At what point do we business owners and managers risk the breakdown of the chain of command if we fraternize with our employees? I often think about walking the line between being friendly with my staff and maintaining a distance and creating and maintaining professional boundaries. This is not an egalitarian society and my medical practice is not a democracy. There are times when it should be a 'meritocracy' and times when it should be a 'boss-ocracy'.The managerial style I employ in our small office is often messy and slightly chaotic. The assumption is that the people I have hired to work in my practice are very capable of sorting themselves out, getting their work done and being productive without a lot of oversight. When left to themselves with a minimum of direction, the staff perform very well on the whole. If there is a personality blow out or conflict I note the nature of the dispute, see who the players are, decide if I need to intervene and then we all go back to work.
One of the best things about working with the same team is that we can all read each other's moods and be respectful of each other....most of the time.
If I do choose nicknames for my staff they are names like; 'Red Dog', 'Tex', 'Pumpernickle' and 'General Patton'. When they think of nicknames for me, the name they pick better be a cool one.
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