Team Management

CHAPTER 3


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Team Management



Learning Objectives


Mastery of the content in this chapter will enable the reader to:


• List methods to become an effective leader.


• Describe and understand various management styles.


• Discuss the empowerment of team members.


• Discuss effective delegation.


• Clarify methods to increase team communication.


• List methods to resolve conflict.


• Discuss methods to increase team efficiency.


• Identify methods to decrease loss in the practice.



Key Terms



Successful management of the veterinary health care team is essential to practice survival. The team attracts new clients, retains clients, educates clients, and satisfies clients. The team includes every member of the veterinary hospital, from the kennel assistants to the veterinarians. Each person contributes significant time and energy to each client and patient. Practice managers and hospital administrators may not have direct contact with clients, but they support the team by developing and providing staff training, client education materials, and excellent managerial structure to help the organizational run smoothly.


In a veterinary practice there are many benefits to employees acting as a team rather than a set of individuals. Team members recognize and understand their interdependence, allowing personal and team goals to be accomplished with mutual support. They feel a sense of pride and ownership in the practice and are committed to reaching goals that they have helped establish. All team members contribute to the success of the practice by applying their unique skills and talents to obtain those goals and by always being willing to accept new challenges. New ideas and challenges can stimulate team members to become strong performers and encourage others to follow. Team members continually work together to improve their service to clients, patients, and each other, and all of these team qualities make participation in a veterinary practice an excellent and rewarding career. A dedicated and proficient team that understands basic practice management is likely to achieve extraordinary goals and boost the practice’s compliance rate. Team building is a continuous process that never ends; the trial and error that are a part of this process allow each team member to learn and grow from the mistakes made along the way (Box 3-1).



Box 3-1   Suggestions for Creating Positive Team Interactions




Successful leadership comes with practice, education, and time. Many managers have learned success through trial and error and by finding what works best in their particular practices. What works in one practice may not work in another, and continuing education can help with developing ideas to help take a veterinary hospital to the next level.



LEADERSHIP


Leadership is vital to the success and growth of a practice. Leadership is influence; a leader is one who influences others, motivating them into action and inspiring them to become the best they can be. Leaders in veterinary practice must guide effective communication and create an environment that facilitates teamwork. Through good leadership, team members can appreciate how they contribute to the big picture of exceptional patient and client care.



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Strong leadership facilitates a well-organized and profitable practice.


In modern society, leaders must strive to achieve short- and long-term goals; create effective, efficient methods to complete tasks; and be proactive instead of reactive to situations. A leader’s personal effectiveness can directly influence a hospital’s success. Leaders must determine the most effective method to manage team members and be able to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of others. A motivating leader generates enthusiasm and excitement and an organized leader provides the path to achieve goals; the best kind of leader does both. A leader sets the practice’s vision and goals, communicating the vision to the staff so they may help accomplish those goals.


Leaders must hold themselves to a higher standard of patient care, customer service, performance, and personal behavior. Leading by example has a much more profound effect on team members than leading by directive. Examples show team members what is expected of them when it comes to patient and client care. All team members should be held accountable for providing the best care possible, and leaders can set the stage for this to occur. Leadership that promotes a poor standard of care and professionalism will also affect the team, as team members realize that they do not need to perform their best or maintain themselves in a professional manner. Leaders of this type should be terminated because they will cause the team to disintegrate and the practice to fail.


Leadership skills are not developed overnight; they come with patience, education, and trial and error. Managing a practice has both wonderful and terrible days. A leader is sometimes viewed as a “good guy,” sometimes as a “bad guy,” and sometimes as uncaring and lacking compassion. However, the success of a business can depend on the quality of the leader. Someone who is capable of being either a good guy or bad guy when necessary will keep the team focused so they provide excellent quality of care.



image PRACTICE POINT


A leader makes mistakes; a successful leader admits the mistakes and learns from them.


Excellent leaders use human, technical, and conceptual skills to succeed in that role. Human skill is the ability to understand people and what motivates them and to be able to direct their behavior through effective leadership. Not all team members respond to leadership, training, or education in the same manner. Characteristics such as shyness, lack of confidence, and poor communication skills make it hard to train some team members. Domineering, independent, and strong-willed individuals may also have a hard time accepting training. Effective leaders can determine what motivates these various personality types and have a positive influence on each (Box 3-2).



