Exceptional Dental Practice Management

If Aristotle Ran General Motors - Beauty

Here is the second section of a staff meeting based on If Aristotle Ran General Motors by Tom Morris.

IF ARISTOTLE RAN GENERAL MOTORS – BEAUTY

THE AESTHETIC DIMENSION AT WORK

Beauty on the job

·         How people feel about their workplace affects their morale and in turn, their productivity.  If we think of offices as large, dull strictly utilitarian structures, we fail to provide for the human spirit.  Brightening the human experience and enhancing the environment is appropriate.   The workplace should express a certain joy and embody enthusiasm.

·         Does our office encourage openness and contact with other people?  Is it a warm, friendly atmosphere, but a place where there is performance, where work gets done in a warm and friendly way?

·         It has been found that the best work gets done in a place where attention is paid to people’s needs for light, beauty and comfort.  When people love their working environment, it inspires their enthusiasm and even a measure of joy.  What can we do to enhance our environment?

·         Little things make a big difference.  What little things can you do that will enhance the office environment?

Aesthetic Surprise

·         Tom Morris taught philosophy at Notre Dame.  He talks about playing the song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” over the auditorium speakers before the first exam of the year.  A student told him that it changed the atmosphere into something almost festive.  The students would take the test with smiles on their faces and feet tapping in time to the music.

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”  ~Confucius~

·         After finding that the song did not result in good grades one semester Tom realized he’d have to try something different after some of his students found themselves confronted with the worst scores they had ever encountered.  When the next test day came Tom started out playing “Caught in the Crossfire” by Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Then he waited with the test papers in hand.  Five seconds passed, and then ten and the students began to wonder what was happening.  Then the doors at the back of the auditorium burst open and the Notre Dame marching band came in playing the Victory March.  The class was ecstatic and he believes as a result of the aesthetic surprise scored higher than on the first test.  His reason for doing it- Why should the band just play the victory march for the football team, why not in the classroom where it really matters?  The point is, it made them feel special and appreciated.  It made their workplace a place of enjoyment.

·         How can we bring a sense of festivity to our workplace from time to time?

The Art of Work

·         The previous examples are of passive aesthetic experience.  Aesthetic experience can be active as well as passive, in other words, performance art.  There is beauty in solving a problem elegantly, in providing acknowledged excellence of quality in service or product.  Is your work a dance?  Is it a play?  Do you see your co-workers as fellow cast members?  Every day you’re sculpting, sketching, and quilting a pattern of interactions, of relationships, of solutions to problems.  A concern for beauty should continually play an important role, along with a concern for truth, in how we think about our jobs and in the many ways we interact with each other in our work.

·         Think of all the roles each of us play in the practice.  Where can you see beauty in what each person does?   When does your job feel great? 

The Most Basic Question

·         What is the meaning of life?

·         The meaning of life is creative love.  Loving creativity.  This is the proper meeting point of philosophy, religion and business.  Not love as an inner feeling, as a private sentimental emotion, but love as a dynamic power moving out into the world and doing something original.  It means the creative building of new structures, new relationships, new solutions, and new possibilities for our world that are rooted in love, a concern for the dignity and integrity and values of others in this life.  This is the foundation on which any meaningful life must be built.

·         What are you building?  Where is your art?  What are you creating day to day?  Is your life guided by creative love?  In doing your work, are you somehow involved in acts of loving creativity?

·         How do your co-workers envision their work?  How can you help them experience their work as having fundamental meaning in their lives?

 

The Beauty of Business

 

·         What is business? 

·         All employees should be thought of as in partnership with management, and all the people within a business should be thought of as partners with both suppliers and customers, partners ultimately for the common goal of living well.  Ideally those within a business should prosper and live better because of the business, but so should others affected by its activities.  What does that mean to you?

·         We should always be asking ourselves whether what we contemplate doing will enhance or diminish this crucial function of the business within our domain of influence.  Are we building partnerships for living well?  Give examples of things that can enhance or diminish the function of our dental practice.

