Don’t forget the Caregivers at Christmas

You’re a manager. You’re home on Christmas with your family and loved ones. You’ve got all the shifts covered – whew! You can relax, have a cup of cheer and enjoy the festivities.

Great managers remember to honor those individuals whose work gives them the freedom to relax.

Virginia always stops by the building on Christmas day, even for just a few minutes, to say thanks and “Merry Christmas.”

Patty orders in special food, just for the staff, that is available in the break room all day and into the night.

Mandy slips a personal note of thanks and a small gift card into each employee’s locker.

What do you do to show your appreciation for staff who work the holidays? Add your ideas to the comments or email them to me (Sharon@aQuireTraining.com) and I’ll include them in next week’s email.

Today, take just a few minutes to count – out loud, if you can – the things you are thankful for. Don’t forget those staff members whose commitment and dedication make you feel proud to be their manager.

Merry Christmas!

Assisted living and customer service: The holidays are here – and so are the visitors!

Troupes of dancing children. Choirs of carolers. Families you’ve never met before, bearing gifts of cookies and chocolates.

The holidays are here – and so are the visitors!

It’s the perfect time to showcase your community as well as the dedication you and your team have to customer service.

As a manager, it’s important to spend an extra few minutes each day reminding staff about customer service basics. It’s also vital that you model excellent customer service even more than usual throughout your day.

Try holding a short stand-up training session each day at shift change, both in the morning and afternoon. Focus on one key concept each day – only one – and let staff practice this concept on each other or give you examples during your stand-up. Your team will have fun with this, and they’ll really remember the key points.

Here are some of the key points you may want to include in your brief trainings:

• Smile and great each visitor with a sincere welcome. Use their name whenever possible.
  

• Wear your name tag, every single minute you’re in the building.

• Tidy at least one thing every shift, no matter what your job description. Make a point to look around and find one thing to straighten, pick up or clean during every shift.

• Offer coffee, tea, a cookie or water to every visitor, including those who come in groups. Be prepared for a large number of visitors every day, and let staff enjoy any left-over cookies at the end of the day.

• Take personal ownership when answering any visitor’s question. Before answering the question, say, “I can help you with that.”

• Look for something positive and complimentary to say to each visitor. Notice the colorful scarf, the Santa earrings, the furry boots. Be genuine and sincere. It will immediately give your visitor a warm and positive feeling about you and your community.

Have fun with this opportunity to teach your staff about customer service.

And let your community really shine during this holiday season.

Teamwork – achieving uncommon results with imperfect, common people

In our office we talk about the team every week. We don’t have staff meetings, we have team meetings. When a problem comes across our desks, we automatically turn to other members of the team to help us solve it.

Building a team isn’t as easy as hiring a staff, every manager knows. Personalities and egos often take precedence over any sense of working to a common goal. Hard-fought turf battles can disrupt all forward movement.

But hey – it’s not a war. In fact, building a team that likes each other and that can laugh together is one key factor in achieving corporate – group – success.

We believe so strongly in team around here that we actually painted it on the wall: “Teamwork: It is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

In the field of healthcare, effective team functioning has been shown not only to improve the work environment but also to improve resident care and safety. Good people stay where they are valued members of the team, and keeping your best people is ultimately one of the most important things you can do to improve the quality of the services you provide.

Building a good team requires leadership. It that’s you job, keep in mind that it isn’t easy to build a strong team – it takes focus and determination. There will be times for you to patiently listen, and times for you to speak up and take charge.

You’ve also got to set aside time for your team to develop that cohesive, “we’ll solve it together” mind set. Time when no work tasks are required, but food and fun are the order of the day.

Did you know that experts who study team development find four phases that groups go through – before they become cohesive teams? The first phase is the formation of the individuals into a group that has a specific goal or purpose.

The second phase is one when individuals become competitive and the group is filled with conflict. If this is where you’re at, it may give you a small measure of comfort to know that this is a natural progression – leading to the final stages of overcoming conflict and, finally, collaboration and communication.

The final ingredient into good team development? Trust. Trust that if you keep your focus, your team will come together. Trust in the individuals who are composing your team. And belief that, in the end, you can lead this group of common people to attain some pretty significant uncommon results.