This episode is all about the stress of people — managing them, working with them, attending to them, etc. Tiff and Kristy discuss what it means to manage results and lead people, and how sticking to systems of accountability in your practice can take a lot of that stress off your shoulders.
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Transcript:
The Dental A Team (00:00)
Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back here today with another amazing podcast. I say that because I just know this is gonna be incredible content. I'll introduce myself again. I realized a podcast ago that I never introduced myself. I'm Tiffanie I am a consultant, a dental consultant here with the Dental A Team. I've been here for a really long time, so I guess I just assume everybody has also been here for a really long time. I think everybody's like my best friend and I sit here.
on this podcast, Kristy with you and with all of the listeners, just talking to my best friend. Like that's just how I roll. So I'll take the moment to say hello, welcome. Thank you to those who have been listening for a long time or a short time or a new today. We love being able to reach new people. Part of our mission is to reach as many people as we possibly can. And it's worded much better than that, but that's the gist of it. And Kiera, know, get, Kiera likes to quiz us.
every now and again and I fail every time you guys. It's just like words in my brain get jumbled. It's okay, it's totally fine. So our mission is here. We are so excited to welcome you. Kristy, I am excited to welcome you here with me today. You have been on a podcast roll with me. We have busted out so many. I really truly appreciate you for that and for so many other reasons. So thank you for being here today, Kristy.
The Dental A Team (01:18)
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.
The Dental A Team (01:21)
Yeah, thank you. We have been chatting quite a few things. KPIs, I think this is the month of KPIs and results and it makes sense because Q1 is behind us. We're rolling into Q2 and making sure that we are set for success because my opinion is if we wait until November, but even July, if we're like, gosh, Q3, what are we doing? What are we doing? You're already behind you guys. You got a lot to make up at that point. You might as well just start now.
I love this role that we've been on today. We also always get to hit some personal development pieces, which is fun as well. So today, where this podcast right now, we really want to talk about the human side of things. Kristy, something that I notice, I get the luxury of seeing Dental A Team from all of the different sides. I get to see it from sales side, from marketing side, from development side, like all of education, from consulting.
every space of Dental A Team, I feel like I have a little toe dipped in there, just because I've been here for so long and I've helped in so many different facets to create what we are doing today. And with that, I get to see all of the different reasons that all of our clients are attractive to us and the people who are not yet clients or have just come for, know, tell me what my gap is and let me work on it. All those people, all the doctors, all the teams,
are typically coming and they're saying, I say this all the time, they're saying systems, right? We need systems. Clean up my systems, Kristy. My systems are broken. And they're like, please. And I've watched it. I've watched new to Dental A Team consultants be like, okay, let's start and we'll dig into systems. And I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Do we know that that system's broken? Like, let's take a step back and really figure out what it is, what it is and why you're actually here.
because your systems is the word that you're using to describe your issue, your symptom. And what typically is happening is we have stress. Things aren't working. They're not aligning just right. And we think, well, my systems are broken then. And your systems may not be broken. They may need adjusting or we may need to add some systems. We may need to do away with some old systems, right?
I've got practices that I'm like, think we're just billing this way because we like to, because we've always done it this way. I have to tell you, side tangent for a second, I love this office and when they listen to this, they're gonna know exactly who they are.
I was like, what do you mean you have a black book? What is a black book? Like I don't understand what this is. And they're like, Tiff, like you don't understand how much time we're spending tracking metrics. You're saying we're not tracking. And I'm like, well, I just need them on this Excel sheet. Like where are they at? And they have this old school accounting black book. Like I can't even show you how big it is. It's just like this massive ledger and they have a pencil and these little tiny cells and every day they're writing.
The Dental A Team (04:17)
you
The Dental A Team (04:26)
production, adjustments, collections, where the collections is coming from. And I was like, wow, Open Dental tells us all of this every day. You just have to print it. You can even keep it. You don't need to, because it's always accessible. But if it makes you feel better, print it daily and keep it. What are we doing? And so I say that because there are some systems that are just like, we've just always done that. My dad owned the practice and this is how he did it. And it was successful and cool.
