How to Set Goals for Your Already Busy Equine Vet Team

View the original article titled, "How Can I Set Goals for My Already Busy Team?," published in a supplement of the December 2024 issue of The Modern Equine Vet.

As an equine veterinarian, I know how easy it is to get caught up working in your practice — but it’s also important to work on your practice. And while scheduled appointments, emergency calls and piles of paperwork are enough to keep any team trotting in circles, taking the time to set goals can keep your path straight and true.

Here's how you can start thinking about the goals that will set up your practice for success.

Be SMART About Goals

When setting goals, knowing where to start can be the hardest part. At my practice, we use SMART goals to clearly define our objectives for the year. The SMART framework states that your goals must be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

SMART goals provide clarity for the habits and actions your team must take to reach practice milestones.  

"Atomic Habits" author James Clear said, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” In other words, focusing on your processes, patterns and habits will help you achieve your long-term goals and aspirations.

At Clay Creek Equine, we create specific team goals, like increasing the services each staff member offers at appointments or leveraging technology to manage inventory or minimize missed charges. These goals translate into greater overall productivity and increased employee skill sets.

Include Your Team

Involving team members in the goal-setting process is also important and can promote a culture where employees feel more motivated and more accountable for overall practice productivity. Our practice is small enough that we are able to have weekly check-ins with employees where we can honestly assess progress on individual goals.

Larger practices can set aside time for group meetings that allow the team to create and track their goals together. These meetings can also help break down larger goals into more digestible, short-term actions.

Reevaluating your goals periodically may reveal that your practice isn’t on track — that’s OK and even to be expected! Recognize the work your team is doing and adjust where needed. Keeping an open line of communication and intentionally pivoting shows you understand your staff’s situation and appreciate the effort they put into the practice’s success. 

Achieve Your Ideal Practice Picture

As practice owners, we need to accept the fact that setting aside time to make goals and manage our team members is worth it. Running a practice may feel like keeping up with a stampede, and it can be difficult to step away from clinical work, but we are responsible for helping our employees craft fulfilling work lives — which will ultimately improve practice productivity as well. Setting goals empowers us to run our practices and not let them run us!

Learn More About Growing Your Practice

CareCredit is passionate about empowering technicians in their financial, emotional and professional growth. You can discover resources to help technicians grow in all three areas of their job in our Equine Care Resource Center. And you can sign up for a Financial Care course sponsored by CareCredit, where you’ll earn eight hours of RACE-approved CE upon completion.

A Flexible Financing Solution for Your Equine Veterinary Practice

Looking for a way to give your clients a flexible way to pay for care throughout their horse's lifetime? Consider offering the CareCredit credit card as a financing solution. CareCredit allows horse owners to pay for equine veterinary services over time while helping to enhance the payments process for your practice.

When you accept CareCredit, clients can see if they prequalify with no impact to their credit score, and those who apply, if approved, can take advantage of special financing on qualifying purchases.* Additionally, you will be paid directly within two business days.

Learn more about the CareCredit credit card as a veterinary financing solution or start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.

Author Bio

Stacey Cordivano, D.V.M is the founder and owner of Clay Creek Equine Veterinary Services in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She is also the host of “The Whole Veterinarian Podcast,” where she shares financial education and personal development topics with her veterinary colleagues. Dr. Cordivano is currently serving on the AAEP Wellness Committee for the 2022-2025 term, and is a co-founder of the Sustainability in Equine Practice Seminar and Retreat series, which hosts a small, in-person event annually.

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