Pharmacy is busy. That’s no secret. Between helping our patients at the counter, dispensing prescriptions, managing policies and paperwork, stock challenges, and the expanding range of clinical services, it’s hard to find time to catch your breath — let alone run a team meeting that actually helps. But that’s exactly why we need better ways to hear our teams and act on what matters most.

A lot of managers ask me how to empower their teams to take ownership, to come up with ideas and to make sure that what needs to get done, gets done. Sometimes the answer is close management, clarity over roles and responsibility, systems and training. But as your team matures and gets good at the basics there may be more value that you can uncover with a couple of simple techniques and a few ‘post-it’ notes.

As your team get more experienced, the challenge becomes less about making sure they tick the boxes and turn up on time, and more about how you can get great value from them and empower them to help you drive the business forwards.

I like to use two simple techniques to turn meetings into tools for better listening and action: Lean Coffee and SAVE. I’ve used them in boardrooms and basements, with tech teams and admin teams — and they’ll work brilliantly in your pharmacy too.

Let me show you how.

Lean Coffee: The meeting with a dynamic agenda

Despite the name, Lean Coffee isn’t about caffeine (although, it can be nice to buy everyone a coffee while you are doing it) — it’s about creating space for your team to discuss what matters most — to them.

Here’s how it works:

1. Pose a prompt: For example, “What’s one thing we could improve about how we work together?” or “What’s not working well right now”;
2. Write it down: Each team member writes one to three discussion points on sticky notes. You gather them up and put them on the wall/flipchart;
3. Vote: Everyone gets five votes to choose the topics they want to discuss (you can use sticky dots, but ticks with a pen work just as well);
4. Discuss in order. You start with the most-voted idea, set a timer for five minutes, and talk. When time’s up, thumbs up to continue or down to move on to the next topic — simple majority rules; and
5. Repeat: Continue down the list until time runs out.

The kinds of things that might come up are:

• “Our vaccination patient flow could be smoother”;
• “We can’t seem to manage our Healthmail Inbox well”;
• “Too many interruptions while dispensing prescriptions”;
• “The blood pressure check service doesn’t run well”;
• “Stuff gets missed on the dispensary diary/calendar”; or
• “Stock management has become difficult with all the supply issues”.

Taking five minutes to talk about these ideas could throw up some lovely quick wins and improvements that you might not have been aware of. More importantly, it’s a great way to get the challenges and ideas out into the open where you can do something about them, instead of leaving them being talked about in corners and during breaks where the frustration can just build.

Lean Coffee works because everyone contributes. There’s no set agenda. The team builds it live. It’s ideal for busy pharmacies where staff rarely get time to step back and speak up.

SAVE: Turn talk into action

What if the team raises some more complicated issues, that can’t be resolved with just a five-minute chat? That’s where SAVE comes in. It stands for:

• Silent writing;
• Affinity clustering;
• Vote; and
• Execute.

Let’s say you want ideas for improving how your team manages flu season:

1. Silent writing: Everyone writes their ideas privately — no interruptions, no judgment;
2. Affinity clustering: You stick all the notes on a board and group similar ones. You’ll see themes emerge like “booking system,” “dispensary flow,” or “fridge stock ordering issues”;
3. Vote: The team votes on what will have the highest impact for the lowest effort; and
4. Execute: You discuss the top items and agree on actions — who’s doing what, and by when.

The power of SAVE is that it’s structured, inclusive, and fast. Within 30 to 45 minutes, you go from a blank wall to a clear, team-owned improvement plan for the most important one or two initiatives they have picked.

In a pharmacy, you could use this for:

• Reviewing your SOPs and identifying what’s unclear;
• Planning the launch of a new service like blood pressure checks or the Common Conditions Service; or
• Helping new team members (or locums) give feedback after a busy week.

I once worked with a leader who used SAVE to tackle frustrations in warehouse. What emerged was a top issue she hadn’t expected — “unfair lunch breaks.” The fix was simple (a weekly rota and better communication), but the impact on morale and fairness was huge. That’s the power of listening well.

What makes a team resilient?

The best teams aren’t the ones with the fanciest tools or biggest budgets. They’re the ones where people feel safe, respected, and heard. They speak up when something isn’t working. They help each other out. And they adapt together when change comes —because it always does.

Pharmacy is evolving fast: New services, workforce pressures, increasing administrative burdens and a lack of integrated digital systems. That’s why pharmacy owners and managers need leadership skills more than ever. Not the kind that gives all the answers — but the kind that asks the right questions, listens, and responds.

Lean Coffee and SAVE are not miracle fixes. But they’re easy, human ways to start better conversations with your team. And when you do that, everything else — retention, performance, patient experience — can improve too.

So, try it. Run a 30-minute Lean Coffee next Tuesday. Just ask, “What’s one thing we should talk about as a team?”

Then do the hardest, bravest, most powerful thing a leader can do — listen.

James Louttit is the author of Leading Impactful Teams.

Workshop: Leading Impactful Teams and Tasks in the Pharmacy

James Louttit is Ireland’s leading expert in project management. He is running two half-day online workshops with the IPU Professional Academy entitled ‘Leading Impactful Teams and Tasks in the Pharmacy’.

When: Monday 6 October and Monday 3 November 2025, 9.00 to 13.00.

Where: Online.

Fees:

• €349 for learners working with IPU member pharmacies; and
• €425 for learners from non-member pharmacies.

How to enrol: Please follow the usual enrolment and payment process at ipu.ie > Professional Academy.