System to Train Your Team

It is more clear than ever how important it is having a System in place for our office so it can run like a machine. Without it we are doomed to mediocrity at best!

If you have not read Michael Gerber's "The E-Myth revisited" and "The E-Myth for Physicians" I implore you to read them.

If you have read them you fully understand how crucial it is to create a brilliant system that can take an average human being and make them shine.

85% of small businesses in America go under in the first 5 years. 5% of franchises go under in the first 5 years. What is the difference?? SYSTEMS!!

My goal is for you to create the "Perfect System" for your office over the next year. Yep, that is a chunk of time and it will serve you for the life of your practice and make it a valuable asset that you can sell when you are ready to retire (if that day ever comes )

Not only do we need to make sure we are fully implementing the systems but we also need to make sure it is all added to the training manual so when new staff come on board there is a System for them to learn from vs. having to start all over again.

Obviously we need to implement the entire Dream Team. We need to make sure we have the Bonus System in place, the Staff Meetings are rocking and without a doubt we need to do the Performance Appraisal System every week!!

With that said I want to address a basic format to use when hiring and training staff and associates a.k.a. Team Members.

1. Clarify vision- We need you to clarify your vision. What are you here to accomplish? What are your goals?? Are you here to crack necks, to save lives, to help people have better lives? Do you want to be a single practitioner? Do you want associates or several offices? Get clear about what you do and what you want to accomplish. (Review the Importance of Certainty.)

2. Enroll others in your vision- It is critical that all those that work with us are enrolled in our vision. Michael Gerber talks about how important it is that your team member's vision/mission is satisfied while they are working towards your/the offices vision/mission. In other words if you have a team member whose vision/mission is to save the rain forest they are not going to get very far with their dream by working in your office. On the other hand if they love supporting people, love helping out, love the concept of helping people have better lives and they absolutely love the supporter role then while they are striving to accomplish your vision/mission they will also be supporting and accomplishing their own. Now we are in business! Remember, in the hiring process when you conduct the group interview you share with them your vision and what the job entails. They then stand up and "sell" all of you on why they are the best person for the job. One may get up and say they are perfect because they type fast and live right down the street. Another might say they are perfect because they can type fast, they are great with people, they were raised in an organic household, used to work with the Red Cross and their main goal in life is to help others reach their potential. Clearly the second one will be happier working in your office!

3. Create the System that will create and support the vision. Michael Gerber states that we can not manage people, we can only manage systems. He also helps us realize how critical systems are to the success of our business. We have much to discuss in this regard. Here are some ideas to help you train your staff and create your system

a. Create a system- I recommend working with Kim Klapp of A.C.E. program. WWW. Chiropracticassistants.com. I work very closely with her and the process. Make sure you let her know we work together she will give you a special offer. Also make sure your team fills out the "special form" and sends both you and I a copy.

b. Work on your training manual. Think in terms of find the best way to do something and then write it down and train everyone to do it the same way. What if you were going to open 5000 offices? Figure out the best way to do everything and then automate it in a manual! Keeping the manual up to date is critical.

c. Video your best team member doing a training session. They can literally walk through the training manual and not only show what you do but why you do it. When you train a new team member you can then just hand them a DVD/Video and the training manual, tell them which sections to study and ask them to come to the next training session with questions. It will help them learn, it will save you and your team time and you will never again be held hostage with the "I have no idea what my team does" again!

4. Manage by Delegation vs. Abdication- Most doctors manage by abdication. They say, "here you figure it out." Then when things are not done right they get angry. This does not work!! Here is a different approach it is what I call Delegation with a capitol "D".

5. Priority list of tasks- Make a prioritized task list. Go to the Dream Team Performance Appraisal and make a list of all the tasks this job requires a.k.a. "job description." Prioritize them in order of what is most important to learn first. You may want them to learn how to greet a patient, answer the phone and use the appointment book before you teach them how to empty the trash and sharpen pencils. Obviously if you are training an associate you will have things like Consult, Exam, ROF, Daily Interactions etc. on their list. Make this list in chart form (email me for the one that I already have.) That chart should read Task, Video/Manual, Train, TM "how", TM "why", Sign off, Add to Manual, Next Date. On this chart you will check off each area as you fulfill them. Let me explain

6. Task- this is the task they need to learn

7. Video/Manual- check off once they have studied the video and training manual

8. Train- This means that you or a team member has taken the time to train the new team member exactly how you do that particular task in this office. There will be observation time when the person observes during regular office hours. There will also be private time where we can not only show them "how we do things" but "why" we do them the way we do. Obviously the new team member will take notes and if there is anything new they learned that is not already in the training manual they will need to add that new information at the end of the day to the living training manual. I recommend that you have the training manual in word document. They can either use "track changes" or type up the new information in a different color like blue. Who ever reviews the new information either agrees and "accepts changes" or changes the color back to black. Or they write back that they do agree with the changes or makes corrections and lets the new team member review the changes. As soon as we all agree on the new information we make that part of our permanent training manual. Check this off once team member has been trained.

9. TM "how"- The new team member now trains the teaching team member on "how" to do that task. Once the teaching team member is satisfied that new team member knows how to do the task they check it off.

10. TM "why"- The new team member now teaches the teaching team member "why" we do this task this way. I.e. in this office we smile when we answer the phone. The reason is because when we smile it changes the palate and people on the other end of the phone feel the "warm fuzzies." That is why we answer the phone with a smile. Remember, if people do not know the "why" behind the "how" they will soon not remember to do it the right way.

11. Sign off- The teaching team member now literally signs off that the new team member

a. Can do the task with some help

b. Has mastered the task

12. Add to manual and video- We now check off that any new information is added to the training manual and possibly videoed.

13. Next Date- We now write the next date we are going to review this task with the new team member. Don't kid yourselves. Just because a person learns something does not mean they will continue to do it right in the future. I would recommend putting the date and task in the calendar. One month from today we are going to have the new team member train the teaching team member how to do this task. If they do great set it again for 3 months. If they do great set it again for 6 months etc. Of course if they need work you need to review it, work on it and go through the entire process again.

Remember, there are certain stats you can monitor to make sure people are doing their jobs right. For associates watch the New Patient Retention stat sheet. For CA's keep stats on how many new patient inquiries there are each month, how many of them decided to come in, and how many of them actually made it in. You can teach them how to get referrals and then keep stats on how many referrals they bring in... you get the idea.

Is this work? YES! Is it possibly even a pain in the butt?? YES!!! And if you do this and stick with it you will create the perfect system which will create and support your vision. You can not do it alone! If Bill Gates 6000 employees decided not to come to work today how much work would Bill get done?? Not much.

Train your staff, manage the systems and you will forever be glad you did.

I can not put the checklist on this website because of formatting issues so please feel free to email me and I will send you the checklist.

Russ Rosen, D.C. - Aug 09, 2007