The second Tuesday of each month, practice managers and healthcare industry service providers gather at KraftCPA headquarters for the monthly Nashville Medical Group Management Association (NMGMA) meeting.

During the March luncheon, Marion Karr, executive vice president of Avery Partners and creator of Accomplishment Culture^©, spoke about the importance of creating mission-driven teams that develop self-awareness of internal motivation to maximize output. A classic win/win situation, employees who work in 'flow' accomplish more and feel more pride in their work, while employers optimize talents and skill sets.

Karr helps executive leaders and employees pinpoint the ways the organization is better because each team member is present. He has helped numerous healthcare organizations embrace the idea that teams are much more productive and derive genuine satisfaction when in a state of flow.

The flow concept was pioneered by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, a psychologist who has contributed significant work to the understanding of human happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment and creativity. The idea behind flow is that intense and focused concentration on the present moment allows one's subjective experience of time to be altered. Essentially, the more focused an employee is on their work, the more likely they are to get 'lost' in it and achieve a much higher level of productivity in a shorter amount of time. Karr said if employees can achieve flow in their work, they find the experience of their duties to be intrinsically rewarding.

He added when employers take the time to get to know their employees and the skills they possess, it is much more likely overall productivity and efficiency will increase along with employee satisfaction. Employers, he said, must find the best intersectional space where skills meet challenge for their employees in their daily duties.

"Performance drops in boredom just as much as it does in anxiety states," Karr pointed out.

His biggest takeaway for employers and physicians alike is that there is an importance in placing value in an employee's skills, hobbies, and activities. The receptionist who loves to check her Facebook and Twitter accounts might be the perfect person to put in charge of keeping the organization's social media accounts current. The social nurse who gets everyone together for lunch could be just the right person to plan the office holiday party or patient appreciation event. Ultimately, employees who are allowed to tap into skills they enjoy take more pride in their work and produce a more accomplished, thoughtful product.

WEB:
NMGMA
Avery Partners