We can keep doing it or we don't have to. It's up to you. But the stress is actually the underlying issue and it's usually financial stress or misunderstandings, missed expectations. I expected to make more money than I did. I expected to be able to do my expansion and I can't. I expected to have another dentist on board. I expected to be able to find a hygienist. I expected someone else to talk to all the...
team members on my team. It's missed expectations and it's stresses. And Kristy, something I wanted to dive into today was really how, one, I do think systems help those things. So yes, there is a deep dive onto the systems, but really understanding the stress behind a lot of it and the why I think is key. And Kristy, I don't know if you noticed this in your office, just tell me what you see.
I think one of the number one stressors that I see for doctors, for business owners, and for even office managers who have already taken on this role and doctors have delegated this to them, one of the number one stresses that I see is the stress of people. It's dealing with people, right? Whether it's the patients or the team, but really the HR management side of managing people, like dentistry is not hard, right? Work isn't hard, people are hard. And dealing with that,
tends to be the crux of a lot of stress for doctors that they think the systems will fix, which we'll dive into how they can help that. But Kristy, do you agree? Are you seeing that within your practices as well?
The Dental A Team (06:34)
Yeah, 100 % across the board, whether it's doctors or leadership, it's definitely the people driven. And you hear the things like, people just don't show up like they used to or, you know, those little sayings are, they don't respect our time. And so yes, 100 % from patients to team members, to be honest with you, but people.
The Dental A Team (06:55)
Yeah. I agree.
I agree. I get the like work ethic, like work ethics changed. These Gen Zers or Gen Xers or Gen whatevers. They're different. And I'm like, yeah, they are different. 2020 taught us a lot of things and things are different now. And we can keep standing here saying, you know, we want to be on this box that was old and is breaking or we can move forward onto the new box. I totally agree with that.
The Dental A Team (07:03)
Yeah
Thank you.
The Dental A Team (07:25)
When I think of stress of people, I agree. I think people can be hard. Managing people can be hard. And I think leading people is a very different statement. And leading people makes management easy, if that makes sense. I believe in managing results and leading people. Systems without accountability.
The Dental A Team (07:50)
Mm-hmm.
The Dental A Team (07:54)
lead to micromanagement and a lot of stress around your people management.
The Dental A Team (07:59)
I agree 100 % Tiffanie, you said that like so spot on. And accountability is one of those things that everybody wants and everybody's gonna also gripe about. But I will also say, I was privileged to go, I think it was one of the HR companies like Cedar, Ben Erickson or one of them had talked about. ?
You know, they do this stuff day in and day out. And they said the number one reason somebody will leave you is because you don't have accountability. And the number one thing they'll complain about is accountability. So it really cemented it. I mean, coming from an HR company that deals with people all day, every day, and probably the worst of the people ? saying that really, really taught me that we need that clarity. Every one of us needs that clarity and we all need that accountability.
And so you're spot on. And when we can make it about that clarity, what we're looking for and not so much about the person, it makes the leadership a lot easier. You're like, uh-huh.
The Dental A Team (09:09)
Absolutely.
Yes. Yes. And that's, think, what I mean by managing the results. Right? And I even that what you just said right there is like not making it about the person. I just had a call right before we started podcasting. And he was like, gosh, I have, you know, and we've had this. had I had a team member that I was like, my gosh, I think her dryer is broken. Like, she smells like mold. Right. Or we're wearing way too much perfume. that shirt is way too low cut. that's not really appropriate.
The Dental A Team (09:16)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (09:39)
Gosh, I had a girl that would wear the wrong color sweater and I'm like, it's black. Like we just, it's black. That's all we got, black and white. That's all you got, right? And this blue, like I know this Navy is really close to black, but it's not black. Those conversations, those are the stressors, right? It's hard. It's like, come on. And my doctors are like, we're all adults. I agree with you, but we're all gonna do whatever we can to get away with whatever we can. And if we're gonna slide in a Navy blue sweater, because it almost looks black.
The Dental A Team (09:45)
Hahaha!
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (10:08)
except for next to my black shirt, right? And if I don't say anything, I don't hold the person accountable to our dress code, the next thing I know, she's wearing a light blue sweater. And Marjorie in the back, she decided hot pink was cool today. And I'm like, what is happening you guys? Well, guess what? I didn't hold accountability to the lines. We had a boundary and the boundary was crossed and I didn't use clear as kind and hold the boundary. And it is clear as kind.
