In This Episode of the Uncharted Podcast…
This week on the podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss are talking through a question that came in through the mailbag from a friend and colleague of theirs. This veterinarian is thrilled to have purchased their own veterinary practice. They are making a shift from managing multiple locations with multiple DVMs at each practice into a much smaller, rural, one doctor practice and they are facing some challenges. The medicine, the facilities, and the technology have all been in place for quite a while and our DVM friend has some big plans to kick it up a notch and shift things into the next gear. They are struggling with how to tackle the big changes that lie ahead. Let’s get into this…
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Episode Transcript
This podcast transcript is made possible thanks to a generous gift from Banfield Pet Hospital, which is striving to increase accessibility and inclusivity across the veterinary profession. Click here to learn more about Equity, Inclusion & Diversity at Banfield.
Stephanie Goss:
Hey everybody, I am Stephanie Goss. And this is another episode of The Uncharted podcast. This week on the podcast, Andy and I are tackling an email that came to us through the mailbag. It's actually from a friend and colleague of ours, who we met when they were managing several site locations for practice and multi-doctor locations, practicing high standard of care, current modern medicine, and our friend has since left that practice and purchased their own practice, which is super exciting. They purchased a practice that is in a rural location from a veterinarian who had been there 40 plus years and was retiring. So the practice has a lot of potential. There is a different style of medicine, style of client service and communication, then our friend wants to ultimately practice. They are wondering heading into this, what suggestions we have to help with friends who might be in the situation, and they are not alone, because this is a pretty common occurrence. They are really struggling with some of the challenges through the transition phase, because we all know, change is hard. So let's get into this.
Stephanie Goss:
And now, the Uncharted Podcast!
Dr. Andy Roark:
We are back. It's me, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie, the [inaudible 00:01:30] they are a changing Goss.
Stephanie Goss:
How's it going, Andy?
Dr. Andy Roark:
Man, it's good enough. It's good. It's crazy. But…
Stephanie Goss:
It is crazy.
Dr. Andy Roark:
The Spring has sprung and I get to slip out and work in my yard. The sun's going down a little bit later, I get to… where it's not dark when I get home from the clinic right now, I mean things are good, in a lot of ways. In the ways that matter, they're good. Looking forward to seeing your smiling face. It will be pastime when this episode comes out, but we're heading to western vet conference together.
Stephanie Goss:
Heck yeah, I'm super excited. I am excited to see you, I am excited to see all of our friends who we see when we are on the road at conference life and I'm just excited to meet new friends. I have to say, you and I went to Orlando at the beginning of the year for BMX, and it really filled my cup for a few weeks afterwards, just having seen everybody in the excitement and the get togethers, so I am excited. I'm having a little bit of anxiety because the last time you and I were in Vegas, It was right before the world shut down. And I actually got COVID when we were there and took a while didn't know it because they were only testing at that point for people who had been in China and had just come back and refused to test until they did an antibody test. Then sure enough, and I've never been that sick in my life. So I am a little nervous about going back to such a germy place.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yeah, you had COVID before COVID was cool. That's for sure.
Stephanie Goss:
Yes. It was…
Dr. Andy Roark:
People in China and Stephanie Goss had COVID at the same time.
Stephanie Goss:
Well, we were getting ready to leave and I remember very clearly having given you…
Dr. Andy Roark:
Big hug.
Stephanie Goss:
Big hugs, and then I got on a plane and within the two hour plane ride back to Washington, I spiked up to 104 fever and it was awful. So I'm a little nervous about going back to Vegas, but I am excited.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Remember that scene in The Matrix where the guy shoots a bunch at Keanu Reeves and he moves, with the bullet moving he's a blur because he's dodging bullets. That was me and Stephanie Goss's virus was…
Stephanie Goss:
Germs. Germy hugs.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Germs were flying at me. I was bending backwards as they went past. I dodged those bullets and made it home safely. So that was good.
Stephanie Goss:
There'll be lots of hand sanitizer this time.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Just two pump bottles in holsters, on your hip. So you can just…
Stephanie Goss:
Here would you like some?
Dr. Andy Roark:
Whip them out, you can draw. We've got an Uncharted meetup at Libertine Social on Sunday night, which is awesome. So we're going to connect amazing people to each other and make sure that they get to network and get to share ideas and get to get fired up and get to make new friends. So it's what we do with Uncharted.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah, so it's going to be good. I'm excited and like you, it's busy around here, spring is happening, kids sports have started in full effect and it is busy man, but I'm excited and we've got a great podcast topic today. I'm actually excited about this. We got an email from a colleague that you and I have worked with before. It was really nice to hear an update on what they're up to and where they're at. They had the opportunity to purchase a practice that is in a rural location. They bought the practice, it was a small rural practice, older veterinarian, had been there for 40 plus years at the practice. The guy who owned it, and was like, “I'm going to retire and die in my practice.” kind of thing.
Stephanie Goss:
So our friend wrote in and said, “I knew this going into it, but now I'm struggling, because I want to change the kind of medicine that we're practicing and move things into a modern era and I'm really struggling, because there seems to be this pervasive thinking that just because we are in a rural locale, that clients won't spend any money on their pets.” Our colleague said, “I feel like this is coming from the prior practice owner who is still here, has stayed on to hand things off and transition out.” Our friend was saying, “I am struggling with the lack of modern technologies, modern medicine. This is not who I have been as a doctor since I've been out of school, and I'm really struggling.”
Stephanie Goss:
So they were asking “What do you guys have suggestion-wise, or thought-wise, that might help me get in a good frame of mind, but also help others in my same shoes?” Because this is a common occurrence, right? When you make a transition in practice and you're shifting, whether it's the culture in the practice or the type of medicine, and so I thought this would be a great one to talk through.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yeah, no, I like this a lot and we see this a lot. There's… fixer-uppers are a thing. Or, we have a vet, and they're at the end of their career, and they have fallen into a pattern of how they practice and what their practices going to be and now they're handing off to the next generation. Next-generation says that this practice has established clientele, they have a staff, they have goodwill, they have the blue sky as we say, in the business world, meaning they have a reputation and people who come in and see them, then the practice has value. For a lot of independent veterinarians who want to buy a practice, this is the practice that's available. More modern practices, larger practices have largely caught the attention of maybe some of the corporate groups, and it's hard to compete with those guys on what they can pay. So stuff like this, that's kind of a rule or, that hasn't been updated or modernized. Those are the things that individual vets are finding available that they can purchase, and they can afford, so this is not at all uncommon.
