Objective management presentation by Dr. Grifasi

1. Objective Management
The Fair Way to Manage Staff

2. Richard S. Grifasi, OD
● Practicing Clincian
o 24 years
● Private Practice Owner
o 17 years solo owner

3. Practicing Clinician
● Med/Surg Practice
o Katzen Eye Group
o Hirsch Eye Group
● Corporate Optometry
o Pearle Vision Center
o Lenscrafters
o America’s Best (short)
● Professional Group Practice
o Vision Associates (six locations)
● Solo Practice!

4. Solo Practice
● Two things I learned:
o I am a business person at heart.
o I practice optometry as a hobby.

5. My Solo Career
● 1997 Grifasi Eyecare and Optical I, Inc.
o Elkton, MD
● 1998 Grifasi Eyecare and Optical, II, Inc.
o Havre de Grace, MD
● 2003 Grifasi Eyecare and Optical, III, Inc.
o Lewes, DE

6. Semi-Retirement
● 2008 Decided to Semi-Retire.
● 2008 Divested out of two locations (Kept Lewes).
● 2009 Boredom Set in.

7. Re-Branding/Re-Emerging
● 2009 Re-branded as L’occhio Eyecare-Eyestyle.

8. Re-Branding/Re-Emerging
● Focused on Internal Operations
o EMR
o Hippa
o Web/Social Media (the new marketing???)
o Improved Business Operations
o Opened a second location in DC (March 2013)

9. Personnel/Staff
● The most challenging/stressful area of operating my practice
o Managing Staff!
● Problems:
o Constant Turnover
o Constant Staff Upsets
o Huge drain on my practice!

10. How Do I Solve This?
Use the “Rich Grifasi” method.

11. What is “The Rich Grifasi Method”
• Identify the problem area of my practice.
– Take a GOOD look!
• Boil it down to its basics.
• From the basics create a SIMPLE, EASY FIX THAT WORKS!
– Easily duplicated.
– Works all the time.
– Anybody can do it.
– There is no mystery, no rocket science.

12. Proceeding Lecture
Stellar Staffing:
This is How I do it.

13. Problems with My Stellar Staff
● I was hiring great staff but still had major staff problems!
o Staff Drama/upsets.
o Turnover.
o Patient Complaints.

14. Where Was the Problem?
● I Took a Good Look!
o The Office Manager?
o Management Technique?
o Hiring Wrong Staff?

15. The Answer!
I lacked an
effective management
system!!!

16. When Does a Stellar Staff Fail?
When you DO NOT manage them properly!

17. Solution to Managing Staff
Objective Management

18. What is Management?
Management is making a decision about an employee’s performance and handling it.
Management requires a decision.

19. Requirements to Make a Decision
● Data
● Thought

20. What is Data?
● Data simply is just factual information.
● Data usually is presented in the form of a number (quantity).

21. What is Thought? What is Thinking?
Thought is an idea or opinion produced by a process we know as thinking.
Thinking is where the mind takes data and produces an idea or opinion.

22. What is Management - Again?
Management is taking data, thinking about it, and making a decision.
Our management decisions propel our practice to success! Growth! Profits! and
Peace of Mind!

23. Question
If that is what management is why the heck am I not successful?
 Why do I lack growth?
 Why are profits shrinking?
 Why am I exhausted from the constant stress and anxiety from running a
business with staff?

24. The Answer
There must be a fault in my decision making process.
Either in one of the two areas of decision making:
● the data
● the thought process

25. Let’s Look at Data
Data can be:
● false
● true
● true, but misrepresented (not true)
● wrong data used
Nothing earth shattering here.

26. Let’s Look at Thought
● Two types of thought
o Logical Thought
o Emotional Thought
● These are two VERY different ways that our brains process data.

