How to Incorporate Evidence-Based Practice in the Workplace

Identify the problem your workplace is facing. Hold a staff meeting and ask workers to weigh in on what the problems are in your workplace, and what solutions they may propose to solve the problem. Workers may or may not come up with viable solutions, but by making it clear that you want them involved in the process, they may be more open to changes later on. Also keep in mind that some workers may be unwilling to share ideas publicly, so also create a mechanism to allow workers to contribute problems and solutions anonymously.

Study the research available in your industry to find possible solutions to your problem. If you're in the health care field, you'll likely find multiple approaches to solve your problem, since the amount of research out there -- published on sites such as PubMed -- is pretty overwhelming. If you're in sales or some other non-technical field, it may be more difficult to find research on your topic, but check out technical manuals, scholarly journals, trade associations or business consultants with whom you work to identify as many solutions as you can.

Assemble the body of research and best practices you've uncovered into a coherent presentation you can present to your staff or your management team. If you have multiple approaches to consider, create a "pros and cons" list for each solution to allow staff members to understand each option. Ask workers to consider each option and to share their preferred options, either in a group setting or through your anonymous system.

Decide on the best solution after considering the opinions and preferences of the staff members involved.

Create an action plan for implementing the new solution. To do this effectively, you'll need to apply some of the same critical thinking skills that went into the original best-practice research. Look at the solution from all angles, considering how it will affect staff, your workplace and the customer, as well as the time frame for doing it and how you'll communicate the change to all people involved.

Present your action plan in a way that will be easy for all people involved to understand. Hold staff meetings, send out descriptive emails, create poster diagrams, or create a series of web pages that detail the changes and why you're implementing them. Including that "why" factor may make the transition easier, since it helps people understand why you're making the changes.