The only way to grow and scale a practice that can run without you is to build a hardworking team to support you. That’s why we make getting your team on board to grow your practice one of the first trainings in our Business Acceleration Bootcamps.
I recently had a conversation with a doctor who was so stressed by her practice, it was making her sick. She had physical symptoms. She had severe pain in her stomach. She wasn’t sleeping. She felt totally overwhelmed.
When I asked her what the issue was, she said her team wasn’t on board with her vision. She was practically desperate to grow her practice, but her team refused to do anything she asked them to do.
She couldn’t take a vacation. She was stressed. She even seemed to second-guess her decision to go to dental school.
My conversation with this doctor got me thinking about why we hire people and how we can position people to succeed.
Many times, dentists can make a big impact on their practice by making small changes in how they lead their team. They can do this by first refocusing on why they hire people in the first place. From there, dentists must make sure everyone knows what’s expected of them to position each team member to succeed. Finally, dentists must make sure they have the right people in the right seats on the proverbial bus.
Why We Hire People
When we take money out of our pockets and give it to someone else, we expect something in return.
It’s as true in dental practices as it is in restaurants, clothing stores, and coffee shops. We don’t give money to a restaurant unless they give us food in return. We don’t give money to clothing stores unless they give us clothes. We don’t give money to coffee shops unless they give us coffee.
When we hire people, we could do anything with the money we pay them. But we have things in our practice that need to be done and we don’t want to do it all ourselves. So, we take money out of our pockets and use it to pay someone to do things for us.
Many times, we don’t think of the objectives or the tasks that need to be done when we hire people.
We hire an assistant because we believe we need an assistant. But many times, we don’t consider the real reasons why we need the assistant. We hire people because tasks need to be done. We give them money so they can get tasks done and help us and our practices move toward our vision.
We don’t pay people to just show up. We pay people to perform.
Be Clear and Don’t Feel Bad
If you’re struggling to get your team on board, it’s sometimes because of a disconnect in expectations. Your expectations for them aren’t aligned with their expectations regarding what they need to be doing.
Thus, I recommend having a list of required tasks for every position in your office. Make sure every new hire sees what’s expected of them before they’re hired. Make sure existing team members know what’s expected of them. Be clear and don’t feel bad. When everyone knows what’s expected of them, your practice will grow, and your team will support each other.
If you need someone to call twenty patients every day who are overdue for treatment plans, they need to do that. If you need someone to call every patient on their birthday, they need to do that.
As a doctor and business owner, you shouldn’t feel bad asking people to perform tasks. You shouldn’t have to worry whether a team member is going to get mad if you ask them to call people.
That’s what you’re hiring and paying them to do.
This isn’t about being insensitive. It’s about making sure everything gets done and everyone knows what’s expected of them.
Position Your Team for Success
My team knows I love them and I’ve got their back if they need something. They also know exactly what’s expected of them.
Everyone in my office knows if there are 100 tasks on our task lists, they need to actually get done.
They also know if they don’t do the tasks assigned to them, someone else has to do them.
For example, my team knows my trays need to be done a certain way. I’m hiring them to do my trays, that way, every time. It needs to be consistent. I don’t hire them to get my trays done their way. I need it done the way I like it done. If they don’t do it that way, I need to get someone else to do it.
In addition, dentists need to consider whether their team’s personalities match their positions. Many times, team members struggle because they’re asked to perform tasks that don’t match their personality. For example, treatment coordinators need to be results-driven. People making birthday reminder calls need to be more personable and sympathetic. Front-desk people who greet patients need to be outgoing and positive. Backend support personnel need to be detail-oriented and analytical.
Before you hire people, I encourage you to not just consider people’s resume. I highly encourage you to consider the personality you need for the position as well.
Is Your Team Supporting Your Practice?
If your team has you stressed, one of many things could be happening. Have you documented the tasks you need them to perform and communicated them to each team member?
Don’t feel bad. Tasks need to get done. You could do anything with the money you pay them. Instead, you choose to pay people that money to perform tasks.
If you still aren’t getting the support you need after making sure everyone knows what’s expected of them, you may have the wrong people on your team. You may also have the right people in the wrong seats. Have you considered the personality traits of your team members or just their resume items and experience?
If you want help growing, running, and marketing your practice, sign up for your 14-day trial to Delivering WOW U, where you will find my best training, systems, and strategies for building, growing, and marketing a dental practice.
You can also join my free Dental Marketing and Profits Facebook group, where thousands of dentists and I help each other build better practices. Finally, if you want even more personalized help, sign up for the next business bootcamp session, where I work with you and a small group of other dentists to implement these and more strategies into your practice.
This article originally appeared on DeliveringWow.com.