How to ask the right questions

You have now learned and practiced not answering all of the problems for your staff, but you may often find that when you ask your staff questions about how to solve a problem the answer you get is, “I don’t know. Or what do you think we should do?” How you ask the question matters as much as what you are asking.

How do you ask the questions to get people thinking? Different types of questions have different components. Some questions, asked are not actually questions. Some questions are asked and you already have the answer.  And other questions focus not on the answer but the problem. In order to ask the right questions to get your employees thinking it takes practice.

Focus first on the problem? Ask questions that give individuals an opportunity to really look at what the problem is. It might not be black and white.  It also may take some time to get to the real problem.  Identify who, what, where and when. Does this problem occur across multiple settings or with only a few patients?

Next, analyze the possible solutions. Do you need more than one solution because there are multiple problems? Or is one solution going to satisfy all contingencies. Do multiple individuals need to be a part of the solution because it impacts others?

Now, focus on implementation of the solution. Will it be easy to fix? Or will it take time to put into place? Who has to carry out the problem?

The more you can get your staff involved in the question asking phase the better they will become at asking the same types of questions when you are not around. And the more they will be able to begin this process for themselves. 


Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.

You don’t have to have all the answers

Situations of various natures arise in our day-to-day business. However, you don’t have to always be the one with the answers, but you may also need to create the right questions in order for others to be able to think through everything and create the next solution.

In today’s society it can be easy to want to give the team the answer and move on. However, if you do this what happens on days you’re not there? Or when you can’t answer a question right then and there? The front office needs to be able to handle problems for patients without having to ask you. Back Office needs to be able to problem solve with patients while you are busy completing other tasks.  Teach your team to think for themselves by practicing the following activities:

1.     Complete role-playing activities for individuals to problem solve and practice dialogue.

2.    Ask questions instead of always giving the answer

3.     Create written policies that staff can easily access

4.   When something doesn’t work, take the time to reflect on why through asking questions and analyzing as a team

5.    Create solutions not more problems

Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.

Take a Break!

Do you feel that you never have time for a vacation? Do you wake up in the morning thinking about business and go to bed worrying about tomorrow?

It may be time for a break. Pack up your things and take a weekend away from the phone, the office, the bills, the staff and relax. It is easy to begin to get in the rut of business because you are so busy running yourself into the ground.

We all feel we don’t have time. We all feel that we don’t have enough money. But it is important that at times all of us take a step away from our business in order to regenerate and rejuvenate.  Increased stress according to medical reports cause, heart attacks, high blood pressure, restless sleep, tension, and can cause poor relationships with others.

It is important that every once in awhile you leave it all behind in order to take a stress free vacation that will help you come back to work on Monday refreshed and ready to handle the day to day stress of your office. Improve your overall life, and decrease your blood pressure.

Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.

Keep the Rock Rolling

Close your eyes, imagine your legs flexed. Your hands on a rock. You are slowly taking a step up the hill. One step at a time. You're almost to the top and you stop for just a second to take a break. 
 If you stop, rolling what happens? 

Will it flatten you or will you have others on the side of you to stop it from taking you down the hill with it? That depends on you. Leadership is a tough roll and it can be very stressful. You can come to work and feel that the weight of everything lies on your shoulders and your shoulders alone. Being alone all the time, keeps you in the center of the rock all the time, just waiting for you to stop.  

Leaders recognize they do not have to carry the burden of being a leader alone. They actively seek out other professionals that have the same beliefs, or have been in similar situations that can provide support for them.

However, it is important as a leader to help keep you afloat when times are rough to have partners or others that will help support you.  Professional relationships can help you get banking suggestions, staffing support or patient help when a patient is suing.  There are hundreds of organizations and other dentists that are out there that can help you build up your leadership support. 

No one should push the rock up such a big hill by themselves.

Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.

Take Action

At some time in your life you have probably watched a game that went no where. You sat for hours while a team kicked a ball back and forth. While neither team ever scored the winning goal. The heat and pressure is on, but yet no one wins. The coach yells, the team re-huddles and the second half of the game starts. But still nothing. No action and no change. The coach switches out a player, the team get's excited and still nothing. The end of the game can't come soon enough. The players sink off the field and come back two weeks later. Only to have a repeat. So, what's the problem?

Leaders must take action!

