In one of my earliest jobs in eye care, I worked as a tech. The doctor liked to be in control and rarely involved others in their decisions. I noticed some staff members had good ideas to improve practice operations but were afraid of stepping out of line. Ironically, that same doctor would get visibly frustrated at the team’s lack of initiative.
If you want your staff to take ownership of their roles, your culture training should include boundaries of autonomy, specifically around customer service and decision-making. And if you want to avoid a culture of dependence (on you), your staff needs to be empowered. You can create a culture that allows you to trust your staff to make decisions that reflect the best interests of your patients and practice by implementing shadowing and feedback, though this approach requires more oversight early on.
If you’re uncomfortable relinquishing this much control, you can still empower your staff by asking them to come to you with ideas and solutions and ask for your feedback, as opposed to them coming to you for all the answers. Many doctors tell me their staff started thinking more creatively and proactively when they took this approach. Just this week, a doctor who started implementing staff empowerment this way told me, “A lot of times, their ideas are better than mine.”
Staff ownership, independence, and empowerment doesn’t happen by handing employees a checklist. An obedient staff may deliver on compliance, but they won’t deliver on initiative.
Missed the first parts of our discussion this month? Be sure to check out my tips on clarifying your culture with your staff and training soft skills.
This editorial content was supported via unrestricted sponsorship.