Sterling Practice Management - Glendale, CA: Do you sometimes have staff who fail to do what you want them to do? Most owners and managers run into this situation to varying degrees. How can you tell if a staff member genuinely needs help or if they are actually working against you?

Here’s the key: A staff member who is truly not working with you as a team player continually fails to comply with what you want done.

There is a sequence here that needs to be followed so that you don’t jump to conclusions. Sometimes staff members don’t comply because they really don’t understand something about what you have instructed them to do or why it needs to be done.

Determining the Correct Course of Action

This is how you determine what action to take:

1) Put what you want done in writing, clearly stated as to why. Be sure to indicate by when this is to be done.

2) If not done in the specified time, meet with the staff member, go over each point and see if there is anything he or she didn’t understand. Also see if there is any real reason why this couldn’t or shouldn’t be done.

3) Clear up any confusion.

4) Have the staff member sign the original instruction attesting that they understand it.

5) Reissue the instruction with the date by when this needs to be completed.

6) If still no compliance, issue it again.

7) If still no compliance, then it is clear that you have a person who is not working with you and therefore is working against you.

8) Handle accordingly.

Make Sure You Orders Are Doable

Note: You do need to ensure that what you are ordering to be done is something that can be done. For example, it is not realistic to order twenty clients contacted, reactivated and scheduled within the next two hours. Also, you need to make sure that the staff member is trained to do what you ask of them. If they are not, this would be obvious when you meet with them after the first non-compliance.

Senior Consultant, Sterling Practice Management

PS. This is just one aspect of personnel management. There is much more to know on the subject of building an ideal staff team. Our Sterling practice management program includes courses that train you in all aspects of personnel from how to find and hire the right staff, to how to properly train your staff, to how to motivate staff to produce and get them all on the same page.

In our 36 plus years of practice management, we have helped thousands of professionals to build effective profitable practices and we can do the same for you. To find out for yourself, come to our next workshop or send in for our free practice solutions DVD.