Box 3-2   Fundamentals That Build Effective Leadership




• Trust: Development of a trusting relationship with each employee facilitates open communication.


• Accept change: Effective leaders understand that disruptions occur and are willing to make and accept change to succeed.


• Focus: Leaders have the ability to achieve and direct their time and energy to achieve goals.


• Commitment: Effective leaders work continually to find new ideas to help make policies and procedures succeed. Accepting change helps promote commitment.


• Compassion: Leaders care about and desire to understand team members and their families.


• Integrity: Integrity demands that leaders seek to create quality assurance for their clients, patients, and team members and facilitate a positive relationship with all.


• Endurance: Leaders demonstrate courage, perseverance, and strength when situations, people, or the environment becomes chaotic or difficult.


Technical skill is the ability to apply leadership, skill, and knowledge of equipment, procedures, and hospital policies to team members in an effective, ambitious manner. Leaders must be able to train or provide training to team members on all equipment, maintenance of equipment, functions, and supplies needed to maintain that piece of equipment. Team members need training on policies and procedures that have been developed to have a successful implementation. Policy training can be difficult for some employees, especially long-term employees, because they may be resistant to policy change or implementation.


Conceptual skill is the ability to sense how the leadership style affects the practice and to make change in a positive way. Not all leadership styles have a positive effect on team members. An effective leader can determine when changes are needed and try various leadership styles until success has been attained.



image PRACTICE POINT


Effective leaders are able to change leadership styles as needed to lead different team members.


Leaders must possess several qualities to be successful. Self-confidence, sincerity, and enthusiasm for the job are essential. Leaders are effective listeners and accept diverse cultures. To have an effective team, a leader must be a team player and work to solve problems, innovate, and renovate existing policies, procedures, and environments. Leaders explain how to accomplish a task and give a challenge to the team. This allows the team members to think for themselves creatively, which can develop leaders for the future (Box 3-3).



Box 3-3   Characteristics of Effective Leaders




Effective leaders possess self-confidence. They believe they have the ability to complete tasks efficiently and effectively. Leaders accentuate positive personal attributes and do not dwell on negative weaknesses. Self-confident leaders take risks and are able to make recommendations and changes without delay.


Genuineness and sincerity come from within and promote trust and communication. Team members know the suggestions and changes made by sincere leaders enhance the skills of all involved.


Enthusiasm shows that leaders are interested in their practices and the steps needed to make it successful. Enthusiasm is contagious to fellow team members and should be a part of practice culture. Enthusiastic team members are excited to come to work, enjoy sharing experiences with others, appreciate humor, and enjoy the team work environment.


Listening effectively has become a lost skill in today’s world; talking has overtaken listening. Listening is the ability to receive, attend to, interpret, and respond to words and body language. Poor listening skills can result in misinterpretation of information, leading to malpractice in the medical field. Poor listening and interpretation can cause a communication breakdown when a leader is trying to manage a practice effectively and lead team members in a positive style.


One of the most important skills for effective leadership is to be an effective communicator. Communications must be done in a clear and pleasant manner. Effective communicators think clearly, talk sparingly, and listen intently. It is imperative to think topics through before jumping to a conclusion. All issues must be understood and interpreted before an action can be taken. Rash decisions should not be made, or devastating results may occur. Time should be taken to interpret the facts and prevent immediate judgments. Talking too much can be a problem itself and greatly inhibits listening. Tone is as important as talking; positive, enthusiastic tones are much more effective than negative, authoritarian tones.


Cultures have different means of communication, and an effective leader must be able to determine the best method of communication for each culture. Morals and ethics vary among cultures, ultimately affecting the learning and training abilities of different team members. Leaders must be accepting of diverse cultures, welcoming the different qualities each possesses, and work with them to provide the best leadership possible.


Veterinary practice is a team business. A team is a simple concept: a group of individuals with different skills and attributes. Effective leaders build teams that allow the business to succeed at all levels, including providing excellent patient and client care and maintaining a friendly and cohesive work environment while being able to create and maintain a profit for the practice.


Leaders must possess skills to solve problems before they arise—to be proactive instead of reactive. Leaders determine the problem; collect, listen, and interpret the facts; and present a variety of solutions to the team. Team members should be asked how they would resolve a situation; their point of view is also important in problem resolution.



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An effective leader is a team player with excellent problem-solving skills.