It's like, hey, love the sweater. Just keep in mind, remember, it's gotta be black or white. I do love it though, it just doesn't fit within our guidelines. Period. There's no questions. And it's kind. I don't dislike the sweater. It's just not appropriate for the office, right? Love the enthusiasm. Let's use this verbiage with that enthusiastic flair. Let's see if we get a different result.
The Dental A Team (11:07)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (11:07)
It's less about, because it's not the person. She's not a bad person for trying to wear a blue sweater. She was in a hurry. She was in a hurry that morning and she grabbed what she could and she thought it would be fine. I remember the day like it was yesterday because she was like, what? It's fine. And I was like, it's not. I get it and I understand. But if I don't say anything, like if I'm going to say something to someone else, I have to say it to you too. And it's my job and I'm just.
I'm upholding the standards. So it's not a big deal. I don't want you to feel attacked like you're fine, we're fine. We're black tomorrow. And if I need to get you a black sweater, tell me, I'll order you a black sweater. Right? It doesn't have, it doesn't, wasn't about her, right? It's not, there's nothing wrong with the person. Right now it's about the result. And when we make it about the person, it is really hard. And when I get doctors that are like, I don't want to hurt her feelings.
The Dental A Team (11:54)
Mm-hmm.
The Dental A Team (12:05)
Well, you've made it about the person. Now it's about the person. But is there something wrong with her that you have to this conversation? Or is this conversation about something that's completely outside of her? They're like, well, no, right? She's wearing too much perfume. Cool. Love your perfume. Could be an issue for our patients. Please dial it back. It's not about her, right?
The Dental A Team (12:30)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (12:33)
And I told my doctor recently, one of my doctors that I had a similar conversation with, I said, I have to take a step back. That same thought process goes through my mind too. It happens to all of us because we're like, I don't want to turn people away. I don't wanna push anybody away. I don't wanna lose anyone. It's our survival mechanisms are in tune with saying, don't push people away. Pad the situation and be nice so that people don't run away. But nice.
I think of it this way, whenever I feel it, I'm like, nope, take a step back, because I have to think and consider if I feel that I have to be nice and not be clear and kind, if I feel that I have to be nice, I am also then saying that this person across from me is not strong enough to take a clear and kind conversation, and I'm.
Like, what's the word I want? Making them smaller by being nice to protect them because they can't handle it and protect themselves. So to me, I have to tell myself that story often because it feels way worse to say the person on the other side of this conversation can't handle this conversation than to say I might hurt her feelings for a moment by telling her that her perfume is too strong. at the end of the day, she's gonna be like, cool, I'm gonna say perfume.
The Dental A Team (13:58)
Mm-hmm.
The Dental A Team (14:02)
she's gonna be fine, right? Like we make these situations so much bigger than they need to be and we stress on the potential outcomes because the people management is hard. But the lines are there, the boundaries are there, the accountability is there. And when we hire capable, strong people and we believe in the human, the conversation's gonna go fine.
The Dental A Team (14:23)
Yeah, Tiff, I love that you said that. it's kind of funny because it's taking me back to even in office and training things. I'm like, guys, almost all of the situations that we don't like, we've created. And I can almost always prove it. And even in this situation, we create bad employees or people not following the rules because we've created that situation, truly.
The Dental A Team (14:47)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (14:48)
be whether it's
The Dental A Team (14:49)
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (14:49)
not having a caring conversation or whatever it is. I always, to your point, whenever I have to have these type of conversations, I like to follow the rule of state the behavior, what it's causing, and then state the behavior you wish to see. Because again, then you're not putting the person on the spot and you're talking about...
the subject. So even or item like you were saying instead you'd state the blue shirt as you came in. Do you remember this was our guidelines for what we wear? And so moving forward, can you please wear the black or the white? You know, because then it's easy if they don't follow the rules next time to say, hey, we talked about this. You agreed. What's getting in the way of it? It's not it's not attacking that person, but truly
And in leadership, our team is looking to us for holding people accountable in that way, truly. Yeah.
The Dental A Team (15:50)
I agree.
I agree. Go ahead.
The Dental A Team (15:54)
I was going to say also, I just said the team's looking for us as leadership to hold people accountable, but I also just had this conversation in office too. It isn't just leadership to hold people accountable. We hold ourselves accountable first and foremost, and then peer to peer, it's our job to hold each other accountable too, not just the leadership team, guys. Yeah.