Dr. Andy Roark:
This is in a way… This is a turnaround, right? This is looking at a business that is set in its way and say that we need to make some significant changes here. It is a fun challenge, and you need to think of it that way. That's the first part of headspace. This is a challenge, you need to look at this like a fixer-upper house, that you're like, “Yeah, I'm going to buy this thing. It has great potential, and I'm going to enjoy working on it.” Because I will tell you if you buy a fixer-upper house, and you do not enjoy the process of actually fixing it up, it's probably not going to be a super fun experience, it's not. So that's the very first part is, get yourself into a fixer-upper mindset, right? Think about what's possible, feel excited about where you can go, and then enjoy the process of updating what you've got and making it into what you want it to be.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Because if you don't want to go through that process, this might have been a bad play. But it can be really fun and it can be really rewarding. Honestly, it can be one of the things in your life that you look back and you're wildly proud of. It can also be financially very lucrative when you take something that is lived in 20 or 30 years in the past, and you bring it up to modern standards, and you grow it and you run it that way. It becomes a really valuable business you never could have afforded if you'd bought it the way that it is after you've run it for five or ten years.
Stephanie Goss:
Right. Yeah, I love that you made that connection, and the example of having a fixer upper mindset in the house makes total sense to me that analogy because, I think what you just said is so key and why practices like this are so appealing to so many people and why this is so common is that ability to create your own clean slate, and make it what you want, and put your stamp on it and put your mark on it. It comes with a significant period of change. We know that change is hard and we know that change is something that all humans struggle with and the veterinary industry seems to struggle much harder.
Dr. Andy Roark:
This is extra hard. It's like if you bought a fixer upper house, and then there were people living in your house, and you wanted to keep them there as you fixed it up. You're like, “We have to keep the squatters happy.” That's the extra challenge beyond just the fixer upper house where you're like, it's just me, and I get to do exactly what I want when I want.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
In this scenario, we also have to try to keep some other people on board. So anyway, it does have a special challenge but, you have to look at it as an interesting challenge that you want to do. And boy, you've got it… You have to decide that you're going to enjoy the journey. Because if you say, “I can't afford the practice I want. So I'm going to buy this other practice that's wildly different. Then I'll just turn it into the practice that I want, and then I'll be happy when it's what I want it to be.” And I go, “Oh, that's a long path that you're going to be frustrated before you get there.” But if you just say, “I'm going to enjoy the process of making this into what I want to be in going on this journey.” I think this can be a really wonderful thing. That works out, and that people can take a lot of enjoyment and going through the process. But first of all headspace, this is a challenge.
Dr. Andy Roark:
If you buy a fixer upper house, and then walk into that house, and you're immediately overwhelmed by the plumbing, and the electrical problems, and the furnace needs to be replaced, and the duct work and the paint is old and crappy, and the carpeting needs to come out. That's, an overwhelmed headspace. That's easy to happen. You have to have the same skills in the practice to go in and go, “There's a bunch of things that I want to fix, like there's a laundry list of things I want to fix. I cannot fix them all, I'm going to start at one place, and I'm going to start to work on this.” The best analogy and again, we started off talking about, the Spring has sprung here, and I am very much enjoying just doing yard work it is a happy place for me, it's a mental place for me, I tell this story sometimes.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I started off and I have a couple of acres of land in the woods. So I live in the woods. For a long time, my little yard around the house was pretty barren, there wasn't a whole lot going on. The reason was because there's just a big space of land… Three acres is a chunk of land, I just was overwhelmed. I was like, “I don't know where to start, I don't know what to do.” If anyone's ever had a big project, they know what I'm talking about. We say, there's so much to do here. I would go to Home Depot and get one gardenia and be like, “What do I do to this?” It's in a five gallon bucket, what do I do? And so finally, the best advice I got was from my dad and I was talking about like, “I don't know how to get started.” And he was like, “Just pick a hill and make it pretty. And then pick another hill and make it pretty. And in 10 years, you'll have a beautiful place.” And that's great advice.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And I think it's the same here is when we start off again, just in the headspace standpoint, when we start off and we say, “Hey, we're going to be updating this practice,” and there's a million things to do on your you cannot do all of them at once. And I see people flail around and try they're like “We're changing everything at once!” And I go “That's mistake.”
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Pick a hill, and make it pretty. And then pick another hill and make it pretty, and just keep going. And you will be amazed at how quickly things will be beautiful. And quickly is relative, because another part of headspace I would say is remember, we tend to wildly overestimate what we can do in one year. And we underestimate what we can do in 10 years. And so this is not a one year deal. But very quickly, it'll be you'll be five years in and you'll look around and go “Wow, we're in a completely different place running a completely different business.” Or even three years. But it's not three months, it's not one month.
Stephanie Goss:
Well, and I think to go back to your house analogy, when you buy a fixer upper, there really are two approaches to that. You can kick the squatters out, it can be empty, you can get the whole thing and redo it and fast track it and you can sprint at it, or you can take the long road approach, because maybe you're living in the house while you're fixing it up and you're doing… Like you said, you're picking the hill and you're doing one thing at a time and maybe you start in the bathroom and then you work your way out, whatever that looks like. I think that is very relevant and very important to the headspace here, because I have friends who have bought practices, where they looked at it and said, “I know going into this that I want to change everything about this. My intention and plan is I'm going to gut the place.” That may mean team, that might mean equipment, that might mean the facility itself, all of the above, clients, all of it and knock it to the ground and start over and do it fairly quickly.
Stephanie Goss:
There are other people who are like, “I'm going to get in here, I'm going to live here for a little bit, I'm going to figure out what I want to do, and then I'll make a plan.” Then there are other people who are like, “I want to live here, but I know I'm going to change some things, this is where I'm going to start.” I think from the headspace perspective, figuring out which of those three tacks you want to take with the practice is really important. Because I don't think it's wrong for any of those to be your choice, there's value on a personal level and on a business level, in all of the approaches, it's just has to be what is right for you, and what is your what is your end goal. So to your point, if you want to keep some of the squatters in house, because you see value in them, you're like, “This team has been here a long time, they're some of these people that I would really like to chance to work with.” Your approach to that might be vastly different.