A team doesn't win the game by sitting in a huddle discussing or chatting. A team doesn't win by a pat on the back and a high five. A team doesn't even necessarily win because they can run the fastest. They win because they take action on the field. They may jump over another player, dive, or complete some fancy passing and foot work. Whatever, they do. They don't stop moving. 

Great leaders win because they focus on a specific target, and do what it takes to reach that goal.  They do not stand and wait for the action to come to them. Great leaders realize the steps that must be taken for the office to reach that bonus or increase the number of patients and everything else moves around that goal. Become laser focused and determine what action you must take in order to build the office you want to have tomorrow. 

Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.

 

Find the Paradox

As it is the New year it is a great time to look at things from a new fresh perspective. Think about the people and procedures that you have in your office. Do any of them seem like a paradox?

For example, your front office says they are happy but when you come around the corner you hear them complaining? Your website says that your office is warm and inviting but your tables are cluttered and your front office has dark lighting?

Now, is a great time to look around and analyze the staff and the situations in your office that are creating a paradox for you. As the leader in the office you are the one that leads the charge on the day to day. You have a lot of responsibility and one of those it to look at situations abstractly, and determine if what your team is doing matches to what image you want projected to patients.

Some things to consider:

Does your staff say one thing but do another?

Does your office reflect the image you want it to?

Do you state that recare is top priority but put it to the bottom of the pile?

Does your social media sites reflect match the image you want reflected?

Does your schedule match how product you want the office to be?

Even though paradoxes always exist it is important that you are aware of them. Fix which ones need to be fixed and analyze those that need to be analyzed further. Leaders can feel at times that they are in the middle of the pact and our refereeing  a game. However, if you slow down and help both sides to see the paradox that exists or work through it as a team you all will win. 

Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.

What does Salt DPM have?

There are hundreds of dental or business consultants that can help take your business to the next level. So, why SALT DPM?

We have a variety of supports that we can provide to meet your needs without loosing the small feel of our business. Although, you may work with one consultant from week to week, there are others on our team that will provide support to you in a variety of areas if it is needed.

Our dental consultants have over twenty years of dental experience in the field. We know dentist offices however, we also understand and know business.

We do what it takes. Our fees don't include specific services, because we will do what it takes to help your business be successful. This may be one time a month face to face meetings. Or it may be support in the area of social media. Whatever, your needs our team goes above and beyond to help you and your team reach their full potential.

We don't have other companies that we push you to use. Your business decisions are just that. Your business decisions. Our job as your consultant is to support you. We will be your coach, your guide but we are not there to push places or ideas on you.

Salt DPM is your consultant today, for a stronger office tomorrow.

Choosing a Consultant

As you enter the New Year you might find yourself wondering what you can do differently to improve this year. You might need to clean out the cob webs or improve a working relationship with a staff member.

You may need to look at re-care and improve patient follow through. What ever the case maybe, there are individuals out there that can support you.

A dental consultant can provide a variety of supports and services for you. However, let's look at whether you think you need one at all. Answer this short quiz to determine if you are in need of support.

I. Do you have changes you want to make but don't know how?

II. Does your staff struggle to get along?

III. Are you loosing money?

IV. Do you have all the patients you want or need?

V. Has your business grown stagnate with the times?

If you answered Yes to any of these questions. Please give our consultants a call today and set up an initial discussion to determine if we can help you more.

Salt DPM

Handling change

We live in a life where there are unknowns everyday. Crisis that we have to handle, ambiguities, stressful situations, and disruptions in our business. However, if you stop life waiting for it to settle down you will be waiting and weathering the storm for a long time without the necessary skills to move forward in your life.

Today's world takes a high level of ability to work within an unknown world where change occurs often. There are thousands of things that are going to happen everyday that you cannot control. The coffee pot might break, your kids may wake up grumpy, and patients may cancel because of money. You can't control any of that, but what you can control is your attitude and reactions towards these things.

In today's world according to Leadership Every Day, You also need to be resilient. Transform yourself and your office based on failures you've experience or current trends that will help move your business forward. Find out what patients want more of, and where employees stand on issues? Improve your ability to handle problems and move forward when things don't work. New programs, techniques and billing programs are being developed everyday. Capitalize on this change and be a catalyst for embracing what is different in today's business world.


Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.