In the know @ PHO - June 2015

EVA TRUONG, ADMINISTRATIVE
ASSISTANT, KNOWLEDGE
SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION,
IS AMONG THE 80+ IPAC TEAM
MEMBERS WHO COMPLETED A
PERSONA CARD DURING A RECENT
MEETING OF THE TEAM.
IPAC uses
persona cards
to team-build
GET TO KNOW YOUR COLLEAGUES THROUGH
PERSONA CARDS
During my recent participation in a
session to provide feedback on actions
to improve employee engagement, I
saw an opportunity to resurrect the
“Persona Card” from my past
involvement in the Ontario Public
Service (OPS).
While working at the Youth and New
Professionals Secretariat (YNPS) in
2007, a colleague showed me a team
building program called the Persona
Card. The Persona Card is a tool that
allows each member of a team or
department to create a social identity
based on characteristics that define
them beyond work. Having seen the
program and its results, I feel Persona
Cards promote diversity and inclusiveness
within teams.
The self-created Persona Cards portray
each team member’s unique individual
talents, outlining the varied interests
and hobbies they wish to reveal. They
also incorporate a fun image or picture
highlighting an interest, musical taste,
hobby or sport. Not only are the cards
a fun read, but they show a different
side to the colleagues that we see and
work with daily. I feel this team building
tool opens doors by shedding
light amongst co-workers regarding
common interests and by building
communities of purpose to achieve
cohesiveness in work/home life balance.
Creating these profiles is great
for building teams and promoting a
positive culture!
I introduced the Persona Card idea to
Rhonda Pollard, senior advisor, Leadership
Development and Organizational
Improvement, after completing one of
our employee engagement sessions.
She thought it was a great initiative
and started promoting it with teams
across PHO. I have to admit the program
and templates are not my ideas -
I am just the messenger! Persona Cards
allow us as to shine in our varied roles
as PHO employees, both individually
and as members of a diverse and
valuable team.
I challenge you all to try this fun experience
and put your feelings into both
the image and the bio.
BY ANDREW RIMKUS,
INFORMATION OFFICER, LABORATORIES
The Infection Prevention and Control
(IPAC) department consists of more
than 80 individuals across the
province who work in 20 different
locations (480 University, Regional
Infection Control Network (RICN)
offices, or their home hospitals). On
June 3, the team held a face-to-face
meeting where many people on the
team were meeting for the first time.
In preparation for the meeting, we
shared the Persona Card template
with our team. The vast majority of
us jumped at the chance to have a
mechanism that we could use to share
a bit about ourselves to kick-start the
“get to know you” process.
Our next step with the Persona
Cards is to connect them to our team
landing page and our staff directory
so that a bit of our personal story can
be accessed by our teammates on an
ongoing basis.
What a great way for new team
members to get to know their
colleagues as they come on board! The
cards make connecting on a personal
level and working together easier and
more enjoyable. We found we have
lots of people on our team who share
a love of travel, a love of dogs, and
many other connections that we hope
we can build upon as we continue to
build our team.
BY CATHY EGAN, DIRECTOR,
INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
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