Chances are that you want your dental practice to be a smooth-running operation. A place where your staff enjoys working and your clients feel safe and comfortable. You want everyone to do their part so you can focus on the oral care of your patients.
This is a goal of most, if not all, dentists and can be achieved with proper staffing and training. You may be wondering how you can create and foster that kind of healthy work environment?
Let’s go over a few of the key factors that most healthy practices share.
Clearly Defined Roles
It’s not uncommon for most dental practices to be small with very few people on the payroll. This is sometimes necessary in a business that is just starting out, but as you grow in size some of the habits are hard to change. One of the most effective ways to create a healthy workplace is to make sure that everyone knows their role in the office.
With written goals, priorities and procedures out in the open your staff will have the structure they need to help you grow. This can be done by writing down everything that needs to be done on a given day, week, month, etc. and then categorizing them by the person or job title that needs to handle the task.
Top Notch Office Manager
The office manager in a dental practice can be a linchpin or a thorn in the health of a work environment. If the head of your office is unable to relate to people in a polite and effective manner you will find yourself with unhappy patients and drama amongst your staff. This can lead to lost sales and high turnover.
Think of your manager as a person who is going to recreate themselves. Eventually, you will have an entire staff that is just like your office manager. Does this worry or excite you? The answer to that question may be a key in your overall workplace success.
Confront Issues Quickly
You may have pursued Dentistry because of the career opportunities and the ability to help people live better, but you may not have considered the need to deal with issues amongst your staff. Sadly, there will be a wide range of ‘people issues’ that will arise in your practice. Not dealing with them quickly and professionally will take a toll on morale and performance. Avoiding confrontation is only temporary until the situation comes to an unavoidable clash.
Taking time each week to discuss issues with your office manager and dealing with them accordingly will help keep them from festering and spreading to the rest of your employees.
These ideas are a start to improving the overall health of your dental practice. Strategic Practice Solutions can help you improve and grow your business.
Click below to request your FREE Dental Practice Assessment today!
Strategic Practice Solutions, LLC