The medical profession has a high proportion of partnerships as their ownership model. The number of partners often depends on the size of the medical centres, the capacity of individuals to invest in the partnership and their individual willingness/ability to take on risk.
Partners in medical centres have to be able to balance their clinical time (which generates revenue) and their time to lead and manage the operations of the business. Partners are overstretched, working extended hours, and experiencing rising stress levels.
This can lead to disharmony and distress among the partners and extended team. Some partners feel they are taking an unfair burden because they are billing more patient hours. Others may take on more people-leadership and management tasks and feel unappreciated because their time isn’t billable. It can be hard to recognise the value that each partner adds when they struggle to get time with each other to discuss anything other than the day-to-day burning issues.
It’s time to Work ON your Business
Nothing changes if nothing changes – if you are a partner in a medical practice and hoping that your current frustrations and concerns with your partners will magically disappear then you are likely to be disappointed!
Taking some time to align with your partners will reap significant benefits both financially and personally. We have worked with medical practice owners across Australia to help them find new ways of working together, resetting the expectations of their role as partners, getting clear on their business strategy and moving forward together as a supportive and aligned team.
Case Study: General Practice Partner Misalignment
We were engaged to help a General Practice operating with three partner GPs and their leadership team. One partner was moving towards retirement while another partner had only recently joined.
They were experiencing frustration and conflict as a result of their differing views and behaviours. Our discovery process found the partners were providing conflicting direction to their team, wanting to be involved in every decision and issue. This slowed progress across the practice and created frustration within the wider team. Additionally, the partners had no time or energy to drive strategic outcomes for the practice.
Through a facilitated workshop, the partners were able to agree their business strategy and desired behaviours. This built a strong foundation to define and support the culture and improve both employee engagement and patient experience.
It was the first time the partners and leadership team had agreed and aligned around a common strategy setting clear expectations for how they would work together. We also provided one-to-one coaching for the partners to drive their individual performance and support them to embed the changes across the wider team.
The result was a happier, more cohesive team. They began to actively foster an environment where the wider team felt supported and respected. As they were now able to focus on delivering the plan rather than using their energy on their conflict, the dynamic among partners and the wider team dramatically improved. This new way of working resulted in improved productivity and profitability.