Dos and don'ts for team building: Turn a staff into a team

Team building is critical to the long-term health of the practice. The dentist -- no matter how talented -- cannot run the practice alone. To achieve a high-performance practice, you need to create a motivated, high-performance team. This can be achieved by implementing expert systems, training the team on those systems, and hiring the best team-oriented people.

Train the team. Once documented systems are in place, training the team is the next step. Doing things differently can be a little awkward at first, but with the proper encouragement, the team will understand it's necessary to improve the practice. As much as possible, the dentist should coach the team and provide feedback throughout the day.

Don't ignore team dynamics. Work to hire team players. Levin Group recently had a client who hired a superstar hygienist. This individual had been a proven performer in other practices, but her interactions with the rest of the staff were so condescending that the team began to fragment. Before hiring any new team member, the dentist should ask, "How will this person fit in with the rest of the team?"

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