According to the CQC, the quality of leadership is one of the most important determinants of the quality and safety of services provided by GP practices. Over the next couple of weeks I will cover what good and poor management looks like, as well as how to handle a poor manager.
Poor Management
According to research, poor
management is the root cause of more than three quarters of poor performance in
all working environments. This poor performance can manifest itself in three major ways:
Unsatisfactory
work caused by disaffection with work
Breaches
of working practices and rules, including absenteeism, in-house arguments,
and health and safety violations, often caused by harassment by management
Overspill
into personal lives, which further damages performance in the GP practice,
caused by unnecessary work pressures
Seven
Common Mistakes of Poor Management
Poor management not only places a burden on the running of a GP Practice through lower productivity, a higher staff turnover ("people don't leave jobs, they leave managers") and increased business costs of employment and training, but can also seriously affect patient care, through stifled learning and a poor quality of service. Here are some of the biggest mistakes that
are made by those who manage others:
They don’t get to know their
people.
Managers who are distant and show no wish to know their staff never know
how to get the best from them.
They don’t show trust. If a manager doesn’t trust
their people, an environment of mistrusting and micromanaging will be
fostered. Soon everyone is looking over each other’s shoulders and real
focus is lost.
They don’t listen. Managers who fail to listen to
concerns encourage a distant, aloof working environment. Hardly what staff
and patients want from their GP practice.
They don’t learn from feedback. Okay, so poor managers won’t
even encourage feedback but when it’s given it is totally ignored.
Managers who fail to learn from failures encourage the same attitude among
employees.
They don’t communicate. Poor managers have a knack of
feeding information on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, usually believing it’s only
they that need-to-know. Even worse, when things go wrong, blame is laid at
another’s door.
They have their favourites. At the very least, favouritism
causes difficulty when separating professional and personal relationships.
Often this leads to employees being treated unequally, fostering a feeling
of mistrust and destroying teamwork.
They can’t give directions. Poor managers find it
difficult to give clear and concise directions. Employees become uncertain
as to their duties and responsibilities. Tasks remain unfinished, and
employees lack engagement with the present and the future.
Plenty of GP practices suffer from
poor management: patients lose, employees lose, doctors lose, and the practice
loses. Yet the managers are the last to realise, if ever they do. If your
practice is suffering because of poor management, maybe it’s time you tackled
the problem.
Next week, I will provide some strategies that may help you handle a poor manager.
2015 Diaries and Planners
2015
Appointment Diary (Day to Page, Half Hourly Intervals)
A4 Blue
A4 Black
A4 Red
2014-2015
Academic Diary (August to August)
A5 Black (Day to Page)
A5 Black (Week to View)
2015
Laminated Year Planner (January to December, Write-on Wipe-off)
Mounted
Unmounted