Understanding Your Business Values
Identify your business values? This is the most critical step and yet, the one most massage therapists overlook. Do some soul searching and get a crystal clear idea of what matters most to you as an individual first and then as a company. Your values form the base of your business and should influence every decision, from what kind of logo you print on your business cards to the business partners you seek.
Developing A Value-Centered Business
How we approach our Massage Therapy or Wellness practice in terms of the ‘why we do it’ as much as ‘how we do it’ sets the framework for those qualities in action. Businesses that embody the values, life values, such as are honesty, integrity, directness, loyalty, balance, humor, spirituality, communication, time, compassion, flexibility and service, will promote a place and sense of wellness that will attract and keep customers.
As therapists, whether we are supporting the young athlete, person disabilities, mum’s to be, our aged community or people who simply need to relax or attend wellness issues, a person centred approach places the client front and centre in your treatment protocols.
• Person Centred Thinking
This is seen as ‘the foundation for person centred planning’ and a set of values, skills and tools used in getting to know someone, what they find important and what they want out of life.
Person centred thinking can be thought of as a philosophy, a way of thinking or mindset which involves viewing, listening to and supporting each person based on their strengths, abilities, aspirations and preference to make decisions to maintain a life which is meaningful to them. Person centred thinking is the basis for action in all kinds of situations, helping us plan, organise, and to understand and connect with communities. It is seen as the foundations of how people (and organisations) work with people
• Person Centred Planning
This is a way of discovering what people want, the support they need and how they can get it. It is evidence based practice that assist people in leading an independent and inclusive life.
Person centred planning is a set of tools for change at an individual, and an organisational level. It shifts the power from professionals to people who use services.’ Person centred planning puts each person at the centre of the planning, listens deeply to them (where relevant their family), learns over time what it is they want for their life now and in the future, and then acts on this. Person centred planning is the basis for problem solving and negotiation to mobilise the necessary resources to pursue a person’s aspirations. Your role as a therapist will for only part of the resources in a client’s own network of health and non-medical specialist and service sources.
To understand more about a Person Centred Approach in Massage Therapy, the following documents provide insight from working with aged clients, clients with disabilities to establishing a ‘Person Centred Practice Approach’.
> Guide to Implementing Person Centred Practice – working with aged care clients
> What is a valuing people resource
> Person Centred Practice Approach – working with clients with disabilities
MassageToday Person-Centered-Care-Why-It-Matters
Developing Business Values
- the principles you stand for personally – for example, integrity, perseverance,
- determination, innovation, respect, passion and fair-mindedness
- the beliefs and attitudes you and your staff have in common in the workplace – how
- people should behave, the way managers should act, how work should be done, how staff should treat each other at work
- your organisation’s standards of behaviour – what is acceptable business practice.
- From a customer viewpoint, values are the kind of service they can expect to get when they deal with your business.
Take a look at the documents and toolkits below
> Identifying and Establishing Business values
> The Smart Way To Set Goals for Massage Business
> Smart Goals Wise Goals – Reflect Your Business Values
One of the true joys of being in business for yourself is that you set the rules. Think about all the things that annoy you about other businesses and do the opposite!
