Good Culture Makes A Veterinary Practice Where Everyone Wants To Be

Culture can turn a practice into the place everyone in town wants to work, or break it down into the place no one wants to apply. At the?Uncharted Culture Conference?on October 11, 2023, we have an amazing lineup of speakers who have proven methods to improve clinic cultures. Get to know more about the speakers, their sessions and some ways they've given back to Uncharted!

GENERAL SESSION SPEAKER: PHIL RICHMOND, DVM, CAPP, CCFP, CHC-BCS, CRTDR

ME, WE, & US: THE SHARED RESPONSIBILITY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY

We are very excited to announce our General Session speaker for the 2023 Uncharted Culture Conference –?Dr. Phil Richmond! If you have met Phil Richmond or have had the opportunity to hear him speak, you understand his passion for the subject of organizational wellbeing. That passion is a big part of why we are going to kick off the Culture Conference with his new session – Me, We, & Us: The Shared Responsibility of Psychological Safety. Read on to learn more! Phil is a long-time active participant in the veterinary industry. He has been a practicing veterinarian in Florida and also heavily involved in initiatives toward improving wellbeing throughout the industry. His contributions to our Community have been numerous and generous, and he was awarded our Founders Award at the 2023 Uncharted Veterinary Conference in April.?

WHY IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IMPORTANT?

Psychological safety is tightly related to team retention and avoiding burnout in veterinary medicine. Being comfortable sharing ideas and having human needs of belonging met in the workplace can directly influence someone to stay in their workplace. Dr. Richmond has studied and spoken on the subject of psychological safety at many industry events. You can learn more about the subject and his work at?his website.

Who is responsible for psychological safety in businesses and organizations? The answer is me, we, and us. In this session, Phil will share the “me, we, and us” framework from leading organizational wellbeing research in a way that any person in a veterinary practice or business can understand. The framework covers individual wellbeing (me), developing high-quality relationships (we), and the organization’s role as whole in preventing burnout (us). You will walk away with facts that will support getting buy-in and ideas on how exactly to implement the concepts!

WORKSHOP SPEAKERS

You will be able to attend one of these amazing workshops LIVE and will have access to the recordings of the others 1-2 weeks after the event is over!

MARIA PIRITA, CVPM

THE ACCOUNTABILITY ECOSYSTEM: CULTIVATE A CULTURE FOR SUCCESS

Where is the balance between setting goals and clear expectations and micromanaging? Creating a system of accountability may sound intimidating, especially if you’re starting from scratch. Maria Pirita is a CVPM and one of the most understanding and kind people we know. If anyone can help you start a new and possibly daunting task like this, it is her! In her 2-hour session, she will walk you through a 3 part ecosystem of accountability and the tools to implement it at your practice that doesn’t leave the responsibility on one person alone! Walk away with an action plan to get started and working documents that you can adjust as you move through the process. Plus, you can bet that she will be ready to answer questions…and very excited to learn more about you!?

SENANI RATNAYAKE, BSC, RVT

OWNING OUR SUCCESS – FIVE STEPS TO A CULTURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY

When determining a plan for how your practice will set expectations around ownership, responsibility and accountability, tough conversations with your team are unavoidable. How do you work through those conversations with empathy and understanding? Senani Ratnayake has a way with words, and is just the person to help guide you through making tough conversations effective, clear, and compassionate. In her workshop, Senani will share how to define and reframe the concept of accountability with your team, how to discuss the significance of intention versus outcome and impact, and help determine how you will measure accountability with your team. Leading by example will be a big part of your success, so take this opportunity to ask Senani your questions and learn how to guide your team toward a stronger culture!?

MARK NUNEZ, DVM

LEAN PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE

Processes in practice sometimes don’t work as well as we believe they do, and the best people to share that with leaders are the people working within them! Dr. Mark Nunez has been an advocate for LEAN boards as a decision-making tool since we met him at his first Uncharted event! He has seen the effects of giving his teams a voice in making changes in veterinary practice, and it has led to ongoing support for this concept. This popular 2-hour workshop will provide you with a system that taps into your entire team’s perspective and builds on a culture that values team members that share their ideas to make the entire practice the best it can be!

REBECCA MAY

HOW A NO BLAME CULTURE APPROACH CAN SAFEGUARD AGAINST MEDICAL ERRORS

Making a medical error is any veterinary professional’s greatest fear. Addressing these moments with individual accountability alone can damage trust and lead engaged team players to disengage and even leave. For Rebecca May, her years of experience in veterinary medicine and role as a practice manager of an emergency clinic in North Carolina highlighted exactly that. A “No Blame” approach guides leaders to address individual and systemic contributions to medical incidents and mistakes that inevitably happen in veterinary medicine. Looking at the whole picture, monitoring for trends and changing the narrative of blaming could be a singularly effective tool to improve your practice culture. Rebecca May’s Incident Decision Tree will help your team stop avoiding discussing mistakes and invite them to be part of making systems that really work.

This article first appeared on the Uncharted Veterinary Conference blog at https://unchartedvet.com/uncharted-culture-conference-2023-speaker-feature/.