Practice how you want to play

Week after week you practice making your office stronger, better, and more of a team. Or you practice driving your employees into the ground, negativity runs the group and your office stays stagnate. However, your before game practice is how your going to play the game.

My youngest son is on a swim team. Every week, four days a week they get in the pool and swim up and down the lanes on the short course. But in May the short course becomes the long course. However, we have so many kids on the team, that there is no room to turn the lanes to a long course. Last weekend we had our first meet. Our team really struggled. Even though the distance they were swimming was the exact same they have swam a thousand times, it was different and they had never practiced on a long course. It was sad to sit on the side lines and watch them struggle to do something, we as parents knew they could do.  But they had never practiced on this type of course.

The time to try something new isn't when the patient is seated in the chair. By the time the patient gets in the chair you should have practiced this event a thousand times before. For example, if your front desk is working on how they answer the phone, have them role play different scenarios with other teammates. If you are planning on telling a difficult patient they need to pay 1000.00 dollars before they can continue, then your office manager needs to practice how that is going to sound. They should have questions they think the patient might ask and practice there responses.

Moving Forward

 Richard Carlson says, “You are what you practice most.” If you and your team practice time management, respect to everyone, and solid patient procedures from the first time a patient steps into your office all the way to when they check out, you will build the practice you want. Chris Corrigan, "Alive in the process of Art," says, "what happens when we are confronted with a huge question, for which the answers are unknown? What happens when things shift in ways that we have never trained for? What do we do then?If you have trained as a martial artist or as an athlete, you will know that only with practice can you be ready to face the unexpected and create a good outcome." When you practice you will win.

Ask yourself what can your office become if you begin to practice something better today?

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Envision The Future

By: Debra Quarles
Salt Dental Consultant
Part 1 of 1

I’ve started a new exercise program and I’m really excited about it. I do twenty five sit-ups, twenty five pushups, and then I run a mile. After my workout I get out of bed. Whew! Laugh all you want but my pajamas are starting to fit better.

I read an article about a study where people were put in a room and told to concentrate on strengthening their pinkie for twenty minutes over a six week period and guess what – they strengthened their pinkies. It also worked for elbows and biceps. If it can work for them, maybe it can work for me and my abs, too.

The brain is an incredible tool, but you must use it or risk losing it. That is especially true when you are thinking about the forebrain. The part of the brain that lets you look into the future and dream about what could be.

Dentistry is an awesome career, (It has treated me well for twenty five years this month.) but in order to maximize your opportunities you must look to the horizon. What does a career in dentistry hold for you? Unfortunately, if you are not looking into the future you may be missing out.

The future is about:

· What patients we are seeing today and what will they require

· Anticipating what instrument the dentist will need next

· How you answer the next phone call

· How you will handle the next patients

· Scheduling the next appointment and collecting patient portions

· Finishing the day and achieving your production goals

· Finding opportunities today to learn new things

But the future is also about five years, ten years, maybe even 100 years from now. That’s what’s on the horizon. How does it look for you? How does it feel? What type of office are you working in? What kind of people are you working with? How have you contributed to the office and its growth?

It is important to realize that what you do today all has an impact on what you’ll experience in your future. If you haven’t taken the time to think about the horizon how do you decide what actions to take today? Everything you do today is taking you toward your future in dentistry, either good or bad. What are you doing today to insure that your career in dentistry is continuing?

If you would like more information, please contact us at info.saltdpm.com

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This article was originally published by Tri-County Dental Society Bulletin