Keeping Your Local Managers Meetings Fresh

The official newsletter of the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association

February 2013

Keeping Your Local Managers Meetings Fresh Jessie Merritt, CVPM Oswego Veterinary Hospital (Lake Oswego, OR) [email protected]

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ocal Veterinary Practice Manager Meetings are priceless in terms of networking with peers, predicting future challenges to the profession locally, trouble shooting individual issues, and sharing lessons learned. Webinar March 20: Changing Behavior: Direct the Rider, Motivate the Elephant & Shape the Path Meeting and Conferences Annual Meeting and Conference: September 26-29, Charlotte, NC

Whether you are a local group of managers who meet casual for lunch once a month or a formal state association, there are a few basic commonalities to help keep the group up-to-date and beneficial. 1) Organizer – If you don’t already have someone who takes responsibility for managing the group schedule, we suggest you find someone to fill that role. This is probably the most critical job in keeping a local group alive. Members get frustrated and disenfranchised when meeting dates, times, or locations are uncertain or not posted on a reasonable time schedule. 2) Core values –

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a. Confidentiality, members need the freedom to share challenges, lessons learned, and other details without being concerned that the information will make it out to the general public or back to their team. b. Exclusivity, to keep the conversation focused on management topics only consider limiting the group access to management personnel only. c. Feedback, encourage feedback from the participants on recommended topics, locations, etc. You will get better participation when your group members feel invested in the group. 3) Sponsorship – Depending on the size of your group finding sponsorship may offer you more flexibility in bringing in speakers or holding events. It isn’t uncommon for local company representatives to sponsor the meetings and meals.

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4) Venue – You will want the site to be convenient to attend (think location and parking, comfortable seating, few noise distractions), and ideally access to some tech equipment such as flat screens or projectors. Some groups have a member with a large enough hospital to host the meetings and some groups meet at libraries, community rooms, or restaurants. (Continued on page 3) VHMA • PO Box 2280, Alachua, FL 32616 • 518-433-8911 • [email protected] • www.vhma.org

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Welcome New Members Jaime Allred Robert Best Scott A. Bingenheimer Angela Blades Suzanna Brown, DVM Marie Monica Brunner Lisa Cawood Christopher A. Church, DVM Al Claiborne Amanda Clark, LVT Mark H. Claus, DVM Danielle Parmentier Coulon Julia Anne Donham, LVT Juliana A. Gaul, BA Deborah Rose Geddis Susan B. George, BSN Bradley S. Gluszewski Matthew Austin Goodnow Beth Gormley Lauren Paige Hayes Elaine E. James, LVT Jennifer Katz, CVT, RVT Lauren Kelleher Sandra L. Lineberry-Sims Debbie Lord Robert Leon Lucey Brandy Marie Martinez, LVT Marissa Chappell Massucco, COO Cynthia McGaffey, LVT Salina Mendoza Stephanie Anne Miller, BS Steve K. Myers Tracy A. Odd Jocelyn Odegard Kathy Okon Liz Olsen Barbara E. Rappole Frederick L. Saunders, MA, CMPE, FACMPE James Robert Scott Marissa Inez Soto Elizabeth Sowell John E. Stoughton, DVM Claudia Valencia O’Reilly Sara Welge, CVT Lequita Wiggins Shannon Witt Ty D. Wolfe, DVM Judith Yee, DVM, DAVDC

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President’s Message

Communicate for Results

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ave you ever felt badly for the comedian when nobody laughs at his punch line? Hello…Is this microphone turned on? Perhaps the performer isn’t funny or they may not be communicating well with their audience? Many managers have a team training component that focuses on communication with clients, but are you paying enough attention to how you communicate with your team members? As communication is something we are always striving to improve in our practice, I thought I would share a few tips that we have found that have helped to improve our staff communication: • Pay attention to the environment. What’s going on in the background when you’re delivering your message? Avoid competition with ringing phones and client walk-ins during team meetings. Consider serving and eating lunch before a Lunch and Learn, so your group can focus on the presentation. Concerned that they eat too much and then get sleepy? Have a Learn and Lunch instead!

Perhaps they fear your reaction to any form of criticism, constructive or otherwise. This can come down to the need to build some basic trust amongst your group. Consider these tips when communicating with your team and be aware that some team members may be more comfortable speaking in groups, while others speak better individually. The desired outcome of the communication may also determine the approach of communication that you choose. Morning rounds or staff meetings are best for immediate responses and feedback. Newsletters, memos, and other written notices are better for detailed technical instructions. Bridging (and perhaps blurring) these two approaches is electronic communication. Email, while allowing for the transfer of information is just a one-way communication. For some people, texting and social community sites, such as Ning, allow the benefits of information transfer and immediate feedback.

• Act on previous communication. If your team feels you didn’t act on their feedback the last time, they may just tune you out this time.

Remember, it’s the quality of the communication that counts. Giving and receiving feedback promotes two-way communication, rather than a oneway communication which can lead to frustration from insufficient information and direction.

