Dos and don'ts for team building: Avoid cookie-cutter team training

Each dental practice is unique, with many variables involved -- from the practice owner's vision to patient demographics. For this reason, the best team members should be trained to meet the specific needs of your practice and patients. Obviously, the quality of the training has everything to do with your success as a business.

Find dental-knowledgeable experts to provide training. Although many lessons can be learned from the business world about how to run a dental office, some of the most important points can be "lost in translation." Only dental management and marketing experts can adapt proven business systems into effective tools for use by practice leaders and their teams. Training prepares staff for the day-to-day realities of providing oral health care.

Don't assume that hiring someone from another practice is the best approach. Even if you find an excellent team member with relevant experience in another dental office, it's unlikely she'll be able to just walk in and successfully operate your systems -- which should be customized and, therefore, different from what the new employee used before. Training will be necessary anyway -- which means that, in some cases, someone without dental experience could be an equally wise choice.

Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the founder and CEO of Levin Group, the leading dental practice consulting firm in North America. For the complete list of dates and locations where you can attend his latest seminar, visit www.levingroup.com/gpseminars.

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.