TOPICS FOR ALL TEAM MEMBERS
Compassion Fatigue for Veterinary Professionals
Burnout is very common in the veterinary field. Our doctors and team members suffer from incredible loss daily and it takes its toll. I created this presentation to help team members deal with this problem. The focus of the talk is to discuss burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue. I help the team understand what the symptoms are, how to identify if they are experiencing any of them, and what to do to improve or even prevent them. I also use the quality-of-life questionnaire to help the team understand if they are experiencing burnout, secondary traumatic stress, or compassion fatigue. And most importantly we talk about some solutions, and I give them the tools to make it better.
What Do You Do When a Client Says No?
This presentation focuses on how to handle client’s reactions when we make recommendations. This talk gives team members the tools and information on what they should say and how they can say it. I discuss commonly requested procedures, products, diets, and other elective services that veterinary hospitals provide and how we can get the client to say yes more often. I discuss the importance of getting clients to accept our recommendations and how that affects the pet, the client, the team members, and the overall bottom line of the hospital.
Are you creating your own drama? Do you worry about things that haven’t happened yet?
This presentation focuses on the drama that we self-create by making things up in our mind or making assumptions about why/what others are doing. Many times, people worry about things that have not happened by reacting to them like they did. This cause’s undue stress on team members and in many cases can cause a large amount of drama in the hospital. This presentation helps people understand why we “make stuff up in our minds” and how we can stop doing it. Learning to deal with these challenging thoughts and making less assumptions about why others do things will help improve the communication flow of the hospital.
Are you a communication Superstar? Or Does it Give You Anxiety?
Does talking to clients make you uncomfortable? Do you have a difficult time knowing what clients are feeling? This presentation helps you learn how to put yourself in a client’s mind and connect with them better. I further talk about ways that doctors (or managers) can track if clients are not only accepting recommendations but compliant with them as well. I also emphasize why we need to focus on client complaints or issues and learn from them to help improve hospital revenue. Lastly, I discuss how every doctor is a leader in the hospital and how to communicate and engage with their team in a way that will help them be more effective and stronger.
How to become a Cat Friendly Hospital®
This presentation focuses on teaching how to become a Cat Friendly Hospital® as well as using fear free techniques with dogs (if desired). It displays the benefits to the team members, the clients, and the doctors. This presentation provides details on how hospitals can grow the feline business in the hospital, as well as decreasing injuries to the team by learning better methods to work with the feline patients. I also give the hospitals tools use to help their clients vet visit easier for their cat.
How to communicate with clients and other team members by understanding body language
The purpose of this talk to teach team members how to read and interpret client’s body language. This ability helps every team member learn how to process what a client is thinking/feeling. This allows them to be more thorough when going over treatment plans. It also helps them understand how to explain procedures better when they can interpret how the clients are reacting to what they are saying. It takes a lot of practice but by giving team members some basic tips, it will help them grow.
Emergency Planning for the Veterinary Hospital
This presentation focuses on what to do in the different types of emergency situations that a veterinary hospital might deal with. Whether it a natural disaster, an escaped animal, or a violent client, there are many different types of emergencies that affect us. Hospitals need to be prepared for all these situations before they happen. In this presentation I talk about what these situations are and how to be prepared for them. I also provide tools on how to implement disaster plans at your hospital. As well as how to talk to your clients about some of these emergencies.
Toxicity in The Workplace
Many hospital team members work in a toxic environment. In this presentation I talk about how to recognize a toxic environment, what type of effects a toxic environment has on team members, and what both team members and leaders can do to help change them. I also discuss what things can lead to a toxic environment and how each person can influence the toxicity and make it better.
Is the word Policy like a four-letter word?
The words “policy” & “require” are trigger words that can upset clients. We tend to use to defend an action that we are taking without really explaining why the action necessary or how the action benefits the client or the pet. In this presentation we will discuss how to convey the rules of the hospital without automatically saying “policy” or “require” and avoid triggering the client to get upset with us as quickly.
Setting boundaries, making yourself a priority
This presentation focuses on why team members find difficulty setting boundaries and making time for themselves. We discuss different reasons why team members overburden themselves and then feel guilty about it. Team member guilt is very common in our field, and we discuss how this guilt contributes to burnout. We also discuss how not setting boundaries contributes to burnout as well. Lastly, we discuss how team members can learn how to set boundaries.