·         So what then, is business?  Business is the art of growth.  Growth is the essence of life.  Business is the art of life.

·         How have you grown in our dental practice?  How do you help others grow?

 

The New Neighborhood At Work

 

·         The people we see at work each day, the people around us whose thoughts and activities will be largely responsible for whether we all experience business success together, are all people who come from families and are all people who need friendship in their lives.

·         Discipline, comfort, a sense of belonging, a feeling of connectedness…every human being needs these things.

·         Most people do not live near extended family anymore and neighborhoods don’t hold the same sense of community that they used to.

·         Contemporary businesses now have the opportunity to create a new kind of workplace fulfillment and workplace loyalty by meeting many of the deep human needs for love and appreciation, needs for respect and forgiveness and nurture and support.  Teamwork, for example must be rooted in genuine respect and understanding.  Leadership must be grounded in love and appreciation.  These are the genuinely human issues. And as long as human beings do the work, make the deals, use the products, buy the services, and chart the future, these should be the most important issues.  Are they the most important issues in our practice?  How?

·         People will not feel fulfilled in what they do, and will not be experiencing that measure of personal happiness they are capable of attaining on the job unless they are feeling that the aesthetic dimension of their experience is being respected and nurtured by the people around them and by the conditions of their work.

·         We should never forget that a concern for the aesthetic is everybody’s business.   The beauty and artistry of the workplace is everybody’s business.  Everyone should be a partner for living well.  Reinventing corporate spirit and reestablishing a new foundation for sustainable excellence in modern practice is everybody’s job.

If Aristotle Ran General Motors - Truth

   

I became the office manager of our practice about 5 years ago.  At that time our staff was in turmoil, we had just let two long term staff members go and there were a lot of bad feelings lingering and a lack of direction that made every day feel like swimming upstream.  My boss at the time had given me Tom Morris' book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors.  This book changed the way I think, the way I live and the way I try to lead our staff.  I based a few months of staff meetings around it and it changed the way we relate to each other and our patients and it gave us a practice culture that we value and protect. 
    We've been through a practice transition with a new dentist, we've lost two staff members due to retirement and illness, and we've had basically a parade of new people through the office in the last few months.  Since we place such a high premium on patient care and the culture in our practice, we will not keep staff members who detract from that purpose.  The reason for the parade?  People know what is right and desirable in an employee and they pretend to possess those traits at the interview and may even be able to continue to fake it for a few weeks or days.  It is not sustainable beyond that if it is not true.  It's that simple. 
    I decided that this would be a good time to revisit If Aristotle Ran General Motors.  I am breaking it down into four sections based on what Tom calls the Four Dimensions of Human Experience - Truth, Beauty, Goodness and Unity.  Think about it, what would your daily life be like if those four dimensions were valued and displayed in your practice every day.  I want you to have the chance to find out so I am going to share these staff meetings with you here.  These posts will be long, but I think you'll find them worth it.  Each section should be enough for a one hour staff meeting, but if your staff uses more time for discussion, let them and continue at another meeting.  Don't rush it because getting staff to talk about these ideas can have a major impact on how you work together.  The first section includes a short introduction and then begins with the section on truth.  Let me know if you have any questions and certainly let me know your experience with this.  And by the way, this is just a brief synopsis of the book.  I would suggest you purchase If Aristotle Ran General Motors, and read it, there are so many great thoughts in the book that I don't have the time to share here.  Also, visit Tom's website, The Morris Institute for Human Values.  There are many wonderful essays there written by Tom and his fellow institute writers. Finally, here's a link to an article I wrote for Dental Economics, Aristotle DDS, which I based on Tom's book.  Here's your first installment of the staff meeting:

IF ARISTOTLE RAN GENERAL MOTORS REVIEW

·         Most of us tend to blame our problems on external circumstances.  Many businesses are now blaming the economy for falling production.   We must have the ability to look within and examine the inner foundations of our own business practices and business relationships.  Four foundations of human excellence should govern all we do.

