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During the eight years I served in the U.S. Navy, part of my responsibilities as a Naval Flight Officer included controlling sets of jet fighters.
Traveling near the speed of sound, those fighter pilots had little room for error on my part. To keep our skills honed, we went through countless hours of training and re-training, including things we had learned in basic flight school and air controller school. We all knew how to get an aircraft from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ but we practiced doing that very thing weekly. I still have dreams about controlling aircraft, though I quit doing that in 1976! Why did we do that repetitive training?
These days, I make, dispense and repair glasses. While I don’t worry about high speed collisions in the air, I am concerned for the accuracy, precision and craftsmanship of our office’s products. I believe patients expect their optical practice to have those concerns as well. How can we meet those expectations? Train and retrain. I suggest a regular time set aside for training in new products and techniques and for reviewing things we learned some time ago.
Staff meetings are an ideal time for training. If you schedule once a month meetings that are devoted solely to training, it would highlight the importance to your staff of staying ‘on the leading edge.’ One person, devoted to organizing the training, would produce dividends well beyond just having an informational meeting. Training topics can be selected from things we do regularly, like proper dispensing techniques, as well as from things we don’t like to do, like dealing with difficult patients.
Every patient who comes to our practice is a potential purchaser of lenses, either regular or contact. When they receive their lenses, we may discover that they are a patient who inspects every little thing about their purchase, looking for any small flaw. That’s understandable, considering how much money they likely spent but it also represents an investment of time with them to ensure that they are satisfied. They will likely remind you, “I spent $700.00 on these.” Ever notice how some patients just can’t seem to be satisfied, no matter what you do for them? When we hear their name or see it on the daily patient list, we start trying to find a way to hide so we aren’t the one who has to deal with them.
A better strategy would be to get training on how to deal with such patients and how to adjust and repair their eyewear so that they find no fault. Yes, there are some who can find something wrong with the time of day and you will meet them if you stay in the optical business for any length of time. However, your confidence level in dealing with those types of personalities will go up as you get trained.
Regular re-training in check-in procedures will also help remove the causes for complaints at dispense time. As we cruise through the check-in of glasses, we can forget to make sure there are no lens flaws, frame scratches, loose screws (on the frame, not the patient), missing anti-reflective, lenses that don’t transition or change to the wrong color and, well the list goes on. Time spent with the training person watching and coaching others to standardize the check-in procedures will yield a positive dividend. Verifying the prescription, frame name and color, lenses, and treatments are all a part of making sure that, at dispensing time, we have eliminated many common errors that will embarrass us and the practice if they are discovered by the patient. All these are common and simple things to address but they can be forgotten if they are not reviewed regularly.
Resources for training are numerous. Leading eye care magazines have articles, lab questions, troubleshooting tips and the monthly quizzes for starters. ABO preparation books and videos can be important sources for training and can bring expertise beyond your staff’s ability to teach. I keep articles from a variety of sources in a large 3-ring notebook, so they can readily be referenced. I recently added two articles from an optical magazine, one on adjusting frames and the other on why patients return unsatisfied, just to keep me reminded about some important techniques that can prevent patient dissatisfaction and improve the quality of our output. Some vendors can provide training and they are usually eager to come to your practice, but be aware that their primary reason for visiting your office is to sell their products.
Establishing a monthly training schedule gives you at least twelve opportunities to talk about things that were learned perhaps years ago but are currently unused because they’re not being brought back to the surface. Keep a log of patient complaints or dispensing difficulties experienced during the last month and training time can be used positively for discussing those problems or complaints with the aim of preventing them. Staff training time is also a good time to bring up new products, tools and techniques. Lens manufacturers will willingly provide you with copies of lens cutout charts, availability charts and dispensing guides, all of which can be used to make sure we fit lenses properly and have a satisfied patient on the first try.
Training should be expected and required. In fact, CE should probably be required to qualify for annual raises. At our office, if you don’t get ABO certified within a certain period of time from when you begin work as an optician, your next salary increase will be after you do get certified. That’s not punitive; it’s setting an expectation for professionalism that goes beyond just so many years of work experience. Think about this quote: “I would rather have a person who has three years of experience than one who has one year of experience repeated ten times.” Each year, a true professional gets better at their job and a part of that is due to training and re-training.
Training can be in many different formats, including video, instructional, Q & A, dialogue, role-play and hands-on. Make it fun by offering prizes for correct answers. You could provide incentive to be eager and participative by offering a paid day off to the one who won the most prize opportunities in a 6 month period. Encourage contributions from staff members for training topics and reward them appropriately. Training doesn’t have to be dull at all – in fact, it shouldn’t be. It should be a time where your staff eagerly meets to make them better at what they do – for the practice and for your patients.
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