Sally McKenzie

It's interesting the impact that "personality" has on the effectiveness of the practice, but few dentists are willing to acknowledge it. Fewer still consider the fact that when there is conflict and tension among the team, it is some of the worst marketing and patient relations a practice can engage in. Make no mistake, there's no fooling them. Patients can sense it immediately.

Conflict is a huge source of stress in the workplace. In the dental office, teams go out of their way to avoid confrontation and at an enormous cost. They tell themselves that the "go along to get along" approach is working. The irony is that what doctor and staff want to ignore patients can see plain as day. What's more, patients are already stressed out enough, if they sense more stress in your practice their desire to keep that appointment or schedule the next one falls even further down on their list of priorities. 

The good news is that when managed, conflict can be highly beneficial in helping the team to improve systems that directly affect patient opinions of the practice.  The greatest cause of conflict in the workplace typically is the fact that individuals fail to really understand one another. Rather, they assign labels to what they don't understand or what they think they see in another's behavior. If Carol doesn't say "good morning," others assume she's "rude." Or if Paula procrastinates on some of her duties she's "lazy." Amanda is "controlling" because she likes certain things done a specific way.

It's easy to feel negatively toward people who exhibit behaviors that we don't like, don't agree with, or simply don't understand. For example, it is common for extroverts to label their introverted colleagues as being "stuck up" or "moody" because extroverts don't understand that introverts simply don't share the same communication style.

J. Breck Magill, DDS

Wouldn't it be great if you could have all of the business management details done without a worry?  You wouldn't wonder if all of the

• Primary and secondary insurance claims were submitted
• Overdue accounts receivable were contacted with chart notations
• Recall efforts were completed
• New patients received a welcome letter and did all those that referred receive a thank you
• Appointments were confirmed
• Did the backup get run and taken off site
• And did the Daysheet get balanced along with the preparation of the nightly deposit

I used to struggle with this one in my office.  Finally I came upon a concept that was so simple.  Do it once!  Do it once caused us to sit down and talk through what needed to be done every day in the front office.  We came up with what we nicknamed the Cookbook Calendar.  Much like a cookbook, the ingredients for our success were laid out in detail and placed on a weekly calendar.  We blueprinted the ideal week after brainstorming on what we needed to accomplish in week 1 of any month and then week 2 and so on.  What were our priorities for those tasks and who was going to be responsible for each specific task?  This eliminated any cause for hurt feelings or miscommunication between staff members on who was going to do what and when.  From then on the cookbook calendar was printed each week (week 1, week 2, etc.) and placed in an inconspicuous area at the front.  As items were completed they were simply checked off by those responsible.

The real beauty of this effort was I didn't have to wonder if essential tasks were getting the attention they needed.  I could simply look at the printed cookbook calendar and visually see what was done and what was pending.  The staff was now free from micromanagement and felt truly empowered to succeed. 

Another benefit occurred when any member of the team was ill.  It wasn't hard to see what had been done and what yet needed to be accomplished.  Still another benefit occurred when we hired someone new.  They immediately knew what was expected of them and could be coached on learning those specific tasks first. 

So if you want to cook up the ideal week .....put your heads together and develop your own cookbook for success and reduce the stress!

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