·         All human beings pursue different things.  Some chase wealth, some fame, some love, some power, but the one thing that everyone is really after is the same thing: happiness.  If we want to succeed we must do what it takes to be happy.  Our patients will see that we are happy in our work, with ourselves and with each other.  That will make our office feel good to them and they will be happy to be here.  That will make them keep coming back and sending others to us.

·         Happiness at work means enjoying what we do.  Recognition should be given for a job well done.  Another view of happiness is personal peace.  Tranquility, equanimity, calm.  Anxiety kills the spirit and the body so we all need to do what it takes to eliminate it.  What causes anxiety in the office for Dr. ________, for the staff, for the patients?  How can we eliminate it, reduce it, or deal with it better?

·         Happiness can also result from participating in something fulfilling, to find joy in what we are doing.  We are at our best and feel our best when we are engaged in a worthy task.  What do you do at work that makes you feel the most fulfilled?

“All men seek happiness.  This is without exception.  Whatever different means they employ, they all tend toward this end.  The cause of some going to war, and some avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views.  The will never takes the least step but to this objective.  This is the motive of ever action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”

                                                                                                                ~Blaise Pascal~

 

THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE

 

1.       The Intellectual dimension, which aims at Truth

2.       The Aesthetic dimension, which aims at Beauty

3.       The Moral dimension, which aims at Goodness

4.       The Spiritual dimension, which aims at Unity

TRUTH

·         One of the most ennobling gestures any of us can make toward another human being is to ask her, sincerely, what she thinks about what we are doing together.  What is her take on the truth?  When we ask, wanting to hear, we treat the other person with a fundamental respect, and this behavior is then much more likely to be mirrored back to us.

·         People who tell the truth, no matter how difficult that may be, obviously have a high regard for its importance.  But, even people who lie to you indicate, in a backward sort of way, their partial and deeply flawed, recognition of at least some of the power of truth: they think of it as too powerful to be entrusted to you.  Is truth important in our work together?  What is the result of telling the truth?  What is the result of being deceptive?

·         Have we created an atmosphere in which people are not afraid to tell us the truth?  Can you tell a co-worker when she is doing something that is either incorrect or bothersome?  Can you tell her about it in a way that lets her know you are trying to help her be her best and to increase the harmony between you?

·         Martin Buber, in his book I and Thou, writes that there are two fundamental relationships that can exist between people.  First, there is the I-It relationship in which you relate to something as an object, who’s only value is instrumental.   He says we should never view other people as having value only for what they can do for you.   Do we ever treat co-workers or patients as instruments, who are only there to serve our purpose?

·         The second relationship is the I-Thou relationship.  The I-Thou stance is one of respect and dignity.  The only way to have an I-Thou relationship with those around us is to seek from them and give to them, the truth about what we are doing together.  Given and received properly, a concern with sharing truth inevitably helps to generate a spirit of cooperation crucial to good working relations over the long run.  How do we demonstrate an I-Thou relationship with each other and our patients?

·         Truth is the foundation for trust, and nothing is more important in any business endeavor than trust.  Trust is an absolute necessity for truly effective interpersonal activity.  Without all the facts relevant to their jobs, people feel lost and sense a lack of control over their lives and their destinies.  When you confront a problem, you confront the need for truth.  Truth, even hard truth, if passed on with as much understanding, kindness and sensitivity as possible, is always the foundation for solving any problem in a sustainable way.  Do we provide the people who work with us with all the information they might benefit from having? 

·         To the extent that something has the power for good, it has corresponding power for ill.  Most of the time, it’s up to us how we use that power.  In other words, telling the truth has the power to cause improvement and strengthen relationships, or it has the power to hurt feelings and destroy relationships.  It’s all about your intention in telling the truth and the way you tell it.  Can you tell a difficult truth with sensitivity?  Do you have the courage to tell someone the truth about how they are affecting you?  Do you always have a good intention in telling the truth?  What are some examples of telling the truth with a bad intention?

