Category: Blog

10 “GOLDEN RULES” OF COMMUNICATION FOR TEAMS

The older I get, the more I realize that almost all progress in life is not accomplished by individuals but by teams. We hear about the achievements of business superstars such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg on an ongoing basis. What we don’t hear about is that the achievement of these individuals is due primarily to their respective teams. These are the groups of individuals who work in concert with each other to see visions, ideas, and projects through to completion for miraculous results. Of course, someone had to dream and communicate the vision of what in their own mind was possible. This is where much credit can be given to Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.

The ability to lead teams and draw out the best in teams is a tremendous talent to have. Additionally, the ability to effectively facilitate communication within a team can quickly identify someone as a superstar leader. This team could be as diverse as a church group, a volunteer community organization, or a committee/task force within a corporate setting. Regardless of what type of team we may be a part of, we know that effective communication is essential. Without it, the team’s goals could be misunderstood, its efforts uncoordinated, and eventually ineffective communication could lead to extreme frustration with little to no hope of achieving the desired cohesive final result. We all know that communication is a good thing. However, when we are working with a group of people—rather than in a one-on-one setting—there are unique challenges and strategies to consider.

DASHBOARD REPORTING – HOW TO MEASURE WHAT YOU MANAGE

I’d like you to take a moment to think about the purpose of the dashboard in your car. It’s designed to provide continuous monitoring of various components of the vehicle, which are critical to ensuring optimal performance of the car and that it will get you where you want to go. If cars were not equipped with dashboards, unanticipated problems would be very likely.

I use this analogy as I’ve seen a similar scenario play out far too many times in medical and dental practices. Once the business is up and running, there is no mechanism in place to evaluate key performance indicators, which is often referred to as “Dashboard Reporting”. These dashboard reports function much like the dashboard in our cars, as they are designed to monitor vital areas of your business operations and help achieve peak performance.

10 THINGS TRUMPCARE WOULD CHANGE IN HEALTHCARE

Here are ten things Trumpcare will change in healthcare.

NO PRESSURE, NO DIAMONDS!

Diamonds are formed when carbon is placed under an immense amount of pressure which equals 725,000 pounds per square inch. This is incredible! How can something so amazingly beautiful and treasured result from a process, that on the surface, appears to be very destructive. When you think about it, this is a fantastic example of how we as humans can turn our daily pressures into something positive.

Most of us experience pressure throughout our daily lives. If someone were to say that they were not under any pressure at all, they could very well be untruthful. Let’s be honest that a majority of us deal with pressures related to family, job, finances, health, career expectations, etc. The list here could be very lengthy for some individuals.

THE VALUE OF VALUES

There is a famous French story, “The Little Prince,” that tells the story about a fox that becomes the best friend of a young prince. When the fox must leave the prince forever, he offers to tell the prince the world’s most wonderful secret if the prince meets certain conditions. The little prince agrees, does what is expected and then asks to be told the most wonderful secret. The fox responded by saying, “Only that which is invisible is essential.”
The most valuable things in life cannot be seen with the naked eye. Some of these are love, friendship, honor, integrity, trust, respect, hope, compassion, and values. Today, let’s talk about values and why values are so important to who we are and what we do (the decisions we make and actions we take). The best place to start is with the definition of values. In my mind, values are those critical beliefs and principles that guide us as we take action. They are non-negotiable principles that guide our everyday lives. Sometimes our personal set of values is called our “moral compass”. Additionally, values certainly give meaning to our lives. Individuals have values whether they be good or bad. Hopefully, your own personal values are decent and good. Some people have values that lead to evil and disaster. Nations, businesses, and organizations of all types have values.

WAYS TO MAKE A BAD DAY BETTER

How many of us always have great days? I suppose that how we define a “great” day is subjective depending on what a great day means to each of us individually. More often I find myself hearing people say in response to their day, “Well today, at least I’m vertical” or “I’m on the right side of the grass.” I usually find these kinds of responses really humorous, but a little sad.

One thing that I am beginning to value more often is time. I am realizing that time is the one gift we receive that is so incredibly valuable. Our days consist of 24 hours of time which must be used wisely. How horrible it would be to live each day in a state of sadness or despair. However, we all have “bad” days from time to time. It’s all a part of life, and each of us face irritations throughout the day. Traffic congestion, poor customer service, car problems, a difficult person that we’re dealing with, etc. can cause us to think that this is turning out to be a really bad day.

LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FIELD

I have great memories of a friend back in my high school days who was a tremendous all round athlete. This was a guy who was generally understated and over shadowed by other athletes until he was tapped to substitute for a key injured player during a critical varsity football game.

The following minutes were incredible! This was a guy who actually ran the ball in for a touchdown the first time he touched a football during a game! What a shock! The stadium went wild for this guy who was a second string player.

WHAT YOUR TEAM NEEDS IS A GOOD FIGHT

Very few of us like to fight. It is uncomfortable, especially in a work setting, to see a fight break out in a meeting.

As leaders we strive to protect those under our charge from harm. Therefore, heated debate is almost taboo. When we discourage heated and passionate discussions, we deprive our team members of learning valuable conflict management skills. We also miss out on the opportunity to get to the real truth in a decision.

HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY

When you’re a patient, it probably doesn’t occur to you who’s taking care of your doctor or dentist. Turns out, it’s an entire company.

Healthcare Management Consultants is committed to easing the burdens of practice management, or, as one partner puts it, “doctoring the doctor.”

GAVEL PASSED TO NEW CHAIR AT ROWAN CHAMBER 91st ANNUAL GALA

Outgoing chair Ted Goins, from Lutheran Services Carolinas, passed the gavel to incoming chair Tim Norris, from Healthcare Management Consultants, during the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce’s 91st annual gala and awards ceremony on Thursday.