By Rachel Teichberg, CVPM, CVBL, CCFP
It’s the start of a new year, and I bet you’re just beaming with excitement about all the things you plan to do for your practice. New software, new equipment, new products, new protocols, new services… You name it!
Your annual goals may be exciting to you, but to the rest of the team, it could be quite overwhelming. Though it’s easy to feel frustrated, remember that resistance to change is natural. As it is the new year, let’s take a second to reflect on the last New Year’s resolutions you made. How did those go? How long did it take you to make the change? Did the change stick? If not, don’t feel bad… You’re in good company! Change is hard. But, as Glennon Doyle says, “We can do hard things!” Let’s explore some strategies to overcome resistance to take your practice to a whole new level.
Address the Fear
We naturally tend to fear the unknown, and change creates a lot of question marks. To get your team on board, start by painting a picture of what the change will look like from start to finish. Creating a strong vision will allow them to see into the future and understand the significance of the change and why it’s so important.
Not only will your team fear the future, but they have fear from the past. If your team has had bad experiences with change in the practice, it could cause a lot of disengagement. They saw how change happened last time, and they don’t want to go through it again. Maybe it was stressful, disorganized, and frustrating, and ultimately the change never happened. Be sure to address the previous failures as a part of the early discussions regarding an upcoming change. Be specific about how things will be different this time.
Communicate… A Lot
Communication should start when you start thinking about a change. The sooner you can get buy-in and excitement from your team the better. Too often, we like to wait and wait until everything is ready to go and then spring the change on the team. Naturally, their response is something like, “Wait, what?” That is not the kind of energy we want as we start something new.
Instead, before anything is underway showcase what you’re changing, why you’re changing it, and why the change is needed now. Allow for an open dialogue where the team can ask their questions, but be prepared! Consider ahead of time how the change impacts them, your clients, and your patients, what the benefits are, and why they should be excited about it. Plan to circle back to all of these points throughout the whole change process to reiterate the goal and the why behind it all.
Training
To successfully initiate change, you will need to have a training plan prepared ahead of time. This training plan cannot just be reading off a new process to the team in a staff meeting. The training plan should be well thought out to include specific details for all team members involved in the change.
Training should be done in advance of the change, not just starting on the day you want to roll out the change. If you want to change the check-in process, the training should begin weeks in advance of your launch day, so everyone is ready to go. It’s important that the training is interactive, and the team can practice doing things in a new way. Things won’t be perfect the first time, but that’s to be expected. Continue the training throughout the launch to reinforce the new processes or skills.
Celebrate Success
It’s important to remember that change happens in bite-size pieces. Your team needs consistent motivation and encouragement to keep the excitement and commitment to the goal high. Yes, we want the big win at the end, but there are so many little wins that need to happen before we reach our goals. Each one is important, and each one can be celebrated. Words of encouragement, high fives, and positive feedback all go a long way in getting your team to embrace the discomfort and continue through the challenges change can bring.
Yes, change is hard, but not impossible! Implementing a change management strategy is critical to the growth of your practice because without keeping pace with things like industry changes, client expectations, new technology, and patient care standards they can quickly fall behind. So, let’s make a New Year’s resolution together… This year, we’ll put fear aside, and embrace change fully to create a thriving practice.
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