·         We should strive to develop collaborative relationships with each other.  The key characteristic is partnering.  The key attitude is synergistic interaction.  When you collaborate with others you partner up, bringing the best of who you are and what you know to the table, as does your partner, and together you think and act in ways that might not have been available to either of you alone.  The differences in your experiences and respective slants on the world will enrich the thinking that results.  At their best, collaborators don’t think exactly alike but are sufficiently in harmony with one another that their differences create new insight, and each is taught by the other.

 

Tell What You Know

   

What does your staff know about what you do in your practice?  It is important that everyone understands the procedures that are offered in your practice.  Most staff members only know about what they do in their little corner of the practice, but often are clueless about what happens elsewhere.  Hygienists may know all about prevention and perio treatment, but can they answer the patient who questions them about the implant the dentist just told them they need?  Can the front desk assistant answer any question that patients ask on the phone?  Can your assistant tell the patient who was just referred to the periodontist what they can expect?  If not, this is the next thing you need to attend to. 
    I suggest you set up a "Tell Me What You Know" staff meeting.  Start by listing each treatment category such as: Preventive, Restorative, Oral Surgery, Perio, Endo, Implant.  List each as a column and under each topic ask the staff to call out services that you either provide in your practice or refer out and list them.  Then go one by one and ask why each treatment would be recommended, what it entails and why and when you would refer the patient to a specialist. Be sure to talk about symptoms, triage questions to ask and post-op expectations.
    When we did this it was very gratifying to see our very young dental assistant explaining the steps to restoring an implant to our rdh's with 20 years experience and to see them explaining scaling and root planing to her and our front desk assistant.  Everyone enjoyed and participated in the meeting and we left the info on the white board for months as well as printing out handouts for the staff.  Now we hear more consistency when staff members are explaining treatment to patients and that is a key to confidence for both staff and patients.
    I have also asked the specialists we refer patients to or their staff members to come to our practice for a lunch and learn session.  This really helps enhance communication between our practices and helps everyone realize that when we all work together to serve our patients we are all much bigger than our individual practices. 

How Do We Treat Our People?

We had a very productive staff meeting today.  It began with a discussion about a patient who we had messed up with.  It was one of those things where everything that could go wrong does go wrong and the patient was very annoyed with us.  What I wanted the staff to remember is that our patients are people whose lives do not revolve around dental appointments.  I used the following questions to help get a conversation going that made everyone a little more conscious of how we affect our patients.  Feel free to use it with your staff.  Our staff really came up with some great thoughts.  Let me know how it works for you if you try it. 

HOW TO TREAT OUR PEOPLE

 

First, and most important, realize that our patient’s are people first.  They only become our patient’s when we earn their trust.  Where does that begin?

 

What is the first step we can take to make people trust us enough to become our patients?

 

Who can do this?

What can we learn about a new patient on the first phone call?

 

How can we help them begin to trust us on that call?

 

What can we do to make the patient continue to trust us and feel welcome when they arrive at the office?  Who can do this?

 

What can we learn about them while they are waiting to be seen?

 

Why should we walk to the patient in the reception area to invite them to accompany us to the treatment room?

 

Once in the room, what should we say and do to make the patient see that we are going to treat them exceptionally?

 

Do you have what you need to make this happen?

 

At the end of the appointment, what can we do to make them leave feeling well cared for?

 

Do you have what you need to make this happen?

Do You Know What They Don't Know?

    Do you know what your staff doesn't know.  If you think about it, there are basically 3 different categories in dental practices and their pretty much compartmentalized.  There is the business compartment, the hygiene compartment and the operative compartment.  Your front office staff knows their business, the hygienists know hygiene and the assistants know all about procedures and instruments.  The patients want answers, but will they get the right answer, or the same answer, in every section of the office?

