move.
Imagine being able to see, during implementation:
This is not about replacing traditional workforce data, surveys, or project management. It is about seeing another layer of the system. We can design an excellent transformation strategy on paper and still miss the human network required to make it work in practice.
Perhaps one of our RHTP implementation questions should be: Do we know who is actually carrying the transformation?
Perhaps equally important: Do we know whether the network around them is strong enough to sustain it?
I would love to hear whether others are thinking about the relational side of RHTP implementation.
Thank you! Happy Friday Eve!
Sincerely, Ava