Empower your administrators and managers

Give your manager or administrator the authority to manage all employees. When physicians don't accord the office manger the full measure of respect for his or her skills, it puts the manager in a difficult situation.

For instance, when clinical staff have problems with office politics, they often take complaints immediately to one of the doctors, bypassing the manager altogether. The physician stepping in and solving the problem only undermines the manager's authority. Send the clinician back to the manager to work it out. The physician should only handle the dispute if the conflict relates to the manager.

It starts at the top. Physicians have to truly believe in their manager's skills and afford them proper authority to use them.