In regards to your business, where is your attention right now because of the pandemic crisis? There are three possible answers:
- Stuck in the past and feeling hard done by or sad (and we currently have a lot of reasons to); or
- Pinned in the present with worry, fear and frustration; or
- Creating a positive future and working towards that?
The Past
Number one is definitely not a mentally healthy place to stay. Most people have recently experienced this thanks to the pandemic. It’s been confusing and a complete change in the way we live our lives for those who have businesses that have been shut down and have been confined to their homes. However, we are coming out of it now, and to stay sitting in apathy will not result in any positive outcomes. Therefore, it’s best if we let the past go, and move forward. Note to self: MOVE ON!
The Present
Next phase: Being pinned in the present is kind of unavoidable on some fronts as we are dealing with “new normal” protocols and getting used to them. They need to be on our minds constantly till we are accustomed and practiced in doing them. Having to screen patients and put them through all kinds of rigamarole for THEIR safety and for YOURS can seem daunting but with practice will become routine. The worry and fear will subside (don’t you dare say “maybe”). The frustration will also fade as the details and kinks get all worked out and routine sets in.
The Future
We create the future and if we say it’s going to just “work itself all out and whatever happens will happen”, we are back in #1 above – apathy. Instead, let’s go “UP” and put some cheerfulness or even enthusiasm into the future. Now is a good time to refocus our attention onto exciting future achievements. Make some challenging goals and targets to go after and this will serve to pull us forward. Games and anticipation of fun is also key to looking forward into the future.
Make a Fun Future!
As a team, sit down and work out positive goals that the practice COULD reach this year and how they will be achieved. This may include interesting new ways of marketing, both internally and externally.
Here are some ideas that have been popping up online to help with this:
- Weekly draw for a $25 gift card to be won by one of the many patients who appeared for their appointments on time.
- Have a “Healthy Kids Checkup” day for children going back to school.
- Hold a contest with a fun prize like a basket of BBQ tools and sauces. Or even a whole BBQ to the winner of a contest such as “guess how many shrimp on skewers” (and have a huge bunch of them – you get to BBQ and eat them after taking the photo you will paste in the email you are going to send your patients encouraging them to enter the contest).
- How about a prize for the best vacation story of the month of July.
- You could celebrate staff work anniversaries with some ordered in lunch.
- Have a commendation day for your staff where you prepare in advance a lovely commendation for each person, citing their best qualities and what you most appreciate about them.
Now You are on Your Own!
Okay, those ideas were just to give you a push in the creative direction. Bet you can think of some inspirational ideas of your own and get your team involved also. There is a huge resource in the online world for ideas.
