When the doctors pet is not his shar-pei

"You don't walk your talk," she said as Dr. Becker's eyes flashed. "You have different rules for veterinarians. You wouldn't tolerate the same behavior from one of us. For us, you have the 10 Commandments; for doctors, you have the 10 Suggestions."

"Like what?" Dr. Becker asked defensively.

The day before Dr. Becker had scheduled a meeting with an associate who was consistently late for work. The team member's words hit home as the meeting approached. Ultimately, the associate was late for the meeting, and Dr. Becker fired him.

"I learned a lesson that day," Dr. Becker says. "From then on I treated associates and other staff members consistently."

If your practice team wants—as Dr. Becker suggests—to live the life of self-improvement, you must follow his team member's lead and find ways to approach the doctor about problems effectively. And keep in mind, you may be the only one in the position to see the issue.

True, it's not always easy to share your unique view in a way that others can see it. But great communication is like pilling a cat—you learn the tricks with practice. And creating a culture that makes communication easy could head off bigger troubles later.

Does the doc see what you see?

Pam Weakley, a Firstline Editorial Advisory Board member, has worked at Dickman Road Veterinary Clinic in Battle Creek, Mich., for 15 years. Shortly after she was promoted to practice manager five years ago, a team member approached her with a personnel concern.

"The problem really bothered the employee, but she was afraid to talk to an owner," Weakley recalls. "She made me promise that I wouldn't tell the owners who I'd spoken with. It got me thinking. If that person hadn't spoken up, this problem had the potential to become a huge issue and could've seriously hurt our team."

Creating an open culture begins with practice owners. At Dickman Road Veterinary Clinic, a chain of command provides some insulation to those who see problems and want to share their view. It's a team process the doctors encouraged when Weakley became practice manager. At the doctors' request, she developed a flow chart that explains where staff members should take their concerns and comments. Generally, problems flow through department heads to Weakley, who takes them to owners if a resolution isn't clear.

Weakley talks daily with the managing practice owner, and she solves most problems then. She brings major problems to the doctor's meeting and requests an owner-only session to discuss solutions with all of the owners.

Still, Weakley cautions, even an open culture may not be enough to encourage some team members to speak freely. "In veterinary practice, people often live from paycheck to paycheck. And if that's your situation, you can't afford to do anything that might compromise your livelihood," she says. "That's why it makes sense to create a system where team members approach an intermediate manager with their concerns rather than having to go to an owner."