Rick's Business of Audiology Blog

What is Business Coaching?

We first think of coaching in athletics. Athletes have coaches because they want to play better than they can on their own. There are teams were people play just for fun; pickup games and intramurals where there aren't any professional coaches. However I realized wherever I found athletes at the top of their game. Wherever people really want to be the best, we find coaches; lots of coaches.

There is an accountability in sports that often doesn't exist in small business. You make the team or you don't. You win the game or you don't. You embarrass yourself in front of your family and friends, or you don't. This provides focus.

So what does a coach do?

A coach helps an individual and / or team achieve more than they would on their own.

A coach focuses, encourages, teaches, and supports. A coach understands the individual and their intentions and goals, and then helps them create and implement a plan to achieve what they want to achieve.

A coach helps you focus on what is important to you.

A coach helps you have fun, lots of fun.

As a Business Coach I don't pretend to know Audiology. You are the Audiologist.

However I do know business. My specialty is owner operated personal service businesses.

My lifetime fascination is why people do what they do: In particular with respect to planning, marketing, finance, and organizational design and behavior.

By focusing on one profession, Independent Audiology Practices, it enables me to really understand how to apply the business, finance, marketing, and organizational design and behavior knowledge I have to your unique profession.

My clients are people who want to be the best. They want to be the pro's, not just playing in a pick-up game.

Rick

907-229-3480

rick@thrivingaudiology.com

Institutional Knowledge

Institutional knowledge is knowledge, information, that people in your organization know and use that isn't written down or otherwise available.

When someone leaves your organization the institutional knowledge they have is lost. It might be as simple as where the new patient form is located, the log in to the afterhours messages system, or the status of hearing aids on order; or more problematic like the password to your QuickBooks records or how to correctly bill insurance.

Institutional knowledge provides a lot of inertia to an organization. We've always done it this way is a surprisingly powerful motivator.

Institutional knowledge can be positive or negative. If you hire a new employee, and have them trained by someone who uses institutional knowledge that is different than you want used the bad habits will continue with the new employee. I am amazed at how often someone releases an employee because they don't behave as expected and then have them train the new employee propagating the bad habits.

My favorite recent example: An employee was released because they had a hard time being at work during their scheduled work hours. The released employee was then asked to train the new employee on how to work the phones and take appointments etc. During that training the released employee told the new employee that one of the great things about working her is you get to create your own flexible schedule. And even though the owner says you need to be here, no one takes her seriously.