Find your niche as a veterinary team member and seize it

Our survey results show that every veterinary practice has a few departments that could use some attention. Perhaps your team could step up nutritional counseling or maybe your retail sales could use a boost. In many cases, the catalyst for improvement could be as simple as a team member taking control. Are you prepared to become that go-getter?

At Main Street Veterinary Hospital in Flower Mound, Texas, team training was the area that needed some TLC. The practice used training checklists that specified a trainer for each department, but one technician noticed the training was often inconsistent between trainers. So she approached practice manager Mary Beth Soto with a few ideas and asked to be named the head trainer.

"She offered to oversee all of the training in our practice," Soto says. "She brought her plan to me and offered to set up an Excel spreadsheet to track training exercises. By coming to me and figuring out how to make my job easier, it made me want to support her." These days, each team member receives thorough training in each department, and Soto can focus on more pressing tasks.

What service area or department could you offer to lead in your practice? Showing a little initiative will make you a more respected and valued team member—and create a more efficient practice.

More in this package:

Which equipment do you wish your practice would purchase?

New services: Hope versus reality