Bateman Team Conflict Ea
Bateman Team Conflict Ea
Bateman Team Conflict Ea
Bateman Team Conflict Ea
Bateman Team Conflict Ea

Can We All Get Along?

July 13, 2012
If you have procedures in place to resolve issues, build trust in the office, and emulate a great chemistry, your practice will reflect a successful and less stressful business.

The morning huddle begins. Someone is pouting, someone is angry, someone is talking about how irritating the patients will be today … and on and on and on.

There seems to be so much management required in today's dental practices. The dentist has to spend more of his or her time as a manager than as a practitioner. Why can't everyone just do their job and leave the dentist alone?

Unfortunately, you are not alone in your practice and that means you have to manage people. Not only do you have to manage people, you have to do it skillfully to get the best results from your staff.

Managing a group of staff members is more of a job than you probably were aware of when you started your practice. You must know how to zig when they zag and lead in the toughest of times.

I have put together a list of situations and solutions to refer to when you encounter tough times. The steps are primarily centered around how you can help staff members focus their attention and their activities on supporting the business.

If you manage your staff members well, the practice will run smooth as silk. If you ignore the warning signs signaling problems in your practice, you will lose control. The overall common theme to these suggestions is communication. Communicate how you feel often, and focus on achieving patient satisfaction and practice success. You maybe faced with some tough decisions, but hang in there: you can make your team successful!

One of your office procedures should cover staff interactions and how to handle conflicts. Discuss how to approach every situation. Dentists and their teams must trust each other as they work together as a team. Last, but not least, an atmosphere of respect must be established to enhance staff "chemistry."

Order: Every decision, interaction, and conflict has to follow an orderly process. Through order, your best decisions, interactions, and conflict resolutions will naturally be resolved by following the process. The process to remember is that the patient comes first, the practice comes second, and the individual comes third. If you follow this thought process, most situations will be easily resolved.

Patients comes first: Fulfilling patient treatment in a professional and efficient manner is the first rule of order. Always strive for the best treatment and solution for the patient. If you do this, you should be able to resolve 80% of all office issues. If a staff issue comes up that involves a patient, the staff member needs to resolve it by considering the patient first before his or her personal needs. If the issue is not patient-related, then apply the rule of the practice comes second.

The practice comes second: This area usually comes into play when dealing with money, office polices, and staff interactions. The practice must make a profit to pay the staff, the power bill, and the other business expenses. This consideration should always be applied when collecting fees, filing insurance, and making sound financial arrangements. If you have staff members who do not get along or staff members who arenot following the rules, always ask them, "Is this the best outcome to serve the practice?" Petty conflict takes time, reduces profits, and eats away at efficiency. Playing referee is not what the dentist should be doing day in and day out. The dentist should ask staff members how they would handle a conflict when weighing all the factors involved and how the outcome affects the practice.

The third and last order is the individual comes third. Staff members need consideration when it comes to scheduling their time, their pay/bonus, and their responsibilities. If there is a conflict and the first two rules of order do not resolve an issue, then consider individual needs. All individual needs should be considered equally, but individual needs should never outweigh the needs of the patient or practice. If a staff member is very self-centered and insists on his or her way in the issue, perhaps you should consider hiring a replacement. Open communication about personal needs and how they affect the business needs to be documented and emphasized to all employees.

As long as we remember the order of patient, practice, then individual, then priorities can be set to resolve every decision.

Trust: Frequently, conflicts occur because there is a lack of trust between staff members. Some staff members may gossip and/or bully other staff members. If gossip is occurring, you must stop it immediately. Pull the entire office staff together and tell them this behavior is immature and will not be tolerated.

Gossip and bullying are not that uncommon. You must have your antenna up to notice this and stop it from occurring. If it occurs once, it will happen again. So, communicate to your staff that you are aware of what is going on, and you expect everyone to trust and respect each other. Period.

You should set an example of respecting the opinion of other and trust them. Leading by example helps. Laugh off criticism and show your staff that day-to- day petty things do not matter. Many offices make it a practice to laugh about small mistakes and make light of it. We all make mistakes. Beating each other up about minor mistakes is a trust-killer. Lightening up the atmosphere keeps everyone happier and this more relaxed atmosphere translates to the patient. Patients see that everyone is happy, so they feel more comfortable being treated at your friendly practice.

Atmosphere: There is always a certain chemistry in every office. More than likely, you have created a certain chemistry that reflects your personality. If you are moody, the practice is moody. If you are upbeat and friendly, so is your staff. Nine times out of 10, your practice mimics your personality. So, be careful. Put yourself in your staff members’ shoes. Are you a good leader and a good boss? If you are, hats off! Your staff members probably have great chemistry and are great with your patients. Approach your day the way you want your office chemistry to be. If you are friendly, approachable, open, happy, and smart, then those words are great verbs to describe you and your office. Emulate this daily and you will create an atmosphere that delights your patients. Your staff members will be happy, and they will help you create a great atmosphere for your business.

If you have procedures in place to resolve issues, build trust in the office, and emulate a great chemistry, your practice will reflect a successful and less stressful business. You will be a trend-setter in management, and it will be easier to manage staff and patient relationships.

Give it a try and your next morning huddle will be upbeat and professional. I promise!

Maryann Bateman is a dental practice administrator in Charlotte, N.C. She has a BA in business administration and fine arts from The University of North Carolina and a BA in architecture from UNCC College of Architecture. She is a graduate of Sandler Sales Institute/Dunn Training. She continues to study how the dental and medical fields depend on sound business practices and sales/marketing. Her book, “The Front,” is now in print and online. “The Front” is a manual on how to run the dental and small medical practice front office. Bateman can be reached at [email protected].