27. Understanding Thought Via:
● Brain Structure
● Application

28. The Brain

29. Brain - Simplified View
Reptilian Brain - Limbic System - Neo-Cortex

30. Reptilian Brain
● Basic Life Functions
● Reflexes
● No Thought

31. Limbic System
● Houses Emotional Life
● Houses Emotional Memory
● Emotional Thought

32. Neo-Cortex (Cortex)
● Houses Language
● Spatial Thought
● Conscious Memory
● Conscious Thought
● Logical Reasoning

33. Types of Memory
● Emotional Memory (Limbic)
● Conscious Memory (Cortex)

34. Emotional Memory
● Unconscious (sub-conscious)
o Brain constantly records memories both in a conscious state and unconscious state.
o You are not aware of these memories BUT they are there working.
● Irrational - illogical
o All the data is the same. It does NOT differentiate.
o Example: Beans = Green = Nausea Feeling= Mother-in-law
o Miscalculates

38. Logical Memory
● Concious
o You are aware of these memories.
● Logical
o Reason
o Objective
o ABILITY TO differentiate

40. The Dynamic
The Limbic System (emotional thinking) and the Cortex (logical thinking) are
both always in battle with each other.
This occurs during every minute in every decision that you make in BOTH your
personal and business life!

41. The “Limbal Hi-jack”
The “Limbal HI-jack” is when the emotional, irrational limbic system
thought process overtakes the cortexes, logical,rational thought
process.
Repeatedly, limbal thought hi-jacks cortical logical thought.

42. Maturity - What is it?
Maturity is the ability of the cortex to overcome the limbic thought,
urges, and emotions to make decisions - hence handle life.

43. Science Based Fact
● Everything that I present is based upon scientific fact.
● It is NOT chairside para-psychology where conclusions are made through theory.

44. Science Based Fact #1
Through modern neuroscience and imaging it has been documented
that stimuli (hearing, sight, smell, etc.) go to the limbic system
first and then to the cortex.

45. Science Based Fact #2
Neuro pathways have been documented showing a connection
between the limbic system and the cortex.

46. Science Based Fact #3
It is documented that there is a significant lag in time where sensory
data in the limbic system is processed before the data is processed in
the cortex.

47. Previous Question (Previous Slide)
If that is what management is why the heck am I not successful?
 Why do I lack growth?
 Why are profits shrinking?
 Why am I exhausted from the constant stress and anxiety from running a
business with staff?

48. Looked At: (Repeated Slide)
There must be a fault in my decision making process.
Either in one of the two areas of decision making:
● the data
● the thought process

49. The Answer
● The Fault is in my thought process.
● My Emotional Thought was clouding my Logical Thought.
● My decisions (thinking they were based on fact and logic)
were spoiled by my limbic system’s emotional thought.

50. My Conclusion
When making decisions regarding employees remove ALL emotional
(limbic - irrational) thought.

51. Solution
Implement a management system that removes all emotion (irrational thought).
Objective Management

52. Objective Management Uses
● Metrics
o Specific Data measuring a specific employee’s performance.
● Graphs
o A snap-shot view of the employee’s performance (created using metrics).

53. Metrics
Optician: Dollars or Sales
Receptionist: Accurate Check-ins per hour.
Doctor: Professional Fees Generated
Office Manager: Number of Highly producing staff.

54. Graph

55. Stellar Staffing - This is How I Do It.
Basic Premise:
A firm understanding in human behavior is critical in creating a
stellar staff: from hiring to managing staff.

56. Highlight
A business is not the machines, the pretty decor, the impressive building.
A business is people.

57. Highlight
● Regarding people there are two personality types:
o The Constructive Personality
o The Destructive Personality

58. Highlight
● Destructive Personalities Can be hidden via a person’s social front.
● People have
o Social front (fake)
o True core personality.

59. Personnel Assessments
Two things we must consider in personnel assessments:
● The employee’s social front versus true core personality.
● The employee’s objective data.
● The manager’s (your) limbic bias/clouding.

60. The Nice Associate Doctor
Dr. Jones is loved by
his patients. He stays
late calling them. He
personally walks them
to the exits.

61. The Quiet Meek Optician
Jane is a quiet pleasant
optician. She does her
work in an orderly
manner. She does NOT
socialize with co-workers
in or out of the office.

62. The “Gossipy” Optician
Sue is the optician who is
loud, talkative, and seems
to be a top producer. She
complains about the quiet
meek optician and tells the
office manager.

63. Highly Opinionated Front Desk Lead
Mary appears to be a strong
confident front desk lead.
She was promoted. She is
always giving opinion in all
areas of the office. Staff
upsets are frequent as she
gets in everybody’s face.

64. Conclusion
Objective Management
● Removes your emotion from personnel decisions.
● Is Fair to your staff as you do not input your irrational thought
● Helps you uncover a “fake” personality.