Productivity

Nine steps to improving your Practice’s Office Meetings

Acknowledging ideas from every participant can pay off

Corinne Z. Wohl, MHSA, COE, Wilmington Del.

“What? Another meeting? Do we have to?” If this is a common reaction at your practice, it’s time to tune up your meeting strategy and develop ways to make office meetings pay off. Effective meetings in the workplace can have an enormously positive effect on morale and productivity. Ineffective meetings can deplete staff energy, spirit and even create individual and organizational stress that may ultimately impact patient care and financial opportunity.

Simply, a meeting is purely a method of formal communication. It’s “formal” because done correctly, we set goals and measure the outcomes. Informal communication is prevalent in smaller practice settings because information is often easily attainable. The atmosphere is casual. But it is formal communication and its steps that provide the accountability needed to assure action is being taken and in a timely fashion. You can envision how much more effective this is than a free-form hallway conversation, right? Seems to make sense, yet many meetings feel like they are thrown together with only a few, unorganized goals, little productivity or action, and no significant follow-up.

Effective communication is a powerful tool. Leading an organized meeting is a way to utilize that tool. Performed well, practice management and outcomes are greatly enhanced.

Below are nine steps to help get the most out of your scheduled meetings and enhance attendee engagement in the process.

1 Do You Really Need to Meet? “Best practice” in an ophthalmic office setting dictates regularly scheduled meetings for multiple purposes, including quarterly all-hands staff meetings, bi-weekly manager’s meetings, monthly department meetings, monthly board meetings, and numerous kinds of supervisory-type meetings. Outside those parameters, ask yourself if it really necessary to meet or will distributing a well-formatted written document enable you to achieve the same outcome?

2 Goals, Goals, Goals. Be prepared. Know your objectives and be able to explain them clearly. Invite the right people to the meeting. Distribute a written agenda and stick to it.

A typical agenda document includes the meeting date and time, location, and invited attendees. Items for discussion are listed in order of priority, so if you do run out of time, the most important items will have been addressed. Some managers utilize this document to create meeting minutes.

3 Timing. Have a planned start and stop time. Keep the meeting as short as possible. It’s a plus to end a meeting earlier than planned, as long as your meeting objective is completed.

4 Encourage Participation. Meetings should be two-way streets. Encourage employee engagement. Ask your staff to share thoughts or suggestions. Using soft, questioning language instead of a forceful approach will help ease less extroverted folks to speak up. If you’re leading a meeting of brand new attendees who don’t know each other, use an ice-breaking exercise; there are hundreds available online. The offering of creative ideas and effective problem solving flows best when the environment feels safe and comfortable.

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) can help encourage meeting participation. Employ the NGT by having each attendee contribute one idea at a time. Write and number all suggestions. Then, have each person choose three top ideas. The meeting leader collates the results and forms an action plan. New supervisory staff can be taught to use this method easily. Often, new managers think they have to do everything themselves, but this helpful technique shifts some of the burden while engaging the rest of the staff and making them feel valued.

5 Show Appreciation. Express gratitude for all contributions. Say “thank you for your perspective,” even for ideas you don’t plan to implement. Your goal is to motivate the participants to keep offering ideas, meeting after meeting.

6 Problem Solve. My personal goal is to solve problems, not just make announcements. I’ve learned a room full of people with different experiences and perspectives adds depth, value and innovative ideas. Occasionally this creates discomfort or conflict for participants who may not want to hear an out-of-the-box solution. They may be resistant to ideas from individuals they feel don’t understand “their department.” However, a fresh perspective can sometimes result in the most creative solutions. Those ideas deserve attention, even at the risk of conflict.

7 Handle Conflict Professionally. Conflict will arise. As long as you manage and address it without emotion or judgment, all parties will feel validated and will usually continue to collaborate in pursuit of common goals.

8 Develop Interpersonal Bonds as a Bonus. Meetings and gatherings offer opportunities for attendees to develop interpersonal bonds and business relationship skills. Listening to, appreciating and respecting others’ ideas and opinions can diffuse conflict and misunderstanding. Encouraging the use of humor in meetings is another way for a meeting facilitator to reduce any anxiety.

9 Action Plan. A follow-up strategy is critical to every meeting. After the meeting, send minutes that include the agreed upon assignments, who is responsible for each item, and the anticipated deadline. Practices with strong internal communication skills post a summation like this on a shared electronic network. Each responsible individual then updates the progress of his or her project regularly, which helps streamline communication, especially with a multi-tiered project.

Remember that formal, regularly scheduled meetings need not be long or complicated. Set your meeting system (including written agendas) in a way that benefits you and your practice best, works with your personal style and is productive for reaching practice goals. OP

Corinne Z. Wohl, MHSA, COE is the Administrator at Delaware Ophthalmology Consultants in Wilmington, DE. She has more than 25 years of hospital and physician practice management experience and is an active author and speaker on healthcare management topics. She can be reached at 302-477-2646 or by e-mail at cwohl@delawareeyes.com