Micromanaging is a very common problem amongst small business owners. Practice owners particularly, are faced with a lot of stress, and managing a group of people can be an exceptionally difficult problem if the right systems are not in place. Many Chiropractors are reduced to constantly watching over their employees and correcting their behavior. Micromanagement is a problem for both the practice owner and the employees. If a Chiropractor is constantly worried about their employees performing well, then they can’t focus on what really matters- adjusting and building their business. When employees are micromanaged they won’t feel appreciated, they are likely to be disgruntled, and there will be a high turnover- all of these are bad for business.

Note: Check out this article and more on our official site, click HERE.

Your employees don’t care as much as you do

I’ve come to find that the problem stems from the dynamic between Chiropractors and employees. Chiropractors are incredibly invested in the success of their business, and they are completely focused on making it work because they don’t have a choice. Practice owners have “burned the ships” and there is not turning back, so they absolutely need to make their practice work. On the other hand, employees will never be as invested as you will be in the success of the practice because they don’t have the same level of risk, and they experience very little upside when the business does well. So, a practice owner needs to expect that their employees don’t care as much as they do and plan for it. Many Docs think that because their employees don’t care as much as they do, that they then need to push them to perform at the same level as the practice owner; this is not a good strategy because it will never happen.

Make a plan

So, knowing that your employees don’t care about the success of your practice as much as you do, what can be done to resolve the problem?

To address the problem and ensure successful employee performance you will need a plan. A practice owner needs to create a plan for each employee that includes daily, weekly and monthly performance goals. Each employee needs a roadmap for what it expected from them, and this will vary depending on the practice, but it’s an absolute must.

Keep them accountable

After a plan established for your practice employee management, then you need to have a system for keeping each employee accountable. I recommend creating a quantifiable daily performance goal for each employee that must be met, or, at the very least, a checklist for each employee. In addition to the daily goals, there needs to be a weekly goal and set of expectations and a monthly goal. Once you have the goals, it will require you to go over the lists and what each employee accomplished at the end of every week. If an employee consistently fails to meet your difficult-yet-attainable goals week after week, then a practice owner needs to assess if they are a good fit for the company.

Goals over micromanagement

The beauty of this system is that it allows the Chiropractor to manage by process versus micromanagement. A Chiropractor sets the goals and expectations for each employee, and then all that will need to be performed is a weekly review. This system actually enables the employees to perform better because they don’t feel like the business owner is breathing down their neck, and it frees up time and stress for the practice owner- it’s a win-win. Management by goals is a more efficient way to motivate employees to perform better, and it allows them to take ownership over their success because they will be able to problem solve on their own. The hard problem for Chiropractors with this system is letting go and allowing their employees to sink or swim with the process; however, they almost always perform better than expected.

So, if you find that you are constantly over your employee’s shoulders telling them what to do, I highly suggest trying out this system for employee management. This strategy will provide a more structured management system that allows your employees to thrive despite not caring as much as you, and it will allow you to focus on the parts of your business that are higher dollar-per-hour activities. So, stop stressing and try to give your employees structured freedom that will help your practice thrive.

That’s all for today.

Until next time! Wishing you the best in practice and life!

More private practice growth strategies…

This post has been adapted from the Nexus Executive Academy VLOG.

About

Dr. Jonathan Hyslop is a practice strategist and growth expert to chiropractors.

After a successful career as a practicing chiropractor owning multiple practices, Jonathan helps fellow chiropractors succeed in the areas of administrative strategy and management, marketing, sales, and stable scalability.

Follow Jonathan on Twitter at @nexusexecutive. We welcome your comments at jonathan@nexusexecutiveacademy.com.