Who watches who in the dental office?
Website design By BotEap.comSupervisory team – Here’s an area that needs to be addressed in the worst way. One of the quickest routes to the pure practice of misery that I am aware of is to attempt to govern your practice for yourself. Generally, the proprietary dentist employs one of two extreme types of government. Either the dentist will adopt the position of the dictator with an iron fist or the lovable, liberal, indolent democrat. Keep in mind that when I say democrat, I mean it without positive or negative connotation towards the National Democratic Party in these United States. Think more about the ancient Greek forums. I’m talking about a doctor who believes that he should vote for the entire staff before making a real decision in the office.
Website design By BotEap.comThis form of decision making can range from the most important decisions to what kinds of drinks to store in the staff room. I was once a victim of the democratic dental office system. I would put everything to the vote. One day, I realized it had gotten out of hand when the staff nearly came to blows over a decision about what kind of food to bring to one of our staff meetings. After that day I knew that I had taken a wrong path. The tricky part is regaining control and authority from your employees once they’ve had a taste of that power.
Website design By BotEap.comYou sure wish you were more of a dictator before that process is over, trust me. Of course, when it comes to landlord-employee arrangements, the dictator model isn’t that bad for the landlord. If the dictator is the right boy or girl, it’s actually a pretty good job for anyone. Just think, a person with full authority who is fair, true, wise and can leap tall buildings in one jump. If a pure-hearted person could take over that work and execute it properly, Napoleon’s method could work.
Website design By BotEap.comTwo problems with that theory. First of all, that person is very difficult to find, even if you look in the mirror. Second, to begin with, you really don’t want that system in place. Sure, it’s great to feel like the man and make all those big decisions, but you’re killing your productivity to play the great doctor. When it comes down to it, in America we don’t have to look very far for a great model. Representative Democracy with the maximum veto power of the Executive Branch is the way to go for the dentist’s office. Let me explain that to you and please forgive the comparison if you are a civics student. Do you know how, in the United States, we have senators and congressmen representing different states that have the authority and responsibility to make decisions for their people and also govern them? Well, in our practice, we set up team leaders to oversee their respective departments. This could be set up as the old school single office manager, a new style team leader, or with multiple team leaders depending on the size and scope of your office. I will give you an example of how it works in my office.
Website design By BotEap.comIt has been well documented by me that I was once a victim of Overmeeting syndrome. Once upon a time I had meetings in my office that totaled 356 hours a year. Oh! That’s almost 10 weeks of lost production time per year. Is it any wonder my overhead percentages were out of control and I couldn’t produce the large numbers I wanted? Now i find myself 1 hour every trimester with my 2 team leaders, Lupita and Connie. One represents the administrative office and the other represents the main office. I call you my clinical and administrative team leaders. If there are any questions, complaints, concerns, suggestions or problems of any kind, I DO NOT allow the individual team member to approach me directly.
Website design By BotEap.comMaybe I could solve the problem in a superior way as the would-be dictator that I am. But that is not the point. The point is, I want the practice to run smoothly with a chain of command without me making all the decisions. The team member with a question / concern goes to one of the team leaders to raise it. Not only do I give the team leaders the authority to solve the problem on the spot, I implore them to do so without even mentioning it to me. I don’t want to know. Of course, every team leader has the right to consult me and sometimes it is necessary, but 99.9% of the time I expect them to handle it themselves.
Website design By BotEap.comThis has been a wonderful thing for me and my family and has freed up countless hours of my time for other, more enjoyable things. The whole 3-day concept would not have been possible without a move in this direction.