How to Align Your Medical Practice Staff

When things aren’t running smoothly in your practice, it’s tempting to jump straight to solutions. “We need to move faster.” “We need to be more efficient.” “We need better communication.”

But here’s the reality: vague goals lead to vague results.

If you’re constantly putting out fires, dealing with staff confusion, or frustrated by unmet expectations, the problem might be a lack of definition.

Why Vague Goals Lead to Frustrated Teams

Your team wants to do good work. They want to contribute to the success of your practice. But if they don’t have clear, definite direction, their brains will fill in the gaps…often with worst-case assumptions.

This is a phenomenon known as the Ambiguity Effect. When something isn’t clearly defined, our brains tend to assume the worst, leading to:

❌ Misunderstood roles and responsibilities
❌ Inconsistent patient experiences
❌ Frustration and drama in the office
❌ High turnover and burnout

Think about it: How often have you said something like, “We need to do better” or “We need to move faster” without defining what that actually means?

The Power of Defining Everything

Here’s a simple framework we use with clients: DCM – Define, Communicate, Measure.

It starts with Define, and this is where most practices fall short. You can’t communicate or measure what isn’t clearly defined.

✅ Define Roles and Responsibilities – What does success look like for every position in your practice? What specific outcomes are each team member responsible for?

✅ Define Behavior Standards – What are the non-negotiable behaviors in your practice? What must be true for someone to be part of your team?

✅ Define Patient Expectations – If patients are constantly canceling or not following through with treatment, it’s often because they don’t know what to expect. Their brain fills in the gaps with anxiety and doubt, and they disengage.

✅ Define Business Goals – If you want to grow, what exactly does that mean? More patients? Higher revenue? Better retention? Define it so your team knows what they’re working toward.

How to Spot Ambiguity in Your Practice

If you’re seeing the following signs, your team may be struggling with a lack of clarity:

• Frequent misunderstandings or dropped handoffs
• Staff complaining about being “too busy” without specifics
• Silent, unmet expectations (“Shouldn’t they know this already?”)
• Defensive or passive-aggressive behavior
• Patients asking the same questions repeatedly

Don’t Assume Your Team Understands

If you find yourself thinking, “Well, they should just know that”, it’s a sign you haven’t clearly defined what you expect.

And it may not be that your team doesn’t care, it could be that you’ve unintentionally created a system where ambiguity leads to confusion, and confusion leads to frustration.

When you define what you want, communicate it clearly, and measure progress, you build a practice that doesn’t just survive—it thrives.