Fix My Staff

Tools to Create and Retain an Unbreakable Team

Dr. Mesheca C. Bunyon

• Publisher: Purposely Created Publishing Group
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781644841907
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

Working as a doctor can be incredibly fulfilling—but it can also be frustrating if the staff you depend on to support you is unmotivated, low on morale, or even dysfunctional. And when your staff is unhappy and uncooperative, it can lead to your patients feeling disrespected and undervalued, ultimately costing your practice patients and revenue. What you need is a team that’s built on a solid and unbroken foundation. What you need are the tools to build a team that’s dedicated to your vision for your practice. What you need is this book.

In Fix My Staff: Tools to Create and Retain an Unbreakable Team, Dr. Mesheca C. Bunyon draws on over twenty years of experience of working at various practices and being a leader in optometry to assemble a toolbox of ways for you to hire and cultivate a dedicated team and to develop the practice of your dreams.

CHAPTER 1

Toolbox Essentials

 

Have you ever tried to put something together and had all the pieces lined up with the directions, only to realize that you didn’t have the proper tools to complete the project? Now put this into the context of your office. In order for things to run efficiently, for you to hire the right staff, and for your business to make money and be profitable, you must have the proper tools. The advice in this book is not necessarily assuming that you have a staff that is already broken and barely surviving. Rather, it is to provide you with key resources so that your staff and your practice will thrive at an all-time high.

As doctors, we are taught in school to learn all that we can and to become an expert in our field. We are taught about how to perform exams and diagnostic tests, but rarely are we taught about the entire process from when the patient enters the office to when they exit, or the important role the support staff plays in this process. If doctors are polled about what their biggest sources of frustration are in their practice, for most it will not be how to take care of patients. Rather, one of the biggest frustrations will be how to get support staff to actually support the practice. Doctors want staff to deliver great care and customer service that keeps patients happy enough to give rave reviews and return back to the office.

As an optometrist, I have worked in many settings and have even co-owned an office in the twenty years that I have practiced. I have found that doctors are frustrated with staff not coming to work, not showing up on time, not performing tests accurately, not answering the phones correctly, not treating patients respectfully, not treating other staff members and doctors with respect, not dressing appropriately, not performing general office duties, and many other things. However, there is one word that ties all of these things together: training. There is undoubtedly a lack of training for staff once hired, which leads to lack of motivation and low morale. Lack of motivation and low morale lead to unsatisfied patients, which ultimately leads to decreased revenue for the office, because patients don’t come back when they feel disrespected and undervalued.

Your office toolbox should consist of everything that is essential to building a project that is sustainable. The essential tools are: a flashlight, a level, duct tape, a stud finder, a tape measure, pliers, a hammer, a screwdriver, a wrench, a power drill, and a hacksaw. Each of these tools can be related to a particular concept in terms of building and retaining your unbreakable team.

CHAPTER 2

The Flashlight—Mindset

Mindset is like a flashlight; it guides you through the darkness until you see the light and get to where you need to go.

Your Challenges

There is a great quote attributed to extraordinary athlete Michael Jordan that says, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” Any medical practice can only be as great as the team that helps to run it daily. The team consists of a leader, the doctor, and great support staff that help the practice to run as efficiently as possible. What happens when the team becomes broken? Patients become dissatisfied, which leads to decreased revenue for your practice, along with a multitude of other things. However, the leadership of the office begins with the doctor. It is important to realize that staff follow our lead. Let’s face it, we are the only ones that truly stand in our own way. We as doctors aren’t always the easiest to get along with or to communicate with when it comes to staff. Oftentimes, we are so focused on patient care that we forget there is a whole team that makes the office successful.

There are many challenges that arise in practices, and the sooner that you are able to identify those in your office, the faster you can move toward the practice of your dreams, one where the staff is happy, the patients are wowed by their experience, and your revenue goals are being met and exceeded. What are those challenges that you face in your office? If you answered “staff,” you would be among many doctors that feel the same way. Finding staff, retaining staff, and getting staff to work in alignment with your dreams and vision are amongst the top challenges most doctors face.

To begin this journey of having the staff and practice of your dreams, having the right mindset is key. Mindset is a concept that can be defined as a person’s perspective on life and the world. Mindset can also be a set of beliefs that guide us toward handling situations. You can have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is the belief that your traits and qualities cannot change. People with fixed mindsets believe that their fate in life is determined only by how smart and talented they are. Conversely, a growth mindset is the belief that you can grow over time through learning and experience. As doctors, we should either have or strive to have a growth mindset, so that we are constantly and consistently evolving.

Having a growth mindset causes you to be more optimistic about life and the experiences that will take place. Every day that you walk into your practice, you should already have the mindset that your day will run smoothly and that your staff will work diligently to provide the best experience for your patients. People with growth mindsets also develop positive habits and are not as easily bothered by simple things that don’t go as planned.

Your Why

After working on your mindset, you can more easily identify challenges you have in the office where you practice. Think about why you became a doctor and why you landed at the practice where you currently are. You may have started a private practice for the financial rewards or the flexibility that it brings. You may have started working at a certain practice because of the tremendous impact that you can have on a certain demographic of patient, or because the practice focuses on a certain specialty. You may have decided to be a doctor because of your ability to help the masses in some way. Thinking about your why should reignite your passion for being a doctor and help you realize why it’s so important to focus on making the patient experience better.

Thinking about your why is not where it ends. You have to cultivate your mind and thoughts constantly, to work on your mindset each and every day. We work too many hours and days in the office to not be thrilled about being in the office, regardless of problems that occur with staff or with anything else. People with growth mindsets are aided in this endeavor, as they are always reading to discover something new and to help with their personal development. Consider developing a routine of waking up early to journal, meditate, or exercise to feed positive thoughts to your mind. Another great thing to do is to write affirmations every day, positive statements that help you to overcome negative thoughts. Studies have shown that repeating affirmations and believing them can help you to make positive changes. You can even post them on a board in the office, as these same affirmations can help your staff to become better.

Here are some examples of affirmations that can help you to begin your day on...