How to Make Home Work Work at Your Practice

You might drive a hybrid car, which combines two or more power sources, usually a traditional gasoline engine and an electric motor. You might have done hybrid learning, which combines traditional classroom instruction with online, synchronous, asynchronous, in-person or remote education. And you might be familiar with hybrid art, which combines multiple forms or mediums, such as dance, music, video, painting, sculpture, theater, digital technology, sound and interactive elements. The common word in each definition is “combine.”

A hybrid veterinary team is no different.

In our industry, a hybrid team combines remote workers and on-site employees to collaborate and achieve shared goals. Some might work remotely on certain days and at the veterinary hospital on others.

Remote workforces grew in popularity during the pandemic and continue to gain traction because of the benefits to team members and their employers.

Why Hybrid Works

Remote work allows veterinary team members to reduce or eliminate stressful commutes and expenses involving fuel, meals and uniforms. It increases flexibility, improves the work-life balance, and reduces the number of interruptions involving co-workers and hospital activities. For the employer, hybrid work provides a leg up in the competition for job candidates, helps retain team members who might otherwise need to move due to family obligations, and improves productivity. That last one might come as a surprise.

According to a study published in Forbes, hybrid workers tended to be more productive than remote and on-site employees, and those with remote jobs put in nearly an extra hour a day on average. Another study reported that productivity was the same or higher when people worked from home instead of on-site. And Gallup research confirmed the productivity metric.

On the other hand, disengagement and burnout pose a heightened risk in remote work, especially when those team members are left out of on-site learning opportunities or lack contact with co-workers. The caveat noted in studies and surveys is that remote work may be more productive, but it is often due to working longer hours than when on-site. Still, a hybrid team is an efficient and effective way to provide veterinary services.

Suitable Hybrid Tasks

The first hurdle employers must overcome is the assumption that veterinary work can’t be performed in a hybrid setup. However, look at your hospital’s job descriptions and survey your team to gain insight into the tasks that require an in-person presence.

Some practices assign these duties to remote workers:

• Answering incoming phone calls. Doing it takes the pressure off on-site client service representatives, veterinary assistants and technicians.
• Client callbacks and follow-ups.
• Coordinating appointments with veterinary specialists.
• Booking appointments, especially for lapsed clients.
• Payroll, accounts receivable and bookkeeping.
• Inventory.
• Auditing medical records.
• Finishing medical charts.
• Confirming refill requests.
• Website and social media activities such as blogging, updating posts and answering chat questions.
• Marketing.
• Human resource management, including maintaining files, writing protocols, manuals and job descriptions, and employee scheduling.
• Producing productivity reports and monitoring key performance indicators.
• Hiring employees, including posting help-wanted ads, responding to candidate inquiries, reviewing resumes and conducting telephone interviews.
• Conducting telehealth and virtual visits.

Logistical Challenges

As you see, the list is limited only by your creativity and desire to set up hybrid and remote teams. In addition, the concept is evolving, so alerting team members about your hospital’s remote-work policies and procedures is essential.

The second hurdle is the logistics of setting up remote access and ensuring data security. The threat of hackers stealing critical information is a business risk, so clear guidelines are crucial. Some tips and other considerations are:

• Clarify a remote or hybrid worker’s job requirements, duties and pay, along with your expectations and expense reimbursement policy.
• Work with a reputable information technology company to set up remote access to your practice management software (if it’s not cloud-based).
• Establish reliable means of communication between remote and on-site teams.
• Ask your accountant about tax filing requirements if the remote worker is in another state.
• Confirm trouble-free internet access, both with connectivity and data plans.

The final hurdle is this: Out of sight does not mean out of mind. The management team still needs to monitor remote employees’ performance and include them in team-building exercises. The key is to promote feelings of inclusion and value and build connections to the hospital culture. Some ways to bond with remote team members are to:

• Use video conferencing to beam remote team members into meetings and encourage face-to-face communication.
• Be creative with team-building activities that everyone can participate in.
• Share hospital news, company updates and other news with the remote team as you would with your on-site team.
• Provide opportunities for remote workers and on-site employees to partner on projects.
• Plan in-person events. If remote people are out of state, consider sending them to veterinary conferences to connect with on-site team members.
• Recognize and reward remote and on-site employees equally.

Hybrid team members might still feel out of the loop even if they work some days on-site. Therefore, the management team must regularly touch base with all employees regardless of where they work. Just as a supervisor checks in with on-site workers and conducts daily huddles, practice leaders should do the same with remote teams.

Performance and Learning

Just because team members are off-site doesn’t mean you excuse them from efficiency, productivity and performance standards. Job descriptions for remote and hybrid team members must include clear expectations and defined objectives. For example, a hybrid client service representative might have traditional job duties and performance expectations when on-site and different responsibilities when working remotely.

Practice leaders must be keenly aware that time management is vital in either scenario. Remote team members who fail to complete assigned tasks at home cannot assume they get extra time to finish the job when on-site. Suppose a CSR fails to fulfill all the client callbacks from home. In that case, a supervisor should discuss with the employee the possible challenges, which might include erratic access to the practice software, poor time management or inefficient task prioritization. Accountability applies to any remote work, just like with on-site responsibilities. Regular evaluations and feedback also are essential.

In some veterinary hospitals, rotating remote work or providing remote learning and training is one way to reward on-site team members. Employees whose daily work in the practice is hands-on might welcome an occasional opportunity to work from home, reenergizing them.

Creating virtual buddies is another way to enhance the connection between on-site and remote team members and allow for some hybrid work. For example, a veterinarian who is an expert on surgical procedures could train on- and off-site employees during a learn-from-home day.

We all know the difficulty of dealing with interruptions when we’re busy completing daily checklist items, onboarding employees and managing the latest crisis. Off-site work is beneficial. All that’s needed is a willingness to do it.

DID YOU KNOW?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 23.7% of employees teleworked from home for pay in September 2024 — 12.6% some of the time and 11.1% all the time.

YOUR HOME OFFICE

A PC Mag article posted at bit.ly/4eDw7zz offers 20 tips for working from home. Among them are to create a morning routine, take breaks in their entirety, don’t hesitate to ask for what you need, keep a dedicated office space and socialize with colleagues.