Over the last 20 years I’ve had the privilege to build and work with some of the finest Teams in the world particularly when it comes to Chiropractic practice building.
Here’s what I’ve learned, if given the choice between:
A+ Systems
A+ Chiropractors
Or A+ Teams
I will take A+ Teams every time…and win.
Your Team will have a greater influence on your practice’s sustainable growth than any other factor you could name. An “On Purpose Team” will stand beside you – and often in Front of you – and help you build, serve and expand your practice. Conversely, a Team made-up of Off-Purpose, disenchanted or dis-incentivized CA’s will stifle your practice, cap your growth, flatten your energy and quite possibly derail your Mission.
And building the right Team is Mission Critical.
We are going to begin this series on Remarkable Team Building with a structural discussion of your Team…what are the positions, roles and goals of a great Team specifically for Chiropractic practice building?
In the near future we will dive further into Personality Typing, Job Descriptions, and my favorite: Expectations and Agreements.
Inside of the TRP Academy, we also discuss how to hire, when to Hire…how to Inspire…and when to Fire. Our docs learn how to run Remarkable Team Trainings, Team Meetings and Huddles.
And then we study Team Energy…The “X Factor” in creating your own Team Driven Practice.
Let’s discuss Team Positions:
Traditionally, there are Four General Categories of CA’s or Chiropractic Assistants:
Check In CA- Check Out CA
- Tech CA
- Back Office CA
If you can forgive the cheesy movie analogy, I suggest that you think of building your Team like Charlie’s Angels.
Each person has a defined role – and specific skill sets (and personalities) required to execute their missions.
When designing your Team –
- Think positions, skills, strengths…and then hire.
- Try to be very clear and detailed around the roles and responsibilities of each Team Member.
- Be aware of the specific skill-sets that each duty will require.
- Be conscious of the personality types that innately excel at the required skills…
- And design your Team to work well together and complement each other’s natural strengths and interests.
To paraphrase Jim Collins in Good to Great…
“We want to have the right people on our bus…
And have everyone in the right seats on the bus.”
Also, I suggest using personality typing tests when hiring. These will help you to stay objective – and keep you focused on the specific traits of the position that you are hiring for during the process.
I like to use Strengths Finder, Kolbe and Meyers Briggs – as well as other Cognitive, Affective and Connotative Testing specific to Team Roles; but more on this in the future.
Again, when building your Team – think positions, skills, strengths…and then hire.
Now again, in many cases, individual CA’s will wear multiple hats – and play several positions on the Team –but still, I highly recommend that you start thinking about Team Positions – and Roles and Responsibilities – instead of specific people doing a multitude of “tasks and duties”.
This approach to practice management and team building will make it much easier to run your clinic, hire and train, lead and manage your people, replace people…and of course – scale and grow!
