Do your techs hate you?
Ever heard about the first rule of veterinary medicine? DON'T PISS OFF YOUR TECHS.
I think this is sage advice especially if your techs are good at what they do. They do probably 50% or more of the overall client interaction so having them on your side is very important. If they dislike you or worse, have no confidence in you, it will show and your clinic will suffer.
We at Michigan State are currently actively soliciting technicians to come in and form a discussion board live at a noon lunch. We're interested in hearing all about what they like and don't like about vets. I think this would be great information about how to enter a practice without making mistakes that will cost you in the long run.
We plan to offer small gifts and to provide anonynimity to those who participate. We're looking for complete candor so even if we have to provide a screen and change names to achieve this, we'll make it happen.
If anyone happens to like the idea and pulls it off please give me some feedback. I'd like to hear it. I'll update this post when we are able to get it done.
Thanks,
Tom Robinson
VBMA President
Michigan State University Chapter
What an awesome meeting
What an awesome meeting idea!
It's really challenging to delegate to techs without worrying how you are coming across. Feedback would be wonderful. Definitely let us know how it goes!
Cynthia Johnson
2009 National VBMA Marketing Director
I love this idea! Opening up
I love this idea! Opening up the dialogue between techs and doctors in a practice is necessary in order to make the workplace turn from a tolerable atmosphere into a pleasant place to arrive in the morning. I hope your events go well and would love to hear the updates. On a similar note, I'm interested in finding someone who talks about incentive programs for the whole hospital and how to unify a team on all levels (from kennel staff to practice manager to doctor, etc). Does anyone know of a speaker on that topic?
Thank you all!
Rayne Johnson
VBMA President 2010
DVM 2012
"the technician's perspective" lunchtime talk
We came up with a similar idea for our chapter! I'm guessing we've both worked as techs? I absolutely agree that techs (and the whole office team) are crucial for business success, and less-than-productive working relationships can undermine the practice.
In early Feb. we're having one of our school's hospital techs give a lunchtime talk. So it's a different approach than what you're doing, and given the format, I expect he'll talk more about the positive things vets can do rather than the negative things they shouldn't do. There's definitely much to be learned when techs can speak freely and share some negative experiences, so I'm eager to hear how it goes! I'll update you on ours too.
Liz Carbone- Tufts, Northeast RL
Sounds like a great idea! I
Sounds like a great idea! I would advertise this talk to local clinics to see if you can get any techs interested. I would also talk to classmates who work in local clinics to entice techs to get involved. You might even have registered techs who worked long term in clinics that are now vet students. Use your resources!
What are you thinking of for small gifts?
Lisa
2010 North-Central Regional Leader