Negating the "Bystander Effect" with Teckro Communication Channels

Direct, specific communications have the power to drive efficiency, yet we've all experienced how counter-productive it can be when they are vague or irrelevant. Communicating effectively bolsters the success of any team project, including clinical trials. The combination of tailored messaging and targeted audiences is a potent formula for simple, effective and productive collaboration.

When Communication Falls through the Cracks – the “Bystander Effect”

When communications are cast to a wide audience, it can be difficult to ensure accountability from those on the receiving end. Take a university lecturer posing a broad question to a wide audience of fresh-faced college students in an auditorium. Is the lecturer likely to get fast, clear responses or be met with deafening silence?

Or consider the brutal murder of a young woman in the 1960s, a murder witnessed by around 38 people – none of whom intervened. This tragic situation was what first prompted researchers to investigate what is now known as the “bystander effect”, a psychological phenomenon that shows the more people there are to help in a situation, the less likely any one person is to act. Particularly pertinent when considering multi-disciplinary medical teams, and according to the research, this effect “...increases with the size of the group and is more likely to manifest when responsibilities are not explicitly assigned.”

Channel Site Communication Directly to Study Experts

Relating this to clinical trial communications, sites require direct answers to specific questions in a timely manner to maintain productivity and proceed with their tasks efficiently. Most importantly. this must always be the case at the patient point of care.

To help harness expertise in a way that is optimal for each study, Teckro enables multiple fast tracked question and answer groups, ensuring site queries are channeled directly to the experts best placed to take ownership of them. For the first time, sites have access to study experts for specific guidance or clarifications straight from the specialist source. The benefit for sponsors is that study teams are equipped with valuable insight on the specific questions directed to subject matter experts.

We collaborate with sponsors at study start-up to define the groups, strategically allocating selected members. This allows each group to take specific responsibility for a subset of the many site queries raised throughout the study lifecycle. Communication and coordination are essential ingredients to developing collegial relationships, which in turn leads to a higher quality of care for patients.

Precision Communication with Tailored Study Alerts

Similarly for study teams, broadcasting generic study messages without discerning a specific audience can lead to low engagement. By sending frequent broad communication to everyone on a study, key information may ultimately fail to reach the key people who need it. As a recipient, I am far more likely to interact with targeted, relevant content directed to me at the right time.

With Teckro, study teams benefit from granular control over who receives study alerts, and when. Audience segmentation can be by role, site, region, or country. Alerts can also be scheduled to reach site staff at particular times to suit varying global time zones.

Study teams have a channel with Teckro to send timely, relevant content for different audiences. This might be timely guidance for an upcoming visit, an alert about a protocol amendment, or even to solicit feedback from sites.

Tailored content is valuable for those to whom it is targeted, boosting engagement to make sure the right messages reach the right people at the right time.

Communicate Better, with Teckro

It’s invaluable to identify the correct audience for the breadth of communications that occur during a clinical trial and give everyone in the study a simple, controlled, auditable way to stay connected. Indiscriminate messaging increases the risk that no individual will bear the burden of authority, and important information will fall through the cracks.

Teckro fully integrates study communication – one place to access all study alerts and seek guidance, eliminating the need for conversation via unsecured texts, WhatsApp, emails, voicemails, etc. Teckro provides a robust infrastructure to support auditable, direct, strategically channeled conversations, and all messaging between all those involved in a study, negating the “bystander effect” and setting everyone up for targeted and therefore optimized, communication.

Rory McConnell

Product Manager

Guest

Rory McConnell has a product management background in Communications at Messaging at Skype and Microsoft, and Program Management experience in Customer Experience at Dropbox. As a BCOMM graduate from University College Dublin and a fan of all things sports and outdoors, Rory is driven to succeed in everything undertaken in life and work.