Managing a practice requires attention to both internal and external forces (Figure 3-1). Change is required to keep up with modern technology and medicine. Leaders must be aware of innovations available and how they can improve the practice. Pharmacology, equipment, computer technology, and medicine reveal new science every year; flexibility is a must. If one innovation does not work within the practice, another should be tried. Trial and error produce the best results. Practice policies and procedures must undergo refinement on a yearly basis. Review policies that need updating, make a plan, set goals, and implement the change needed.


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FIGURE 3-1 Blueprints of a building plan.

All people make mistakes. An effective manager must be able to admit mistakes that have been made and correct them. Team philosophy allows mistakes to be made while creating an environment for employees to learn from those mistakes. When environments are created in which team members are not afraid to take on new responsibilities and skills, mistakes are bound to be made. However, effective leaders can help all team members learn from those errors and prevent the mistake from occurring again (allowing mistakes does not allow the team member to complete tasks carelessly; mistakes should be accounted for and learned from).



Four Steps of Management


The four steps of management philosophy include planning, organization, directing, and evaluating. All four stages are of equal importance, and each is present in all applications of management. If one topic is ignored, the others will suffer. Many organizations fail to plan, thereby eliminating the need to evaluate because the goal is never achieved. It is imperative to master each step; this results in success in every aspect of management and leadership.



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The four steps of management must be fully addressed to maintain a successful practice.


Sound planning before beginning a project or task may eliminate the need for crisis management, or the experience of handling one catastrophe after another. Planning identifies what needs to be accomplished in the future. Planning determines the goals of the practice and develops strategies to accomplish these goals. At times, planning is overlooked and managers try to implement a procedure without proper planning. This sets the stage for failure.


Planning can be divided into three categories: strategic planning, tactical planning, and operational planning. Strategic planning is long-range planning, approximately 5 to 10 years in the future. It can involve the practice’s long-term goals, equipment purchases, and the type of medicine the practice wants to offer in the future.


Tactical planning evolves from strategic planning, beginning 1 to 3 years in advance of proposed changes, and includes the steps required to achieve the long-range goals (Box 3-4). Tactical goals might include a current equipment purchase along with continuing education for staff to become efficient with that particular piece of equipment. Ultrasound machines, for example, cost a significant amount of money and have a long learning curve. A practice must purchase the equipment and attend a significant amount of continuing education classes to become proficient at making a diagnosis with the machine. Dates should be set when developing a tactical plan; this helps facilitate and keep the strategic plan on schedule.



Box 3-4   Four Steps of Effective Management




Third, operational planning evolves from tactical planning and is used for immediate planning. Operational planning sets the budget and develops the resources needed to achieve the tactical and strategic plans.


A strategic plan includes creating a budget to purchase the equipment and researching needed information to find the equipment that fits the needs of the practice. A date should be set to accomplish the strategic plan. A tactical plan includes the purchase of the ultrasound machine and attendance at multiple seminars to become proficient in the use of it. A date should also be set at which time the machine will be of optimal use to the practice. Operational planning then comes into play by developing actions needed to make the ultrasound profitable to the practice. This may include marketing (both internal and external), staff continuing education, and the capacity to create a flexible appointment schedule to fit in emergency referrals from other local practices.


Organizing determines how the work will be divided and accomplished by the team. Organizing involves communication with the team to plan and develop the framework and resources required to implement the plan. A team may discuss the positive and negative aspects of purchasing an ultrasound machine and methods to accommodate the equipment. Teams may organize a special room or develop marketing themes to successfully implement the new procedures.


Leading is directing, guiding, and supervising the staff in performance of their duties and responsibilities while implementing the plan. Directing uses management skills to motivate team members to accomplish various steps of the plan through appropriate resources.



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Leading is not micromanaging; it is guiding team members to make correct decisions while they complete their responsibilities.


Management includes evaluating whether plans are being achieved and making decisions to modify them if needed. Every policy and procedure needs to be evaluated for effectiveness on a yearly basis. In the example above, once an ultrasound machine has been purchased, it must be used frequently to maintain the staff’s efficiency and skills at using it. If the ultrasound machine is not being used, it is not paying for itself and the policies and procedures must be reevaluated. Questions should be asked to identify issues: Why is the machine not being used? Does the veterinarian feel inadequate at using the machine? Do clients decline the service because of cost? Is the procedure not being recommended by staff? Evaluation must occur, allowing a positive change to take place. A clear distinction cannot always be made among these four steps. At times they overlap each other, and they do not always occur in numeric order. Goals and activities can be modified on a daily basis depending on the success and achievement of goals.



