Relationships you build with colleagues and co-workers can be a source of tremendous joy. Here are some things that have helped me be successful in leading fun, effective teams:
1. Be inclusive in language and actions.
Think of your practice as a team and refer to it as such. Don’t say “my staff,” say “our team.” Don’t say, “Look what I did today!” say “Look what we did today!” Learn your teammates’ names and use them. This includes everyone — the technicians, nurses and managers, as well as the opticians, schedulers and registrars. If there’s a teammate you don’t recognize, introduce yourself. After particularly tough days, take a moment to thank your team. A little gratitude goes a long way.
2. Choose your battles.
You will notice differences between the way you were trained and the way things are done on your new team. Respect the fact that you are new and that you can still learn better ways of doing things. Understand that if you are heavy-handed or haughty in your attempts to change things, your new teammates who have been on the team longer than you will not like it. Decide which of these differences are truly crucial. Don’t rock the boat too much, especially early on. Play the long game.
3. Be what you want your teammates to be.
Your team takes its emotional cues from you. If you are frequently agitated and upset, they will mirror that. If you take things in stride and don’t get rattled, they will follow. Don’t complain about patients or colleagues. Don’t gossip. When things go well, look for ways to credit others publicly. When things don’t go well, don’t blame someone else. Reflect on what you can do differently instead so that things go more smoothly next time.
4. Keep it light.
Ophthalmology is fun! In our clinic, we start each day with a song of the day chosen by a team member. This helps to get us in a mindset to have fun, work hard and dominate the day. It also helps us get to know each other. Memorable selections have included “Good Vibrations” by Marky Mark, “Beverly Hills” by Weezer, “I Ain’t Worried” by One Direction, and A LOT of Justin Timberlake. I have other colleagues here at Spokane Eye Clinic with other traditions, like Hawaiian Fridays, where island-based attire becomes the team uniform, or Chick-fil-A Day.
5. Find times to teach and provide feedback.
I prefer on-the-fly, informal teaching to formal in-services, though both can work. Help your team understand why they do what they do, encouraging critical thinking, which makes them efficient and effective. When someone makes a good pickup on a key exam finding during their workup, publicly acknowledge this. Positive feedback is a potent motivator. When patients mention how much they liked a certain member of the team, make sure and pass that on, too. If someone needs to work on something, meet with them privately, don’t call them out publicly. Also consider having your main assistant/lead technician do that instead, if it’s regarding something minor, as that helps give them ownership of the team.
6. Ask for teammates’ ideas and listen to them.
It doesn’t mean you have to adopt every suggestion they give, but you should adopt some of them. If they notice that clinic is getting bogged down at the same time each day, ask them how they would change things to improve flow. Ask them what you can do, collectively, to make your clinic the hot one in town. As an example, we have a “patching superstars” wall now, for pictures of kids doing a really great job with their amblyopia treatment. It was a teammate’s idea, we rolled with it, and families love it.
Photo credit: Dr. Weed’s teammate Samantha Batt recently graduated from college, so a graduation party was in order. Photo courtesy of Samantha Batt.
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About the author: Matthew Weed, MD, is a pediatric ophthalmologist and inherited eye disease specialist at the Spokane Eye Clinic in Spokane, Wash. |