Systematize Your Office... Use a Checklist System to Make Your Job Easier!

Most people do not like to be microman-aged. By nature, we prefer to choose what we do, when we do it, and why. For example, a child balks when in­structed by his or her mother to put on a coat or to finish homework. However, we can all agree that without a reminderfrom a parent, odds are our homework assign­ments would not have been completed or we would have frozen on our way to school. Although we may not enjoy them, rules and guidelines are essential to hold us accountable and achieve success. I have a daughter who has played the piano since she was four years old. Each week she has a lesson, and her teacher gives her a checklist that she has to complete. At 17, she now studies with the head of the piano department at the local university. She's an incredible pianist, but it's not by accident. For the past 13 years, she has diligently followed every checklist presented to her by her teacher, and now she can play a full concerto. I cannot play a concerto. Actually, most people can't. Those who can have put in the required effort and prac­tice on a regular basis, similar to some kind of checklist. Learning the techniques to develop the exemplary skills to play and read music means following rules. When we follow rules, checklists, and systems to achieve a certain goal, it makes it easier to achieve success. Many may believe checklists strip us of our freedoms, but the opposite is actually true. Having followed a sys­tematic checklist for years, my daughter is free to play a concerto. However, because I didn't put forth the effort as well, I am not able to play a concerto. What does this have to do with chiropractic? Well, as a chiropractic assistant, when you have a checklist, you know what you must do. You know the tasks that lead to success. You have the freedom to help build a solid practice, make money, and work in a great environment where you help people and find fulfillment. If your office is chaotic, disorganized, and no one knows what's going on, eventually the practice is going to lose money and perhaps close. As a result, you will no longer be able to work or help people. Every time a pilot flies an airplane, he or she has a checklist to go through before taking off. Can you imagine if pilots didn't do that? Would you feel safe flying on an airplane if you knew the pilot hadn't checked to make sure that the tank was full, that the engines were fully and safely operational, or that the skies were clear? You would never want the pilot who was flying your airplane to disregard that checklist, no matter how many times he or she had flown. The pilot has a job to serve and protect you, and following that checklist is one of the reasons why you would trust him or her. Just like a pilot needs a checklist, you also need a checklist as a chiropractic assistant. There are simply too many details to follow in a chiropractic office to remember everything. These details make a huge difference in how smoothly everything runs on a day-to-day basis in your practice. If you aren't reviewing your checklist daily, things will fall through the cracks. All too often, it's "out of sight, out of mind." Think about all the good things that you want to do in your life, but that you haven't. It's not that you're an irresponsible person; it's just that those things are not at the forefront of your mind. In a chiropractic office, a business is being run, so a certain level of proficiency is expected from every staff member who makes the practice work by doing his or her job to the fullest extent. For example, as a chiropractic assistant you come in every day and make sure that the office smells good, is organized, has been vacuumed and dusted, the chairs are set up, and all the signs are current. You remind patients of their appointments, and you greet patients when they come in to the office. You ask for referrals, schedule ap­pointments, and speak to your patients about specific classes being offered as well as products and supple­ments being sold. You make sure that patients pay their copayments or cash payments. The details go on and on. Chances are you have dozens of additional duties. How could you possibly be expected to remember all of that, every waking moment when you're in the office? It's just too much. Therefore, every chiropractic assistant should create and adhere to a checklist. It's not because you're not trusted as a chiropractic assistant, or that you're not capable of doing a good job. You are very capable of do­ing a good job, but a checklist will make it easier for you. This is something that I've done for years in my business, and that I've helped other doctors to do too. Having a checklist seems like a minor detail, but if you have a check­list in place and complete it each day, you will succeed in your job. Yes, it's going to be a pain in the beginning, but it will be worth it in the end. Here is how you start. Every day for a month—yes, I said a month, and is it painful? Yes. Bear with me. Every day for a month, you write down what you do every fifteen minutes while you're on the job. I've done this many times with many employees. It takes time and it's tedious, but here's what happens. Every day you go through your list, see what you do, and highlight each task. Then a system emerges—one that you're al- ready doing. You start to see that every Tuesday, you call patients about a certain class; or every morning, you call patients who have appointments the next day; or on the third Friday of every month, you pay a certain bill. These are probably all the things that you know need to be done and that you remember to do. When you write them down every day, though, a pattern becomes clear, and you end up with a workable system that is already in place and just needs to be highlighted. This should be done for every single position in your office—front desk, therapist, doctor, manager, finances, insurance, etc. If you create a system and have a checklist for every job in the office, then you will have a precise explanation of every job, which offers you more freedom. It makes it easier to run your office on a daily basis, but also, if you want to go on a vacation, then you already have an outline for what needs to be done while you're away. Even more important, if you bring in a new employee, you will already have a concise, detailed job description. Is it time consuming? Yes. Is it a pain? Yes. Is it the best thing you'll ever do in your business? Yes! Take the time to make a checklist because it will make a huge difference in the success of your business. Nancy Singleton is a 1989 graduate of Los An­geles College of 'Chiropractic Assistants. She has been consulting and helping doctors grow their practices for over 20years. In addition to oversee­ing their busy practice, along with her husband, Dr. lock!Singleton, she helps chiropractors implement multiple cash systems into their existing practices. For more information see www.DoctorsCashSeminar.com.