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10 Steps to a Happy Dental Team
No business can thrive and prosper when the people involved in its day to day functions view it as just a place to get a paycheck. If you have even the slightest suspicion that the team members in your practice feel this way, corrective measures need to be implemented as soon as possible. They begin with an honest evaluation of your practice management approach, personnel dynamics within the practice, the practice infrastructure, and your own attitude about your professions, staff, patients and work.
1. Set the Culture
Begin by recognizing that each person’s job is important or it wouldn’t exist. That makes every member of your team important. If your team members recognize that you value them and their contributions, they are likely to value themselves too. Good practice attitudes begin at the top. Individuals who are treated with respect will be more likely to treat others with respect.
2. Encourage Communication and Creativity
Remember that communication is a two-way street. The best way to keep traffic moving in both directions is to know when to speak and when to listen. Your team members are intimately involved with your practice and may have some very good ideas about how to improve it. Be open to their ideas, even if they come from unexpected sources. Ideas are migratory and they often flourish in new contexts. If you compartmentalize people and their ideas, you may lose valuable insights. The next time the front desk person has a suggestion about storing supplies or trying a new treatment plan, take the time to really listen.
3. Show Appreciation
Happy dental teams consist of individuals who, like all of us, like to be appreciated for the things they do. Thank people. Validate people. Compliment people. Pay people what they deserve to be paid. Wages should reward productivity. Bonuses should not be limited to those year-end checks everybody expects anyway; they should be a reflection of special achievements and accomplishments, awarded to individuals or departments with a note expressing your delight that something was improved, implemented, eliminated or initiated.
4. Stand By Your Man (or Woman)
People need to know that you support decisions they make, especially if those decisions are based on a sincere effort to evaluate and interpret information that is available to them. If the decision is sound, it should be acknowledged and praised. If the decision shows a less than perfect judgment call, review it for any merits it may have rather than simply trashing it. If the decision is the result of lack of knowledge, point the team member to the correct information. Some decisions made by team members may show a degree of carelessness. Responding to such decisions positively may require a tremendous amount of self-discipline on your part, but it will eventually yield the dividend you want -- someone who learns to be more careful and precise because this is encouraged and expected.
5. Make All Criticism Constructive Criticism
Practice moral is more important than you may realize. People know when they have or haven’t performed well. If team members see that your response to mistakes is constructive, they will be more receptive to your recommendations and advice. Focus on prevention of future mistakes rather than on belaboring the gravity of the mistake that occurred. Recognize that verbal abuse, no matter how great the provocation, is always counter-productive. Berating a team member, especially in front of other team members or patients, has no positive effect and can permanently damage the relationship you have with that team member.
6. Be a Buffer
Every business in which individuals come together to work together has the potential for stress and personality conflict. Effective managers encourage an atmosphere where real problems can be faced squarely because petty problems are addressed and dealt with quickly, efficiently and terminally. In a well-run practice, buffers make sure molehills remain molehills because they recognize that people have enough difficulty dealing with real crises.
7. Have Meetings
One way to make sure that all team members are kept informed is to schedule routine meetings. Meet with members of your staff one on one. Meet with specific departments. Meet with the entire dental team. Find out what is unknown or misunderstood. Find out what the misconceptions are and address them. Let your entire staff know what your expectations are, especially if those expectations have changed in recent months. Find out what their expectations are too. Are there difficulties they do not know how to handle? Are there questions about treatment plans, equipment or new products that have been introduced to the practice?
8. Have an Office Manual
An office handbook outlining specifically what is appropriate and inappropriate policy and protocol in your practice is invaluable. It establishes specific rules and guidelines on paper and prevents inconsistencies.
9. Review and Update the Office Manual Every Year
The business of dentistry is not inert. Things change and the changes that happen from internal or external causes may alter policy and protocol in your practice. Make sure that your office policy manual does not become obsolete. If the policies are outdated, update them. If there too many rules, get rid of those that are petty. Make it a team project. Getting team members to work on the updates serves several purposes: It will remind them that there is an office manual, it will encourage active participation in office policy, and it will show them their opinions are valued and respected.
10. Err on the Macro-Management Side, Not the Micro-Management Side
Give people increasing amounts of latitude as they prove they can live up to your trust in them. Allowing a degree of autonomy leads to creativity and resourcefulness. People who are allowed to be creative and resourceful enjoy their work. People who enjoy their work are more productive and more passionate about their work. Productivity combined with passion equals profitability. This is an unbeatable equation.
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