Adam Lueken
Hard to believe, but Q1 of 2022 is already wrapping up. Along with doing a personal/professional checkup on your individual goals, now is a great time to catch up on team member reviews too. Effective reviews help your team members grow individually and your practice grow as a whole. A brief Q1 review will help your team members assess and update their own goals as needed to stay on track for the rest of the year.
Individual team reviews are very valuable, but in addition, you should also consider evaluating your team’s performance as a whole up to this point. And if doing so, what KPIs and factors should you be looking at? How can you best address practice challenges for the remainder of 2022? Here are a few thoughts.
Review Your Team’s Culture
Your team can’t thrive without the right culture around them. So as you look at Q1 and the remainder of the year, it’s worth reviewing and monitoring team morale. Ideally, you want a culture that supports a positive environment, creates open communication with one another and shows your support for the team as a leader. Assessing your team culture as a whole can be challenging without getting collective, individual feedback, so take the time to get your team’s thoughts on the subject. Their attitude through their answers, engagement and follow-up questions can be a helpful indicator of your overall culture. Assessing culture becomes more critical when you have a slower first quarter. Maintaining a vibrant, inclusive and motivating environment becomes increasingly important. If your team is behind with a goal, confront frustrations early, don’t disrupt schedules and highlight positive achievements.
Review Your Training and Education
When evaluating Q1 and looking forward, don’t forget about ensuring your team has the right resources and educational opportunities to succeed with your team goals. As you know, there are many actions that take place in your practice that your team has to be well-trained for. These include world-class care, system utilization, phone training, using the right body language, patient engagement, conflict resolution and so on. There’s a lot to know, so make sure your team members are well equipped and knowledgeable. If you saw an issue with any of those areas in Q1, are there resources available relating to those areas that team members can use to advance? You can also consider implementing cross-training within your team. From answering phones to educating patients and collecting payments, you can help each team member have a fundamental understanding of all practice operations. Then if an emergency comes up and you need to pull in a different team member to another area, they can jump in and help. This will help create and maintain more productivity and efficiency, even when someone is out sick, on PTO, etc.
Review Your Performance Management
When looking at team performance as a whole, identify key performance indicators (KPIs) if you haven’t already that tie into your overall practice goals and individual team member goals. For example, if you want to increase net collection percentage, set KPIs related to your team’s time and effort in collecting accounts receivable in a timely manner. Define KPIs based on your team structure and practice size, then you can determine if you are exceeding, struggling or meeting your goals as a team so far. This approach will also provide greater efficiency when you do more in-depth individual evaluations. Poor Q1 performance shouldn’t be a trigger for a drastic change, but show what additional actions, resources and education will be needed for the rest of the year. When sharing team performance feedback, communicate the results clearly and directly, and adjust your action items as needed.
If you’re looking for extra support with team growth and advancement in the midst of handling all your other responsibilities, we’re here to help. Schedule a consultation with one of our practice management experts today!