Hi, it's Tina and welcome to today's One Minute Management Tip.
You know what? As long as we work with people we are going to have problems. That's just the way that it is. And what do we do so often when a problem arises in the practice? We complain about it. And then what is the second thing that we do about the problem? We complain about it again. What we need to do is to take action and what does that action look like? Well, often if something has happened, let's just say Mrs. Jones was left in the waiting room. Well, it may be addressed: "Who left Mrs. Jones in the waiting room?" She was so angry by the time she got back to see the doctor. And everyone is going to what? Not say they were the ones who left Mrs. Jones in the waiting room. But what if we addressed it?
"Well, Mrs. Jones was left in the waiting room and she was so angry by the time she got back to see the doctor. What could we have done to prevent this from happening?" That is a much better way to get people engaged and wanting to resolve that problem to help it never happen again. Remember that old phrase, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Well, it actually is true. So, the next time you have a problem in your practice, instead of addressing it by being upset and angry over it, why don't you ask, what could we have done to prevent this from happening? I bet you'll get a much better response from everybody in the practice. If you have any questions, you can just email me at [email protected].