Eyeworld Daily News

EW SHOW DAILY 12 Tuesday, April 21, 2015 ASCRS News Today Lunch provides wise words for new administrators by Vanessa Caceres EyeWorld Contributing Writer T he inaugural lunch of the Administrator Beginner's Circle (ABC) took place on Sunday and featured "words from the wise" for new administrators. Developed and created by the ASOA Young Administrator Task Force, the ABC assists ASOA members who have 4 or fewer years in ophthalmic practice management. The ABC helps these administrators by providing dedicated resources to support them. The lunch program was titled "Words from the Wise: A Panel Discussion & Networking Event for New Administrators." It featured a panel of experienced administrators answering questions developed by the Young Administrator Task Force. The panel was moderated by Hayley Boling, CEO, Boling Vision Center, Elkhart, Ind., and chair of the Young Administrator Task Force. Panelists included Keith Casebolt, CEO of Medical Eye Center, Medford, Ore.; Charlotte Timmons, patient financial counselor at The Eye Institute of Utah, Salt Lake City; Trish Daniels, administrator/CEO of Monnett Eye and Surgery Center, Sebastian, Fla.; and Dianna Graves, clinical services manager at St. Paul Eye Clinic, St. Paul, Minn. EW by Erin L. Boyle EyeWorld Editor Five tips for effective staff supervision W hen Craig N. Piso, PhD, was a teenager shoveling gravel as a laborer, he felt hot, dirty, and tired. "My job was to move that gravel into the forms so that when the con- crete truck came, we could pour the sidewalk at a bank," he said. "But all I saw was this mountain of gravel." His father, the contractor on the job, noticed that he was unhappy, and asked Dr. Piso what was wrong. "'Well, Dad, I just spent all day shoveling gravel, and it's hot and it's humid and I don't see the point,'" Dr. Piso said he told his father. "He said, 'Craig, you don't understand. Tomorrow the concrete truck is going to arrive, and if we're not ready, and if we don't have that gravel moved, and you haven't done a good job and that concrete leaks out the side because you left gaps, or you didn't tamp it down and the concrete settles and cracks, we'll have to jackhammer that up later. It'll be a huge cost and as the contractor on that job, I will lose business. I'll be a failure. Craig, we need you to come back tomorrow and finish that job. "This is mission critical, and I know it's hard, but I know you can do it," his father said. "And it's im- portant that you do it, and I'll help you do it. But you see, you're not just shoveling gravel." The next day, when the owner of the bank asked Dr. Piso what he was doing, he responded, "I'm build- ing your bank today." The teenag- er's response beside him? "I'm just shoveling gravel." "You see the difference?" Dr. Piso asked a packed audience at the ASOA course "Tips for Effective Staff Training & Supervision." "You want your people to be engaged. Explain to them why their work is relevant and how you appre- ciate the importance and the value of what they're doing." Empowering your employees is one of the most effective ways to achieve the best staff results, Dr. Piso said. "People want to feel powerful in a healthy way," he said. "You notice them. You pay attention to them. You listen to them when they speak, not just give them a quota of time while you're thinking of something else." Dr. Piso discussed how creating a safe environment where employ- ees can share information about their motivations as well as feedback about how their boss manages them is among the best ways to empower employees. Building those relation- ships is vital to effective manage- ment, he said. "What are great relationships? You know you're in a great relation- ship if there's mutual empower- ment, that you've come down to the real level of being person to person, saying, 'You know, I need you,'" he said. Starting at the hiring process is key to establishing a solid foun- dation for the employee/manager relationship. He said he asks all job candidates these 3 questions: Do you understand what I would expect from you in this role? Is this some- thing you can do? Now that you understand what I expect from you and this is something you can do, will you do it? Once a person is hired, it is then key to communicate to them that they are a valued employee and be- gin building that authentic relation- ship, Dr. Piso said. He offered numerous tips for best supervisor attitudes in manage- ment. Here are 5 of those tips: 1. Be empowering. "How do you empower people? You commu- nicate with them," he said. "You train them. You share informa- tion. You teach. You inspire and motivate. And you redirect." 2. Be clear. "When we're effective as a supervisor, we make it clear what we expect from our people," Dr. Piso said. "By setting expectations we empower people. A conflict in expectations is a common factor in all human resources problems." 3. Be goal-orientated. "Be specific in what you expect from people [in goals] and make that measurable," Dr. Piso said. 4. Be compassionate. "The take- home pearl is, even in reprimand- ing people, make sure that it is done in a compassionate way," Dr. Piso said. 5. Be direct. "What we don't con- front, we enable," he said. EW Editors' note: Dr. Piso is president of Piso and Associates. Dr. Piso gives ASOA members pearls for supervising staff.

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