Stephanie Goss:
So I think what you said about picking the hill is really spot on. Because when I think about what our colleague wrote, and… You've got the medicine, and changing medicine is hard. That's a whole ball of wax unto itself but, if you're also looking at facilities and man… And software and technology, to your point, you can change so much of that pretty quickly if you really go all in and fast track it. That's not a choice that is without consequences, or results that are going to come out of that choice. You just have to be prepared to deal with that. So I think is really important to figure out how do you want to approach it.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I need to jump in here and make an addendum. I'm listening to you say back to me my words, I need to jump in and say when I say they're squatters in the house… In the fixer upper house, I never mean that they're just people who were there when you got there. I do not mean there are people there who are not actively contributing and working really hard and being wonderful. So when I say squatters, immediately [crosstalk 00:17:27] these people are just hanging out and not doing anything, it's not what am trying to say. Please don't make that… don't. Yeah, that's not where I'm going. That's the point. My point is you're buying a fixer upper that has a lot of invested people who are there that you also want to be… Okay, cool. So let's talk about this a little bit, right? Because, how quickly do you move on these things, because I started off saying you need to have realistic expectations of the timeline, things like that. I would like to keep as much of the staff as I can, who are willing to come on the journey.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I think this is a really important part of headspace for people to make peace with is if you buy a practice, and there's always people there. They're like, “We like our practice the way it is.” You're like, “I'm going to come in and change a bunch of stuff.” There are some people who are going to enthusiastically say, “You know what, this is what I've been hoping for, this is great.” And there will be some people who are like, “Well, that's not really what I want, but I do understand why this is happening.” And there's going to be some people who go, “No, I hate this. I'm here, because this is the only place that still does medicine like they did 30 years ago, and that's what I want.” I just want to go ahead and set realistic expectations for the people listening. So you cannot make everyone happy. There's the old quote, I don't know what the key to success is, but the key to failure is trying to make everyone happy.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
That is true. Now, that does not mean go in, raging flaming sword of justice out and just clean house saying, “Everyone who doesn't immediately want to do the crazy vision that I have, that I'm putting forward, they all need to go.” There should be nuance to this. I do think at some point, we have to be realistic about it. Some people don't want to change. And so I had a mentor, early in my career that would do turnaround practices like this. I was with him one time when we went to talk to a staff in a practice that he had just taken an ownership stake and everything. Then he talked to the staff and I was there and he had this phrase that he said that really stuck with me and we talked about it later on.
Dr. Andy Roark:
He would go in and he said, “Hey, look, you guys are great, and you're doing great stuff. We are excited to be going to the next level of medicine and the next level of serving our clients.” So he said “You guys are great, you're working really hard, you're doing great stuff, and we're excited to go to the next level of medicine and the next level of serving our clients.” So he said you guys are great, you've been working really hard, you're doing great stuff and we're excited to go to the next level meaning not, “Hey, you guys haven't been doing what you're supposed to do,” or “Hey, you guys are stuck 30 years in the past,” I see your effort, I see how you take care of clients, validate all of the good things that they're doing and validate that they're working hard, and they're doing a good job.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Then just say we're going to be changing things, we're going to be updating, we're going to be going to the next level. Then the place you [inaudible 00:20:24] got into after that was, “Hey, you can be here and be on board with what we're doing, and that's what we want and we want to support you in that and we want you to be here. Or, you can decide that this isn't for you and you don't want to be a part of this and you can leave and there's not going to be any hard feelings, and we will 100% support you and write letters of recommendation or anything like that for you to go to another place. There's no hard feelings at all. But what people can't do is stay here and not be on board with where we're going.” That's the speech.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I have just found that to be useful in a lot of different times in my career is to say to people, “Hey, you can be here and be on board with what we're doing and we really want that or you can decide you're not on board with where we're going in the changes that we're making. You can decide, this isn't where you want to be and you can leave, there's no hard feelings. There's no wrong way to feel. But what you can do is not be on board and stay.” I think that those are rules, words to live by, in a lot of these things. I think if you're the new practice owner, and you're going to fix this place up, those should be words that you should get pretty comfortable with. Because I have seen a lot of people cater to staff members who are not on board and are not going to be on board, but they're also not going to leave, which means they are going to continue to be here and undermine the changes that you're trying to make.
Dr. Andy Roark:
As a leader, that can't happen. If this is your passion, and you have bought the business and you are taking it that place. It's amazing how many people I have seen just put up with one or two people who are just going to undermine everything they do because they don't want to lose staff. I say, I would like to make this as painless as possible. At the same time, there are going to be some people who are going to just say the beginning, not for me. There's going to be people who are also going to not say anything, but just undermine what you're doing. You need to make peace with those people moving on, whether it's at the very beginning, or whether more likely you're going along. We're going to see how this goes and they just become less and less on board with what you're doing until you reach the point where you say, “No, this is not working.”
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah. I love that approach to talking about it with the team. I think that it is very smart for a variety of reasons, least of which is you have to set the stage and draw some boundaries right off the bat. I think that, when I think about this, this is a really important conversation to have early. This process and thinking about it is strategic, because the transitions are always going to be hard. So generally, when you have a sale, there's some period of transition. Sometimes the prior owner says, “Here's the keys goodbye.” walks out the door. But for a lot of practices, there's some period of transition. I think what I would say to our friend is to think about the timeframe and this happens to be a relatively short transfer timeframe of four weeks, four to six weeks, right? You could survive anything for four to six weeks. So, I would think about… Pick your poison here.
Stephanie Goss:
This is a short period of time, can you put up with it until one barrier, that you know is a barrier, the selling vet, who doesn't want to change their style of practice is out the door? Or do you want to try and address this while they are still there? Because maybe there are line in the sand things happening in the practice that you are not okay with. And then you have to figure out… You got to pick your poison. Are you going to deal with it now? Because maybe they leave before the for six weeks is up, is that okay? So if you are someone who is buying into a situation like this, and you haven't made that commitment, those are definitely strategic things that I would think about in terms of the exit timeframe, and that period of transition because you want to set yourself up for success because you need to know… Everyone should have this conversation at some point in time, and you need to know when are you going to be able to have this conversation.
Stephanie Goss:
Too often what I see is colleagues to get themselves into a situation where they know fundamentally going into it that it's fixer upper, and they're going to want to make changes. There's this long transition period of six months or 12 months and they just sit there and suffer for that transition period because they're like, “We agreed to this. I feel that if I don't live up to the agreement that I'm going to be not doing the right thing.” As far as going into this agreement with the prior owner and the seller, and “Oh, my gosh, I'm struggling with this.” So I think it's really strategic to think about when you're going to have this conversation. The when to me, is almost more important than the how, because I think you have to set yourself and the team up for success. Our friend is lucky, they have a relatively short timeframe. So I would say, bide your time live without the four weeks, you can do anything for four weeks and then get the team together. This is your opportunity to let them be heard.
Stephanie Goss:
Also to start building those cultural foundations that we talked about so often on the podcast, right? This is a great way to start a conversation is, like you said, you're giving them the kudos. You're telling them, “You guys are doing a great job, here are the things that I see that are positive. I want to take that and I want to punch it up a notch and so here's what we're going to do next, here's where we're going next level.” What does that look like in the short term? Then, “Here's what I need from you. I need you to be on board. And if you're not, no hard feelings.” Let's make a plan for what that looks like.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yep, totally. So the last part was in making headspace because you really touched on this, as well. This is very much an exercise in picking your poison. Okay? On one extreme, you have your vision… And this is where I see people trapped a lot, you have your vision of what you want the practice to be, and you hold that in one hand. On the other hand, you have your dislike of being unpopular, or making people uncomfortable, or confronting people when they don't get on board with new programs, protocols, things like that. I don't want to have uncomfortable conversations. I see people holding those two things in their hand and suffering. And often why we lean into the short term. I see these poor new practice owners, and their desire not to rock the boat, not to make people uncomfortable, not to lose any staff members not to have someone say… So this is a thing that you have to try to empathize, you're trying to be emotional.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Imagine that you bought this practice and you have this vision of, I want to be a great boss, I want to own a great practice, I want to have a place where people are happy to work. Then you have someone say to you, “You're ruining this practice and I'm leaving.” Most of us don't have the confidence to just shake that off. I don't care how good you are, that hurts and most time that's garbage. What happens is their ruination of this practice is fulfillment of your vision. You're not ruining the practice, you are ruining their idea of what the practice should be. But it still freaking hurts when you get that feedback. As someone who has big ideas and likes to change things, gotten that feedback from people who have decided they didn't want to work, where we were going, and I go, “Yes, I've been doing it a long time, and we've been very successful.” It's still really shakes you up and makes you feel crappy. So I just want to call that out.
