Comment by christalwang | Hacker News Reader

Comment by christalwang | Hacker News Reader

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Yes! Actually we kind of have a soft rule that in the first few weeks we always make sure you get your session, even if it means rescheduling last minute. This isn't of course the best scenario for our coaches who are waiting on the other end, but we're happy to invest in this to make sure our members get off on the right foot (the onboarding call is very important and must happen to start the coaching relationship).

However, after the first few weeks, we try our best to uphold the policy because the nature of our coaching service (and we want to keep the integrity) is that the member is best fit to meet their specific assigned coach to continue the relationship (trust, openness, safe space, etc.). In practice though, as long as our coaches have time, most of them will offer a rescheduling of some sort. We do want to set good examples and boundaries and have members practice this wherever possible, while of course being sensitive to ADHD accomodations.

cc: OP, iamdbtoo

> We do want to set good examples and boundaries and have members practice this wherever possible, while of course being sensitive to ADHD accomodations.

I would include the accommodations in the policy, then. Right now, you have a strict policy with accommodations being hidden and handed out arbitrarily instead of making them default and transparent while the vast majority of your clients will require the accomodation.

I would also include the ability for the coach to notify the client they are currently missing the appointment. Time blindness is a very real thing and unless I stop everything I'm doing and stare at the Zoom screen there's a chance I will miss the appointment. I missed some doctor appointments this way, but if they had just texted or called me to break my hyperfocus, I would've hopped on the call right then.

Lastly, just seeing policies like this out in the wild would give me more confidence in the service you offer. Seeing the same policy that every other doctor has that ADHDers get "taxed" from all the time just makes me think you don't understand.

Good points. We will integrate this into the written policy.

And yes, we currently have a notification & text from the coach 30 minutes before appointment, and coach messages once they're in the appointment!

We also have a culture of being non-judgemental if someone misses or is late to an appointment. This is something several clients have cited as something refreshing and nice about Shimmer.

Mmm, yes. Totally understand. I think there's a few points I've noted today to better have our language to reflect our actual policies! Thank you for this.

Thank you for your ideas!

Yeah. I mean if people cancel 20% of the time then you could pay the coaches either way and then charge 20% more for the service. At least that is what I am thinking. Maybe it wouldn’t bother the coaches as much if they’re going to get paid either way. Maybe with limits to how often this can occur without a penalty.

Hm, yes. I like it, having kind of a grace period for a certain amount of times per month. This is something I've added to our list of things to look into from today's comments. Thank you!!

Give your clients alerts. Send me a text message 15 minutes before the appointment, if its time and you've been waiting for 5 minutes call me.

Yes I know I can set up calendar alerts, but odds are I screwed that up somehow, and a call will get through.

Bonus points for telling me not to feel bad and stress too much if I'm late. If it's an hour appointment and I joined 30 minutes in, that should be okay. Yeah I've lost the unused time, but otherwise that would reduce my stress.

Also I'd rather have a change under 24 hours, be accommodated (if it's possible on your end )without an extra charge.

I can definitely see myself the day before "going wait can we move our 3:00 to 5:00 instead? And if that's not possible I may just want to keep 3:00, but if it works for everyone I'd rather have 5pm"

Yes! We do 30 minutes before appointment, and coach messages once they're in the appointment! Affirming to hear your idea is similar.

We definitely have a huge culture of kindness, understanding, and non-judgemental-ness if someone misses or is late to an appointment.

Thank you for your ideas!

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