How is it September already? Goodness knows where summer went. Frankly, the question has to be asked; did we even have summer this year? I might have missed it with all the rain! Once holidays are over, schools go back, and supermarkets start selling off their remaining bags of barbeque supplies at half-price, it’s common to feel a bit flat. Today’s blog recognises this natural slump in motivation, and suggests some people-related projects that could be used to keep teams moving forwards.

The suggestions are a mixture of the useful, the wholesome, and the fun. But any of them could be worthwhile for your practice. Have a read through and see if any catch your eye as being suitable for your practice’s situation.

Autumn jabs

It’s the biggest annual event in most GP practice calendars, so has to be mentioned… vaccinations. How can your team work together to manage this mass migration of patients into your waiting rooms successfully? Good communication and dialogue are key, of course, but could you also set yourselves some formal/informal targets and team rewards along the way?

Policies and audit work

Not a particularly exciting suggestion either, but there’s probably some work along these lines that has been on your to-do list for a while. Why not tackle it with help and input from your staff? Getting processes and paperwork in order can often be surprisingly satisfying in the end, and your team may appreciate being asked for their assistance and opinions. Policy Manager can help you work and collaborate as a team on Practice Index PLUS policies!

Learning and development

Do you have an ongoing year-round plan for your team’s learning and development? If not, this is a good time to think about it. Talk to individuals about their training needs (including, potentially, their future career plans) and get people booked onto courses. You can also arrange more informal coaching and training sessions to widen people’s practical workplace skills.

Workplace wellbeing plans

Most practices are obliged to create and run their own workforce wellbeing action plans this year, so if you haven’t started yet, get onto this now! To begin with, maybe run some focus groups/surveys to find out how the team members are feeling, and what key areas of the employee experience you’d like to focus on within your plan. If you’ve already identified priority areas to enhance staff wellbeing, then this is a great time to be implementing stuff so that you’re ready to review the impact next year.

Refreshing your physical environment

How often do you refresh furniture and decoration in your practice? It doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive – just moving stuff around and hanging new pictures on the walls might be enough. Let staff take the lead with ideas on what they think could look good.

Don’t forget about noticeboards either. Refreshing these with useful and sometimes mandatory information is a good job to tick off the list, and can make your practice environment feel less ‘tired’.

Fun stuff

Do you have your staff Christmas meal/night out planned yet? Would your staff appreciate a team activity or get-together before then? Or how about some charity fundraising plans? Macmillan coffee mornings happen in September, and Children in Need is in mid-November. They’ll be here before you know it…!

Regulators love to know that practices are reaching out to local communities so there are good reasons for thinking out of the box when it comes to fun stuff. Maybe you could decorate for Halloween, tell ghost stories, and encourage kids to stop by in their costumes? Find ways to have a giggle – and encourage patients to join in!

The common factor in these suggestions is that they allow you to involve and include team members in projects that benefit them – and patients, the practice or others in one way or another. This is a great way to demonstrate empowering leadership, and to motivate a potentially flagging team. Yes, general workloads still need to be taken into account, but hopefully when projects are shared, they are manageable. Take things in small chunks, if need be, and keep listening to people all the way. Enjoy!

Susi O’Brien