Dr. Andy Roark:
But there you are, right, you're holding in one hand. This is the vision, this is what we could be, this is what I want the practice to be. On the other hand, I don't want to rock the boat, I don't want to have confrontation with people who are not on board, I don't want to do these things. Ultimately what I have to say to people, you have to pick your poison. You're going to get poisoned. It's either that your vision never comes to reality, and you own a practice you are not proud of, and that's pretty bitter poison to me, I don't think you make me take that. Or we're going to have some hard conversations and people are going to not like what we do. Well, we're going to go through some pain points and there's going to be headaches and frustration because training people to do things a new way. It's not easy, it's hard.
Dr. Andy Roark:
So just remember, no matter what, you're going to pick your poison and here's to the point of the previous owner hanging around and things like that, again, you pick your poison. Do you want the poison of having this person who the team looks up to? Who knows where everything is? Who's got a ton of experience? Do you want to poison of having that person gone and you don't have a transition time, you don't have any overlap? Or do you want the pain of that person staying? A lot of it depends on how long are they going to stay.
Stephanie Goss:
Right.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Because I'll take the poison them staying for a month but I'm not going to take the boys have them staying for six months.
Stephanie Goss:
Right.
Dr. Andy Roark:
If they're undermining what we're doing they could also be a wonderful benefit. And if they're willing to come along, it really depends on the individual. There's no, “This is how long this person should be here.” It 100% depends on them. And so anyway, remember that you're picking your poison and the other thing is, oftentimes it's not, “Do I stay with this person or do I let this person go?” A lot of times really, the choice you're making is, “Do I stay with this person, right now or do I let this person go, right now?”
Stephanie Goss:
Right.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And there will be people you will deal with who are up and you say, “In the short term, this person is valuable to have here, and they are helping in a number of ways that outweigh the negatives of them being around.” And that equation may shift over time, and probably it will be there for a year and then they just will say, “This is as far as I'm willing to go.” And that may be the time in which you part ways, not the first day of practice or a year in. And again, the people who leave they're not bad, they just don't share the vision of where this going or they don't see themselves in it. And of course, I want to support them seeing themselves in the practice, right? As the leader, I do like to say to people, “Hey, I want to support you, I want to get you on board with where we're going, I want you to feel comfortable, I want you to have the training to understand what we're doing and where we're going and I want to do that.” But at some point, I can't make people want something, if they don't want it. All I can do is present it to them in a couple different ways and try to figure out what resonates with them and try to put them in a place in that thing that's going to make them happy.
Dr. Andy Roark:
But ultimately, they're the only ones who can really decide if this is where they want to be. And if they don't want to be here, I can't take it personally. It's me choosing to follow my vision over to make this particular person happy.
Stephanie Goss:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). I think the last thing for Headspace before we head into a quick break here is what we said before about… It's a marathon not a sprint, is really important. Because when you are fundamentally changing a practice, this is a long haul project. Even if you sprinted through and you updated everything in the first six months, the transition period from a style of medicine in a rural location, one doctor practice where the same vet has been there for 40 plus years, those are some big shifts. And even if you lift all of the boulders and clear everything out of your way and do it really fast, the time shift for not only your team and yourself, but for your community, for your clients is also big. And so I've got some thoughts and ideas because I went through this shift in my last practice in terms of our clients, and making some of the medicine changes that our friend was talking about, and that's a marathon. And that's something that you're going to have to plan for.
Stephanie Goss:
And so just keeping that in the back of your mind that not only is it a marathon when it comes to the building, and getting all of the things that you want, and the updating and the equipment and the technology, and things like a practice management system changeover… Those things are all things that take time. And so I like your thought earlier that, Rome wasn't built in a day. There's a lot of big things that you're going to want to change. And so part of this transition process, potentially one of the most invaluable parts other than having that conversation that you shared… And I love the words you used for setting the stage with a team early, right off the bat, is spending the time to do some strategic thought and planning for yourself and making some of those lists.
Stephanie Goss:
Because there's going to be nine million things that you think of. And there are going to be things that are easy, low hanging fruit wins that you can put up front, and there are going to be things that are going to be long multistage processes in terms of change. And so you should have an idea for what all is on that list before you just go pell-mell shooting at whatever is the fire that's in front of you, right? And that's how a lot of us walk in and we're just like, “Ooh, there's shiny objects everywhere. Which one do I go after first?”
Stephanie Goss:
So I think that from a Headspace perspective, the other thing to keep in mind is that this is a long game. And where I have succeeded the best at long game has been planning and strategic thought ahead of time. Your average person doesn't just go out and run amok. Thought plan and you train. And there's thought and process that goes into that before it happens. And so I think that's a really important part of the headspace. For me as a practice owner it's really easy to get caught up in the excitement and the energy of I can make this place my own and take the time to really think about it. And be smart and plan for what you want, I think is important for me.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I agree. Let's take a break here [inaudible 00:35:33] back and let's get into the action steps to actually run to this process.
Stephanie Goss:
Sounds good.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Hey Stephanie Goss, you got to sit down and talk about GuardianVets?
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah, what do you want to talk about?
Dr. Andy Roark:
Man I hear from people all the time that are overwhelmed because the phone's never stopped ringing. And I'm sure you hear from these people as well. Our caseload is blowing up and the doctors are busy and the phones just don't stop.
Stephanie Goss:
They never stop. That is a true story.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I'm amazed by how few veterinarians know about GuardianVets. This is a service where you have a registered technicians who can jump in virtually and help you on the phones. You can flip the switch and GuardianVets can jump in and take some of the load off the front desk and they can handle your clients and get them booked for your appointments and give them support and it really is a godsend.
Stephanie Goss:
Pre-pandemic, it was amazing to me how many people hadn't heard about it for after hours call help but at this point, I can't believe how many people don't realize that they are offering help during the daytime as well. Which I would think right now is a huge benefit to practices because everybody is short handed. Everybody is drowning in phone calls and so we talked about it. We've talked about GuardianVets Law on the podcast and every time we do we always get somebody who says what is that?
Dr. Andy Roark:
Guys if you're not familiar with GuardianVets, if you think that you could use some help on the phones or the front desk, check them out. It's guardianvets.com. And if you mention our podcast means definitely, guys you get a month free! So check it out, guardianvets.com.
