Do's and don'ts for team motivation: Inspire your team

How well your team performs is often a direct reflection of how inspired they are. Practice owners must take on the mantle of motivating their teams if they want them to serve patients exceptionally well, take pride in their work, and contribute to practice success.

Build motivation into your daily interactions with team members. Showing enthusiasm and other forms of staff "cheerleading" may come naturally to some dentists, but any personal style can be adapted to motivate the team. The practice leader must simply make an effort to motivate -- encouraging, gently correcting, complimenting, thanking, reminding, empathizing, etc. By learning to identify and take advantage of opportunities to make motivational comments, whatever the personal style, the dentist can inspire the team in many ways, every day.

Don't forget to set a good example. As the prime role model, the doctor can teach good behavior and inspire imitation of that behavior without saying a word about it. For example, team members can learn exactly what providing extraordinary customer service means -- and what is expected of them -- by watching how the dentist interacts with patients and shapes systems to increase patient satisfaction.

Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the CEO of Levin Group, a leading dental management consulting firm, and one of the most sought-after speakers in dentistry. Dr. Levin has authored 65 books and more than 4,000 articles on dental practice management and marketing. You can sign up for the Levin Group Tip of the Day.

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