Is “culture” everything? Depends.
For your dental group culture
the key word is “group.” It’s essential that your dentrepreneurial
culture - team by team - is aligned for service.
Bottom line: your dental group exists to serve your patients. Do that exceptionally and your team culture will thrive.
But fail to root out cultural viruses and both will suffer: your patients and your dental group culture.
You’re
familiar with the term as a dental professional. “Pathology” refers to
the origin and nature of disease in the human body.
The same can
infect a business or an organization such as your dental group. It’s
fundamentally anything (internally or externally) that prevents your
team(s) from achieving growth and profitability.
Organizational “pathologies,” like biological ones, have symptoms and causes. TWEET THIS
It’s much easier to pinpoint the symptoms.
- Patient dissatisfaction
- Decline in scheduling planned treatment
- Poor team and culture morale
- Team “friction”
- Inefficient systems and processes
- Inability to adapt to change or calls for improvement
- Lack of unity and consensus on organizational vision and processes
Any
of these symptoms or a combination of all will produce a dysfunctional
team culture. More so, it’s no “fun” to work in such a place.
Diagnose or die!
Sound
drastic? Perhaps, but keep in mind you’ve banked your future on being a
Dentrepreneur®? and building an organization around individual team
cultures that produce exceptional patient care.
Would you
treatment plan without an adequate diagnosis? It’s vital to apply the
same skillful diligence to your dental group culture if you want to
assure ongoing success.
It really comes down to this
Alignment. At every level of your dental group management structure you must seek alignment.
Remember, alignment is not necessarily agreement. Nor is it “my-way-or-the-highway!”
The What and How of Alignment in a Healthy Dental Group Culture
Cultural clarity
Your dental group culture values must be clearly defined, easily articulated, and consistently communicated. TWEET THIS
Get buy-in on the basics of what it means to be part of your team(s).
- Loving what you do and who you get to do it with.
- Energetic leadership that creates a positive environment for your team culture and patient care.
- Accepting responsibility for protecting the sacredness of your team culture.
- Doing what you say you’ll do, sharing the load, and asking for help when necessary.
Perhaps
you noticed an acronym (L.E.A.D.) in the first words of the previous
points. Stay tuned as we explore those in future posts.
Team unity
Unity trumps hierarchy. Why?
Hierarchy
is deadly to a team-based organization. It’s a pathology that has
sickened many an otherwise productive and healthy team culture. TWEET THIS
A
unified, more flat organization, can improve individual team member
performance more than “pulling-rank” that asserts a misguided sense of
authority.
Be aware of “red flag” team issues. Hierarchy not unity will often be at the root of them.
Open communication
Honesty purifies conversations. Where it’s lacking culture suffers and at worst, dies!
There’s no room for “griping” (to put it mildly). It feeds office politics and is unhealthy for your dental group’s culture.
Frontal
conversation, yes. Encourage face-to-face, source-to-source
conversations around worthy issues and your team(s) will flourish.
Begin
to diagnose your dental group’s culture and the individual teams within
it. Apply a fearless assessment of any misaligned symptoms or
pathologies that are having a negative impact on your internal and
patient relationships.
Stay connected for more on this theme. Contact us for assistance evaluating your team, your systems, and your vision for building a dental group as a Dentrepreneur®?.