Might As Well Start With Aristotle

I told you I'd go over some staff meetings that we've done, so I'm going to start at the beginning.  My first really effective staff meeting was based on Tom Morris' book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors.  This was my first major staff meeting after becoming office manager.  My boss had given me the book and I loved it and wanted to share it with our staff so that we could all grow together and build our team to encompass the philosophies that Tom describes as the four basic dimensions of human experience: Truth - the intellectual dimension, Beauty - the aesthetic dimension, Goodness - the moral dimension, and Unity - the spiritual dimension.  Nurturing and respecting these and incorporating them into your practice can bring a new level happiness and fulfillment that you have always hoped for, but didn't think possible to achieve.

As we moved through each section of the book, we realized that even though we were good people doing a better than average job, we could truly become people of increased high character offering exceptional care to our patients.  We also quickly understood that by incorporating these dimensions into our lives we could support and enjoy each other more than we ever thought possible.

We started out slowly, and I realized that I was doing most of the talking.  When I asked what anyone thought, I was met with silence or shrugs.  By the end of the first meeting I realized that I needed to shake things up a little.  I told everyone that at each meeting everyone would be responsible to lead the discussion for a designated group of pages.  They immediately expressed anxiety about talking in front of the group.  I pointed out that they very comfortably talked almost non-stop through every lunch hour.  Finally we got down to what really had them worried, they feared saying something stupid.  They feared ridicule or losing face.  I asked everyone to agree that what's said in meetings is safe and not subject to ridicule.  We would respect each other's thought, but also agree not to be upset if someone expressed a different point of view.  In other words, we'd show consideration for each other.  Seemed like a good first lesson in character.

There was a good bit of hesitation during the first person's summary of their pages.  With a little encouragement and a few probing questions, the conversation took off and everyone relaxed.  Now we were getting somewhere.  As the team became more aware of the way the dimensions were already at play in our day, we were able to discuss new ways to apply them to our work and relationships with our patients and each other. 

I give this book so much credit for helping us build the character of our team and the culture of our practice.  Next time I'll get a little deeper into each dimension and talk about how you can help your staff understand how to apply them to your life and work everyday.

 

Comments

[Edward Logan]

Very creative idea in using a book to struture staff meetings. This keeps people involved, focused and attentive in an enviornment that doesn't ordinarily breed these behaviors.