“Top Obstacles to Achieving the Ideal Practice.”

This week… one of the barriers likely to be interfering in your ability to reach your goals. Next week I’ll discuss proven solutions.

      Do you have a team? Or do you have factions – cliques that are built upon exclusion rather than inclusion, where not being "in" translates into not having the essential information, support, training,

tools, or common goals to do the job, let alone do the job well. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. It’s not unusual to see clinical staff banding against the business employees and vice versa creating tension, conflict, and an all around difficult work environment. Take a close look at your practice. Do you have a team that clicks or a staff that cliques?

Cliques can be extremely counterproductive and, consequently, expensive. These non-productive units of exclusion reject key players, making it impossible to establish a true team that works effectively together. The problem becomes particularly serious if critical practice decisions are being made without input from those who are not part of the clique. Or if essential information is not shared with those who need that information to effectively carry out their job responsibilities and duties. Or if the treatment of some staff is noticeably different than the treatment of other staff. Teams, not cliques, make the dental practice successful. And, again, if you missed it the first time I said it, cliques are COSTLY.

When this type of conflict arises in your office, the single most important step dentists can take is to address the issue head on. Like termites in your floorboards, it quietly eats away at your practice infrastructure and is undermining your every effort establish a practice built on excellence.

Effective businesses operate well because of effective teams. Each person has a different work style and behavioral approach that they bring to the unit, but the overall focus is on the goals and objectives of the whole. In other words, members of a team recognize and want to be part of something bigger than themselves. The reward comes in the success of the team when the overall goals and objectives are met.

Next week, taking the steps to build a team that clicks.

Interested in having Sally speak to your dental society or study club? Click here

Technology Tool Box

How An Ailing Business Foundation Can Cause “Digital Chaos”

        Last month, I presented a general theory about dentistry … business foundation, and the application of technology. If you didn’t read last month’s installment – you can find it here. This month I want to give you a clearer picture of exactly what “business foundation” really means.

It makes ZERO sense to apply progressive and automated practice management principles to a dental practice with a weak business foundation. Many dental practices have skipped their business foundation and have automated fundamentally weak business foundations. A high percentage of our new McKenzie Management clients are afflicted with what we call “digital chaos”. Digital chaos is defined as “the acceleration (automation) of poorly planned or designed business principles.” Digital chaos is a perfectly understandable phenomenon. There are four components within the phenomenon as follows ...

Patients
Technology
Staff
Business Principle

List in order of preference, the component you feel you understand, have the ability to control, and can manage best. Would your answers be in the order above?

Depending upon your age and progressive nature, you might have switched technology and staff but 90% of you would be comfortable with that list in the order presented.

So what does that mean? It may mean that it is perfectly understandable for you to spend your technology dollars on things you understand, feel you have control over, and feel confident about. That’s why I believe SO much money is being spent on patient centric technology, i.e., clinical charting systems, Intra-oral cameras, digital radiography, patient education systems, cosmetic imaging systems, digital cameras, etc.

Meanwhile, many practices complain of having too high an overhead and limited profitability. Might there be a cause/effect relationship here?

Before the technology companies, successful high tech dentists, and other technology writers email me rebuttals and case studies, please let me say the following: Nobody and I mean NOBODY has a greater passion for a truly automated, successful, high tech practice. That’s part of my point .....

In order for the “really” successful high tech practices to get where they are, they had to pay attention to the business foundation of their practice. They didn’t just go buy a bunch of stuff, install it, and POOF – it happened by magic.

Next week I will discuss what compromises the Business Foundation in order to secure a High Tech future.

Interested in having Mark speak to your dental society or study club? Click here