Regardless of how impressive your vision for your practice may be, dreams require hard work, strategic planning, and adaptability to become a reality. Practice owners who are highly successful learn how to set realistic and effective goals. To achieve greater success in your business, you must master the skills of effective goal-setting, strategic planning, and assessment.
Establish incremental goals.
When setting goals, begin small. Set daily and weekly goals. While dreaming of long-term goals, it can be easy to let ambition take over. It is important to recognize, however, that you cannot achieve your long-term goals without achieving smaller victories along the way. Setting smaller, incremental goals allows you to remain in constant control of your practice. In the event that you miss a weekly goal, you will be able to adjust your strategy so that it does not happen again. When you only set quarterly or yearly goals, you may find yourself surprised when you do not meet them, or your team may struggle to accomplish them at the last minute.
Ensure that goals are visible.
It is essential that you and your team have a visual reminder of what your goals are and when you plan to achieve them. Consider posting them on a bulletin board in the office or adding them to your calendar. As a constant reminder, post your goals in a place you will see them every day. It is common for us to have back-of-the-mind thoughts or ideas that might be useful if implemented, but they are frequently forgotten. Ensure that you and your entire team are aware of your goals.
Measuring goals is essential.
How will you know if you have achieved your goal if you are unable to measure it? There should be a measurable standard for goals. The goal may be to see 10 new patients each month or to increase referrals by 50% by the end of the quarter. Choose specific numbers and concepts that can be defined in a concrete manner. Because abstract goals are difficult to define, they are more difficult to achieve. By setting measurable goals, you will be able to determine exactly what you need to do in order to achieve them.
Consider rethinking how you are setting your practice’s goals. You can achieve your ambitious goals only if you have a road map for achieving them. This is where effective goal-setting comes into play. Make a habit of writing down your goals and measuring them. Planning is the key to developing effective goal-setting strategies. Once you master these skills, you will be on your way to achieving the practice success you have always dreamed of.
Please contact us if you would like more information about managing your practice.