Lack of communication is a problem for single locations that multiplies with each additional location. How do you keep a busy team in sync? I suggest a brief "morning huddle." You say, "Wait! Yearly meetings, quarterly meetings, monthly meetings, weekly meetings...now you're telling me to have a daily meeting! Isn't that meeting overload?"

The morning huddle is not a meeting per se. It is a briefing, similar to the shift-change reporting that occurs with nurses in the hospital. The morning huddle is the time for the quarterback (office manager) to call the plays for the day. The sole purpose of this daily activity is to discuss the goals for the day, including any expected challenges. For example, being short-handed due to a team member being out sick could be among the important news reports of the day.

Same Agenda All Locations
In a multi-location environment it's important that employees at all locations follow the same agenda. One consistent theme of each meeting can be to read aloud core customer service statements that make your organization special. Follow in the footsteps of Ritz Carlton which successfully implemented morning huddles and rotates through one of the company's 16 philosophies at each meeting.

Once your topics and agendas have been chosen, delegate responsibilities to the teams. Some examples are:

  • Front Desk Team: Review how many patients are coming in and how many openings are available for that day.
  • Contact Lens Team: Discuss the contact lens patients coming in for the day and pre-pull the most likely lenses in advance for them.
  • Optical Team: Determine what frames and lenses the patients coming in that day are wearing. Discuss options and choose who will help them before they come in.
  • Management or Team Representative: Remind everyone about your focus on customer service. Tell a quick story of how someone went above and beyond for a customer.

Huddles Have Time Limits
Remember, if you focus on every topic at every huddle, it will turn into a meeting. Hold the huddles to a strict time frame. Assign someone as the timekeeper to keep everyone on track.  Table items that will take lengthy discussion for the next weekly team meeting. The huddle should be about communication, not solving problems. Team members will need to be reminded of this often in the beginning. Once everyone is used to the rules of the huddle it will run smoother. You may wish to set a timer.

When implementing morning huddles it might be helpful to have everyone stand up to support the philosophy that once you sit down meetings tend to go longer than they should.  

Each quarter your management team should set the daily huddle routine. What topic should be discussed? What are the goals of the huddle? Determine goals for your entire group to make sure that all the locations provide the same message.

Overcoming Complaints
In many cases, practices will find it challenging to implement morning huddles. You'll hear complaints such as, "We don't have time" and "We don't know what to discuss." Even if you pay the team to come in 15 minutes early or let the first patient start 15 minutes later, you'll still realize a positive return on the investment in your morning huddles.

One solution is to split up the huddles. There should be time for a standup with the optical team in each location because they typically don't start seeing patients until after the first exam. If necessary, you can meet with them separately from the rest of the staff.

Another idea is to buy a Keurig. A nice hot beverage is one reward that can help start the day right. Hold your huddle around your coffee maker. It's a great way to get your team aligned for another successful day.

Lastly, rotate the note taker. Have them send out a daily email to any team members who could not attend. You don't have to include information on the patients for the day, but the overall goals and objectives are important messages to reinforce.

A well-planned, controlled and consistent morning huddle throughout every location can quickly become the single most effective method of improving communication among your team.

 

Evan Kestenbaum, MBA, is chief information officer of GPN, Exclusive Provider of The EDGE. Contact him directly at clientservices.gpn@gmail.com.