Let’s say you own a practice and have an idea that you want to implement. And it is a GREAT idea! You call a staff meeting to present it and get everyone excited about it. But, only some of them bought in and others didn’t. Worse yet, what happens after the meeting?
Answer: You may feel like the staff are all discussing it behind your back and you are feeling like they’re all against you and your idea now.
Between a rock and a hard place
- This IS your practice and you ARE the boss, for better or worse. The staff were hired to work for you and help you deliver awesome service to your patients. You pay their salaries to do the work you need from them.
BUT:
- You like your team and don’t really want to lose any of them. They each have minds of their own and experiences that are not the same as yours. They usually want what’s best for you because that will usually be what’s best for them too. No practice = no jobs.
How Do You Fix This Scenario?
The main problem here may be that you don’t have a mission statement setting out that the main purpose or goal of the practice is to provide the highest possible quality of care and service to the patients. This is always the overriding factor in training staff and making changes.
Obviously, your presentation at the staff meeting failed because you didn’t build agreement with your team on the new system and get them excited about doing it. They didn’t see how this will improve the performance of the practice and increase the quality of care for the patient. You must be sure to show how a change or improvement will align with the purpose and goals of the practice. You have to make it popular; your staff will not disagree with the purpose of the practice.
Final Note:
In fact, ANY correction or change you make with the staff should always be done with improving the purpose of the practice in mind. Whether some change will improve the care and service to the patients will always take precedence in most cases of decision-making regarding the practice.
