Creating a Common Vision and Purpose

Friday, March 19, 2010

Dear Colleague:

My name is Charlie Post, and I've been practicing orthodontics in New Hampshire and Vermont for over thirty years. Not quite at the end of the runway, I'm in the process of expanding and transitioning my office. I work with two other orthodontists in two locations with a staff of twenty. Of course, we are all perfectionists (and I suspect you are too).

Over these many years, I have done all of the things you might have done to improve my staff and their functioning as a team. Like you, I have had my successes, my long term highly skilled committed employees, and also my staffing nightmares- in-house gossip and cliques, habitual rule bending, distraction of focus from patient's care. I've worked with office managers and without them, taken courses and hired different consultants. One thing I've learned the hard way is that it is always the doctor's responsibility to create a work environment that enables his or her employees to feel valued, grow professionally, and enjoy their jobs. Unfortunately, such a structure does not spontaneously happen.

This past year, partly because I wanted to introduce my new associate to the human resources part of management, and also because [once again] our group needed a tune-up, I tried something new.

It started with a screening visit where I met Tim Autrey. His wife and children were patients of ours, and he had come in for a consultation about some correction he wanted to have done for himself. During our conversation, he told me that he was leaving his management position within the commercial nuclear power industry to form his own organization- an organization dedicated to helping businesses eliminate mistakes and improve efficiency (something of extreme importance in nuclear power plants).

To make a long story short, Tim has done his "Thing" with our office- surveyed and analyzed our employees, enlisted all our energy and imagination in creating a common vision and purpose. We have hammered out a "Code of Honor" which is a powerful group commitment of accountability to one another. We all have a new understanding of our strengths and weaknesses and our power to fix ourselves. We communicate better using Tim's simple "Tools" and are developing procedure manuals.

Tim and his training team are real-time smart regarding how to go about getting people's attention and reshaping their focus on working together. It is not a cookie cutter intervention. Creating a better team and managerial structure is a big job. What we have now is working for everyone and is not totally dependent upon one person to champion and implement. It has changed our workplace in many positive ways, and has relieved a big burden from the doctors. Best of all, our patients can feel the difference in our practice.

Enclosed is a brochure that outlines the services Tim and his team offer within the realm of what he calls, "Practicing Perfection." I have no financial interest in his business. I am sending this letter because I know this is something that can benefit others of my profession.

If you would like to talk with me about our experiences with Tim and The Practicing Perfection Institute, please feel free to call me at 603-352-8661. You may also call Tim directly at 877-832-9492.

Sincerely yours,

Charles F. Post, D.M.D.

P.S. Tim was so happy that I wanted to write this letter, he is offering to conduct a free Culture Profile for your practice. This is a very comprehensive analysis (with a normal minimum charge of $1,500.00) that will identify the underlying causes of both your current office strengths and challenges. If you'd like to call me, I'll tell you about ours. You can preview a sample Culture Profile at http://www.PracticingPerfectionInstitute.com/ProfileSample