Demystifying Strategic Planning with Jake Waas

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All of our plans for 2020 flew out the window due to the challenges we’ve faced with Covid. Now that we are approaching 2021, how should we plan? 2021 seems just as questionable as 2020 has turned out to be, so why bother? Strategic planning is</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">still</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">just as important now as it always has been. We tend to be afraid of what might go wrong and because of that, we just don’t start. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today’s guest on the VHMA Podcast is Jake Waas, an owner and practice manager in California. He is definitely the “Culture Guy,” because his team is a crucial part of his practice’s strategic planning. Although this year has turned out to be vastly different than they had planned for, listen on to hear how Jake managed to make the most of 2020 and his tips on moving forward into 2021.</span></p> <p> </p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Show Notes:</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[1:47] - Jake considers himself a “culture guy” because he likes to get the feedback of the team and have them as a part of the process.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[2:07] - Ideally, strategic planning would take place on site to discuss in person a lot of goal setting for the next year, but Covid has made things challenging.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[2:51] - Generally, people think about strategic planning as a numbers game that is only concerned with money. But hiring, staffing, and equipment are also a part of this process.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[3:48] - Jake says that they are always focused on improving their client service, quality in medicine, and making it a great place to work. They start planning on how they can raise the bar in these areas.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[5:59] - Debbie notes that the numbers are the easy goals to set, but changes in staffing and unexpected repairs