Working with unhappy clients during COVID-19
Clients are more grouchy, short tempered, and impatient. Why? Maybe because we are in a pandemic and they are stressed to the max. We must remember to put ourselves in the client’s shoes before judging them or reacting to them. In this presentation I discuss what we are doing, or not doing, to help clients during this difficult time. And how we can be better.
TOPICS FOR MANAGERS, INCLUDING TECH & FRONT OFFICE MANAGERS
Self-Care
Why is it so hard for us to take time for ourselves? We are so busy helping our teams and other people that we do not focus on caring for ourselves. This presentation teaches managers how to delegate to others and how to take time for themselves.
Emotional Leadership
Learning how to manage your emotions is very important for leaders and managers today. The goal of this presentation is to teach leaders how to manage their emotions and react appropriately when dealing with difficult situations. Learning about emotional intelligence (EQ) and how it affects us in the workplace is just the beginning. Learning how to use these skills to help them communicate better and be more effective with their teams. This is a 2-part presentation.
Manager Guilt, Why We Have It and How Do We Get Rid of It
This presentation focuses on why managers tend to overburden themselves and feel guilty about it. It shows how this burden negatively affects managers and the rest of the team. It also demonstrates why managers need to take the time for themselves, so they do not burn out. It also teaches managers how to delegate to their team, so they can create a better system in their hospital. This system can help grow other team member’s skills so that the manager does not have to do it all.
The Idiots Guide to Hiring and Creating an Awesome Team!
This presentation focuses on the challenges of hiring and creating a strong team. It is a two-part presentation. In the first part I show how to find the right people by doing the following: creating a strongly worded ad, streamline the hiring process, provides resume reviewing tips, and provides online screening tools. I will further discuss what to ask during phone interviews, what to ask in the in-person interview and the observational interviews. Once the candidate is hired the second part of the presentation, I discuss what to do after the applicant is hired to ensure proper training and strategies for success at the hospital by using phase training and other tools.
Can A Manager Really Do It All?
This presentation discusses what the daily struggles are for a manager and if we can live up to our own expectations. I talk about what our biggest challenges are and how we can deal with those to make our jobs easier, something that we forget to do. I discuss time management, delegation, and having a work life balance.
The Employee Life Cycle
The employee life cycle discusses what to do after you have hired a new employee. From their first day through their first 90 days and beyond. I provide tips on how to implement new hire training at other hospitals and why it is important. I also discuss phase training and how to use that to help ensure that new team members know what to do in specific situations. This presentation also talks about coaching & mentoring and how managers & supervisors can use this to make sure that the new hire is getting the appropriate information to do their job well. And whenever possible I also discuss creating a training to help make sure that training is being completed.
Training on the Most Important Appointment, The Euthanasia.
Euthanasia’s are one of the most difficult appointments that we see in a veterinary hospital. It is emotional for the client, the doctors, as well as the team. We receive calls for these appointments daily, but after contacting over 28 hospitals, I discovered that many team members have a difficult time in communicating with clients regarding euthanasia. Many of the team members are awkward and are unable to convey empathy to the clients while they are making the appointment. In this presentation I discuss commonly made mistakes in the scheduling, the handling, and the communication during a euthanasia appointment. I discuss how managers can train their team members on having this difficult conversation. I also give tips and specific phrases of what team members can say to owners during this difficult time.
Team Building: Create Stronger Practice Teams
In this interactive presentation attendees will learn how to use team meetings to help build a stronger team, as well introduce, or maintain the hospital’s core values. We will discuss why it is important to have core values that your team members can follow and believe in. We will also discuss not only the importance of having regular team meetings, but how to make them effective.
HR Topics for New Managers
This talk is meant for new practice mangers to help them learn 5 things that they need to be doing as a manager. I discuss the interview process for new hires, orientation for the new employee, providing coaching, holding team meetings, and how to delegate to the team.
CSR TOPICS
Bridging the Communication Ravine
This presentation focuses on communication challenges between different areas of the hospital as well as working with different personality types. It is designed to help receptionists understand that they are not alone in their challenges that they deal with every day. It is an interactive presentation that requires audience assistance. I empower receptionists to help them understand how they can use communication more effectively at their hospital. This is a good topic for the entire team as well.
Talking to Clients About the Most Important Appointment, the Euthanasia.
Many people feel uncomfortable when dealing with euthanasia’s. In this presentation I discuss commonly made mistakes in the scheduling, the handling, and the communication made during a euthanasia appointment. I talk about why this appointment is so important and how easy it is to do it wrong. I also give tips and specific phrases of what team members can say to owners during this difficult time.