    We had a staff meeting today that makes the answer to that question a resounding yes!  We have a big white board on the wall in our break room that I make good use of.  For today's meeting I categorized all the different aspects of dentistry with headings such as operative, perio, ortho, oral surgery, endo, etc.  Under each heading I listed procedures that pertained to that area.  For instance, under operative I had amalgam, composite, crown, bridge, etc.  Then I asked the staff to name conditions that would be present for each procedure to be recommended.  It was a great, interactive staff meeting.  Everyone got the chance to be the teacher, as well as the student.  It also gave the staff a chance to see how much their co-workers know.  It was fun to see the excitement when someone knew an answer, as well as the curiosity when someone didn't.

    Patients want answers to their questions, and now I feel confident that they will receive the correct answer from any staff member they ask.  Everyone is on board and the patient will not get different information from each person they talk to.  Try this at your staff meeting and let me know how it goes.

Why Don't They Care Like I Care?

    If you're a manager or dentist you've probably thought this or said it aloud a few times.  Why don't the staff members care about production or payments as much as you do?  Here's the answer:  It doesn't affect them the same way it affects you.  Their livelihood doesn't rise or fall with production or a/r.  You can bring those numbers to your staff meeting and you can watch their eyes glaze over.  What's going on behind those glassy stares?  Possibly indifference, resentment, or the list of what they have to do once they get home. 
    The dentist obviously cares about these matters more because this is his or her business.  The clinical aspect is one part of the equation, but the business end determines the dentist's lifestyle now, and retirement later.  The manager is more interested because she tracks those numbers and they tell her (and her boss) what kind of job she's doing.  The hygienist can say that the front desk assistant is slacking off by not filling the holes in the schedule, but the front desk assistant can say she's called everyone, what is she supposed to do?  The next person to turn to is the manager.  The question: What are you going to do to fill the schedule?  She better have some answers.
    Some people feel that a bonus system will fix the problem.  It may, short-term.  But, in my opinion, if you don't have the right team philosophy, you can't ride a bonus system to ultimate success.  They'll keep needing bigger perks to feel satisfied if they don't get any satisfaction from a job well done.  I used to be totally against bonus systems because I feel they put the focus in the wrong place; money rather than patient service.  I'm going to change my opinion on that, with a qualification.  The change is that I agree, a bonus can make a staff member feel more appreciated and that in turn can motivate them.  The qualification is that I still wouldn't begin a bonus system without the right team philosophy in place.  Sound fair?
    So, how do you get that team philosophy?  You do it in staff meetings.  Put your numbers aside for a month or two.  You and your manager can look at them all you want, but focus on philosophy with the staff for a while.  At your next staff meeting tell them that you want to try something different.  You are going to ask them to be transparent.  You are going to find out what is important to them, what makes them feel great about what they do, what they wish there was more of, what they would change if they could, what their weaknesses and strengths are, what gets in their way.  See why you'll need a few staff meetings?  A few important things, they don't have to share anything if they feel uncomfortable,  they won't be penalized for anything they say or don't say, and finally, what's said in staff meeting stays in staff meeting.  Make it safe and build trust and intimacy in the team.
     The first meeting may make you think I'm crazy.  The staff may sit and roll their eyes (seen it), heave long sighs (heard it), or act like you are a big pain in the neck (felt it).  So you and your manager go first and watch for the team member who seems most interested.  If you're still being met with silence, ask that interested staff member a direct question.  Be patient, once the ball gets rolling, amazing things will happen. Your team will feel closer and they'll support each others weaknesses and celebrate their achievements.   They will never care the exact same way you do, but they will care in a way that will make your cares less worrisome.  Then you can all enjoy what you're doing and keep building on a great thing.

Come Gather 'Round

    When I came back into dentistry 9 years ago, I was intrigued by the morning huddle idea.  We hadn't done that back in the dark ages and I wasn't quite sure what the purpose was to tell you the truth.  Our team would gather around a computer in the hallway.  My boss would attempt to go through the schedule and discuss the day's patients and their treatment.  Often the mention of a patient's name would incite  a dialogue about their attributes or faults, and could lead into reminiscence about a cousin that used to date the patient's brother.  That could lead to a discussion of the fact that they broke up and the cousin got caught shoplifting beef jerky and a can of Skoal for her new boyfriend and how her life's gone downhill ever since she broke up with the brother of our patient.  Get the picture?  No one but my boss was really interested in talking about the patient because the gathering was too informal.

