In last month’s article, I described the vision for and genesis of a waterfall project in my backyard. If you’re like me, you may be thinking well that should be done by now – I mean really how difficult can it be and how long can it take to build a waterfall in a backyard? These are the same questions my wife was asking. The “inspiring project” I had begun last fall was still lying fallow this summer. But, the burning vision to create something special was still alive. The problem was that I literally had NO CLUE how to proceed. When it came to my waterfall project, I was like a fish out of water. So, what came next? Of course, I bought more concrete blocks and built the eyesore even taller.
Fortunately, a friend discovered this unsightly “creation” in my yard and offered to help since he had built a waterfall in his yard several years earlier. He informed me of a local class that he had attended and suggested that I enroll. He further explained they could set me up with the needed equipment and materials. For a mere $25.00 enrollment fee and two hours of my time, I followed the voice of experience and learned a great deal from the class. Following the class, I headed over to another friend’s store that just happens to also be connected to a landscaping supply business. My friend quickly offered me a good deal on the needed items. But, she cautioned me to SLOW DOWN, go home, lay out a streambed and when I’m finally ready, including knowing how long the stream will be, then come back and she’d supply my equipment and other materials needs.
As I drove home rather dejected because I impulsively wanted to “just do something”, I began to reflect upon the .jpg)
situation. Thankfully, the friend who had encouraged me to take the course offered his assistance when I was ready. I think my wife and daughter were ready to throw me down the river over the next week or so as I positioned and repositioned a blue rope on this mound of dirt to determine the optimal length, direction and curvature of the stream. In all of this, I had, once again, been reminded that careful planning is essential to project management.
In veterinary hospitals, doctors and staff often jump into projects without first sitting down to discuss and even plan the steps necessary to complete the objective. Sometimes, they – excuse me, I mean we – have NO CLUE as to what we’ve gotten ourselves into. Such was the case a few years ago in our practice when we assembled a large cadre of doctors and support staff from all areas of the hospital to engage in strategic planning. We came up with an ambitious, overly reaching set of objectives complete with multiple committees to implement the various ideas. I even appointed myself as a coordinator to the coordinators. Yes, we had overcomplicated the process and very few objectives were attained. Eventually, the effort yielded to a flood of new challenges and was soon swept away.
Contrast that to how our practice went “paperless”. Our hospital director and I jointly attended the VHMA Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon in 2009. Mark Opperman, CVPM, and Sheila Grosdidier, RVT presented an inspiring lecture on the rapid advancements in technology. After the highly electrifying presentation, my boss asked me, “What is your take-away from their lecture?” I first mentioned some incidental low-impact ideas but as he stared intently at me I said with increased confidence, “I think we have to go back and take the practice paperless.” He wholeheartedly agreed and over dinner we discussed what some possible next steps might look like, including the need for an Information Technology consultant and a timeline. Within a couple of weeks of that conference, we conducted an all-doctors and managers meeting and announced, “We will be paperless or paper light within one year.” Through focus, and countless single department and cross-departmental meetings led by a gifted consultant, we worked diligently and 12 months later “went live” using electronic medical records. This project was not easy or without expense; it required significant contributions from everyone involved, including an extremely knowledgeable IT Manager we hired through the process, but through determination and a crystal-like focus, we persevered, even thru times of adversity, to attain our audacious goal.
Many in our field attend national continuing education meetings, or perhaps regional or local, and come back with too many ideas. As a result, often too little gets accomplished. This time of year, many of you are likely working on or thinking about working on your plans and budgets for the coming year. I encourage you to avoid the deep, cold waters that come through overcommitting and instead, with your team, choose one or two important areas to focus on in 2014. You can always add more objectives later once your laser- focused, directed efforts begin producing results you can celebrate.