The fastest way to a stress-free, profitable practice is to build high production all-star teams.
We talk about teams, we preach about teams, but few practices really create true, autonomous, high production All-Star teams. Doing so is the best thing that you can do for the success and the culture of your Profitable Practice.
First, let’s look at what a team is and why it is the fastest way to stress free success.
- A team is a collection of skilled individuals who have mastered, or are mastering their craft.
- Team members are empowered to perform their role in an autonomous and self-directed manner. No one is hovering over the center fielder of a baseball team directing, correcting, and giving “constructive criticism” (I cover that in another post).
- The owner of a professional team is rarely seen on the field other than to congratulate, celebrate, and invigorate the members. They hire trainers, coaches, and managers.
- Every position has clearly defined rules, expectations, and limitations associated with it. There is no grey. The more clarity and the greater boundaries, the higher the success in that position.
- Goals, outcomes, and skills training are player specific for the success of the whole. What good would it do the right fielder to spend to in the pitching cage? None. Sure, they must throw the ball too, but their position demands specific training, and their skills and expertise require personalized attention to ensure they reach their goals.
- All high production teams have clearly defined goals, values, and a vision that is shared by all. Any ambiguity in the purpose, the core values, and how these apply to them – individually – will result in lost production and poor performance.
Successful practice owners, and office managers know that it is essential that a true team is built and they are allowed to function in their respective positions. Staff issues continue to be a number one cause of stress in practice. With the incoming “Millennial” workforce, it will only rise, UNLESS practices begin building All-Star High Production Teams and then practice true L.E.A.D.ership principles to motivate staff to perform at their highest.
Great coaches and managers practice leadership from a distance. Micromanaging, ordering, and hovering will remove empowerment and motivation instantly and lead to resentment, low production, and costly turnover. You do not have the time, energy, or the financial means to afford this.
Determine how effective your team really is by asking yourself the following questions:
- Have I created a detailed position “playbook” outlining the role, expectations, checklists, opportunities, skills, goals, and interconnected positions for each position in your practice?
- Are my team members fully trained in their expertise and empowered to make decisions and act autonomously in their position.
- Does each individual team member have a personal goal, training plan, and a personal motivational “bonus” reward?
- Is your leadership team made of true leaders, or are they hands on, heavily involved mangers?
- Are the core values and office vision the foundation for all action and outcomes? Are they understood by, and personally aligned with by each team member – or just nice-looking plagues on the wall?
Anything but a solid YES! to any one of these questions is an indicator of where your practice is losing cash-flow, decreasing in patient service delivery, and the source of stress in the practice.
Practices who build autonomous all-star staff who are fully empowered, supported, trained, and allowed to do their jobs see greater outcomes and greater production, more goals hit, less contention, and have more fun in the practice.
Start building your own High Production Teams today.
Dedicated to putting an end to Stress and burnout in private practice.
Brett
#YourPracticeTherapist
P.S. If you feel that a personal consultation with Brett to discuss ways to increase the performance and production of your teams would be beneficial, you can schedule it at www.YourPracticeTherapist.com/Consult or call 208-254-0133.