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The Body Language of a Phone call.

We had a meeting yesterday at a local Doctor’s office to discuss the possibility of doing a Six Sigma office procedure program for him. He is interested in fine tuning his already wonderful practice by reviewing the steps taken in each task. It is nice to see that McDonald’s is not the only business interested in consistency. It was also very refreshing to see someone who already looks like he has it all working and still be interested in stepping it up another notch.

During this exploring conversation we touched on the importance of personal energy even while answering the phone. It seems like a stange thought at first but we talked about how our body language also effects the energy or tone of our voice. Then we took it another step and talked about how much the listener on the other end of the phone can pick up on how we are feeling about ourselves in that moment. In other words are we paying attention or doing something else at the same time? Or are we frustrated, agitated, angry or happy, smiling and maybe feel like singing?

It all can be “felt”.

The other end of the phone doesn’t know exactly what, but they can pick up the energy. These are the day to day things that are so important and we are generally unaware that they are going on.

We will be adding a piece on this, along with some exercises to practice their phone presence, when we start the procedure training sessions.

What a nice and compatible combination it is to work on procedure, Lean Six Sigma style, and the energy of awareness and the present moment.

Ray Justice

CoffeeWithUs.com

SiteBrandBuilder.com

RayJustice.com

Are forms creating problems in your work flow? A lean Six Sigma Approach…

In working with a local Doctor’s office we reviewed different ways to reduce office flow for both doctors and front end staff- we weren’t totally surprised to find that the amount of forms patients were required to fill in were creating a real problem in the process for not only office staff but for the Doctor’s as well.

Many of the forms are required by the state while others are necessary for managing the patients billing and health history. When we timed the process we realized it took and average of 17 minutes to fill all required paperwork; needless to say the patients were complaining - they felt overwhelmed with the process. Once the paperwork was complete it was necessary for the office staff to add up scores for the Doctor and then key information in the system. Often a patient would need to take the stack of forms back to the examining room, which left an incomplete file for the Doctor’s review as well as clerical duties that now had to be managed by the Doctor.

Therefore:

• Doctors were constantly behind in their schedule often over a 30 minute wait for patients to be seen.
• Front end staff were making too many errors and were often lagging behind.
• Patients were complaining about the large about of forms that needed to be filled out.

Once we defined and measured the current process we held a Kaizen event at the Doctor’s office. The meeting consistent of front end staff, a Doctor and the office manager. This allowed us to recreate the process that met our objectives of reducing the time to fill in forms, less errors and better office flow. We created a new process which consisted of:

• Reviewed the forms and took out information that was redundant and not relevant in regards to requirements or Doctor.
• We redesigned the forms so they would be easier to write in, better organized and cleaner heavier paper
• When a new patient calls in the wording and priority of the conversation was changed, therefore a new script was written.
• The last words a patient heard on the phone call was the time they needed to show up for the appointment which was 15-20 minutes early.
• New patients now received a letter confirming the appointment time and date and asking them to go online and fill out the forms or to complete the forms in the envelope before arriving.

All of these new processes are being measured and will be continuously improved. The average time with a patient before starting the process was 62.05 minutes for the Doctor and 23.09 for the office staff. By reducing this one portion of the process our expected savings over the course of a month for an average of 82 new patients:

Office staff - 6.50 minute savings per patient - 552.5 minutes for one month

Doctor - 9.50 minute saving per patient - 779 minutes for one month

Just one small process can save you thousands of dollars; imagine what you can save looking at a complete process from start to finish!

And this is just one portion of the process -stay tuned!

Wendy Brabon

CEO

www.SiteBrandBuilder.com

www.IgniteWorldwide.com

The Sound of Stillness

I grew up in the florist and Greenhouse business. It is interesting to watch as life goes on how words change with their meaning. Greenhouse, in my life, has been an all glass building to grow food or plants especially in the colder climates. We all can forecast that will change for the future as Green Houses will be environmentally friendly and efficient places we will live.

I was not aware of it at the time but I was growing up in a very hectic, seven day a week, never shut down or stop, business. A piece of that has carried on throughout my life.

I also grew up with the exact opposite of the hectic part and it was in the same place. In what we called “the big house” (large greenhouse), where the ceiling height was higher and the larger plants were kept, I often could be found. It was serene, peaceful and quiet except the sound of the ever present birds chirping away, what a winter haven for them.

Again, without realizing, it at the time, this is where I learned to go when I wanted to feel good, to settle down, regroup and think. Maybe to even be by myself (a non hectic space).

With a workshop retreat, for corporate executives, I was part of a few years ago I was going over the importance of stillness and meditation especially around decision making and creativity. It was not going over very well as it was to foreign to almost everyone. I asked them, on their break, to walk down a short path that was outside, next to a running stream. As they did this and came across a small, wooden, arched bridge, I asked them to stop, just for a minute, and stand on the bridge. Next step was to close their eyes, take a slow relaxed breath and listen to the sound of the water, without thinking about other things, only the present sound of the water flowing on it’s natural path.

Now to the message part. A few years later I ran into one of the people that had been present at that event. After saying “hello”, the next words out of her mouth were “I still go back to the bridge”. It took me a few seconds to catch up to her and she meant.

Think about how powerful that simple little exercise was and still is for her. Then also think about how powerful it still is for me. It reminded me of my Greenhouse days, the birds, the plants, the quiet that I can also still go back to when I want or need to.

So for helping me remember, thank you Mary Conlon, now a manager for The Bank of Castile in Greece New York.

“I still go back to the Greenhouse”.

Ray Justice

SiteBrandbuilder.com

RayJustice.com

Improvements using Lean Six Sigma

What is Lean Six Sigma really about? Can we all agree businesses are looking for fewer defects, a shorter cycle time and better capacity? How about lower costs and higher revenues combined with reduced capital expenditures?

Lean Six Sigma uses a DMAIC process to determine the best outcomes; for example when considering what is or is not working on your website you want to Define what the issue is; Measure by looking at past performance and current data, Analyze, Improve and Control. The key is always being open to continuous improvements for your website or project.

What I consistently hear form clients looking for a new website or upgrades is; “Our website is not working for us”. I will ask; what are some of the outcomes you want from your website? More traffic, sells more products, or perhaps services your customers by offering key information 24/7….

Begin your process by understanding:

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>What a visitor is actually doing on your website? You can measure this through Google analytics or looking at previous results from forms filled out or products purchased.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Determine what you want your visitors to do when they first enter your website. Do you want them to find your latest promotions, or locate your phone number and company information? How many steps do they need to take to make this happen? How many steps and what does each step include to purchase a product or service from start to finish?

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Start with a process flow map. In order to achieve your goals for your website begin with a customer entering your website and end with the customer completing the action you desired. For example; you want your customer to sign up for a webinar. Create a flow chart from the beginning when a customer enters your website, views the information on the webinar, clicks for more information, signs up and then submits the form….. from beginning to end.

Wendy Brabon

www.SiteBrandBuilder.com

www.IgniteWorldwide.com