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Tackling Change in a Veterinary Practice: Getting Your Team Onboard

Written by Samantha Walker, RVT

Making changes in a vet practice can be intimidating. How do you initiate veterinary practice change without decreasing veterinary team morale or causing operational issues?

How does a vet practice implement the necessary changes while getting their team excited and onboard? Keep reading for tips on how to get your team to embrace change in your vet practice.

Embracing Veterinary Practice Change

Changes in the workplace can come with a lot of resistance and confusion. People may have to learn new skills or a new system with the changes implemented. And learning new stuff is always a stressor.

When initiating change in your vet practice, you should do the following to ensure it runs smoothly:

Monitor veterinary team morale

Schedule regular team meetings
Regular communication
Be empathetic

Before discussing changes with your team, you should be clear on what is happening. This will cause less confusion in the long run. For example, say you're in the early stages and unsure of what is changing, but you know something has to. Don't involve your team until you have a solid plan in place.

Monitor Veterinary Team Morale

Improving team morale during change can be challenging. Talking to employees openly and honestly on a regular basis is an important aspect of getting them to accept the changes you're making.

You can hold contests, reward those who embrace the changes first and recognize your team for a job well done.

Schedule Regular Team Meetings

Involve the entire team in your change initiatives! If it affects them, they should be scheduled for regular team meetings to keep them updated on how it's going.

As anyone who's ever gone through change knows, it has a lot of moving parts and revisions. Being honest with the team through regular meetings will go a long way with how well they embrace the changes.

Regular Communication

Regular communication during change is critical for success. Is there anything more annoying than a new process or system being put into place without regular communication from those implementing it? Don't let rumors or speculation about the changes run through your office. Address the change head-on and communicate about it!

Be Empathetic

Be empathetic with your team. They may need to vent or some may have suggestions on how to improve the change. Recognize their feelings about the change and empathize with them.