    We moved the meeting to the breakroom.  That seemed like a good idea.  To some staff members it also seemed like a good opportunity to browse through the grocery store specials in the newspaper and eat their breakfast.  Often the only ones sitting in the break room at the scheduled huddle time would be my boss and I.  Well, seemed like I had a problem, but I also had a few choices.  I could do away with morning huddle, I could let them continue as they were, or I could set some expectations of what the morning huddle would be.  Of course I decided to set some expectations.  I received the expected looks of shock and awe, but now we have productive morning huddles.

    We begin with the hygiene report.  Both hygienists lead the discussion through their own schedules.  At this time my boss can prescribe x-rays for most patients who will need them and the rest of us can chime in with any information about the patients that might be helpful.  Next comes the operative schedule that my boss and I run through.  Finally the receptionist discusses any payment scheduling issues regarding the day's patients.  If there is any unscheduled treatment in the patients' charts we mention that and talk about ways to re-approach the issue with the patients.  I have a morning huddle sheet that I make up that lists all of the unscheduled treatment, overdue balances and special needs of the patients. 

    When the morning huddle is well-organized it can be productive and informative.  People are social animals.  If you spread a 20 minute block of time in front of them without any plan or format, they are going to socialize.  You can sit and feel defeated or you can organize your morning huddle.  It's really that easy.  So, when it's time for your staff to gather around the schedule, steer them in the way you want them to go.  The direction is up to you.

Just Along For The Ride?

    I talked about the fun that our staff had with the Energy Bus a few months ago.  Maybe you tried it with your staff and got everyone on your bus.  One reader e-mailed me and said that her staff really got into it, identified their energy vampires and became vampire slayers (you have to read the book).  Their bus was fully loaded and on a roll.
    Well, it looks like they've hit a few pot holes and their tires may need a little air.  Your Energy Bus is just like everything else that produces anything.  You must maintain it if you want it to keep giving.  Maybe you feel like you're the only one driving, or pushing the bus, and everyone else is just along for the ride. 
    You may have to remind them of what they mean to the journey that your Energy Bus is on.  Lot's of groups start out new projects with a lot of enthusiasm.  When the good results come rolling in you may think you can relax and coast.  That's how to lose momentum.  Before you know it you'll be rolling downhill backwards.  You have to keep inspiring and urging that bus forward. 
    At your next staff meeting ask the group if their are any new ways to make the bus roll on.  Remind them that it takes the whole group, working together to reach not only the destination, but to make all the stops along the way.  Put a little gas in the bus and it will keep taking you where you want to go.

Vampire Slayers

    We've been having a lot of fun with the book The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon.  Every few days I put one of the Energy Bus rules on the white board and we talk about it a little at our morning huddle.  Today we had a 30 minute staff meeting and we discussed the section about Energy Vampires.

    Energy Vampires are whatever or whoever sucks the energy out of you.  I started by asking the group to call out whatever Energy Vampires came to mind.  They came up with grouchy patients, over-booked schedules, being too tired,personal problems, non-compliant patients, misunderstandings and a few others to make up about 10 vampires.  Then I asked them to come up with ways to zap the Energy Vampires.  Their solutions included patience, understanding that it's not about them, listening, educating, getting enough sleep, helping each other, and on and on till they came up with around 30 solutions.  Thirty solutions to ten problems?  Sounds like pretty good odds that everything will turn out ok to me.