Leadership Styles


Leadership and communication styles are essential in the management of people and business. Leadership depends on and results from the behavior of the manager; therefore the most effective form is to lead by example. A solid leader understands what motivates each individual and how he or she will respond, and can direct the employee’s behavior to have a desired outcome. Ultimately, leaders must accept the task and responsibility of influencing the behavior of others.


Two theories of effective management are directive and supportive. Directive management is task oriented, whereas supportive behavior is people oriented. Some managers are task oriented and others are supportive; some leaders may use a combination of the two styles. Effective managers can determine which style will work best with each situation that rises. Directive managers are task oriented and are more interested in achieving results than in discussing how a task will be completed. Supportive managers listen to employees and encourage them to express their thoughts and opinions. Tasks may be discussed in detail to be completed.


Supportive managers provide feedback and recognition as well as an open level of communication. The best managers are flexible and adapt to the differing needs of different employees. Some employees may need a directive style of management; others may require a supportive environment. A combination may yield the best results. Assigning tasks in a directive fashion allows team members to complete them in their own fashion, developing self-confidence and leadership abilities that will benefit the practice in the future. By offering some supportive management, leaders can provide positive feedback on a project and invite the team members to discuss problems that may arise during the project.



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Team members respond to leadership styles differently; a leader must be able to adapt to the different techniques needed for each team member.


The style of leadership in a practice can make or break the practice by severely affecting team member performance. Five main leadership styles include the absolute dictator, the benevolent leader, the unpredictable leader, the responsibility avoider, and the democratic leader. Each of these styles is well described by its title.


The absolute dictator has strong opinions, makes all decisions, and rarely delegates. This leader criticizes in public, never offers positive reinforcement, and gives orders. Employees are simply that: employees. No team exists, and employees feel unworthy and, on occasion, stupid. Eventually employees burn out and leave the practice.


The benevolent leader is dominated by the need to be loved and labeled as the nice guy. This leader publicly recognizes work well done and caters to all the needs of the team. Benevolent leaders end up doing the work because they do not want to burden someone else with the responsibility. This nice guy attitude prevents the practice from taking the next step to success.


The unpredictable leader is moody and unstable and may be a dictator one day and a benevolent leader the next. Team members spend much of their time trying to figure out which leader they have for the day.


The responsibility avoider lacks self-confidence and/or ambition. The practice drifts without direction and is unable to take the next step to success.


The democratic leader listens to team members and involves them in decision making. Open-door communication is the key, and leaders welcome suggestions for improvement by staff members. Democratic leaders build a great team with members who are loyal to the practice and consistently perform their best while on the job.




Become an Effective Leader


The preceding suggestions will help every leader become more efficient at managing team members. Ideas listed below will help enhance the skills already developed.



• Learn something new every day. Often, managers feel they have mastered the skills to be effective leaders. This may be true, but something can be learned from every situation. Make it a point at the beginning of each day to look for at least one new thing that can enhance the team. Once the new idea or topic has been mastered, share it with the team.


• Strive for excellence every day. It is unrealistic to expect perfection on every task and skill, but all team members should perform their best at all times; this includes all leaders, managers, and owners.


• Take charge of team morale. Negative environments are difficult to work in, and clients pick up on negative interactions. Improving team morale improves employee performance, enhances client relationships, and creates a wonderful working environment.


• Smile every day. Smiling is contagious.


• Inspire trust. Keep commitments, tell the truth, and say, “I am sorry” when needed.


• Accept and embrace suggestions. Some ideas may not be the best, but do not reject ideas given by team workers. Embrace an idea and build on it.


• Do not spread gossip or foster rumors. Curtail gossip to improve the quality of the workplace environment. Effective teams are built on trust and respect. Determine the facts and kill the gossip.


• Provide motivation. Not all team members are motivated by the same technique. Learn what motivates each individual and foster an environment that will create and maintain motivation for everyone.


• Remember that actions speak louder than words. Lead by example and the team will follow (Boxes 3-5 and 3-6).



Box 3-5   Applying Leadership





Box 3-6   Ideas to Improve Employee Morale



Related posts:

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  4. Preparing and Maintaining a Budget

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Oct 1, 2016 | Posted by in EXOTIC, WILD, ZOO | Comments Off on Team Management

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