We have recently been having some problems with things not getting done properly. We don’t know exactly which person to “correct” as everyone does everything. They all schedule appointments some, feed the animals some, etc. So, when we find a pet left without water or an appointment scheduled incorrectly, we don’t know who made the mistake. We’ve tried just speaking of the error to the group with “I don’t know who did this and it really doesn’t matter, but we do want everyone to try to do better…”. But, some become defensive and start pointing fingers….
The Team Doc Says…
You are finding out the hard way that when everyone’s in charge, no one is in charge. And no one can be held accountable under that type of system.
You need to define roles for any given day in your clinic. Assign people to the role for that day and then hold them accountable for those tasks. You may have tasks you need to assign backup for because of the nature of the task, but use caution in assigning more than one person.
You may also need to set up a quality control / quality assurance process for some tasks. This can be as simple as having a check in sheet in specific areas of the clinic. For example, if water needs to be checked in cages on a regular basis, you could create a sheet showing the times it needs to be checked and affix it to the cage. Each time your team member checks it, she can sign it to indicate she did indeed check the water. If it gets missed, guess who’s held accountable? Exactly! And no excuses are allowed.
This is going to take you a bit of time to organize, but it will be worth it in the long run. And it will help your team too. When people are assigned a role, they can take pride in completing it. It helps them shine. And they don’t have to worry about someone pointing a finger at them because it’s assumed they did something wrong.
What about you reader? Have more advice to give? Please leave a comment.
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Thanks so much for your advice. We just held a meeting and told everyone that we will start assigning people to specific tasks. They actually welcomed the change and jumped into scheduling with both feet. We just sat back and watched. They decided to work out a schedule right then (they rotate based on their work schedules). The doc now knows by looking at a posted chart which person should be helping him that day in surgery, who’s doing lab work, who’s caring for pets, etc. We’ll see how it goes.
That’s good news! Thanks so much for checking in and letting me know how it went. Just remember, the hard part is ahead of you. There will probably be some trips and stumbles as this method becomes the “way things work” but if you take the time as a team to work through them, the business will function better and the people will be happier. Keep me posted on your progress.