Eyeworld

62 | EYEWORLD | JUNE 2019 I N THE PRACTICE SIMPLE PRACTICE TUNE-UPS by Corinne Wohl, MHSA, COE, and John B. Pinto Contact information Pinto: pintoinc@aol.com, 619-223-2233 Wohl: czwohl@gmail.com, 609-410-2932 practice. Your patients will benefit and so will your office environment. • Be an excellent listener. Be open-minded enough to consider ideas that are not your own. If you are thinking about the next thing you want to say while someone else is talking, you are not really listening. • Build trust by being honest and not withhold- ing things that need to be shared. • Take charge and resolve conflicts quickly; don't let them corrode a relationship. Here are some specific ways to help you create and maintain excellent relationships with the various categories of people you work with. Partners and the Board of Directors. The strongest practices are those with the best working and personal relationships between owners. Strong partners share interests outside of the office. Even if you and your partners don't socialize, create a culture of mutual respect and the accommodation of reasonable differences. Even the most successful providers will feel better about their practice and their profession if they get a lot of positive feedback from peers. Young partners who are still strug- gling to fit in will value your mentorship and support for the rest of their careers. Associate physicians. Non-partner doctors are vital to practice owners, either as a source of passive income or as part of a critical succession plan. Treat them as trusted colleagues and help them feel valued. If you do, they are more likely to stay in the practice, sustain their contributions, and care more for your practice and patients. Employed staff members. Be sure to personally recognize staff for their work effort and accomplishments, and do not just delegate your compliments to their superiors. Encourage teamwork by being an active member of the team, celebrating practice "wins" with them. Also, share your knowledge about a new med- ication or piece of testing equipment. Be the doctor about whom staff say to their friends, "I've got the best boss in the world." Referring providers. Although it is obvious that having a great relationship with referring providers in the community has many "Many relationship problems are rooted in a communi- cation breakdown. These can be as simple as not really hearing what the other person is saying because we get caught up in our own fixed perspectives." —Sumesh Nair A significant underlying quality recog- nized leaders possess is the ability to build relationships. Being a strong relationship builder takes more than mere networking. To some prac- tice leaders, it comes naturally. For others, it takes all they can muster to build the momentum to proceed with the task. If you are not naturally gifted in relation- ship building or you're ready to take relationship building to the next level, you may need to be more intentional. It's worth the effort: Deeper relationships with staff, vendors, colleagues, and patients can supercharge your professional life. Here are a few basics of relationship build- ing to help benefit your practice. • If you are shy, you may feel uncomfortable reaching out to referral sources or sharing a meal with them. Consider it a task that needs to be done for the benefit of the practice, like reading up on new surgical maneuvers or attending conferences. Many public figures are outwardly sociable but inwardly reserved. • Noticing details and remaining positive can make a big difference in relationships, espe- cially with subordinates. It helps to recognize an employee's work effort and tell them what you have noticed. Also, don't sweat the small stuff and focus on the bigger picture. This doesn't mean overlooking details that need correction but rather limiting the negativity. Not: "Your pressures are all way off this morning, Ann." Instead: "Your pressures yes- terday were more accurate than I've ever seen, but you've slipped a bit today. Can you please try to reproduce yesterday's great accuracy? Thanks!" • There are two kinds of people: givers and takers. Givers make more and better rela- tionships. Give more than you get. It always comes back around to you. Being a giving person attracts other giving people to your The many ways relationship building influences your practice About the authors Corinne Wohl, MHSA, COE President C. Wohl & Associates John Pinto President J. Pinto & Associates

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