H ave you ever thought of what it would be like to be an employee in your own office? Most chiropractors have been self-employed business owners for long enough to have a hard time remembering what it is like to be an employee. Here arc a few tips to help you regain perspective and, in the process, regain the confidence that comes from having a group of like-minded team members working toward a common goal. Vision The driving force behind a huge vision is the foundation that holds any team together. Why do you do what you do? What kind of answer would you get, if you asked this question of each of your team members? Does the prospect of asking that question, and the answer you anticipate receiving, frighten you? I challenge you to ask this question of each of your team members. Ask them, individually, out of earshot of the other team members. Really listen to the answers you receive. Write down what is said. Ask that your team members not share their answers with anyone else on the team, until you have had the opportunity to receive a clear, unprepared, unbiased answer from each member. Is there a unified vision? Is it your vision, and your purpose for being in practice? Do you even have a specific vision that is easily quotable—something on the tip of your tongue? An example could be, "We at XYZ Chiropractic arc here to create better health in our community through chiropractic care and education about a healthier lifestyle." Decide what your vision is. Have a meeting with your team members and tell them your vision. Get feedback; and make sure . that you are understood. This should be a dialogue, not a diatribe! As a team, come up with your "Vision Statement." Commit it to memory. State it, together, often, during team meetings, for example. It can be your "True North" when the storms of life blow through your practice. It can be the sail you use to have those storms propel you further toward your goals. Instructions & Training How well have you prepared your team members? Most doctors think the process of adding or replacing a team member is completed upon the choice of the "pick of the litter" among the job applicants. Or, at best, after handing over whatever in your office passes for an "office policy and procedure manual." The excitement of hiring a new employee brings the responsibility of training. Even if you hire a "trained," certified, or professional employee, it does not mean he/ she knows how to perform a particular activity in your office. The first step is having a written policies and procedures manual, as a reference for all of your employees. Reviewing it, chapter-by-chapter, with the employee is important. Be available for feedback and dialogue to clarify any questions that may arise. An important point to share with each employee upon hiring is that just "performing duties" isn't enough. The value each employee brings to your team is his/her ideas or thoughts on how to improve your office. The expectation of continually striving for improvement in all endeavors, especially in service to your patients and community, is a requirement of continued employment. Your team members are expected to think! Remind them that you hired them for their minds. Part of their job description is to improve your present system and service—to take them to the next level. Communication/Meetings Once the basics arc covered and understood by each employee, the next phase of your leadership begins. The process of maintaining continuous education of your team is a daily and weekly process. Maintaining an open door policy must not be lip service. Being available and open to your team's suggestions is crucial. Remember, collectively, your team will always know more than any one team member, individually. To maintain your team vision, you must have team meetings on, at least, a weekly basis. Begin by reviewing your "Vision Statement." out loud, together. This helps you all to remember why you are doing what you are doing—during your weekly meeting and in your office on a daily basis. This will also help ensure that your team is actively engaged when your meeting begins. Have a written agenda, a designated timekeeper, and begin and end your meetings on time. Allow for feedback. Take immediate action on your team decisions. Assign a team member to oversee each task to guarantee its completion. To ensure the effectiveness of your team's problem solving—when a team member presents a problem, she/he must also bring, at least, one potential solution to that problem to the team meeting. This one change alone can help you avoid the potential degradation of your meeting to a gripe session. A great problem-solving tool is brainstorm-ing. For best results, follow these rules: Have a note-taker or secretary write everything down. Have a specific time allotted, usually 5-10 minutes. Think of as many solutions, as quickly as possible. The whole point is to open up and think outside the box; anything goes! No judgments allowed! No criticism. You do not want to dampen any ideas. The seeds of your solution may lie in the seemingly absurd idea you might miss or fear sharing with someone else. Accountability It's human nature to avoid what is perceived as painful. When you realize that every job has unpleasant parts, and that it is human nature to avoid those unpleasant parts at all costs, you will understand why accountability is so significant. It reminds me of the story of the little boy who didn't want to eat his peas at dinnertime. He knew, full well, that cleaning his plate was the only way he would be allowed to leave the table to play after dinner. So, he cleverly