The Dental A Team (16:18)
Yeah,
I love that so much and I don't know how many times I've preached that and witnessed it and done it. Because I'm like, gosh, if I put myself in leadership shoes, I'm not going to be like, there goes Candace again with the wrong color shirt. I'll be like, Candace, girl, if I have to wear this shirt and I can't be colorful, you better get in line too because you're making me mad. I remember. And I will tell this story till the day I die. And when she listens to this, she's to know exactly what I'm talking about. She's one of my best friends.
The Dental A Team (16:46)
I don't know.
The Dental A Team (16:48)
I love her dearly, and there was a moment in time we did not love each other so much. And this girl, every time I walked by her TC office, I was like, listen, you're on Facebook again. We got internet taken away from us because of you, and I remember the day I walked by and I like, I swear, if I get something else taken away from because you're doing this, I'm gonna freak out.
The Dental A Team (17:05)
you
The Dental A Team (17:13)
And she was not happy, but I was just like, girl, how many times do we have, like we're all getting talked to, we're all getting things removed, we're getting new rules implemented, and you're blatantly not doing them. I'm not okay with that, and I'm not okay with the disrespect that you're showing to the rest of the team, including leadership and doctor, because that's disrespectful to me. You're not caring that your actions are having a consequence on me. No, no, I'm not gonna stand for that because I have
higher respect for myself and boundaries for myself than to allow something like that to continue. So I love that you said that and I think there's a when and there's a where and there's a how. And as long as we're coming at it from a space of respect and we're coming at it from a space of results, not attacking the person, that's the difference maker. And your stress will exponentially decrease when you stop micromanaging systems.
The Dental A Team (17:55)
Yes.
The Dental A Team (18:12)
You manage results and you lead people by accountability. And when there's confusion within the accountability, then go back to the system and make sure that the accountability is clear. Like what is the system supposed to be doing? What does the accountability look like? And stop saying accountability is hard. Accountability is not hard. Backtracking because you never held somebody accountable, that's hard. But the accountability of like, hang on, tell me more about this. How come we didn't get there?
The Dental A Team (18:17)
Yeah.
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (18:43)
Not, hey, why didn't you make 10 calls yesterday? You were supposed to make 10 calls. That's micromanaging a person. But saying, hey, I see that you weren't able to get to your 10 calls yesterday. Tell me more about that. What was your day like yesterday? Where could we have made sure that you had time? What got in the way of that? Now the person is like, yeah, you're right. I was swamped with X, Y, and Z. And we can diagnose, is that a one-off? Like, okay, that was a really busy day.
Or is that a space of you're carrying too much and some of that needed to be delegated? So Kristy, I think that's a massive difference in accountability of the like, hey, you didn't do, that's managing. Or, hey, I see that you didn't get to, tell me more about that. You know?
The Dental A Team (19:16)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. It's
coming from that curiosity and concern, and it already lowers the feelings, I guess, you know what I mean? Yeah. And again, as a leader, using the call scenario, that also gives you the chance to re-cement that, making these calls is really, really important. And so maybe we can carve out extra time to get to those today, you know, and coming up with a solution together. So 100 % Tiff.
The Dental A Team (19:36)
Yeah, the reaction. Yeah.
Yes.
The Dental A Team (19:56)
on board with you there. think it goes back to creating our heart, right? And having those conversations, which also made me think of, guys, and we see this every day all day when we go on practices too, Tiff, or even on calls. Please, please, when you have to have a one-off conversation, don't address the whole room. Your face.
The Dental A Team (20:02)
Mm-hmm.
Please, for
the love of all things, please, please listen to Kristy.
The Dental A Team (20:24)
Yeah, right. Because truly the person that needs to hear it, they don't know it's them. I promise you, they don't know it's them. Go have the one-on-one caring conversation, and that's how you can get the buy-in from them and be able to circle back for future conversations.
The Dental A Team (20:41)
Yes,
yes, my gosh, I love that you said that. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. If someone is doing something, don't make everyone suffer through the conversation, because 90 % of the people are like, what are we talking about? And then one person's like, my gosh, it's me, I'm so stressed. And you're like, and then they come to you, how can I do better? And you're like, it wasn't you. ? so now I'm stressed for no reason, but I'm also not believing you, because I'm positive that it was me, and now we've ruined someone.
