Top tips for pharmacists who need to be babysitters

Babysitting is – or should be – a relatively simple job: you monitor situations with your charges so nothing gets out of hand. 

How does that apply to your pharmacy?

Ever find yourself working harder than you need to in the process of buying something for your pharmacy? When choosing a vendor, I have learned that I prefer to do business with those I can communicate with, which is a nice way of saying that I do not have to babysit them. 

In my experience, there are some common red flags that come up early in conversations that hint that the person about to offer you a service may need babysitting. That service can be a simple one-off purchase such as a time-delayed safe or one with intermittent service points like a new pharmacy alarm system. Or that service could also be a regular relationship such as when you’re considering hiring someone. 

In any time-investment activity, we need to decide how much babysitting is required and how much is allowable. 

Some red flags

When problems arise, we never want to be in a situation where we cannot exit from bad service. However, with some warning, perhaps we can save ourselves some time by recognizing that certain service providers are more trouble than they’re worth. Here are some common observations I have seen from those I need to babysit:

1. They talk in tangents. They are highly knowledgeable, friendly and chatty people who seem to jump around in topic. Since the conversation ends up lacking structure, they do not seem to remember everything they committed to and I often have to reach out for follow-up when too much time has passed without an update. While buying my time-delayed safes, the salesperson educated me on the various safe options, the mobile app, the fireproofing and the possibility to link its options to my pharmacy alarm. He also explained how they are made in the USA and take two technicians to install. 

2. They ask questions about simple items we clearly discussed. When I gave my safe contact a follow-up call after not hearing from him for four weeks, he asked if I needed one safe for both my pharmacies or two separate safes. Not a good sign.

3. They do not always think ahead. My safe salesperson arrived at the pharmacy after hours. He also did not have the master code to reset the entry codes. 

When identifying a provider as needing babysitting or not, your specific criteria will depend on project timelines, the vendors available to choose from and the time you have to give. 

How to work with those requiring babysitting

Since the products and services we can get for our patients, staff and businesses have tremendous positive impact, I have learned a few strategies for doing business with those needing a little more monitoring. 

First, lay out a frame work of expectations. Provide an agenda for the rest of the conversation when it seems to be going off track. For example:

“I would like information on the following three things: options of time-delayed safes, pricing and timeline. Would need to complete the project in the next six weeks with updates every two weeks so we can adjust as challenges arise.”

Second, get their direct telephone number or email. If they are easy to connect with, you will save yourself a lot of work instead of going through a help line, service desk or leaving messages with someone less versed on the project details. 

Finally, link them with another staff member of yours. This allows follow-up to be provided by another person if you are away to avoid holding up the project. It also means that you only get involved when matters become more serious. It frees you up to get other items that only the leader can do and provide autonomy and purpose to another staff member. 

By identifying early red flags and having a strategy at the ready, you can minimize unproductive time in monitoring others and focus on making your pharmacy better. 

For a deeper dive into this topic, check out the expanded article here.

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