Pick Just One - The Spill Over Effect

If an observation of the parking lot at the local gym on Saturday morning, January 2 is any indication that New Year’s Resolutions are alive and well – they are! It is that time of year again when most load up on resolutions after they have loaded up on holiday goodies. Getting in shape will be just one of a long list of things they intend to do.

Instead of a long list of resolutions this year, consider picking just one thing, or just a few. The power of picking just one thing has amazing benefits. Among them is what I call the “Spill Over Effect.”

Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University did an experiment over ten years ago wherein he asked a group of students to work on improving their posture for two weeks. As they did, these same students reported improvement in other areas of self-control when compared to others who were not working on improving their posture. In other words, strengthening the skills that are required to improve in one area will “spill over” into improved things in other areas.

Think of the many applications of the “Spill Over Effect” in the office. Pick just one thing to work on as a team and then think of the many other things that will benefit as a result.

For example:

• Improving telephone skills will also result in better overall communication skills in the office with patients and between team members.
• Improving the cleanliness of the lab will also result in overall cleanliness of the office.
• Improving accounts receivable balance will also result in improved financial arrangements as you discover that most of the A/R problems started there in the first place.
• Improving on-time arrival for the morning huddle will also result in a better job of staying on time during the day.

And so forth.

So pick “just one” area of improvement and all of the related skills that will be needed to get the result you want. Then, before you get started, just make a list of all of the other areas of the practice that will positively benefit as those same skills “spill over” into those other areas. If you pick the right “just one” area for improvement, the “spill over” effect can be even more beneficial than the specific result you were aiming for in the beginning.

The “Spill Over Effect.” It is the power of picking the right “Just One” area to improve this year.