Photos courtesy of Dr. Ward. One location used for hosting an offsite meeting had indoor games and swings.
Effective offsite training boosts staff engagement, impacts the bottom line
By Matthew Ward, OD
When was the last time you stepped away from the office with your staff to talk about the business? Traditional weekly or monthly meetings are important, but there’s always the temptation to answer the phone or deal with other issues that may arise in the office space.
For the past five years, I’ve invested in hosting an offsite meeting for our team every six months. We meet in mid-April and mid-November for an all-day gathering, complete with food and fun on top of important business conversations.
It’s a tradition that we all look forward to with a streamlined system and strategy in place. We look at where we have been—reviewing the quarter’s or year’s numbers—as well as what’s going on now and the future.
This is our routine with our staff of eight.
OUR STRATEGY FOR EFFECTIVE OFFSITE TRAINING
Our offsite meetings began with the support of a consulting company. They observed us—like a fly on the wall—for two days. Then we would meet offsite to talk about the details and patient encounters.
This eye-opening experience showed us the value in stepping away from the daily routine. We could talk, uninterrupted, about the past six months and if we achieved our goals. What had we done to make them happen? With some decisions, you need to sit on them for a while. It was a great touchpoint.
We did this for our first two years that I was the owner of the practice. It was productive, but quite expensive, costing thousands of dollars each time. We decided that we could customize the experience and continue to do it on our own every year. Then we adapted our routine to twice a year.
FIND AN AFFORDABLE LOCATION
We rented a space during our early years. That would cost between $500 to $700 per day.
We now have a local spot that has become our go-to location. If we order food from them for the event, we can use their space for free for the day. This significantly decreases our expenses for our offsite meeting.
GIVE OWNERSHIP TO THE TEAM
Staff members take on planning and presentation of different topics to educate the entire team.
I always start the meeting with a state of the union address about the practice. I love this update to get everyone on board.
I’m very hands on because I enjoy it, but the planning of the rest of the meeting can be divided to even out the workload. As our team has grown, our owners talk with our associate doctors about sessions that they can lead. They can develop PowerPoint presentations that dive a little deeper into the science behind myopia management or how our new OCT with angiography works and why we need it.
Our office manager can discuss accounts receivable and procedures for collecting copays. We’ve also taken a closer look at which frame lines have the best turnover rate.
Share the agenda in advance of the meeting so everyone can know the plan and come with ideas. Not all the time has been planned out. Leave time for open discussion.
ASK VENDORS FOR EDUCATION
Vendors are often willing to attend our meeting to provide an education session. Rotate in representatives from different areas of the practice from instrumentation, frames and contact lens companies. They sometimes will also cover lunch, bringing down our expenses even further.
SCHEDULE APPROPRIATELY
Our practice has been closed on Thursday afternoons for as long as I’ve been an owner. We choose to close Thursday mornings, as well, on the days of our biannual meetings.
Consider scheduling your offsite meeting on your least profitable day of the week if you don’t already have a shortened day. We hold our meeting from 8 a.m. sharp and are done by 3 p.m. or 4 p.m.
INCLUDE STAFF IN FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
I believe we are a stronger team when we all have a better idea of where we stand as a practice. Our conversations in our offsite meetings touch upon what are we grossing this year compared to last year, profits, capture rate, new patient rate and more.
I know I’ve heard some colleagues say that they are not comfortable sharing financial data with the staff. While I respect that, I have found that being open about cost of goods (COG), total staff salaries and profitability can be important. Your staff is working hard every day, so they have a right to know if they are doing great or not.
Being transparent with the numbers can help staff understand why certain decisions are made. It also allows us to discuss what we can all do to improve. Maybe the timing isn’t right to give everyone a raise if our staff salaries are at 32% of our expenses instead of 26% to 27%. However, we can explain that if we see a certain percentage growth in our profits, we can reward the team with a bonus.
ADD SOME FUN
We intersperse ice breaker activities in between our sessions talking about the practice. Some of our favorites include trivia games learning about our staff and our own version of Family Feud.
This is particularly a good idea when we have a new staff member. We all get to know each other better. It brings a bit of competitive fun into our business discussions. When we’re done, the winners get a trophy, and we share in a favorite beverage or candy.
TAKEAWAY: BETTER STAFF EDUCATION
One of our biggest benefits has been our staff’s increased understanding of our technologies. I hear it in the way they more confidently speak with patients. Training on certain technologies takes longer than we can dedicate in 30 minutes in a weekly meeting.
One of our meetings focused on IPL treatment for dry eye. We had the instrumentation for some time, yet we needed to thoroughly explain to our staff how it works and why, the candidates, what it feels like and the results. We spent two hours covering it.
Now even our receptionist can talk with a prospective patient about how IPL can benefit their dry eye symptoms. That’s so important, because that inquiry call can quickly crash and burn if the person answering the phone doesn’t have enough knowledge. They might tell callers that, yes, we offer IPL, and we have for seven years. Hearing my staff on the phone talking to these prospective patients without having to stop and ask has been the biggest win.
We’ve repeated this with myopia management, scleral lenses, anti-reflective lens treatment options, contact lens materials and more. From pretesting through the optician, everyone has a cohesive understanding to take back to the office. Patients are more likely to follow through with the recommendations when it’s professionally presented. They can trust we know what we are doing.
TAKEAWAY: WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
Education on evaluating insurances has made a big impact. In the past three years, we dropped our two lower paying insurances. It became clear this was a smart decision when we met offsite and looked at what our write offs were and how low the exam copays were. Accepting every insurance just to get patients in the chair was not the best way to do business. We decided to establish an in-office savings plan with a certain flat percentage off the frame and lenses to compete with other insurance companies. This helped patients still get a great deal on digital freeform progressives. The offsite meeting helped us really break down those numbers.
This kind of staff education can truly impact your business. We’ve also recently lowered our COG by 4%. Conversations that took place at these meetings initiated many changes in the practice, resulting in better numbers on our profit and loss statement.
END-OF-DAY REVIEW
Before we conclude the meeting, everyone knows their responsibilities upon our return to the office. We identify immediate follow-up items, as well as the tasks that need attention a little further down the road.
I recap with my business partner and office manager for 15 to 20 minutes after the staff leaves. We have a great track record, and we always accomplish what was on our agenda. It’s valuable because I walk away with deeper insights on what’s going on in the practice. I may learn about situations that I was unaware of or see an opportunity to help members of our team become more successful in their roles with more thorough education and information.
In my first few years, I sometimes questioned if we just lost a day of production. Now I know that this type of investment in our team is never a waste of time. I see the experience as priceless when everyone is on the same page, refreshed and ready to roll with our new ideas.
Read another article by Dr. Ward on lowering COG here.
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Matthew Ward, OD, is the owner of Valley Eye Clinic in West Des Moines, Iowa. To contact him: eyedocward@gmail.com |