slid the peas off his plate and hid them under the rim of the plate. His solution worked in the short run. It appeared his plate was cleaned. He was dismissed from the table. Soon after, as his mother cleared the table, his deception was revealed. In the short run, he got to play—but, in the long run, his playtime was soon lost! How many times has an employee left your employ only for you to discover, a week or two later, the "'peas" that had been left under the computer, in the files, or in the patient charts? One quick way to nip this problem in the bud is to delegate complete, not partial, projects, with specific dates to report progress, challenges and completion. Periodic check ups, planned, as well as spontaneous, will save finding those "peas" at the least opportune moment. When a project is assigned to more than one team member, there must be one and only one person responsible for the ultimate outcome of the project. In this way, the "I thought Sally did it" or "I did my part: they didn't finish it" is eliminated. For example, when patient recalls are assigned as a responsibility of all team members, patients will slip through the cracks. When each team member is assigned a portion of the alphabet, effectiveness of each team member can be assessed. This avoids the potential of shifting responsibility and blame. Value The value you assign to your work and to the work of your teammates will determine the size of its "impact crater." Are you there to collect a paycheck, or just get through the day? Are you there to increase your statistics, pay down debt, and provide for your present and future lifestyle needs? Or, are you there to change the health and well being of your community through the powerful chiropractic care that is rendered, and the lives that arc changed through the process of service to your fellow man? The larger your vision, the greater the perceived value, and effectiveness of your services. The value perceived by your patients and community will greatly affect your success. It can expand your impact crater. However, to make a quan- turn leap, expand the perception of value your team members hold. Make the time to educate your team about the wonders of the human body, and its potential— which is unleashed through the removal ofsubluxation. Respect/Empowerment Just as you respond best to praise, affirmation and appreciation, so do your teammates. An interesting aspect of society, in general, is the way people always focus on "the problem." What happens to the child who conies home with a report card of 6 A's and one B? What do his parents focus on? The B! Our internal radar has been finally tuned to focus on what's wrong, to look for the mistakes, to miss the beauty and the perfection life has to offer! Your position as team leader allows you to greatly affect the lives of those around you. Be the "Good Finder." See the "6 A's." This aspect of your job is vital! It's easy to see your position on the team as the "healer." Often, you miss seeing the opportunities to be the "teacher." When you hire a new employee, realizej'owjob description must include adding to their development as a person. When you expand their self-respect and self-perception, you allow them to better understand their personal responsibility for their corner of the world. When we all play our roles as "good-finders," the world gets a little brighter and more peaceful. Remember, the ripples you set in motion today in the lives of your teammates, will have a great effect on everyone's tomorrow. Reward Most people's response to the word "reward" relative to "work" is to think of money alone. Remember, the work that you do and the rewards that you receive arc far greater than the money you will receive. When you intervene on the be-halfof your patients and their futures by the rendering of adjustments, you un- leash the power of Universal Intelligence, through your patients' and your Innate Intelligence. Never underestimate this. The service you render is priceless. You have arbitrarily assigned a monetary figure to it, as a means of exchange. Realize, that monetary figure could never be equated with the value of your service. Realize that you also benefit from the emotional and spiritual satisfaction that comes from the response a subluxated body experiences when an adjustment is rendered. Witnessing the miracles that happen in your office is a huge reward. Have you shared that reward with your team members? Do they understand and appreciate the role they play in the healing that occurs under the roof of your clinic? During your weekly team meeting, share the rewards of the miracles that happen in your office. Praise and recognize your staff for the roles they play in that healing process. Without their assistance, you would not have the time and space to serve all the patients you are blessed to serve. When you share the glory and the vision of the healing that is happening, they'll naturally see that many more need to be served. Everyone's rewards will be multiplied beyond measure—doctors, team members, patients and community members. When you take the time to implement these seven steps with your team, you will notice a great change in your experience of practice. You will begin to understand what "team" means. You will experience the satisfaction of having a group of like-minded people working toward a common goal. You will begin to understand synergy. Because truly, the sum is greater than the parts! Dr. Dicume M. Baynes is is a Senior Coach for Breakthrough Coaching and can be contacted at www.myhivakthmueh.coni. or by telephone at 1-800-723-8423.
