Innovation

Standing out from other well being initiatives, the Experience Lab creatively designs experiences to transform healthcare organizations. As the number of mental health concerns and burnout rates grow in the healthcare sector, the Experience Lab focuses on creating joy rather than mitigating burnout. By identifying four distinct approaches to transforming healthcare, the lab has created a fundamental experience to reach their goals. The four elements of any Experience Lab experience are 1) Leading, 2) Looking, 3) Living, and 4) Loving. To touch each of these elements, the experiences offered generally integrate a variety of practices of connectedness. From art to improv, the experience also strives to connect healthcare teams and create meaningful bonds outside the workspace so that teams can function better inside professional work spaces.

A recent experience offered to a set of healthcare professionals involved laughter yoga. This practice of connectedness helped relieve stress and eased tension for workers struggling to balance work through the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other experiences touch on framing mindfulness in the context of work life. This looks like giving healthcare workers an experience where they are intentionally prompted to take a moment to celebrate good amidst challenging news. The accumulation of the Experience Lab’s innovation results in better team member experience, provider experience, and patient and guest experience, which adds up to a more positive and memorable healthcare experience as a whole.

Inspiration

After being happily surprised when she opened the hotel closet to find zebra and cheetah striped robes, Sonia started thinking about what other small changes could make mundane experiences more exciting. She specifically started thinking about how these changes could be seen inside hospitals, an environment generally known to be dull. Things as simple as changing the color of gowns or the blankets in a hospital room could lift up spirits for those working or staying in the hospital. This experience ignited Sonia’s ambition to design meaningful positive experiences for those in the healthcare space.

Overall impact

The goal of the Experience Lab is to heal the healthcare system from the inside out and revolutionize healthcare from its very core. The essence of the work has not changed since the conception of the idea and this is because the Experience Lab team makes an effort to constantly check in with the vision and mission of the organization. The Experience Lab has revolutionized the way organizations think about their employees and coworkers by showing them that caring and loving matters. There is an overall commitment to make teams better from the inside out, from upper administration down.

Business benefit

In an era where the healthcare industry has been through a traumatic and stressful time due to the ongoing pandemic, it is more important than ever to heal the healthcare industry as well and enable and strengthen workers to better support patients by being kinder. The necessary component is giving people the space to heal, to grow, to feel better, and to be equipped with what is needed to take a leap into a better space. This is especially important now that the pandemic is a less imminent threat because of mass immunization. Healthcare workers did not get a chance to return to a baseline and there is evidence of burnout, a trend that the Experience Lab seeks to change. The Magic of Successful Organizations is the shared wisdom of everyone involved in it. Change occurs with an understanding that everyone has a wisdom for the work, the goal, and the aim; a reality that too few organizations are willing to create the space to listen to.

Social and environmental benefit

The Experience Lab is doing a part in creating more wholehearted organizations. It is a small firm that is serving people in every timezone, all over the world. This Is done from the inside out. The employees are encouraged to set healthy work boundaries, and support each other, keeping their energy and space in mind. Each meeting starts with a different topic that every employee can tune into so that people are on the same page. Employees are given the space to think, grow, and align with what they need their company to be. The basic premise is to show up for each other as a team in order to show up for patients as healthcare providers.

Interview

Sonia Rhodes, Founder and CEO