Are your tired of hearing, “Doctor, we’re working as fast and hard as we can”?
You see, the staff knows that this is the end of the discussion because the doctor just isn’t willing to invest the money or emotional capital that it will require to increase the office’s physical space. Also, they know that if they act like the doctor is questioning their work ethic, most of the time the doctor will back down sensing an impending conflict.
First off, the doctor needs to understand that it is up to them to coach the staff up to the point that they want to improve things. Whether it is with incentives or some other management tactic, the doctor must get the staff in the mindset that meeting office goals will make their individual lives better. Then, the staff must be willing to try new techniques that will ultimately improve the flow of the office and their own situation. Of course, things are always hard in the beginning. Nobody has ever said otherwise.
Listen very carefully. The days of being able to succeed as a dentist without actively managing the staff are drawing to a close. Success is still possible, but doctors are going to have to put forth the effort to KNOW that their staff is performing at optimal levels. Hiring too many employees and buying fancy new gadgets are now luxuries that the new rules of the economy won’t allow.
You must learn to set up great systems and monitor them, coaching all along the way. Then you will be able to not only maintain your current lifestyle, you might even be able to improve it.
I guess all this is the very reason that I decided to develop the Turnover Tracker into a piece of software that is easy to use for the dental office. I can see the future and realize that the days of simply drilling on teeth and making good money are drawing to a close and that the majority of our brethren have been severely handicapped by the ease that we made money in our offices over the last Golden Years of Dentistry.
Surely you can see the news channels and know that the profit margins we have taken for granted in our world are not normal in the rest of society. We have pretty much been able to spend a large investment of time and money on the front end (dental school) and reap the rewards ad infinitum by our talents. I’m not saying that we weren’t deserving. Lord knows that we put more of our heart and soul into our patients than anyone will ever know. But, there are lots of professions out there who could argue that they also deserved better profit margins that just never arrived.
We don’t have to give all that away! We just have to understand that we were in a great situation compared to most folks for a long time and that led most of us to some management styles that would have bankrupted most other small businesses. Of course I am preaching to the choir if you are taking the time to read this. But, you know a guy who might be guilty, right?
We just have to know deep down that we are getting a fair days labor for a fair days wage from the people we trust to work in our name. I think simple monitoring of our assistants is a great place to start. The best thing about our Turnover Tracker is that you don’t have to even do it yourself. You can just sit back and read your reports, then coach appropriately, even comparing your scores to other practices in the program.
Some of you are participating in the beta program now; others are going to start soon. As soon as we get all the bugs worked out, you’ll all get the chance to join this certification process and start building up that protective wall against the coming financial storms.
That way when your staff tells you that they just can’t do any better, you’ll know for sure just by clicking in and looking at the scores of your Capacity Academy brethren.
Once you discover the secrets that your staff members are hiding, you can break down the barriers that have sapped productivity and caused squabbling in your practice for so long. One of the greatest findings of Dr. Griffin during his consultation with dental practices has been that once everyone is aware of the few little things that have been nagging at them, they can resolve longstanding issues and enjoy fun, profitable growth to superstar levels. You can get your free CD explaining the 5 most common Staff Secrets at http://www.dentalstaffsecrets.com.