Together With

Good morning. A must-have skill for leaders in our space is executing brainstorming sessions.  Before diving into that topic, let's catch up with Charles Mann, senior living operator and problem solver turned tech entrepreneur.  

Together With Accushield

This week I sat down with Charles Mann, Accushield founder, and all-around good dude, to learn about his passion for solving a major problem he experienced as a senior living operator.

Could you give us a little history about yourself?  How did you get into the senior living industry?

I grew up in Dallas, TX. My mother and father lived in different places, so I split time going back and forth as a kid. I went to school in Dallas and Baylor for college and then moved to Houston after college. My first job out of college was working as a sales representative for Johnson and Johnson. The company name was Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson on the medical device side. I spent ten years in and out of hospitals selling medical devices to surgeons in the operating room. I genuinely love the healthcare industry, but I wanted to get back to what I had always envisioned myself doing: working alongside my father in the senior living industry. So in 2010, I moved from Houston, TX to Atlanta, GA, to assist my father in running his assisted living communities that he built in the late 1980s. I spent a year as an executive director in our flagship building in Atlanta, GA, and through that experience as an executive director is what spurred me on to start Accushield, the first sign-in health screening kiosk designed for senior living.

Was there an "aha" moment with the idea and founding for Accushield?

When I first started as an executive director at our flagship community in Sandy Springs, I wanted to learn all aspects of the business. I spent time in the kitchen I spent time on the sales and marketing side and the operation side. About six months in, I began to realize the safety issues that resided in many senior living communities. Certain situations happened where caregivers and visitors were streaming in and out of the community, and I had no idea who they were or who they were seeing. This happened every day that I was an executive director, and I needed to figure out a way to mitigate this risk. A lack of transparency around who was coming and going was the "aha" moment for me and what drove me to create Accushield.

What has been the biggest challenge in creating and scaling a company in this industry?

The biggest challenge for me in creating and scaling a company in this industry had to do with the development of technology. I had no technology experience when starting Accushield. Because of that, I was forced to go out and find technology experts to help me build a product that had never been created before. Hiring people to do things that you've never done before is not easy, and so in many cases, you have to rely upon references. So if I had to boil it down to one thing, it would be the challenges of developing technology with a lack of mastery.

Do you have any advice for senior living operators looking to become an entrepreneur in the industry?

The best advice I can give a senior living operator looking to become an entrepreneur in this industry would be to find someone who believes as strongly as you do in solving a problem. I do not believe that you can do or start any business that can scale and solve a massive problem yourself.

Are there any tips, best practices, hacks, etc., that you lead and operate by that you recommend to other leaders and operators?

I don't have any tips or tricks that guarantee success for leaders and operators. Find something that you really enjoy and that doesn't feel like work. I can honestly say since starting Accushield that I have never "worked" a day since it began.

What can we expect from Accushield in the future?

Accushield has a lot of growth potential in Senior LIving and other healthcare-related verticles. Our success at Accushield will rely upon listening to what our clients need - not our wants.

You can reach out to the Accushield team at sales@accushield.com and learn more about their product here.

Free CEU- Extended until December 31st!

We continue our partnership with CEUSrEZ providing readers with a free NAB-approved continuing education course worth one credit hour.  To cash in on your free course here is all you have to do.  

1.) Hit "reply" to this email.  If you were forwarded this email, reply to newsletter@nhastandup.com.  

2.) Add the email addresses of a few other NHA's in your network so they can also get the free course.  Hit send.

3.) That's it.  We will reply to the email thread with the course link and free registration code for yourself and your friends!

CEUSrEZ offers an additional CEU credit for free on their site, giving you two total NAB credit hours.  Check out their offerings for all of your CEU needs!

Elevate your operation

I work with some pretty fantastic brainstormers.  Women and men who can get in front of the whiteboard, write down a problem, and bring tremendous energy to inspire a group of people to rapidly fire dozens of potential solutions.  Every time I see it in action, I'm reminded how impressive it is and how essential it is too good leadership and innovation.  Here are a few consistencies I have seen over the years that all great brainstormers have in common.

Know why you're brainstorming

The single most significant benefit of brainstorming, other than the ideas generated, is that it's a collaborative process that breaks the top-down approach to decision-making, empowering stakeholders to be part of the decision-making process.  The best leaders use brainstorming strategically to cultivate buy-in and uncover blind spots within their perspectives.  

For example, a leader may be given a new process to implement due to a regulatory change.  The solution (the new process) is already identified in this case.  To help drive buy-in, the leader might develop a brainstorming session to identify all of the pros and cons of the new process and potential solutions to the cons.  The goal is to identify all possible roadblocks and solutions while giving team members and stakeholders a voice in determining the potential issues and solutions.  Empowerment leads to innovation.

Know your audience

The best leaders know how to make the participants feel comfortable.  Great solutions will only come when people feel relaxed and know that a crazy idea won't receive judgment.  You can influence this in several different ways.

• Control the size and participants of the session, including only individuals who work together frequently and are comfortable with each other.
• Break sessions up into teams of close co-workers
• Be the first one to throw out an off the wall idea to set the bar

Focus on what, not how

You're not there to evaluate whether or not ideas will work.  You're simply collecting ideas and thoughts.  Often, the conversation may shift in the wrong direction, and the best leaders lean in to get the conversation back on track.

Connect the dots 

A culture of innovation and empowerment comes from team members knowing they can influence change and decisions.  It is critical to check back in with participants and connect the dots to show how their ideas led to real change.  This communication needs to be specific and intentional with real-life examples.  Celebrate the wins!

Grab your coffee and make it a great day.  We appreciate you and your dedication to your team and residents. -Thank you!