You watch her do her thing from a distance.
The quick rushed conversations behind closed doors, on the fly, are not fulfilling.
You’re exhausted from your interactions with her.
Yet her hopes and expectations for a more meaningful interaction are dashed when you walk out the door in the evening to go home to your family.
So…..ARE you messing with your CA? 😉
Your CA is a driving force and profit centre in your business. While it might be amazing to have an awesome go-getter in the CA chair, and they are managing everything from soup to nuts, turning a blind eye to what they are doing as a way to save yourself some stress, is not the way to go.
As a matter of fact it’s clearly not the way to go based on what we are seeing in our connections with Chiro offices across Canada and the US. There is a trail of directionless and frustrated CA’s who are looking for more and in some scary cases CA’s that have bled their offices dry. But that’s another story…
I’m not referring to micromanaging here…I’m referring to leadership.I’m actually referring to the lack of support and leadership you are offering your CA on a daily and weekly basis.
Have you developed office policies and procedures that are to be followed? Is there a system in place to create accountability? Is there a rhythmic check in the form of weekly meetings to check in with each other on what’s happened within the last week with patients?Is John Smith following his Schedule of Care? If not, why not?
What education can the CA provide Mr. Smith at this point? Or is the poor fellow due a case review with you to reinforce the importance of a schedule of care?Is there proactive planning ahead on a Marketing calendar with responsibilities evenly distributed?
Do you know what your core values are and are your staff aware of them? Are the big and small decisions that run your practice filtered through those values? Do your CA’s have any common values and the ability to filter the day to day happenings through that lens?
This is your business after all and you all need to know where it is you’re going! Do you have a daily morning check-in to see how everyone is doing as a tool to lay any concerns on the table that need to be dealt with.
To go over who has reports due that day and work out any hitches that might happen if Peggy Mills brings those crazy kids in that still aren’t getting adjusted. To have a time of reflection and morning affirmations to get grounded and start the day off as balanced as possible.
All of these things are important and will help smooth out your office flow. Weekly meetings will help pinpoint the practice members who are may be struggling to love themselves enough to get into your office on your recommended schedule of care.
Do you have procedures and policies in place on how to deal with different situations? Well worded dialogue for your CA to use will guide such patients into compliance with your recommendations. It will lessen the need for them to come to a complete halt when a patient doesn’t show up to track him down.
Marketing issues and needs can be gone over and planned out so that everyone knows what their responsibilities are and when they’re due, and extra support can be distributed when needed.
Daily meetings in the form of a morning huddle over tea or coffee can allow for the details of the day to be pre-empted and resolved before any issues even arise. And if anything does arise by end of the day, the next morning’s huddle can be the perfect spot to resolve them, leaving you the DC, the perfect opportunity to get home at the end of the day to family and your dinner. All without guilt of leaving your CA hanging looking for answers. Although even then, it would be wise to have an “Any Questions?” moment at the end of the day to clear up anything that needs an immediate answer.
Imagine, not having a day where you are getting constant interruptions from your CA to answer patient management questions. How hard is it for you to come out of “adjusting mode” and into “patient management” or “business owner” modes? And then get back into the flow of adjusting?
How many minutes do you think you could save by having a designated daily meeting time to go over the minutia in a focused manner? How much of your stress melts away, when the office is structured and procedures are in place to deal with any situation that arises?
Having a well trained CA is a brilliant thing and we here at Full Circle Coaching and Consulting can help with that. But if you aren’t providing your CA with the necessary leadership to help steer your business then it’s going be like trying to drive your car when it’s leaking gas. At some point it’s going to grind to a halt.
If you have a rock star CA but are lacking the leadership skills, or you have a lackluster CA and zero leadership skills then take at look at Full Circle Coaching and Consulting for our CA Training Program and Expansion Coaching Programs.
