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This week on Uncharted Veterinary Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie “I ain’t as good as I once was” Goss are taking a question from the mailbag, “What do you do when the team forgets their jobs? What do you when the team starts making mistakes for no reason?”. Sometimes it feels like nobody knows what they’re supposed to do even though 3 weeks ago they all did. It can feel like an overwhelming, nebulous task to correct your entire team. There are so many things to fix, where would you even start?

HEADSPACE:

Some Things To Keep In Mind.
–This happens to everyone.

-Getting this problem into concrete terms can make it more manageable.-This is a symptom of something else happening in the practice.

-Have you had recent growth? This can play a factor, even adding one person when the team is small can throw off equilibrium. 

-People are overwhelmed, everything is changing, this behavior may be a side effect. 

-Duality issue, yin versus yang. Everything starts as chaos and people tend to move towards order and systems.

-If change is happening but our system stays stagnant that can create confusion and chaos.

-People don’t forget their job, the job stops working.

-When things stop working there are 2 types of people: Those that cling to the rules. Those that freestyle

-It was working before and now it’s not, they don’t need a lesson in accountability.

-Usually this is something systematic happening, you have to reorganize your systems to accommodate change.

-We’re working in survival mode, it’s important to take the time to reflect.

-There’s working in the business, and there’s working on the business.

-Give grace, not accountability. Punishing the whole team can ruin morale and drive people away. 

LINKS
Personal Branding w/Dr. Andy Roark: https://unchartedvet.com/personal-branding/
April Uncharted Veterinary Conference: https://unchartedvet.com/uvvc2021
All Links: https://linktr.ee/UnchartedVet

RELATED EPISODES
UVP 098: Rapid Change Management https://soundcloud.com/unchartedpodcast/uncharted-managing-through-stress
UVP 041: Help! I'm totally overwhelmed! https://soundcloud.com/unchartedpodcast/uvp-041
UVP 105: The Team Doesn’t Understand Change is Slow https://soundcloud.com/unchartedpodcast/uvp-105

This week on Uncharted Veterinary Podcast Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie “Don’t you know that you’re toxic?” Goss are going to the mailbag. “What do you do when the boss, a practice owner DVM, is judging clients and in front of the staff too?” We’re a year into a pandemic, everyone’s grumpy, and fuses can get short. The bosses powder keg is about to explode and they’re demonstrating bad behavior that could impact the team negatively. Having that conversation with them can be really uncomfortable, especially if you’re newer to your practice, but it’s necessary to ensure a healthy work environment. Let’s get into this.

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HEADSPACE: Some Things To Keep In Mind.
-Everyone is stressed.

-There are difficult clients, and it’s not easy to work with them.

-It’s okay to feel mad at clients, you choose how you react to those feelings. 

-It’s easy to say negative things about clients when they’re not in the building.

-As a leader, you have to have a filter. You have to be a sunshine warrior sometimes.

-Shifting baseline: It will slowly morph into complaining about more and other things. 

-Is it kind to let it go and the behavior spread?

-Set expectations for yourself: You do not have the power to change this person.

-If they don’t want to change they won’t.

-Accept a certain lack of control in this situation.

-There needs to be a fundamental level of trust.

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This can be a difficult situation to manage but it is possible. In the podcast Stephanie and Andy unpack their action steps and how they would go about having this conversation from two different perspectives; I know this person well and we trust each other, and I’m relatively new and I don’t have the years of trust built between me and this person.

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LINKS
Personal Branding w/Dr. Andy Roark: https://unchartedvet.com/personal-branding/
April Uncharted Veterinary Conference:https://unchartedvet.com/uvvc2021
All Links: https://linktr.ee/UnchartedVet

RELATED EPISODES
UVP 050: It's Bad and the Boss Doesn't Care

UVP 051: Critical Conversations For People Who Hate Conflict

UVP 091: How Do I Protect the Staff from Toxic Bosses?

UVP 102: How to Not Take Angry Clients Personally

This week on the Uncharted Veterinary Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie HELP! I need somebody HELP! Not just anybody HEEEEeeelp Goss go to the mailbag.

The issue that’s affecting everyone:
“We are short-staffed and getting shorter by the minute. Where do you find good people to hire in vet med? We need to hire at least 1 person in every role. Our morale is at an all-time low and people are burnt out. We need to save the ship before it goes down.”
AND
“Alrighty!! I’m in a pickle! I canNOT seem to get Veterinary Technician applicants. I have posted on Indeed, Facebook, and Linkedin. We are so short-staffed and it’s starting to take its toll on everyone. How do I find a Vet Tech worth hiring?!” This is not changing, this is not going away, and the summer crazies will be here soon.

