“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
How many times have you heard someone in your practice say “That’s not my job!” or “I did it last time!! YOU do it this time”? Do you have time clock punchers, or team players?
Employees who truly have sense of TEAM don’t think along the lines of ME – Their thought process is “What is best for the practice? What is best for my doc?”. They might get a little miffed once in a while that everything seems to fall on them, and usually when you have an employee with a true sense of team, these things DO seem to land in their laps most often. Time to take control I say! Don’t let a good employee slip away because of lack of systems!
Do you employ time clock punchers or TEAM members?
Having clearly defined job descriptions and expectations outlined for each position in your office will enable your team members to take ownership of their positions. (If they don’t step up even after supplying them with the tools to succeed, it might be time to help them succeed elsewhere!)
Who’s got your back? By this I mean, who is the orchestrator of your office in all things running smoothly? Who is ensuring that you are able to do your beautiful dentistry and not have to go stomping up to the front desk to see why Mr. Smith isn’t here yet, or ask if the two hygiene holes in the afternoon have been filled…. This is information that should be supplied to you without asking………… be taken care of without prodding………
Why is room 3 still a mess from this mornings crown prep? Who is going to tear it down and for goodness sakes, why is the reception area a disaster after Mrs. Jones had her 3 kids in here this morning, and it’s now 2 o’clock and it still looks like a cyclone went through?
I don’t think a doc should ever, ever, EVER have to ask or worry about these things. They should be done, done by the first person who sees it, or better yet by the person who has these expectations outlined in their job description.
Holes in the schedule? Two front desk peeps saying “I’m not doing it, I filled the last one” or thinking, (without communicating) that the other will just take care of it, and then nothing ever gets done…………Unacceptable.
Every time you sit down for a crown prep, you find that something is missing off your set-up tray without fail? Ok, so now you are frustrated, ticked off, have to wait for them to go get it (quickly we hope) and just put you even more behind ……….. While you are waiting you happen to glance over at the schedule and see those hygiene holes for this afternoon are still empty, and that no appointments for tomorrow have even been confirmed yet…………. Now your anxiety is amping up even a bit more when the front desk peeps their head in and asks you if they can go to lunch a bit early today…………. Susie the assistant is in a bad mood because the other assistant isn’t tearing down room 4 for the next patient, she’s over gossiping with the front desk about the hygienist… The hygienist is now ticked off because she is running behind because no one informed her at the morning huddle that Mrs. Miller was having gum issues, needed to take an unexpected FMX and you are late for your hygiene check because you haven’t even started your crown prep yet! For Gosh sake! All you want to do is prep this crown! You want to do your beautiful dentistry and not have to deal with this crap! (can we say photo tray set-ups?)
Let me say it again. Systems my friend.
I find a lack of sense of urgency and a ME attitude as such a sign of disrespect to the doc….. and to the rest of the team. A lack of sense of urgency to me means that the employee feels pretty darn comfortable in their job and their minimal efforts. No one has ever told them different and so they do the least amount possible. The team member has a job because THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE to support the practice in reaching its goals………….. If they are not willing to step up, WHY ARE THEY THERE? And if they have a bad attitude on top of it all, oy vay! Why do you torture yourself? You are in the driver seat to right your ship – A plan of action, SOP manuals and clearly outlined expectations.
Lack of systems = Lack of success.
If a team member comes in on any given day and gives, lets say a 60% effort in their job and supporting the rest of the team and expediting patient care, would it be fair then that you pay them only 60% of their wage for the day? Heck no! They’d have a heart attack!!
Now I am not saying to kick all employees to the curb, not at all. Team members need direction. They need to know, and clearly understand your expectations of them within their positions – (SOP manuals anyone?) If these expectations are written down don’t you think it will be much easier to know who is meeting/exceeding your expectations or to help hold each team member accountable in reorganizing their efforts and overcoming their challenges? How can anyone meet your expectations if they don’t know what they are?
Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.