Team Behaviors

                

Dear Doctor,   
Do you ever wonder if an employees' particular behavior is truly helpful?  Using the list below you can set expectations for your team and then your job of holding them accountable becomes much easier.  Go over the list with your team and give them examples to consider for each area you feel is most important.  Stay tuned for future blogs regarding employee confidentiality and an example of a "full value" contract.
Sincerely, David Milligan

  TEAM BEHAVIORS

Help the Team                                                           Hinder the Team

Be on time                                                                   Lack of accountability

Participate / volunteer                                                 Resist new ideas

Engage in open, honest communication                     Uncooperative. Refuse to communicate

Build on others’ ideas                                                 “Yes, but . . .” talk

Be optimistic / positive about the team                       Being negative and critical

Criticize ideas, not team members                              Attack personality, personally           

Provide leadership when needed                                Selectively interpret ideas, events, and actions

Follow-up when promised                                          Do other distracting work / activities

Pay attention                                                               Keep up side conversations / don’t listen

Take problems seriously                                             Avoid decision making

Be courteous, honest and trusting                              Engage in name calling, being rude, refusing to trust team members.

Use “we” expressions and thoughts                           Use “you” statements

Support each other                                                     Create sub-groups

Show commitment for making it work                      Express resignation or futility

Display a sense of humor                                           Act bored, refuse to pay attention

Self-doubt anyone?

Are you feeling self-doubt? Or questioning every decision you make?

Too much self-doubt will enable you from taking care of you, your staff, your patients and your practice. If you wake up in the morning worried about the results of a decision you made or if it takes you days to determine the appropriate course you might be undermining your leadership power.   

It might be time to turn it around. It can be difficult to make determinations for the organization. Sometimes as leaders we are forced into making a decision without all the facts. It could be a patient who doesn't give you all the information upfront or an employee who misinforms you. No matter the situation when making decisions we need to demonstrate a certain level of confidence to succeed.

Confidence comes from knowing the right questions to ask yourself when you are in the middle of a situation. Here are five questions to help guide you to the right answers:

1.     Are you doing it for the good of the patient and your office?

2.     Do you have a clear vision and plan of action?

3.     Is there a better way that would result in a more positive outcome?

4.     Do you have support?

5.     Have you consulted the research or other professionals on the matter?

You may not need to ask yourself every question in every situation. However, these five questions can help guide you when making more difficult decisions for your practice.  

For more information please visit us at www.saltdpm.com and follow our blog at http://saltdentalpracticemanagement.blogspot.com/

 

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

Digital Dental Photography

This week's Salt Blog is featuring a special guest:  WIAND Dental Laboratory in Scottsdale, Arizona.  

   
They provide a variety of supports and services. You can locate their website for more information at WIAND Dental Laboratory.          

This week's Salt Blog is featuring a special guest: WIAND Dental Laboratory in Scottsdale, Arizona.  They provide a variety of supports and services. You can locate their website for more information at WIAND Dental Laboratory.                              

A Tip from WIAND: Digital dental photography can help increase patient acceptance and provide valuable information for you to better help your patients receive the care they need. What else can digital photos do for you?  

"A picture is worth a thousand words," and when you have a picture insurance companies will not be as likely to deny a claim if they have a picture to support the problem.

Patients are more likely to be on board with a treatment plan when they are able to clearly see the problems going on in their mouth.  If you take digital photos you will be able to upload them to a small computer, IPAD or Power point and clearly show your patients what is going on in their mouth.

 If you want to use digital photography it is important in order to receive the high quality product your patients want and deserve Wiand Dental Laboratory can help. Dr. Steven Goldstein, an expert in both dentistry and digital photography, will teach you how to incorporate digital photography through live hands on demonstrations and assistance.

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Urgent Vs. Important Part 2 of 2

URGENT AND IMPORTANT
Part 2 of 2

Urgent and important deals with significant results that require immediate action.

 We react to urgent matters. The activities in this area would be considered a  
crisis or problem

By:Robert Kraft

             Results – stress, burnout, crisis management, always putting out fires.

If your focus is always on crisis management, it’s like a pounding surf.  A big wave comes and knocks you down and slams you to the ground and you’re wiped out.  You stand back up to face another one that knocks you down.

The Plain Truth

Some people are literally beaten up by problems all day long.

URGENT BUT NOT IMPORTANT

A lot of people spend time on urgent but not important  They spend most of their time reacting to things that are urgent, but not important.  Put plans in place that help you be proactive when Crisis happen.  Work as a team to implement and support in order to fix problems quickly and without derailing other important matters in the office.   

