4 ways to build a true dental team

In a recent article in this series, I wrote about the challenges of staffing the dental practice over the next few years. We have seen team members who did not return from the COVID-19 shutdown, those who returned but did not remain, and those who ran into all kinds of personal issues, as well as a pending shortage of trained dental staff. Now that we understand that we are facing some new challenges that will be with us until we see an increase in the number of trained staff, dental practices must figure out how to build and retain a great team in the current era.

Team building

Dr. Roger P. Levin is the executive founder of the Dental Business Study Clubs.

The subject of team building is like the topic of customer service in that it has been talked about for decades and yet still operates in many cases at an embryonic level. Almost every dentist that we meet has the intention of building a great team, just as he or she intends to have excellent customer service. In reality, we often find that the intention is not matched with the necessary strategic approach, resulting in lost productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

I believe team building is more about art than science because team building is about people. We can apply scientific management methods to production, scheduling, inventory, financial management, financial strategy, insurance analysis, and a host of other areas. These areas can all be analyzed and broken down into spreadsheets, and decisions can be made based on the core values and vision of the practice. This is the easier part of dental management.

The harder part involves the management functions that deal with people, such as team building, case presentation, managing no-shows and late patients, and even the dental laboratory. These are all areas where you must deal with people, human psychology, and human behavior. Building a dental team requires the art form of leadership. True team building is the solution to maintaining the best possible team.

By true team building I am referring to an approach that brings the team together in harmony and efficiency every day. Practices that build true teamwork will have happier and more satisfied teams, staff members who want to remain with the practice, and a rapid indoctrination of new staff members when hired. True team building is the strategic solution to the staffing challenges and impending staff shortages we are seeing in dentistry today.

Here are four ways to create the right environment and team:

1. Be transparent. The first strategy in building a true team is to be transparent. We have entered a business era in which in almost all industries -- and in companies from Fortune 500 on down -- the employees want transparency. They don't want lip service, insincerity, or to be kept in the dark. We know of one practice that had a team member call in sick because she needed to get tested for a possible COVID-19 exposure. The doctor didn't tell the staff and after the team member tested positive, the remaining staff found out through social media. The staff members were very upset they had not known such important information, and two resigned. They didn't leave because they were concerned about COVID-19. They left because they were furious they had been kept in the dark. Maybe this is an extreme example, but the bottom line is that team members today want to know what's going on.
2. Choose compassion. Team members today also want to know the leadership of the practice cares. We worked with one practice that had five doctors and 40 staff members. The doctors had regular meetings each week, which we put in place as a method of doctor communication and decision-making. We quickly found out that the doctors weren't sharing their decisions with the rest of the team. As decisions were made that affected the entire practice, we started a concept called the "Monday sheet." It was a sheet of quick bullet points listing the decisions, and team members were encouraged to email the responsible doctor with any questions. It literally took about 10 minutes to create the bulleted list, which was usually less than a half a page and made the staff feel included and part of the process. Offering to answer questions further advanced the feeling of team building and team harmony.
3. Rely on your resilience. The leadership of the practice must be resilient. Resilience is the ability to change quickly when necessary, and with the COVID-19 crisis the ability to change has never been more necessary. In the last year, dental teams have been through a shutdown, a reopening, a race to secure personal protective equipment (PPE), health scares, family concerns, children being in and out of school, and so on. Doctors who are resilient have had much greater odds of success and recovery and, equally important, they have had a huge impact on team building. When the team sees that they work with transparent and compassionate doctors who are working in the best interest of the practice, they will rally around the doctors to help in every possible way. One way to galvanize a group is to work together through a crisis. Your team has been through enough ups and downs in the last year to come together and truly feel like they're making a difference.
4. Expect the unexpected. Be honest with your team and let them know that everything won't be smooth in 2021. It will be a year of gradual progression of improvement and things will get better, but not overnight. There may be some unexpected bumps such as a colleague who has tested positive for COVID-19, a one-week practice shutdown, some team members who are unwilling to get vaccinated, or team members with family issues. Let your team know that if you all work together, the opportunity to make progress is far greater. Encourage everyone to focus on contributing to the improvement of the practice and their own role in helping team development and dynamics.

Summary

Every dental practice should know that building and maintaining a superior team in challenging times takes new approaches and strategies. Implementing the four recommendations above may take time, but it will take much less time than continually recruiting staff when team members leave. Team building is possibly the most powerful solution to maintaining a team with harmony and efficiency and keeping practice productivity at high levels.

Dr. Roger P. Levin is the executive founder of the Dental Business Study Clubs. To contact him or to join the 40,000 dental professionals who receive his Practice Production Tip of the Day, visit www.levingroup.com or email [email protected].

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