Stephanie Goss:
Hey you! What's you got happening on your calendar in March? Because the Uncharted Veterinary Community have lots of things coming up that I don't think you're going want to miss. First step in March, we have an awesome workshop by my friend Dr. Saye Clement. Saye is going to be talking about client curation with us. She's going to teach us how to learn to identify the types of clients that you want for your practice, and then what are things that you and your team can do to attract those clients specifically. It's happening March 13th, at 12pm Eastern Time, 9am Pacific, and it is a two hour workshop. So put that on your clinic calendar, take a lunch break, go in late for the day. If you're here on the West Coast, it is $99. It's free as always for our Unchartered members. And you can sign up at unchartedvet.com/events.
Stephanie Goss:
And then in the back half of the month on March 24, my dear friend Bret Canfield is doing a presentation that I am super pumped about. He and I are going to do some tag teaming on this, I am his wingman moderator and I am so excited for this because I went to Bret at the beginning of the year and said, “Hey, you are the person that comes to mind when I think about this topic because you live this and you help teams breathe this, and I want to bring this to Uncharted and to the veterinary community at large. And that is the idea of more than an EAP. What can we do to make wellness happen in our practices? Bret is going to talk to us about the benefits of programs like EAP. But beyond that, what are some ways and things that we can do to create sustainability for our teams? Again, this is a two hour workshop, it's $99 for the general public, and it's free for Uncharted members.
Stephanie Goss:
It's happening on March 24, at 2pm Eastern time, so 11am Pacific. So this one will hit my west coasters lunchtime, and mid afternoon. For those East Coasters. It's a two hour one. So again, make sure to check out unchartedvet.com/events for all of the upcoming events and registration. And I want to take a quick second to pause before we head back to the podcast. I have to show some serious gratitude to our friends at Banfield Pet Hospital. Andy and I have wanted to do transcripts for the blog for a while because we've had multiple colleagues reach out to us and say, “Hey, I've heard great things about podcast, I would love to listen but this is not accessible to me.” And while we were trying to figure that out, our friends over at Banfield stepped up and said, “Hey, we see you and this is something that fits our values in our culture as a practice.
Stephanie Goss:
We want to increase diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine, and we would love to help with that.” And so they stepped into it in a big way and are sponsoring all of our transcripts for 2022. So if you know someone who hasn't accessed the podcast because there weren't transcripts available previously, send them to uncharteredvet.com/blog, they can find all of the transcribed podcasts for 2022. And they can also find out more, or you can find out more about all of the things that Banfield Pet Hospital is doing to increase diversity, inclusion, and equity in veterinary medicine. And now, back to the podcast.
Dr. Andy Roark:
All right, so let's jump back into this and start talking about what we're actually going to do here.
Stephanie Goss:
Okay.
Dr. Andy Roark:
All right. So we have our previous practice owner, they're there for a month, and then they're going to be sort of moving on. And it sounds like we have a little bit of hesitation about making significant changes while this person is there. Because the team is still… It's always an awkward period, right? The team is still looks at the person who's been the boss for as long as they can remember. And they're like, “Oh, he feels like the boss, but is not really anymore.” This is a short enough period of time again, case by case basis to see what you need to do. But I guess for me, my top priority… The first thing I would work on coming into this situation is that, “Hey, this guy still here,” I'd like to learn as much from him as I can about how things have been done, about what the culture is.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And then also, I want to start building relationships. Because the best chance of me retaining people and keeping them on board is if I know these people, and if I don't seem so scary. One of the things is, you're the new person you come in, and they don't know you and then you start changing things. And they're making assumptions about what your intentions are, or what you care about, or what your values are, things like that. And it's just a wildly uncertain time for them. And so anything you can do to get them to know you, before you start really moving their cheese around, it probably is a worthwhile investment.
Dr. Andy Roark:
So I would probably focus initially on “Hey, who are you people? What do you care about? What do you like about being here? How do you see this practice? What do you think the practice values are? What are you most proud of that we've done in the community? Things like that, and then say, “Okay, cool. I want to achieve my vision, at the same time I would like to protect the things that they care about.” If they say, “Hey, we serve this community.” And I hear that from every single person, I need to talk about how the vision is going to serve the community. And if I don't, then I may be introducing values that don't match up with the values of the staff that exists.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And again, that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it, but I'm also just going to go ahead and ready myself and say, this may end up in me having to replace a lot of people, and just I'm going to take it for what it is. But I'd like to at least know, what am I dealing with and I'd like them to know me as a person as quickly as possible as well.
Stephanie Goss:
Yep. Yeah, I think building relationships with the team and building that foundation is really important. There's a lot of assessing on both sides. They need to get to know you, right? Trust doesn't just happen in an instant, they need to get to know you, and you need to get to know them. And there is some assessing to be done in terms of are there people… To your point earlier, are there people who are going to want to stay here and not be on board? And trying to feel that out for yourself is important. And I think the other thing that I would say is, I would take the opportunity for a transition period, to just keep asking, why? To the prior owner and to the team. Especially when it comes to the medicine side of it, and the client side of it, asking questions, tell me more.
Stephanie Goss:
Why do you do it that way? What's your thought behind that? And really come at it from an understanding heart of assuming the best intentions really, and trying to understand why they're doing what they're doing. Because it's easy for us to say the standard of medicine that was taught in school 40 plus years ago, is radically different than the standard of medicine and what I learned in vet school, in the last 10 years, right? And it's easy to get caught up in being dismissive about that and there's a lot of value and wisdom in that level of experience. And so I would say the best chance for success with trying to understand would be to ask those why questions and figure out is there value there? Are there some things that really do… “That's a good point, I never would have thought about that.” Like you have the opportunity to learn some things potentially, and maybe at the end of the day, you feel like “Nope, I don't agree. I don't agree with that medicine. I believe in what I believe in.”
Stephanie Goss:
That's fine. And there's still opportunity to take things away if we come at it from an open an understanding place. And so that would be my advice for building the relationships with the technical team, with the doctor who's leaving, is to just keep asking those why questions. Tell me why you're doing it that way? Tell me why we do this for clients? And be the broken record, and just write it all down for yourself. Make lists, make notes, really, truly trying to engage with them, because at first, there may be skepticism, they may be like, “Why are you doing this? Why are you asking us all these questions? Because you want to change the way that we're doing things? There's still value in what has been done, and how it's been done, even if the value comes from learning “Why?”, with the intention to still change it.
Stephanie Goss:
And I think that's an important part for me. So the relationship is really important. But also taking advantage of that time and really just trying to remind yourself, “I'm going to assume good intentions, and I'm going to ask questions, and I'm going to try and learn as much as I possibly can.”
