6 ways to stop wasting your time

Veterinary practice management speaker Bash Halow, LVT, CVPM, recently shared dozens of actionable tips on major time-wasters in veterinary practice in an evening session titled “Stop the day-to-day time suckers and start managing for the future” at CVC Washington D.C. 2015. Here are a few:

1. Delegate your scheduling

Employees are capable of scheduling themselves and taking responsibility for their shifts.

2. Be more creative in hiring

Hiring sort-of-good employees and duds costs you immense time and money. Request that applicants review your practice's website and write an original cover letter describing their interest in your practice as a way of weeding out those who aren't truly invested in working specifically for you. (If your website doesn't reflect why your practice is special and different from other practices, start with that work first.)

3. Standardize your inventory

Implement a hospital-wide standard of care and stop carrying multiple products that do the same thing based on individual doctors' preferences.

4. Outsource social media, but keep it personal

Outsource your social media and online reputation management (time-saver!), but don't outsource the unique message and content of your social media (don't be bland and cookie-cutter!). Automate your systems but continue to provide rich, unique photos, blogs and videos in your marketing pipeline.

5. Stop holding so many meetings

Don't hold a meeting if you don't understand what return on investment you'll get from taking up everyone's time. Need to share information? Write an email or put a notice in mailboxes.

6. Put civility into your manual

Consider drafting a “civility clause” for precise expectations on polite, respectful interactions. Then hold folks accountable. Don't participate in drama. It's a time killer.