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Nip staff squabbles before they escalate

Practice Management. By Julie A. Jacob, amednews staff. Feb. 25, 2002.

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One of your employees complains that another employee always leaves 15 minutes early and doesn't finish his work, but the other one counters that the complainer takes extra long lunches.

Or your 60-year-old office manager informs you that the 20-year-old receptionist you just hired is sloppy and listens to horrible music on the radio, but the receptionist tells you that the office manager is impossible to please.

As a busy physician, you probably don't feel like you have the time or energy to deal with staff squabbles. But if you allow conflicts to fester, the outcome will be sagging morale, a drop in productivity, and even the loss of good employees.

"When my two assistants don't get along, my schedule gets off and work doesn't get done," said Alecia Hathaway, MD, medical director for the Tarrant County (Texas) Public Health Dept. To reduce the chances of conflict from occurring in the first place, she holds weekly meetings that give employees a chance to talk about what they are doing, air concerns and build teamwork among her staff.

"Once you establish the group as a team it becomes a cooperative family setting," said Dr. Hathaway. "It helps reduce territorialism and dumping of work and helps to build mutual respect and professionalism."

The specific reason for employee disputes may seem petty, but the underlying reasons for the disagreement are much broader, said Elizabeth Woodcock, director of knowledge management for Baltimore-based Physicians Practice Inc. [...]