By Julie Parker, Julie Parker Practice Success

I love the energy that is generated when a team gets together to formulate a plan for achieving greater success in an area of the practice. 

Everyone is functioning from their creative side and excited at the prospect of implementing something new. But it has often has been my experience that by the time the next monthly staff meeting comes around, nothing much has been done in the execution of the new process.

Much like individuals, if proper structure is not established around goals, a business can suffer failure through procrastination.

Procrastination is avoidance; avoidance of expending the energy in the short term, in order to achieve a long-term goal. We instead opt for doing things that provide more immediate satisfaction, such as chat to fellow staff members or complete less challenging, basic tasks.

To avoid procrastination in your practice, I suggest you follow the following steps.

Compelling long term goals

Once the end-goal has been determined, think of ways to maintain a high energy around it. We talk in our JPPS modules about the 3 Step Process of bringing life to areas of focus.

1. Talk it up – bring it in to your team discussions
2. Live it – lead by example by making the goal important in your mind
3. Acknowledge others’ engagement – acknowledge behaviours you want repeated

Be mindful that one of our intrinsic motivators as human beings is to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Make the goals big, or make the smaller goals part of something big.

Clarification of process

Many times a new process fails due to a lack of clarity around what is expected of each individual team member. Determine the specifics of what is required (who, what, when, where, why) in order for the team to be aware of exactly what is expected of them to accomplish this goal.

Accountability

Accountability encourages people to take responsibility. Team members are accountable through their application of the new process at every opportunity. The person who leads the team is accountable to the process by regularly discussing with team members how they are progressing and supporting them in overcoming obstacles.

Follow up

Follow up is vital in the early stages of any new system. At the start, there is a higher amount of thought and energy expended in completing the task. However over time, the task will require less energy as it will become more automatic. Staff meetings provide an effective format to both develop new systems, and follow up on their implementation. Every staff meeting should start with addressing the ‘To Do’ list from the previous meeting to gauge success.