Physicians Practice - February 2008 - (Page 63)

THE ADMINISTRATOR’S DESK FINISHING SCHOOL FOR NEW MANAGERS GOOD EMPLOYEES PROMOTED TO SUPERVISORY ROLES CAN BE A GODSEND TO YOUR PRACTICE. BUT YOUR ROLE IS ALSO ESSENTIAL. B Y S H E L LY K . S C H WA R T Z Keep it formal. But maintain an open-door policy. Be a mentor. But don’t micromanage. When it comes to grooming employees for supervisory roles, practice managers get a lot of mixed messages regarding where their role begins and where it ends. Some say your most important job is to train team leaders and then turn them loose. Others insist that you can never really take your eyes can follow to keep her top talent in tune with the practice and make her staff members’ transition to leadership roles as seamless as possible. 1. Clarify your expectations. First and foremost, Dahan says that all successful promotions should begin by clearly communicating your expectations and the goals you want the promoted individual to work toward. “You need a written job description explaining what their 2. Know when to step in and when to keep your distance. During the ﬁrst “If a job can be done in a different way and the result is just as good, I don’t have a problem with that.” BE OPEN TO CHANGE Aileen Naudascher, practice manager off the ball, that you must keep middle managers in check with weekly meetings and continual coaching. The truth is, however, that every situation is unique. The degree of handholding you’ll have to provide is ultimately dictated by the individuals you promote and their new responsibilities. “You have to consider the levels of experience that the people you promote have under their belts,” says Helena Dahan, practice administrator for Lawndale Internal Medicine in Huntingdon Valley, Penn. “If they’re not yet comfortable in a supervisory position, clearly you’re going to have to do a little more handholding until you see them falling into their role.” That said, there are a few basic ground rules that every administrator WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM new responsibilities are versus what they were, and you need to follow it up with a verbal discussion so there’s no misunderstanding,” she says. “That person needs to be made fully cognizant of what percentage of time [she should spend on] different duties.” Aileen Naudascher, practice manager for Cevallos & Moise Pediatric Associates in Quakertown, Penn., says she too has learned the value of written instruction. “We’ve always had job descriptions, but now I’m more formal about it,” she says. “The ﬁrst thing I do is make a list that outlines exactly what I want them to be able to do and how long it should take to train them to do it. I write down everything, from the procedures to expectations.” few months following a promotion, practice administrators should be prepared to coach their newly appointed supervisors within their new roles. “You have to show them the ropes and what’s involved in all their duties that you’re now relinquishing to them,” says Dahan. “Be ready to assist if they identify a problem within their new role that needs to be addressed. And be available for impromptu huddles or something lengthier.” But it’s equally important to know when to let go. Candy Chapman, practice administrator for Urology Northwest in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., says ofﬁce managers should gradually scale back their level of involvement after the first few months, giving the promoted employee an opportunity to grow into his new role. “Immediately after a promotion I do check in with my supervisors routinely to ﬁnd out how it’s going and to problem-solve any personnel issues they may have, but I try not to look over their shoulders,” she says. “I give them guidelines until they feel comfortable doing the job on their own.” For example, Chapman, who promoted an employee to her frontdesk lead position 18 months ago, helped her do all of her staff evaluations her ﬁrst year in the new job. “We’d review them ﬁrst and sit down with the employee together until she felt comfortable doing it alone,” says Chapman. “This year, she did it without my help.” Naudascher adds that practice administrators should allow newly FEBRUARY 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | 63 http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - February 2008

Physicians Practice - February 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Your Future is in Your Hands Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: Creating an A+ Practice Noteworthy Cover Story: Conquering Time: 5 Keys to a More Efficient Practice In Balance: A Family Affair Technology: Making EMRs Work in the Exam Room In Practice: "I've Got Some Bad News" The Tech Doctor - The EMR: Savior or Poseur? Ask the Experts NEW! Healthonomics: How to Handle Health Savings Accounts The Administrator's Desk: Finishing School for New Managers Human Resources: Is Your Partner Impaired The Great Practice Makeover: Too Well-Liked for His Own Good? Coding Idealab: 'Why I Blog' Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - February 2008

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