• Avoid multi level chain of command. Messages passed through and rewritten by too many levels of hierarchy in an organization risk dilution, misrepresentation, and cause needless delays. This is just like the Broken Telephone game you used to play as a child where the message becomes distorted as it’s passed down the line.

The focus of this month’s newsletter is on communication with your peers at the local level - your local manager’s group. The basic communication solutions above can enhance the exchange of ideas between any group, be they clients, colleagues, or your staff, but above all… remember to make sure your microphone is turned on! Hello? Hello?

• Don’t forget that feedback and trust are essential. Picture a scenario where you started a new reminder program and they didn’t tell you that it just doesn’t work.

Remember to stimulate the mind and enhance your environment! Tom MacDonald, CVPM

LEGAL MATTERS Question:

A client was sent a bill for services rendered. The client called stating they wanted to speak to the office manager and that they had reported a grievance to our local medical association. They said they would not be paying the bill until they found out what happened with the grievance. However, the client stills wants to speak with the office manager. My question is what if any communication should we have with this client?

Legal Advice:

“It’s a bit difficult to speculate on what the nature of the discussion might be; however, if the client wishes to discuss some allegation of professional misconduct or a breach of a standard of care, my recommendation is that the office manager merely decline to discuss any matter that might be the subject matter of a formal investigation by the regulatory body. If, on the other hand the client merely has some further questions to understand the account that was tendered, then I think that it might be helpful to discuss those issues.” Douglas C. Jack, Esq. Posted 11/09/2012. Please note the date of this post. The law changes frequently and as a result this may not reflect the current state of the law. VHMA Legal Matters is a collection of legal advice posts that relate to common cases or situations that many practice managers encounter daily. Advice presented here is not intended to replace the need for your own attorney, but simply to help provide general advice as guidance. VHMA does not accept liability due to errors or omissions. VHMA Legal Matters is free to VHMA members - scroll through our current posts or submit your own question.

Keeping Your Local Managers Meetings Fresh (Continued from page 1) 5) Technology – We have all heard some great speakers who can keep us mesmerized for hours as they share their specialty with us, but it never hurts to have access to a screen, laptop, and projector for videos and slide presentations. 6) Speakers – We all want to go to meetings where we can hear an interesting speaker who discusses topics we deal with in the trenches, so it is worth spending some resources in time and effort to attempt to line up speakers who can deliver. a. Company representatives can sometimes offer valuable talks on relevant subjects, but guard against product promotional talks. b. Larger facilities may have human resource personnel, inventory specialists, triage teams, or financial managers who could bring a great deal of value to a meeting. c. Think outside the box.Some examples include: life coaches, counselors, insurance agents, your local labor and industries office, or local OSHA office. d. Your local city or state veterinary medical association can also be incredibly helpful on a variety of topics from state law to statistics. e. Don’t forget about the wisdom in your own ranks. f.

Roundtables can be an invaluable tool for shared learning.

7) Alternative communication routes –In-person meetings are irreplaceable, but often times there may be an issue in between meetings that a manager would like help with. Here is where the alternate communication routes can be helpful. Some examples include: a private Facebook page or a Google Intranet site offer flexibility for sharing and are not difficult to set up. 8) Recruit – Recruit new members continually. New members bring new ideas, new perspective, experiences, and enthusiasm. Some ways to do this include advertising on your local VMA website, creating a flyer to send out to local hospitals, and making sure your company representatives know you are always looking for new managers. 9) Passion for your peers – Hopefully your members are in this profession because they love it and believe in it. When that is the case there is a natural enthusiasm to share and network that can add incredible value to the meetings. There are a few topics that should be avoided, (fees, rates, prices or similar information that may encourage or facilitate any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another’s business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade), but the greatest benefit will be in a group of managers who feel confident in the safety of their communication. 10) Topics – the topics are endless and ever changing but should be relevant to what the majority of the managers are facing at the moment. For example, discussing budgets in November or December is ideal, but discussing them in July might attract fewer attendees. Most importantly – take pride in what you do for a living and the amazing people you get to do it with!

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Veterinary Hospital Managers Association

PO Box 2280 Alachua, FL 32616-2280 [email protected] • www.vhma.org

All Star Teams Have One Thing In Common...TEAM VHMA! Teams like Affiliated Emergency Veterinary Services started out good and became great. How? The practice signed on to Team VHMA, which offers reduced Veterinary Practice Managers Association (VHMA) membership rates to practices that join as a team. With seven locations; seven practice managers; and 32 years of providing high quality urgent, emergency; and critical care, Affiliated Emergency Veterinary Services understood the benefits provided by Team VHMA: Our managers found “value and support by utilizing resources on the VHMA Web site, attending VHMA conferences, and accessing reports produced by VHMA. By sharing experiences in all that VHMA has to offer from a variety of individuals within our group, we are able to get several unique perspectives, and a broader understanding of issues that face veterinary practices. This has been invaluable for our entire team and ultimately, improved our organization!" – Paul Jensen, CVPM, SPHR, Executive Director

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Team VHMA

For more information about Team VHMA, go to VHMA.org Team membership rates: Leaders - $195 Individual team members - $125