Independent, but never alone: Bringing VetFamily’s Swedish community together

Leading an independent veterinary clinic comes with challenges that are often shared by clinics everywhere. VetFamily Sweden’s annual member trip creates time to step away from the everyday, learn from each other and build relationships with people who understand what it takes to run an independent clinic.

This year, VetFamily Sweden brought clinic managers from across its community to Marstrand on Sweden’s west coast for a few days combining professional development, networking and shared experiences.

For Karin Ronander, Country Manager Sweden at VetFamily, the trip is an important part of what VetFamily offers its members. “The member trip gives our clinic managers something that can be difficult to find in everyday clinic life, time and space to meet peers, share experiences and openly discuss the challenges they are facing. Very often, someone else in the room has dealt with a similar situation and can bring a completely different perspective.”

This year, the group included many clinic managers who were joining the trip for the first time, bringing new experiences and perspectives into the community. “It was particularly great to welcome so many new clinic managers this year. The more experiences we bring together, the more we can learn from each other. That is when you really see the strength of the community,” says Karin.

From employees to media – communication across the leadership role

The theme for this year’s trip was “From employees to media – the role of communication in leadership.” A full day was dedicated to communicative leadership, led by Tobias Bigelius, Global Communications Director at VetFamily.

The choice of topic was deliberate.

Clinic managers communicate constantly: with employees, clients, colleagues, suppliers and sometimes journalists. They need to explain decisions, create engagement around change, handle difficult conversations, respond when people disagree and make sure important information leads to action.

“Communication is one of the most important tools you have as a leader,” says Karin. “Being clearer and more conscious about how you communicate gives you better conditions to lead your team, create engagement and move the clinic forward together. We wanted the day to give our clinic managers practical tools they could actually use when they returned to their clinics.”

Rather than spending the day listening to presentations, participants worked with situations drawn from the reality of veterinary clinics.

They explored their own communication styles, practised how to communicate decisions while still involving employees in the right way, worked through resistance to change and tackled difficult staff and client conversations. They also looked at how AI can be used as a practical communication coach, for example to test a message from the recipient’s perspective before sending it.

One principle ran throughout the day: Communication is not what you say. Communication is what happens with the person receiving it.

When the journalist calls

The day also touched on media handling, an area specifically requested by VetFamily members and increasingly relevant for veterinary clinics.

“Most clinic managers will hopefully never find themselves in the middle of a media storm, but knowing the basics of how media works and how to respond when criticism gains momentum can make a big difference,” says Karin.

The session covered some fundamental principles for dealing with journalists, difficult questions and situations where criticism can quickly move from an unhappy client to social media and potentially into the news.

Sometimes the best advice comes from another clinic

The learning did not stop when the workshops finished. Dinners, outdoor activities, boat trips, swimming and time together around Marstrand created plenty of opportunities for conversations between clinic managers about what is happening back home.

How are other clinics organising their teams? How are they dealing with recruitment or changing client expectations? What is working well? What have they tried that did not work? And what trends are others beginning to see? Those conversations are an important part of the member trip.

“There is so much knowledge within our clinics,” says Karin. “Our role is not always to provide every answer ourselves. It is also to bring the right people together so they can learn from each other. When clinic managers start openly sharing both successes and challenges, the value for everyone becomes much greater.”

And there is another important ingredient: having fun together.

Running a veterinary clinic can be demanding. Getting away from the everyday operation, spending time with peers and building relationships makes it easier to pick up the phone later when you need advice, want to compare experiences or simply want to talk to someone who understands your situation.

Independent, but never alone

The trip was supported by three VetFamily partners – MSD, Next2Vet and MWI – helping VetFamily create an experience combining learning, industry perspectives and time together as a community.

Ultimately, that community is at the heart of the member trip. Every VetFamily clinic remains independent, with its own identity, people and way of doing things. But independence does not have to mean solving every challenge alone.

“Our clinics value their independence, and so do we,” Karin says. “What we can add is the strength that comes from being part of something bigger, access to other clinic leaders, shared knowledge, new ideas and a community that understands their reality. You can be independent and still have people around you who want you to succeed.”

That is what Stronger together looks like in practice.