Dr. Andy Roark:
I agree. Take a positive affirmation-focused approach to how you talk to the team. It is easy to come in and start talking to them about why what they have been doing is not up to standards. And why what you want to do is so much better than that what they've been doing. It breeds resentment, and it steps up and asks for confrontation, right? Because no one wants to be told that they've been doing a bad job. Especially when they're working their butts off like they really are. Can you imagine overwhelmed working so hard, and someone new comes in and says, “Let me tell you why you've not been doing a good job.” Nobody wants to hear that. So again, I'm not going to tell them things that aren't true. But go and look, are they working really hard? And let's praise their work ethic, right?
Stephanie Goss:
Right.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Are they focused on serving the community? Then let's talk about that. Do they have good relationships? With the clients that they serve? Yes. Are they compassionate towards the pets? Absolutely. Praise all of those things, and then say, “This is what you guys are doing really well, and this is where we're going to grow.” And focus not on “Hey, this is what we're going to fix!” But instead, “This is what we're going to grow.” And that may sound like a subtle thing but man, that's important in the communication. I'm a big believer in rituals for human beings. And so, rituals are signposts in our life. I'm a big believer in the importance of graduation. So let's just take like graduation of that school. Right? So we have graduation from Vet School, and the purpose of the graduation… And I don't think people dig into this enough.
Dr. Andy Roark:
The purpose of a graduation in Vet School is a ritual to transfer people from a state where they are students, where they are paying money to learn to a state where they are professionals and hopefully, they'll continue to learn throughout the rest of your life. But there now someone who is paid for their knowledge. Right? You are a doctor now. Yesterday you were not a doctor, yesterday you were a student trying to become a doctor and today you are a doctor. And I think that rituals just send those signals, to flag post, “Hey, this is an important turning point.” I think those things really matter. And they matter to people and how they see themselves and how they see the world around them and their community in their environment. Okay? And so rituals are important.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I think that going into situations like this, when you're taking over ownership, especially when things have been an established way, and you know that things are going to change, introducing some sort of ritual, a signal that the changing of the guard is happening. I think that that can be really valuable. I like people to know. “Yep. You guys have done a great job. And that chapter is now over and we are turning the page to a new chapter.” And everyone who thinks that, “Oh, no, we're staying in the previous chapter.” I want to dissuade you of that thought as quickly as I can. And so that can be anything from putting up a new sign outside the business, paint jobs are relatively easy thing that changes the way a place feels. That's not bad. Paint the building, redo the lobby, put a new sign out front.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Pick a couple of things and do it. Have a send-off gathering for the last doctor. My friend Dr. Dave Nicol did this, where in a practice he bought it was so great. He bought it from a veterinarian, and they had a garden out in front of the practice and he had the garden re-landscaped or updated and added a little statue, a little sitting area to it, and he dedicated it to the doctor who was selling and retiring, and he invited all the clients to come and say goodbye to the doctor that was leaving and to honor that person, and then also to meet the new doctor who was going to be taking over. I mean, just think about that. It's a great way for Dave to meet the clients and things like that. It makes the staff feel like they're honoring this person who's left and they're not being forgotten, and their work is being recognized. And then also, it's sending a new, very clear signal that the ritual of the page turning has taken place and now we're beginning…
Stephanie Goss:
Chapter.
Dr. Andy Roark:
A brand new world. And so I think that that stuff is really important. I think a lot of times people are like, I don't want to rock the boat, I'm just going to suddenly slip in here, and then change everything that you do. [inaudible 00:50:52] For me, when you're going to make changes just be upfront about it and give people those signals of like, “Hey, this is not going to be what it was before. Not good or bad, but just not going to be the same.” And think about what can signals signal, both to the staff, but then also to the clients? Because the client experience is going to change.
Stephanie Goss:
Yes.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And so once we've sent these signals to the staff, we've come up with some ways to say, “Hey…” Very clearly, “Visual reminders that things are changing.” We're also going to talk about sending some visual reminders and some reminders to the clients that they can expect change. Because people don't like when they show up and then what they expect doesn't happen. I want to alter expectations as much as I can before people get to the building.
Stephanie Goss:
Yep. I love that. And the ideas of the sprucing up or the painting, the… The visual changes, that's so great. And I love the idea in this situation of, let's give the vet who's given their heart and their career to this place, let's give them a party, let's celebrate them, let's say goodbye. But do it in a way that to your point is very clearly saying this person is leaving, and things will be changing.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yeah. I think that's really important. I like that particular example, because I think it also is a nice way to engage the clients and let them know, “Hey, you can expect some changes from us.” And people go, “But I don't want them to think about any changes.” Or “See, I don't want them to know things are going to change.” And I go, “Look, they're going to know.”
Stephanie Goss:
They're going to.
Dr. Andy Roark:
If you're talking about radically changing how this practice works, they're going to know. Better to go ahead and tip them off, that change is coming and to just start communicating sooner rather than later.
Stephanie Goss:
Well, and you're controlling the messaging when you're doing the communicating versus change suddenly happening and other people giving that messaging for you, whether it's the team or other clients, or people who have come in and don't like the change. And then they're giving the messaging to other people in the community. Like, you need to be able to take control of that as much as you can if you want to not be surprised by what comes out as a result.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Sure. Well you know I've worked with practices who have gone through significant changes that the pet owners are going to be very well aware of. Things like closing on Wednesday, or closing on Saturday. I'm just pulling this out of the air. Things that [inaudible 00:53:34] very well. And our advice is always let them know, ahead of a time. Three months before you close on a Saturday, start communicating. “Hey, just so you guys know, June 1st, we are going to be closing down our Saturday hours, just so you guys can prepare for it.” And that way, they don't just show up. And this is a radical change but, introducing the idea that something is going to happen before it happens so that when it happens, it's not a surprise, because they knew was coming, that may sound dumb, it's not. And a lot of it is the messaging especially if you're going to be raising prices and practicing a higher standard of care, I would much rather them to know about the standard of care via email than when they come into the exam room.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And I'm not going to be like, “Hey, just so you know, prices are going up.” But I am going to say, “Hey, we're really excited, we wanted to bring this to your attention to let you know that we're looking for heartworm disease in our area and this is a thing that we wrestled with and we want to take a moment to give you guys some information about this.” And just start communicating the why behind the changes in standard of care that they're going to see when they come in just so they don't expect it. Start to introduce expensive language in a way if you've always worked at a place and there's been a low cost provider and you say, “Hey, things are going to change.” Don't talk about things being quick and easy, or discount, or affordable, just in your messaging. Talk about them being comprehensive, talk about evaluations, talk a lot about the doctor, talk about diagnostics. Talk about things like that, that just start to send those signals.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And it's not to chase people away but it's at least to let them know that change is coming. And I would also say tied to that, there are probably going to be some people who very much wanted 30-year-old medicine and they don't want the medicine that you want. And just like you had to get your head straight and pick your poison about your staff, you're going to have to get your head straight and pick your poison about your clients.