The Dental A Team (21:07)
We were winded.
The Dental A Team (21:08)
? And the
person that it was is like, you guys suck. You guys should really stop doing that. I can't believe someone here did that. You're like, my golly. Yeah, that was part of my conversation today. Yes, I love that with my practice. So every day all day I see that generalizations kill a team. If there are multiple people doing it, fine. Reestablish your baselines. Reestablish your boundaries and your handbooks. Sure.
The Dental A Team (21:14)
Yeah.
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (21:36)
But if someone is causing a scuffle, someone is causing a stress, talk to that person. Just nip it in the bud. Because I guarantee you, blue sweater would not have known I was talking to her. And she's gonna wear that sweater again and I'll be like, bro, we talked about this. She's like, no, we didn't. We did not, because we didn't. But I did, and it never happened again. She didn't love me for it. She had some choice words to some people, but it was fine. And we were fine at the end of the day. We get a little ? upheaved sometimes.
The Dental A Team (21:42)
Yeah.
Yeah.
The Dental A Team (22:06)
because as much as we want to be seen, it's also really scary to be seen. And so we'll be like, I know I'm in the wrong. Like you get defensive because you already knew you shouldn't have worn the sweater. You already knew it was out of dress code. So when I talk to you about it, you were already prepared to be defensive and defend why it was fine because you knew it was coming. That's okay. I'm okay with that. Cause tomorrow we're both better for it.
The Dental A Team (22:28)
Yeah.
I love it, Tiff. I think truly, and again, guys, when you make the conversation around your culture and the easiest way to do it truly is on your mission and core values, tying probably that blue sweater back to your core values would have been a huge way to, again, approach the conversation and let that person know they're not living in community. ? To that being said,
There's many times when we go in practices and I'm asking, I need you to have it truly. So you guys, you're on, if you're a client of mine, you probably know it's coming. You better be prepared. I'm going to ask you what your mission and your core values are because truly I like to say the mission is our boss. That's who we're serving, not our leadership team. That is our boss. And the core values demonstrate how we behave.
So in any of these situations when you're having to have a caring conversation, I'm not gonna say it's a hard, it's a caring conversation, we choose to make it hard. ? Tie it back to your core values, because that's how we behave, and it's gonna make it easier for you to tackle those conversations.
The Dental A Team (23:46)
I love that so much and I think that is the perfect spot to wrap because tying back to your mission vision core values is key to business success. So I love that Kristy. Thank you. I would say action items, are those done? Do you have job descriptions done? Do you know what the responsibilities of each individual are? Do they know? And what is the accountability follow up there within it? So if you're stressed out, yeah.
The Dental A Team (23:59)
Thank
to one more action. Leadership, is there anybody you need to put on your list to have a conversation with?
The Dental A Team (24:18)
Do it.
Ooh, I like that. Good job.
Make them think. I love that. Okay, you heard it right here. You heard it from Kristy. Go do the things. remember, stress is a symptom of something. We're not just stressed. Okay, I just, I just had a stressful day. No, it's a symptom of something. And typically, I've found in my personal experience, at least, that if I'm stressed, it's usually because I've let a boundary slip.
and somebody's crossing over that boundary, and I'm actually kind of upset, hurt with myself. I'm mad at myself for allowing it to happen. So, do a gut check if you're stressed. Why are you stressed? It's just a symptom. It's not a forever and it's not a lifestyle. So, go figure it out. Go figure out your accountabilities. If you need help with it, you guys were here for it. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com, reach out. TheDentalATeam.com, you can sign up for a free assessment with our team. We will help you see those gaps. We will help you see where you can
thrive and not just survive and not die. We will help you with all of those. So drop us a five star review below. We'd love to hear what you thought. Kristy, this was so much fun. Thank you for busting so many out with me today and thank you for this specific podcast. I had a ton of fun with you.
The Dental A Team (25:37)
Yeah, back at you. was fun having a little conversation and hopefully they see it as a challenge.
The Dental A Team (25:41)
I love it.
I know, I think they will. You guys got a lot here. Awesome, thank you all and we will catch you next time. Bye bye.