The success of you and your practice begins and ends with your staff. Even if you are the best doctor or manager in your market, you will only be as good as your staff allows you to be. A motivated, happy staff can help take you to the top of your profession, whereas a dysfunctional, malcontent support team can spell economic and professional disaster. How well your staff performs can be the difference between success and failure.
To help your staff (and your practice) "be the best it can be," your practice's culture of success should be built on the following principles:
Accentuate the positive: Everyone is happier working in a positive, encouraging atmosphere. As the leader, adopt the "high-road" approach and watch your people grow, both individually and professionally.
Be inclusive: Embrace all staff members—not just your personal favorites—or none at all. The real world dictates you will like certain staff members more than others, but playing favorites is a surefire way to create hostility and resentment among staff that can fester and dramatically impact individual and group performance.
Encourage mentoring: Learning and growth is critical to the sustained well-being of any staff. A mentor culture is a win-win for everyone. Those serving as mentors are delighted to be recognized as able to contribute in a unique way, while employees enjoy receiving "special" attention from a respected, established member of the team.
Know your employees professionally: It's perfectly fine to develop professional relationships with your employees. In fact, it is encouraged. Your goal should not be to become great friends with everyone; rather, you want to gain an understanding as to what inspires and motivates them to perform their best and, conversely, what "shuts them down." What you really want to do is gain an understanding of what makes each staff member "tick."
Share information: People are scared today—they know they could be fired tomorrow and face an uncertain future without a steady paycheck or insurance coverage. Take an occasional moment to put your employees at ease, as best you can. While it is difficult to know exactly what the future holds, give your employees some sense of stability and confidence by painting an honest "state-of-the-practice" picture.
Encourage teamwork: While each staff member should have a well-defined job description that spells out specific duties and responsibilities, every attempt should made to encourage teamwork within the practice. When appropriate, try to build teams comprised of staff that might not normally work together.
Lead by example: If you want a happy, well-functioning and dedicated staff, you need to personally display the traits and characteristics you want staff to emulate. Exemplify the image you want for your practice to help staff see how they should act and function. Be transparent in your actions and style. Hone your management and communications skills to reflect your needs and those of your staff and practice.
Encourage thoughtful communication: Whether via email, voicemail, face-to-face conversation, or "sticky note," thoughtful and considerate communication is the groundwork on which team respect is based. Don't let one person be a rude or moody communicator. Today's harried work setting demands that doctors and managers closely monitor all communication and provide direction and training when required.
Celebrate: Everyone is extremely busy, and all expenditures should be closely scrutinized and justified in this tight economy. However, now is not the time to eliminate opportunities to enjoy your profession and your relationship with staff members. Take a moment out of your busy schedule to gather the troops and enjoy yourself. You can tie the celebration to a practice success or milestone, or you can party as a team for no reason at all.
Workplace Foundation
You are the leader of a team that admires and respects you for what you have accomplished. Every member of the team is grateful to be gainfully employed in these trying times and deep down wants to play a meaningful role in the ongoing success of the practice. It is imperative that you regard your team with the same feelings of esteem and apply the leadership principles mentioned above.