Dr. Andy Roark:
There's a doctor in North Carolina named Ivy Heath, who I've always been so impressed with. And she did this exact thing of a rural practice, and just decided she didn't want to practice this way anymore. And she went through it. And anyway it's a little bit of a crucible. And yes, she had some clients who got very mad when she required heartworm testing and things and then they left. And she said, “If you go through it, just believe what you believe and decide what you want your practice to be. Those people will get mad and they will yell, and then they will leave, and they will go somewhere else and that will be that. And once you go through it, and your clientele knows what you're doing and where you go, ultimately, you can transition to a clientele that respects you or that wants to be there for what you're doing.” And man, it was transformative for her and her career.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah, that was my experience. In my last practice, we transitioned very similarly to this. Although it wasn't multi-doctor practice, we had doctors who had owned the practice and got to retirement age and retired. The style of medicine was very different from the style of medicine that we ultimately wanted to be practicing. And so it is a long shift. And I challenge you guys to think about it, we think about our normal client life cycle. We have a lot of our clients that we see more than once a year, but think about how many clients you see once a year. And when you think about it, you can't make fundamental changes, and have everybody be aware of it at the snap of your fingers, because we're only seeing clients once a year, right? I will tell you that my personal experience was that the shift, the lifecycle for a complete overhaul was about a five-year process.
Stephanie Goss:
Because we had clients who immediately left and were like, “We missed the prior owners, we're not even going to entertain somebody else being in charge, we're leaving.” And we had a lot of people who were like, “I'm going to try it out see what I think.” Right? And then over time, they either stayed or they went. And at the same time, we're working on building up a client base, that was the type of client that we ultimately wanted, the clients who wanted what we wanted. And that is not a quick process. Because when you go from… When I started at the practice, they were charging $98 for a dental. And the dental was not a comprehensive oral health exam, it was not X rays, it was not a lot of the things that are standard now. And that was a huge shift, we had to do a lot of educating for the clients, for our team, we needed to invest in new technologies, we needed to make fundamental actual changes to our physical setup to accommodate those things. Those are all like long term projects.
Stephanie Goss:
And so I love your example, about Dr. Ivy, because I think that's so true. You just have to say, “I'm not going to make everybody happy and let the people who are going to shout because they're going to do it.” And that was hard. I had so many times I had to argue with the prior practice owner about like, “Stop engaging with them online, you're not going to make everybody happy. They're not going to love you. Let them just let it go. Let it go…
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yes, I agree.
Stephanie Goss:
And move on. But It's not a quick process.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yeah. No, it's not. But there are clients that are right for you and they are right for your practice. And when you find those clients, they are fantastic to deal with. You know what I mean? Their head is in the same space as your head, they tend to follow your recommendations, they tend to be compliant. They are rewarding to work with. They are the right clients for you. And you can grow people into that client as well. There's a lot of people who just they've been coming to a place and you change and as long as you explain why you're changing, they can be very happy to come to that.
Stephanie Goss:
100%.
Dr. Andy Roark:
There's another part of you're going to have people who are going to leave. But here's the other part that people forget, you're going to attract new people who before were not interested in what was going on and so don't forget about that. We have a workshop in Uncharted coming up, it's called Client Curation. It's our friend [inaudible 01:00:07] and it's all about identifying the types of clients that you want for your practice and are going to fit with your practice and what you're doing. And so that's on March the 13th so we may be passive when this episode comes out, it's free to Uncharted members. But, we're always putting on workshops and doing things like that inside the community.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Because that stuff is important, and it's things we need to keep working on. So, client curation and communication that comes next after we start to decide what is the hill we're going to make pretty, we need to go ahead and start communicating that stuff to clients just so that they don't walk in expecting any more than they're going to. And some of them are still going to, because they're not going to look the emails, and they're not going to look at the mailers and they're not going to even notice that the building has been painted, and there's a new sign up front, they're going to roll right in, and they're not going to like what you do, and you just need to make peace with that. But again, you're going to have probably more luck replacing those clients with clients who do get what you're doing and where you're going, then you are bringing some of those clients who don't want what you're doing up to where you are, it's just not going to happen.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah, I think one of the things that is also really important when it comes to tackling this elephant, because it's a big one is, when we were talking at the beginning of this in terms of action steps, you have to build relationships with the team and build relationships with the clients, and I think one of the things that's important for both of those is you have to create wins for both of those groups of people, and do it as quickly as you possibly can. And so in terms of building relationships with the team, it's having those conversations, getting to know them, but also asking them, “What do you need?” One of my favorite questions to ask the team is, “I'm not making any promises but, I want to dream big with you guys, if we could snap our fingers, or if I had a magic wand, and I could fix one thing for you today, what would that thing about the practice be?” Ask them what they want, you're probably going to be surprised at some of the answers that you're going to get.
Stephanie Goss:
So creating opportunities to find out how can you help them? How can you serve them? How can you make things better for them and start building the bridge between where you want to be and where they are, and figure out who's going to come with you, who's going to be willing to make those steps and, bridge that gap with you. And also to know who is not. Similar with the clients. To your point Andy, you are going to have the clients who don't read the emails, who just roll on up and ignore all of the signs. And if we know that we're fundamentally going to be changing things for them, and change is hard and change is scary, we have to lean into creating an experience for them that is good or great in other ways. The communication, the “I'm so excited to meet you and your pet.” It's playing up all of the little things in the extra ways.
Stephanie Goss:
It's getting down on the floor, it's asking to take pictures with their pets, it's putting them out on social media, it's doing those things because again, you want to look at that middle client chunk. And I would argue that for most practices, that middle chunk is probably the vast majority. You're going to have clients who are going to shout and rant and not like what you like, and they're going to leave, and you're going to have clients who come to you because you're curating that experience, those clients are going to see what you're doing, as you put it out into the world and they're going to come because of it. You have to look at that middle ground of clients and say how can I make this a personal experience for them, because they may not like what you have to say, they may not like the fact that you're now going to tell them that they're required to do a rabies vaccine before they can leave their pet in your hospital, you're going to make fundamental policy changes about requiring lab work before dentals.
Stephanie Goss:
Whatever it is, you're going to have clients that aren't going to like that. So how can you lean into building those relationships with them and giving them wins. Whether it's getting to know them as people, whether it's getting down on the floor and loving on their pet… All of the things that we do anyways, but really leaning into that and doing it in an intentional way. Having your team create a board in the lobby to welcome everybody who's coming into the building that day, it's taking those pictures, it's just the small little things. The handwritten thank you cards, it was so nice to meet you today. And those are the things that when you're doing 10 million things and you're changing and you're working your butt off, those are the things that take up a lot of time and that it's really tempting to just sidestep because it is extra work. But that is the work that in my personal experience pays off in spades with that middle chunk of your client base, and should not be underestimated.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yeah, no, I agree. So let's jump back real quick to the staff and bringing them up as we move through our process. As much as I can include the staff and the planning process, I want to. As much as I want to talk to them about, “Hey, what are you guys excited about? What would you like to see? Where do you see areas for us to grow and develop?” Any ideas that they are excited about that would improve the practice, I would very much like to hear those. And I would like to prioritize those I want to show them, “Hey, you're not being bulldozed.” And I don't want them to feel bulldozed, there are going to be some times they're going to get pushed into more change than they're comfortable with but I want to minimize that. So anything where I can say, “Yeah, this came from you guys and we're making this change, and growing in a way that you want us to grow.”
