Writing Your Client's Journey: Interview with Jo Muirhead

 While blog posts are helpful, sometimes you just want to hear what someone else is doing and model things after them! That's what I'm doing with the regular "Writing Your Client's Journey" series and to kick things off I interviewed a very successful group practice owner in Australia, Jo Muirhead. 

Jo shares some excellent tips on things like streamlining, creating systems and encouraging your motivation to get paperwork done.

You'll notice some sound distortion in just a few spots but it's very brief and there's a ton of great tips so stick with it! And if you've only got a few minutes to check things out, scroll down further for the interview highlights.

My favorite quote from this interview is early on when Jo says about paperwork and systems, "If you can't learn to love it, you've got to respect it because hating it helps nobody."

In the beginning of her practice, she tried to customize her systems and forms to meet each individual client's need but then found out that wasn't working as her practice grew. So, Jo started to create systems for getting all the mundane but necessary stuff DONE.

Creating a system for yourself makes things more simple and easy. Without these in place, you can easily be distracted from the work you really want to do- your clinical work with clients. 

Prepare for growth by having directions for things written down for anyone who may need it later on (e.g. an assistant or a new clinician). This can save you hours of time... Jo and her team set up one system that turned end of month financials from a 10 day task into a two day task!

Specifically, some tips that Jo shared during the interview are: 

• Set up a checklist for each task

• Create a centralized place and system for all tasks

• Teach a child or a partner (or team up with another clinician) how to implement each task to identify holes in the system

• Schedule everything (especially notes and accounting)

• Use LastPass to manage all your passwords for every site that requires a password

Important things to focus on streamlining: Intake and discharge

Important things to keep up with regularly: Notes and bookkeeping

Jo also had a great tip for those times when you become overwhelmed by a task. Ask yourself, "What could I have done to make this easy on myself?" Then focus on changing that one habit to improve things in the long-term.

And the big payoff from putting in all this work? Once you have a clear idea of how long it takes you to complete a task, you can decide if it will be worth delegating and, if so, you know what to expect from that person!

Feel free to share in the comments below. What have you found helpful for simplifying paperwork and other administrative tasks? 

Want to learn more about Jo and the coaching services she provides for others? Click here to learn more!