TylerG

The clinic is a hectic place these days. One of our Uncharted Community members, Dr. Maggie Brown-Bury, shared a fantastic story of turning her veterinary receptionists into the heroes of pet owners' stories. It made all of us smile, and think about how we can share the wins with the whole team!

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“So, I know we are all finding clients seeming angrier lately. It has been discussed in a lot of places. I am trying hard to focus on the clients that do appreciate us and let us know, and I thought I would share an experience I had this week.

My ER had an extraordinarily busy week and our average wait time was 5 hours. We had clients get really abusive towards our receptionists over this, and even had a few every night who would give up on the wait after 1-2 hours.

But, every night there were 1 or 2 dogs who by the time I examined them seemed TOTALLY fine. When this happens I always worry the client will be mad (I know this is foolish but it has happened…), but invariably this week they have been SO GRATEFUL.

There was a 1-year-old Beagle that came in before my shift started. He apparently was very ataxic and lethargic. Once I got to him, he seemed completely fine.

How we are operating now is when the client arrives, we take the pet in the building to be triaged and the client waits in the parking lot or goes home to wait. A receptionist calls the client when a doctor is ready to do a consult. The client can come inside or opt for a phone consult. With this Beagle they chose to come inside. I went to the exam room with the dog who is now acting like a normal, bouncy Beagle. He ran into the room and the owner squealed and said,

‘Oh my God, you fixed him! This was worth the 4-hour wait!!!' and was actually crying.

(I did let her know I didn't do anything but let him rest in a kennel for a few hours )

Since the reception team gets the brunt of the impatient complainers, if the client chooses a phone consult, I let them know I believe the symptoms have resolved and suggest they come back. I will prepare discharge instructions but we will have them come inside and if they feel the issue has not been resolved we can have another discussion. Then, I have a receptionist bring the pet to the client so they can get that hero worship.

We had a little Frenchie who came in for a swollen face who 100% had no swelling when I saw him (another that arrived before my shift). They chose to have a phone consult, so when they came back to pick up the dog, I asked the receptionist to bring the dog to the client and let me know how it went. He came back, without the dog, with a huge smile and said,

‘That was the best thing I have done all week. They are SO happy!'

We have been lucky to have one of these a night, and I am getting better at ignoring the clients who think the wait is “unreasonable” and just remembering the ones who were so glad their pet was okay they were grateful for the wait.

It used to be one bad client who ruined a shift… so I am trying to flip it around so one good client can save the shift. “

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If you're in the Uncharted Veterinary Community or listen to the Uncharted Podcast, you have probably heard the phrase, “Assume good intent.” It's an important mindset shift that can turn a conversation around before it even begins. What exactly does it mean to assume good intent? We opened up the conversation in the Uncharted Community. Here are a few of the ways our members describe what it means to them!

Assume Good Intent To Focus on Compassion

Try turning to this piece of advice when dealing with others who are acting in an emotional or unkind way.

Clients call and show up because they care about their pet or else they wouldn't be calling or showing up.  We don't know why the other person is feeling the way that they are, but they feel their actions are justified. So assume they are doing what they feel is right or that they don't know what they don't know.

– Kyle Ann S.

For me, its two-fold. First of all, I refuse to believe that anyone woke up and just decided to be mean or annoying. Second, if I assume that another person has good intentions (despite their current behaviour), it means that I always behave in a manner that I think is appropriate for myself. Thinking the best of other people or having compassion for them because their life might be temporarily out of control makes me as good as I can be. Bad mouthing them makes me not as good.

– Saye C.

I can assume good intentions and use evidence to be proved wrong. Or assume the opposite and be someone I don't like very much. I don't think anyone jumps out of bed and actively eats cereal while plotting how to make the lives of everyone around them miserable. But you can of course, use evidence to prove me wrong! 

-Lisa B.

Assume Good Intent When Someone Makes a Mistake

Look to this advice when you're giving feedback. Can you sit down next to this person and assume they were doing their best when they made a mistake?

I have a very basic way of seeing it. When someone messes up, I assume they did what they thought was correct. We can have a discussion about why it was not the right thing to do or how to do it different the next time but I ASSUME the choice they made was with GOOD INTENT.

– Amy D.

I assume someone was doing what they thought was right and I think about how they might have been set up to fail as a way to frame the good intent. Was there something this person didn’t know or didn’t have that meant they couldn’t have done the thing correctly? For me that’s a bit more concrete than just assuming they meant well and helps me also identify where a system or resource might be broken.

– Ken B.

Assume Good Intent to Be Happier in Practice

Assuming the best of your colleagues is going to make you a better member of your clinic's team. Shifting into this mindset and getting curious about where you can improve together can bring your practice culture into a more positive place. Uncharted Community member, Dr. Tracy Sands shared how she hires based on culture and that makes applying this advice even easier. Keep an eye out for her workshop to open soon – Empowering Your Team to Get Positive and Stay that Way. It's happening LIVE on October 9!

I believe that if you hire based on culture and you have a team that wants to be at your clinic then you have to give them trust. Trust can be a hard thing to earn so it's best in my opinion to give those team members the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise. So, again, the team is hired to share the same core values so I assume that they have good intent with the work that they do for the clinic. When they started that task, they had good intent but perhaps they made a true mistake, are dealing with a heavy burden, were never taught differently in their lives or (most importantly) were not trained or communicated to properly.

I don't believe team members think “oh, can I make sure this prescription label has the wrong expiration date on it?” or “How can I really mess up this schedule so that we all have to stay longer past our scheduled shift?” When I look at a situation like that I remind myself to get curious – “hey, they came from a place of good intent, what went wrong?” This puts ME in a place of good intent and then I am more likely to have a better overall team because I am more likely to come out as a better leader with better processes from what I learned by getting curious.

– Tracy S.

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The Uncharted Culture Conference is coming soon, and we created our Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal (ending 9/15) because we know just how important it is to get your whole leadership team involved in building the culture of your veterinary clinic. Trying to change the culture in your veterinary clinic alone is not going to work. Keep reading to find out why.

One Clinic, Many Team Members

Culture is the heart of what makes your practice unique. It’s the blend of personalities, passions, and processes that give your team a sense of belonging. When you're building (or changing) clinic culture, everyone on the team is going to have to work at it. It won't be a simple switch from negative to positive when you set a standard for what you expect. Every person in the hospital will need to commit to upholding your standards, which takes support, coaching, and effort – especially from each other!

There's No “I” in Team

Okay, so you came back from the UVC Culture Conference and know where to start making changes. You bring the ideas to your team and say, “I know what we need to do!”…and nothing changes. You need buy-in. You need support. If you were looking for a new way to track inventory, you'd include the member of your team that does that job in the conversation, right? This is the same! You will want to include some key players in your practice to help you achieve the vision for your veterinary clinic culture because there is no “I” in team.

Accountability is the Key to Success with Any Goal

The number one benefit we have heard our members tell us about after attending an Uncharted Conference is the element of accountability! Uncharted members leave every conference feeling energized and excited. They take their ideas back to practice and then the magic really happens. Things get challenging, and they check in with the Community when they have questions. They set goals, and help each other stay accountable for reaching them! You might not be ready to join the Uncharted Community just yet, and that's okay. Bring leaders from your practice and be each other's “accountabilibuddies” long after the Conference is over. It will make a big difference in reaching those goals!

The Uncharted Culture Conference is happening October 21-23, virtually! There are so many ways that you and your team will be able to work together toward your ideal clinic culture, so don't miss this chance to start the process on the same page!