You may have a sense of what a strong workplace culture looks like, but does your staff?

Practice culture refers to the shared values, attitudes, and behaviors that shape the workplace environment. Every practice has a culture; it’s just a question of whether that culture is by design or by default. Allow me to paint a picture of a strong office culture and how it can unravel when clear expectations are not established.

Imagine walking in the door of your practice and seeing a team that communicates openly, collaborates well, and genuinely seems to enjoy their work. It’s extremely rare that this culture would happen by accident; rather, it’s a reflection of leadership’s role in setting clear expectations for the team’s behavior in each role and why those expectations matter. Leaders must possess vision and the ability to communicate that vision to others.

Now imagine the opposite. An employee greets a patient with the warmth of a DMV receptionist. Another walks in 15 minutes late (again), while two staff members bicker over a scheduling mistake. The phone continues to ring but goes unanswered. Like the well-functioning practice, poor workplace culture can also be traced back to leadership. The difference is dysfunctional situations can be a reflection of failure to set clear expectations.

If you want to build a strong office culture, it’s critical that you define the culture you want and then train your team on why it matters and how to deliver it. We’ll be back next week to continue the discussion on building a strong culture in your practice.

Steve Vargo, OD serves as optometric practice management consultant for IDOC. A published author and speaker with more than 15 years of clinical experience, he is now a full-time consultant advising ODs in all areas of practice management and optometric office operations. For questions or comments about this article, please contact svargo@idoc.net. For more services, visit idoc.net.

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