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I definitely want that. So, try to come up with ways to include the staff in there. What is their wish list? How would they like to change? How would they like to address problems? And remember, a good leader has solutions to everything, a great leader has questions, that gets the staff to come up with solutions.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And then they are their solutions. So, how do I get the staff on board? Can I include them as much problem solving as possible? And the other thing that's related to that is I want to try to get the staff wins, ASAP. As soon as we start changing things, I don't want to change things and then have them just get yelled at by this by the clients. That's a crappy experience.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
I want to make some changes that they like, that make them feel good and make their life better, that clients will maybe praise, things like that because I want them to feel good. And oftentimes we don't think about what is going to make the staff feel like they picked up a win. And so we just start doing the hard stuff and the staff just start immediately getting beaten up and they've never gotten any positive reinforcement on any of this change.
Dr. Andy Roark:
So what are the quick things… And again, it can be wins in that the clients like it, it could be wins in that they're their life and their job is easier. “Hey, I went out and I purchased the printer, a brand new printer that you have been asking for.” That sounds silly, it's amazing how you can blow some people's minds when they have a crappy printer that is never gets found on the Wi-Fi network, and that constantly has to get troubleshot. And you just say I chuck that thing out behind the building into the dumpster, and here's your brand new printer that works like a charm. And people go, “Oh, maybe there are some things we could update and benefit from?”
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah, absolutely. And on both sides, another exercise that's great for the team and it's a basic one but it's a tool not to be underestimated is, half the team walk through the hospital from the clients perspective and see what the client experiences. And this is an area of opportunity to maybe get some of those wins with the clients as well but with the… Coming from the team. And so we did that and my team was just like, “We don't have any,” the front desk was irritated, because they were like, “Every day, we have to go outside and we're cleaning bat poop bags, because we don't have garbage can outside and people are just leaving them by the front door.” And so we put a little garbage can out there but people still were not using it and using it and the front desk was just like, “How about one of those yard waste stations.” And I was like, great idea. Something super simple. And the clients were like, “Oh my gosh, we've wanted one of those in your parking lot for years, thank you so much.” And again, it was small simple, easy win.
Stephanie Goss:
Cost couple hundred bucks to order one of those things and the time and energy to put it in but, think about things from that client perspective and have the team walkthrough what is the client experience? Where can we make some of the improvements? Whether its physical things, or changes to processes or protocols or whatever, but those easy wins, I think are so important. Because to your point, it is going to be tiring. Change is hard and it's tiring for everyone. And so when you feel buoyed by that positivity, it makes the change a lot easier.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yeah, I agree. Last thing I got is set your priorities. Figure out what is most important to you, and what you're going to work on first, and then what you can work on in six months.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And I think a lot of people are, I got to put it… It has to go on the list. And they go, You know what, there's two lists… There were three lists. There's the things I'm doing now…
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
They're the things I'm going to do next. And there's things I'm going to do after that.
Stephanie Goss:
Yeah.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And they can go on the after that list. I don't look at the after that list. Really, I don't even look at the next list very often. Mostly I look at these are the things that we're doing. And then I know what we're going to do next, we just have to get there. And honestly, that's the best recipe for overwhelm. There's a million different ways to set priorities. You can base it on, return on investment, on risk, on cost, on align with your values, things like that, if you're looking at this and going, “I wish somebody would run us through how to set priorities.” Stephanie and I do this at Uncharted. The April conferences is coming up April 21st to 23rd in Greenville, South Carolina, if you're in this boat and you're like, “Oh man, I've been soaking up this episode because I'm trying to do something big!” I'm just going to be honest, I don't see anything better you could do than, come to April conference with us.
Dr. Andy Roark:
And we spend about a half day at the end, running through the different ways to set priorities and look at what you're doing and figure out what's next and what's best as far as your time and your resources. But however you do it… There's a million ways to do it, but you have to figure out what your priorities are and then you have to start clicking them off the list and just start marching along one thing after another, without getting overwhelmed, because of the fixer upper all around you. You need to pick a hill, you make it pretty, and then pick the next hill and make it pretty and just start marching.
Stephanie Goss:
And I think my favorite thing to do with my team is, they have to be able to see that you haven't forgotten about their ideas. And there may be things that they throw out, that you look at that and go, “That has got to be part of the 10 year plan,” because there's no way that we're going to get in the first 90 days. But there will be lots of things that they throw out on that list that you're like, “Dude, we can accomplish this in the next two days,” let alone the next two weeks right? And so I have a meeting, do a brainstorming session, get them to participate, think big, think… Okay, where are areas of opportunity? What are things that we could improve on here? And also, what are things we want to do? Let's dream big, make a list.
Stephanie Goss:
I'll tell you the first time we did this, I use the big giant postage sheets. We sat down in a room and I just wrote, while they brainstormed. Just tell me areas of opportunity, things that we can improve on, things that need to be changed, things that need to be upgraded, what do you want? We had 10 of those giant postage sheets all around us on all four sides of the walls. And then we went through and said, “Okay, let's let's put these into some buckets, let's sort them a little bit and let's also think, what our long term plans?” And so then we put sheets out and we did what feels like we could accomplish it. And we started with… To your point, the three big buckets. What might be next? What could we work on right now? What might be next and what might be really long term, and then kept sorting it down from there.
Stephanie Goss:
So we ended with the list of what are we working on right now. But that they could still visualize all of the stuff that they had shared, that was part of the long term plan. And I'll tell you, in the five years, we didn't get to some of the things that were on that list but they felt heard because we revisited that on a regular basis and it was like, “Look, we're working towards that. Here's the 15 steps that we've got to make to get between here and there. Here's how we bridge that gap.” And I will tell you that their return on investment for buy in and doing a simple process like that is astronomical and they feel a part of it. And, it's a good opportunity to be able to visualize the plan in a very simple way.
Dr. Andy Roark:
Yeah, no, I completely agree. Well, thanks for talking to this one with me.
Stephanie Goss:
I love it. It was a good one. I hope everybody has a fantastic week.
Dr. Andy Roark:
You guys take care.
Stephanie Goss:
Take care, everybody.
Stephanie Goss:
Well, everybody that's a wrap on another episode of the podcast. Thanks so much for spending your time with us. We truly enjoy spending part of our week with you as always Andy and I enjoyed getting into this topic. I have a tiny little favor to ask, actually two of them. One is if you can go to wherever you source your podcasts from and hit the review button and leave us a review. We love hearing your feedback and knowing what you think of the podcast. And number two, if you haven't already, hit the subscribe button. Thanks so much for listening guys. We'll see you soon.
