Delegation
Effectively managing a team involves properly delegating tasks, since no one has the knowledge and expertise to manage everything on their own. Create an atmosphere of problem-solving, and empower others to always work at the top of their licensure.
When non-clinical issues arise, they shouldn’t always be a physician’s responsibility. Hiring an office manager to coordinate administrative issues allows physicians to focus on patients, rather than micromanaging staff.
Strategic Planning
Strong leaders strategize with their team to set actionable goals for future success. Implement monthly or bi-monthly staff meetings to coordinate with your medical practice employees.
Always set an agenda for meetings to avoid unfocused discussion and wasted time. Review updates since the last meeting, compliment office successes, share results of patient surveys, and note areas of improvement. Then, address staff questions and concerns, and reiterate your practice’s upcoming goals to inspire staff and conclude the meeting.
Listening
Running any business involves listening and responding to feedback. Since patients experience every aspect of your medical practice, use patient surveys to identify areas of weakness and improvement. Share the positive accolades your staff receives from patients, and then build on useful feedback to implement changes.
Additionally, listen to feedback from current employees. If a staff member chooses to leave your practice, ask about their experience and reasons for leaving. Always treat departing staff with respect, and keep their responses confidential. This feedback is critical to identifying problems, decreasing employee turnover, and improving morale for your employees.
Cooperation
To foster an atmosphere of cooperation, a successful leader builds a team of friendly, hardworking, goal-oriented employees:
- Hire effective team members
- When hiring a new staff member, always conduct thorough interviews and background checks. Ensure the candidate has a strong work ethic and exemplary people skills, since staff members help to build positive relationships with your patients.
- Train staff to be courteous and friendly
- Your medical office provides a customer-facing service, so staff must be courteous and helpful during every interaction with patients. Train staff to smile in the office and also when speaking on the phone. Smiling and positive body language improve telephone calls for both patients and employees.
- Implement FAQ scripts and office workflows
- To streamline office communications and routines, implement Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) scripts and office workflows. FAQ scripts should include answers to questions that staff often receive. The script then acts as a template for employee responses to ensure all patients receive accurate, consistent answers.
Team workflows for staff, nurses, and physicians outline employees’ roles, responsibilities and specific processes. Workflows guarantee that every team member follows the same procedures, to avoid oversights and misunderstandings, while increasing efficiency.
- To streamline office communications and routines, implement Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) scripts and office workflows. FAQ scripts should include answers to questions that staff often receive. The script then acts as a template for employee responses to ensure all patients receive accurate, consistent answers.
Communication
An effective physician leader uses his or her communication skills to inspire, motivate, and manage staff.
For your practice to run smoothly, communicate with every staff member, nurse, and physician to outline his or her job expectations. Then, use constructive criticism to compliment areas where an employee succeeds, before giving helpful suggestions on areas of improvement.
Running a medical office requires strong leadership skills, but this may not come naturally to every physician. Improve your medical practice for your staff, patients, and yourself, by taking steps to strengthen your leadership skills. Look for new chances every day to:
- Motivate staff by praising their hard work
- Relinquish some authority and control to properly delegate tasks
- And ask for feedback from patients and employees to find ongoing opportunities for improvement.
For more information on how Continuum Health can provide training, workflows and practice management best practices, please email or call (856) 782-3300.