As a practice manager, your team relies on you to keep things running smoothly. Good medical practice management means not only checking your patients are happy, it also means making sure your staff are productive, motivated and engaged.
Burnout is a problem throughout the medical profession, but as a practice manager, there are a few things you can do to help keep your staff happy and healthy. If your staff are stressed or struggling, here are five suggestions that may help.
1. Make sure they have the right tools and software.
The right tools can help your staff work more productively, but the wrong ones can cause extra stress and frustration. Look at your medical practice management software – is it easy to use and up to date? If your software is slow, clunky to use or keeps getting bugs and glitches, your employees might end up spending more time than they need on routine tasks. By giving them the most effective tools, you can help them free up time for the more worthwhile parts of their job, like caring for their patients.
2. Set aside time to catch up regularly
Making time to check-in and encourage staff to talk about how they are doing can help reduce feelings of isolation and stress. By encouraging your staff to get to know each other, you can help create a strong team culture and build positive relationships between people. This can help promote positive mental health and may help reduce stress.
3. Encourage flexibility where possible
Long hours in the clinic can be exhausting for anyone, especially if they are managing other commitments like a family. Many employees find having the ability to work from home and adjust their schedules around other parts of their lives can make a big difference in how stressed and burned out they feel. With new developments like telehealth and cloud clinical software that’s accessible from anywhere, it’s never been easier for your staff to enjoy the benefits of remote working and greater flexibility.
4. Create a culture of positive communication
Communication is crucial for helping staff feel less alone and building positive relationships between people. Misunderstandings and lack of communication can cause a lot of frustration and lead to more work for everyone. A negative atmosphere can also contribute to feelings of overwhelm and burnout. As a practice manager, think about your communication processes and how your staff interact with each other and be proactive in developing a culture of communication in the organisation.
5. Make sure your staff feel supported
If your staff feel supported by their colleagues and employer, they are more likely to seek help if they are struggling. Feeling supported can cover everything from the way your team communicates to the technology they use and whether they have access to everything they need to do their job as effectively as possible. As well as having access to the essentials, what are your team’s goals and aspirations? Having the opportunity to develop their careers can help your staff feel more motivated and inspired, which can in turn help reduce those negative feelings that can strike when they feel underappreciated and unsupported. As practice manager, you set the tone for your team’s culture and how everyone interacts. With good medical practice management, you can create a positive working environment where staff feel supported and encouraged to work in a way that suits them. This can decrease staff turnover and ensure you provide the highest possible quality of care for your patients.
