ENSURE EFFICIENT STAFF CAPABILITIES WITH THESE REGULAR ACTIVITIES

RUNNING AN optometry practice is hard work! Let’s face it, you wear many hats. You are the optometrist, the accountant, the manager, the buyer, the marketer; the list goes on.

Anyone who has ever owned a practice will tell you that it is a challenge to stay on top of everything. That’s why it is important to grow your staff to a point at which a little direction is all that’s needed to run your business.

Here are five things you can do regularly with your staff to facilitate that independence:

1 HAVE A MORNING HUDDLE

In my experience, businesses that spend five to 10 minutes every morning in a staff meeting to start the day will be much more productive and inspired. Take this time to recap sales from the previous day, goals for today, recognize long-term and special patients on the schedule, and inspire everyone with positive affirmations.

2 GIVE DIRECTION

Employees who perform best are the ones who know what is expected of them and have been trained to perform their responsibilities.

Don’t leave the day to chance — give specific direction on what you want completed on a daily basis. Generally, what you ask for is what you get!

3 WATCH, AND REWARD

Take the time every day to watch for amazing acts of service and support, and then reward that employee publicly and verbally, so everyone in the office sees the results of great employee commitment. Doing so drives more behavior like this and shows you are consistently watching what happens in your practice.

4 GET OUT IN THE PRACTICE

Along those same lines, get out of that dark exam room when the schedule permits, and interact with patients, shadow staff on the dispensary floor, join optical buyers when they see sales reps, listen to staff answer the phone, and get involved in the day-to-day operations of the front office.

Doing so will assist you in seeing what staff need your attention or require training and coaching for to be more independent and self-sufficient.

5 COACH PERFORMANCE

Yes, this might not be the easiest skill for some practice owners, but business owners who take the time to coach their employees to better performance are the ones who scale ahead of their competition in everything from sales to knowledge and expertise. When you take the time to mentor and grow skill sets in employees to make them adept in new areas, you build a workforce that can run your business without your constant direction, allowing you to truly direct the business instead of run it.

LAST THOUGHTS

Be an inspiring leader. If you do anything else with your team every day, find ways to make them love being at work. Make it a motivating, positive environment. Doing so will translate back to your patients in every transaction. Start today! OM

MS. CHAREST is the co-founder of 4ECPs, a practice management resource company for eye care professionals. 4ECPs has six divisions, including eye care jobs, marketing, social media, payments, events and training. Visit www.4ecps.com , or email trudi@4ecps.com.