In the midst of holiday shopping, parties, and visiting family and friends (or having houseguests descend upon you) it might seem out of the question to even think about planning for the new year. But plan you must if you have big practice goals for 2010. Here are a few things you can do now to establish the foundation for success in the new year.

1. Schedule weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly staff meetings now for the entire year and communicate the dates/times to all employees so they can put them on their calendars now.
2. Send out a brief questionnaire to all staff members and practitioners in your office asking what they feel should be the top 3-5 priorities for the practice in 2010. Share the results during a January staff meeting and use the information to solidify your business goals for the year.
3. Review your 2009 finances and draft a budget for 2010. Set goals for gross charges, collections, and operating expenses by category. Make a list of planned capital expenses. Set the bar high for keeping revenue up and spending down. If you agree with the philosophy of giving bonuses based on specific goals, build in incentives for employees to engage in helping make your practice highly profitable.
4. Set aside one day (or a half day if that’s all you can spare) between now and the end of the year to clean and organize your office. Purge old files, straighten up storage areas, have the windows washed, ask your janitorial service to do a “deep clean,” and throw away or donate anything not being used around the office. Sound daunting? Think it’s not worth the time? Consider for a moment how good it will feel to start the new year off in a state of complete order.
5. Begin thinking about how your practice can contribute to the community you serve in the coming year. What local charitable donations will you make? How much flexibility can you offer to employees who want to spend more time volunteering? In what ways can you educate residents of your community about how to stay healthy? Success is about much more than what we take in each year; it’s also measured by how we contribute.

Bonus step

Come up with five of your own unique steps for success, in addition to the ideas in this post. Every practice is different and you probably have ideas about what you can do now to make 2010 a great year.