BUSINESS
PERSONNEL POINTERS
PREPARE YOUR OFFICE MANAGER
INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS WITH THESE 10 TIPS
TRUDI CHAREST, R.O.
HAS YOUR office manager received the training or direction he or she needs to effectively do the job? About 80% of small business managers surveyed said their companies expected them to lead and manage without any formal training, according to Business News Daily. This is often true in the optometric setting, where employees, who are great in their current roles, are promoted to management. But, that doesn’t mean they are ready to be managers. Start your office manager off right by providing him or her with these tips:
1 UNDERSTAND THE ROLE
People will now look to you for direction, resolution, inspiration and motivation.
2 TAKE YOUR TIME
Take the first two to four weeks to observe office operations and staff responsibilities, making notes of changes and improvements you’d like to discuss before implementing.
3 THINK LIKE AN EMPLOYEE
Consider and implement what you, as an employee, wanted and needed on a regular basis from the manager. (Example: daily recognition of work completed.)
4 COMMUNICATE PROPERLY
Every interaction is important. One of the No. 1 reasons an employee leaves a business is his or her interactions with the leader or management. Learn how to communicate properly, so employees are encouraged to achieve productivity and cohesiveness. (Example: one-on-one coaching sessions.)
5 DON’T PLAY FAVORITES
From delegated tasks to scheduling, everything must be equal among employees. Think of what’s best for the practice and the team, and ensure ongoing communication and transparency.
6 ADDRESS PERFORMANCE ISSUES
When you see a break in office policy, act quickly to correct it. This is part of your job now. However, my door is open to provide direction on how to handle these situations, when needed.
7 MANAGE STRESS
Weekly, set aside an hour or two for you and I to meet. In the stressful moment, I encourage you to stay calm, think situations through and make executive decisions, when necessary, to finish tasks or resolve issues.
8 PLAN YOUR TIME
You and I will build an action plan indicating my expectations for daily, weekly and monthly tasks, as well as what I consider most important, so you are always executing those initiatives first.
9 DELEGATE
You are neither the only one who can accomplish nor the only one who wants to accomplish a given task, so don’t hoard them. Instead, find out what people love to do and are good at and find ways to incorporate that into their daily office routines.
10 GET TO KNOW YOUR PEOPLE
Everyone in the office is different, and different personalities need different management and leadership. Understand your own personality and how it interacts with the other personality types. For example, if you are a director personality, you want information quickly whereas an analytical personality needs information slowly and factually.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Spending the time to grow your office manager will come back tenfold in employee retention and satisfaction, all of which, we know, increases patient satisfaction and revenue. OM
MS. CHAREST is the co-founder of 4ECPs, a practice management resource company for eyecare professionals. 4ECPs has three divisions, including Eyecare Jobs, Marketing & Training. Visit 4ecps.com or email trudi@4ecps.com. |