HEADSPACE: Some Things To Keep In Mind.

-Everyone is short-staffed and struggling to find doctors and vet techs. You are not alone, this is not your fault. 

-There has been a huge surge in workload across the industry and there is a shortage in doctors and technicians.

-There is not an easy answer to this, not some magic website that you haven’t heard of.

-The biggest danger in not being able to hire is refusing to change how you run your clinic.

-If you are unable to hire for an extended period of time you need to adapt to accommodate that change.

-You and your team have a limit. You can push past it but something will suffer. That can work in the short term but it is not a sustainable business practice.

-If your team gets burnout and leave you can end up in a worse place than you started.

This is a hard one for everybody. Stephanie and Andy tackle this from a perspective of not just how do I make my clinic more attractive but how do I adapt who and what I already have? Check out the episode to hear them go through all of this and lay down some action steps.

LINKS
Personal Branding w/Dr. Andy Roark: https://unchartedvet.com/personal-branding/
April Uncharted Veterinary Conference: https://unchartedvet.com/uvvc2021
All Links: https://linktr.ee/UnchartedVet

RELATED EPISODES
UVP 041: Help! I’m Totally Overwhelmed!https://soundcloud.com/unchartedpodcast/uvp-041
UVP 064: Keeping Morale Up During COVID-19https://soundcloud.com/unchartedpodcast/uvp-064
UVP 094 NEW RESEARCH – What Really Keeps Techs Engaged & Satisfiedhttps://soundcloud.com/unchartedpodcast/uvp-094

This week, Dr. Andy Roark and Practice Management Goddess Stephanie Goss dive into the mailbag:
“There seems to be a gathering “clique” problem on our team. To be honest, I've seen it forming/happening but to be really really honest, I haven't acted soon enough or swiftly because it involves me. There are three assistants, the newest associate vet, and myself who have more and more solidified one another as fast friends and at times will socialize outside of the clinic.
I generally did not see our friendship as disruptive or outside of appropriate until in the past month two different team members have stated that they have concerns about a clique issue. I'm beyond mortified to have anyone feel excluded or “other” in a way that concerns them at work. That being said, I'm having a hard time seeing what behaviors are bothersome because I don't think, as objectively as I can be, that we're being catty or toxic or gossipy or Mean Girls like, other than always wearing pink on Wednesdays (ok jk just had to throw that in there)”

Let’s get into this episode!

Editor: Dustin Bays
dustin.bays@baysbrass.com
@Bays4Bays Twitter/Instagram

Links:
Upcoming events: unchartedvet.com/upcoming-events/

Personal Branding w/Dr. Andy Roark: unchartedvet.com/personal-branding/

April Uncharted Veterinary Conference: unchartedvet.com/uvvc2021/

All Links: linktr.ee/UnchartedVet

This week Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie “TAKE ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF MY HEART NOW BABY” Goss tackle a topic brought to them by a mutual friend, “What do I do when I’m taking issues with the team personally?”.

Unpacking this topic through the familiar issue of scheduling, a vet tech is going back to school to continue education outside the field of Veterinary Medicine. “I’m already understaffed and my anxiety is manifesting itself into feelings of betrayal, catastrophizing and wanting to part ways with this person immediately. Why am I so affected by choices that have nothing to do with me and how do I get ahold of these emotions? How can I allow others room to change and by doing so allow room for myself to change? How do I support this person’s needs while also balancing the needs of the rest of the team and my own?”

Fuses can be short as change comes at us from all sides, by getting ourselves in the right headspace and setting clear expectations we can gain better control of how we perceive and feel about that change from moment to moment. Join us this week on Uncharted Veterinary Podcast.  

Introduction:

Struggling not to take work-related issues personally with the team. eg: Vet Technician wants to change their schedule to go back to school and pursue human medicine.

– Impulse to go extreme and let them go immediately 

– Our own anxiety is manifesting itself as catastrophizing

Some Notes on Headspace: 

– This is not about me, this is not about them. This is not an emotional decision.

– They’re not intentionally trying to hurt you.

– Life happens, if I were to have opportunities outside of the Vet Clinic, I would want the person on the other side to receive the information well.

– You may not get to choose how you feel you do get to choose how you react.

– Your reaction, regardless, will not make them change their minds/needs outside of the Vet Clinic.

– “What if we train them and they leave… what if we don’t and they stay?

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Have a question or topic you'd like to hear more about? Let us know!

Email podcast@unchartedvet.com if you have a topic or suggestion you’d like us to cover!