Consider the following suggestions to make meetings more effective

Action Steps

Prepare an Agenda

Review Practice Goals

Encourage Involvement

Give Staff Education

Recognize Performance

One of the challenges any organization faces is to ensure meetings are meaningful, focused and relevant for participants. Rather than winging it and hoping that your gatherings yield some positive results, consider the following tips to facilitate a successful meeting.

PREPARE AN AGENDA

To make sure the time is used productively, prepare a meeting agenda prior to the scheduled meeting. You can delegate this task to a manager or key staff member if they have a large role in staff meetings. Distribute the agenda to all employees prior to the meeting, so everyone comes prepared. For ease of distribution, this can be emailed or even texted.

REVIEW PRACTICE GOALS

If you were to ask your staff what the goals of the practice are, how would they answer? Would they have an answer? Would you have an answer? Setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goals is very important to the growth of a practice. Maintaining a focus on these goals at each meeting is critical to keeping everyone on the team aligned with what you are trying to attain or accomplish as a business.

If you want employees to contribute to the success of your practice, it’s important they are clear on what success looks like and what they need to do to help the practice get there.

ENCOURAGE INVOLVEMENT

“How do I get employees to do what I want them to do?” I’ve been asked that question many times. Start by rephrasing the question to “How can we work together as a unified team to improve the practice?” Employees are less likely to push back or abandon ideas for improvement and solutions to problems when they have a voice in the process. Google calls this a “psychologically safe” work environment, where employee input is welcome and encouraged without fear of ridicule or having their ideas dismissed.

Stephen Covey, author of the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, summarized the idea of involving others in the following quote, “No involvement. No commitment.”

GIVE STAFF EDUCATION

Staff meetings are an excellent opportunity to provide staff education. Your staff is your No. 1 asset, so it’s important that you continually invest in the knowledge bank of your team. Some ideas would be to do a mini-presentation on a specific ocular disease, hands-on workshop for frame adjustments, product demonstration by a vendor representative or a brief educational presentation from one or several employees.

From a service standpoint, one of the most valuable gifts you can give your patients is a highly trained, enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff.

RECOGNIZE PERFORMANCE

Recognition for a job well done is very rewarding for employees. When done properly, recognition builds loyalty to the practice, improves morale and reduces turnover. (For tips on how to do so, visit bit.ly/2qCIJRi .)

If anyone has earned a “shout out” for going above and beyond, a staff meeting is a great place to do it. OM

DR. VARGO serves as Optometric Practice Management Consultant for IDOC. A published author and speaker with more than 15 years clinical experience, he is now a full-time consultant advising O.D.s in all areas of practice management and optometric office operations.