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A Lesson Learned, "Nathan's Hot Dogs" How pricing affects your bottomline

Photo by: Nathan's Hot Dogs

Photo from: http://nathansfamous.com/PageFetch/getpage.php?pgid=39

You might be asking what can we learn in the dental field from a story about a man who sold hot dogs? Well a lot actually.

A History on "Nathan's Hot Dogs

 

"It started in 1916 as a small hot dog stand on Coney Island.  Nathan wanted to undercut the competition and so he sold his hot dogs for 5 cents.  However, according to an excerpt from Sway, by brothers Ori and Rom Brafman, no one bought them because they didn't believe in the quality of the product.  "People believed there must be something wrong with them if he was willing to sell them so cheap."

How does this affect you in the dental office?  Finding the right balance when pricing your product can be tricky, because we aren't talking about a tangible product that people can feel and taste.  We are talking about experience and education, dental supplies, time, and relationships.   

You don't want to have your business prices too low, because you may wind up with no one to sell to, however, if your prices are too high patients may not be able to afford your product.  How much are your services worth? How much you should charge? Does the market always determine your worth?

Nathan's products did so well because he was serving a quality product.  In a world where hundreds of dentists exist and people could go anywhere it is important each interaction and every procedure with your patients is truly a quality product with nothing but the best inside.  His product was a unique recipe and he believed in this product so much it did not deter him from his pricing choices.

Everyone has a product to sell and they must believe in themselves, their office, and the job they are doing.  However, a quality product must be delivered every time for patients to believe in your services.  Nathan didn't need to sell his hot dogs for only five cents, because others were selling theirs for ten cents, but his quality product trumped the believe that his hot dog's weren't as good as the competitions'.

Today, Nathan's is famous and many individuals such as, "Al Capone, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, and Cary Grant ate his hot dogs.Last year there were over 360 million Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs sold! Today,Nathan’s is sold and enjoyed in all 50 States and sold at over 20,000 foodservice and retail outlets."   

Although, you may never have anyone famous come into your office and buy your services, the product you produce each day matters to the patients you have now.

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Original Lesson By: Lenora Milligan Salt DPM President and Consultant

You can learn more about Nathan's Hot Dogs at http://nathansfamous.com/PageFetch/getpage.php?pgid=39

"The Inevitable"

By

Debra Quarles

Summer can mean new goals, new opportunities and new ideas. All of which translates to change. Why is it when we hear the word change our heart starts to beat a little faster? Our palms get sweaty? We begin to panic a little?

According to philosopher Heraclites, “There is nothing permanent except change.” In our lives we’ve seen this. We see seasons change, yet change still has the power to unsettle us.  As a coach and consultant I implement and initiate change. So one of the first things I do is ask, who likes change? Invariably there will be one or two who raise their hands—but the majority will tell me they are creatures of habit. I’ve found even those who tell me they like change are only referring to changing their living room furniture, the car they drive, or their hair color. When it comes to change at work, doing the things we do every day, change is difficult.

So why change at all? The results you currently see at work are a reflection of your current behaviors. In other words, your current patients, your current stress level, your current salary, your current value are all based upon what you currently are achieving as an individual and a team. If you want different results, you will have to learn to do things differently.

          

  Here are some tips for handling change:

·      Understand why the change is necessary. We are much more accepting of change when we can understand how it will work to ease our day, increase our production or result in a better quality product.

·      Accept change willingly. You cannot prevent change from happening. In fact the act of resistance actually makes change worse. If you were to sit down in a straight-backed chair and have someone push against your outstretched hands, you would find that by resisting you actually give them the power to tip or turn you. Instead relax your arms. I know this is hard, it is easier to resist, but by relaxing you will find you can’t be so easily tipped over. Fighting change actually makes it worse. Remember, welcome change.

·      Get started making the change immediately. Support and remind each other of the change daily. Keep in mind change creates heroes and heroines. Can you become the hero of the office by implementing a change that saves time, energy or money?

·      Learn to love your mistakes, they will occur, remind yourself again why the change is important and move on. Don’t tell yourself stories about how it was so good before the change; instead focus on the future.

Change is what propels us toward a more rewarding future.

Debra Quarles is a coach consultant with Salt Dental Practice Management. 

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Original Article published by

Tri-County Dental Society

15 Changes to a healthier, happier life: Part 2 of 2

 By: Lenora Miligan

Salt DPM Consultant

        Part 2 of 2

 

Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. Ready? Here we go:

 8. Give up your need to impress others

Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change

 Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

10. Give up labels

 Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer

11. Give up on your fears

Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. Give up your excuses

Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. Give up the past

I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up attachment

This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self-less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations

Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves.  You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

8. Give up your need to impress others

Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change

 Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

 Part 2 of 2

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