It’s everyone’s responsibility, yet no one’s doing the job
Are some jobs at your medical practice just too urgent or important to assign to specific people? That's the argument some practice managers and physicians make, e.g: "Phones need to be answered by the first available person, whatever their job" "Everyone should keep an eye on the fax machine, and deliver faxes they see piling up" "Let's all keep an eye on the reception area, to make sure no one's waiting too long" "It's the entire team's job to make sure the patient bathrooms are clean and stocked" When the entire team is engaged on these important, urgent tasks, the theory usually goes, there will always be someone available to do them, right when the need arises. Everyone will have an equal stake in making sure they'll get done -- right? Alas, no. Have you ever heard the amusing little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody? It goes like this: There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.* There is a lot of organizational insight packed into that little verse. When something is everybody's job, it's effectively nobody's job. Nobody is actually accountable to do the work, and everybody can rationalize that they thought someone else would do it. When everyone has other work to do that they believe is important, they'll be more likely to assume someone else will take care of the group responsibility. We have worked with several practices that have applied this "everyone's job" idea and been very unhappy with the results. Laurie, they say, why aren't the staff answering the phones? We tell them over and over that everyone has to answer the phones! Instead, our messages are piling up, patients and other doctors are complaining, and nobody's getting the help they need when they call.