Looking back on my years in practice, there have been 2 defining moments: 1, when we (doctor owners) decided to think more strategically as CEOs of our practices, and 2, having weekly staff meetings.
Sometimes I get pushback when I share the concept of weekly staff meetings with others, especially from larger offices with multiple locations. “It’s too hard to coordinate schedules,” they say. “Some people only work part-time,” or “I don’t want my staff to know the office stats.” That is worthy of a whole other column. It’s certainly not easy; however, in my mind, those are excuses.
We have 2 locations and have struggled as well. We tried many things over the years to figure out the best way to hold these meetings—lunchtime, after hours, doors open, doors locked, phones on, phones off. In the end, Wednesday mornings with phones off and doors locked before any patients are scheduled have worked for us. Department meetings are held at other times. Each location has its own meeting schedule, with irregular joint meetings. And yes, we are still working on this. They need to be more regular. I’ve never claimed we do things perfectly. What works for our office schedule, may not work for yours, but the point is that meetings be consistent and scheduled.
Staff meetings have been a large part of our culture for the last 30 years. We sit for an hour going over our stats for the week and month. We talk about marketing. We do training on everything. We visit optical. We share concerns about patients or special circumstances. Sometimes we sit and talk over coffee about our kids, our dogs, and life. The bottom line: There are no silos. We share across departments, so everyone is aware of all aspects of the office.
We are blessed to have several team members who have been with us for over 20 years, and there was a time when our newest staff member had been with us for 10 years. That’s not the case anymore, but those staff meetings are still a time to connect. We build people who then, in turn, build our business.
Twenty-nine years ago, we hired a staff member who had previously owned her own floral shop. As part of her career change, she became an integral employee with an owner mindset. She was an ophthalmic tech but wore many hats: assistant, marketer, contact lens guru, tech support, and various leadership positions both in and out of the office.
She’s had some health challenges over the last few years. What seemed minor turned into a major cancer diagnosis. Then, we got a call on a Wednesday morning saying she was too tired to fight. By 11 AM, we had cancelled our afternoon patients and, as a team, drove 2 hours to her hospital to be with her. She was still spunky enough to kick out her family, telling them she had a staff meeting to host. So, on a Wednesday, in a hospital room, she hosted a final staff meeting. We laughed. We cried. As usual, we poked fun at each other. We said goodbye. She lived long enough to call us in for one more staff meeting, this time on a Saturday, and the day after that, she passed away. Her final act of patient care was to donate her corneas.
I’m an optometrist. I own a business. I don’t know everything. But I do believe that we must have done something right over the years for a nonowner to value her career and coworkers enough to call for one last staff meeting. That’s something special.OM
Remembering Laurie Jensen, CPO, CPOA, VSRF, 1965-2026. Photos courtesy of Dr. Carlson.