    The best part about these kinds of staff meetings is the open communication that takes place.  Everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas and no one puts anyone else down.  I listed every team members name on the white board and told them that when they see a team members slaying a vampire with one of the zappers we came up with, they are to put a star next to that person's name.  They can then tell us all why they gave the star at morning huddle.  When everyone has ten stars I'll make a nice lunch for the group.  This accomplishes so much with one exercise.  It makes everyone aware of the good things the others are doing.  It makes everyone look for opportunities to do their best.  Our patients surely benefit.  We get even closer and develop a greater appreciation for each other.  It makes us focus outward rather than on ourselves. All that in such a short meeting.  Like I said, the meeting was supposed to last thirty minutes and end at 1:00.  At 1:10 I had to remind everyone that it was lunchtime and they were free to end the discussion and go to lunch.  They just ignored me and kept right on talking and laughing about Energy Vampires.  I think that even being able to have a fun name to put on challenging people and situations lightens the tension a little.  Fun staff meetings can produce some serious results.  Give The Energy Bus a try and you may produce some Vampire Slayers yourself.

We Are Family

    One of my weblog series of posts has become a series of articles that is being published in Dental Office magazine.  It is The Other Side of the Chair series that you can find in the Great Dental Teams category.  It explores the experience of all the different team members in the dental practice.  It starts with discussing what it's like to be the dentist.  I got to thinking that it might make an interesting topic for a series of staff meetings.  I asked Dr. Price what he thought and, as usual, he was very supportive.  He agreed to go first and talk to the staff about what it is like for him to be the dentist.
    When I wanted to write the article, I sat down with him and what he told me basically resulted in that post.  It was an eye-opener for me and I thought the rest of the staff would like to hear about his experience and feelings.  They were really interested, sometimes a light bulb went off, sometimes their heartstrings were tugged, and they got to know the man behind the mask a little better.  They asked good questions and made thoughtful comments.  It really bothers them when patients are rude or inconsiderate to Dr. Price.  They are proud to work for him and even patients tell our new assistant how lucky she is.  She happily agrees.  I looked around our group and realized that these are some very special people.  I don't think I've ever worked with a group that trusted each other enough to easily share their feelings, worries and fears as this group will.  Even the 19 year old dental assistant who is actually still on her school rotation feels free to speak openly without fear of being judged or ridiculed.  This comes from the example set by Dr. Price.  He extends his trust to us and we return it and give it to each other as well.
    I think what we realized by the end of the meeting is that we are like a family.  The patients are our family of patients and the staff is like a family to each other.  We care about him and each other and he cares about us.  We work together to make the family thrive.  We are beloved to each other.  He is beloved to our families as well.  My children hear me come home and talk about the great opportunities I have and how nice it is to work with such a decent person and they not only feel good about him, but it probably makes them want to follow his lead to some extent.  It's the extended family that we don't have in this day of corporate relocation.  It's our village and we love it.  By the end of the meeting, almost everyone had remarked at least once that they feel lucky to work here. They all agreed to take a turn talking about their experience at future staff meetings.  That's what I call a successful staff meeting.

This One's For The Girls

You have to watch the video or you might as well just forget reading this. Ok, so you watched it. Now, think about your staff, whether you're the dentist, manager or team member. Do you see them in this video? Can you see how great life in the office could be if everyone could just understand that inside we really are all the same and honor that? We all want to be loved and accepted. We all want to be beautiful just the way we are right now. We may get better, but we want to be just fine today.
Now, think about the way life goes. We all have our share of heartbreaks and heartaches along with our joys and happinesses. We are all trying to get through each day the best we can. We can try to come together and support and value each other along the way or we can fight and undermine and judge each other. I love the way the people in the video look at each other with sheer joy in being together. Sure, they're paid to do it in the video, but aren't they just re-enacting experiences they've had before? Maybe I'm weird, but I think this could happen in real life more often, if we really want it to. Dentists, look at the women who work for you (or men, but you know it's mostly women) and think about them as adorable little girls, gawky, insecure teenagers, young women just starting out on their own, middle-aged women looking back on their youth and facing aging. Think about the things they may have been through. Teasing, heartaches, break-ups, babies, the terror of really sick kids, the holy terror of raising teens, the empty nest, the hot flashes, the gray hair, the wrinkles, the losses and disappointments, the joys and triumphs. It's a life. And we're all trying.
Now women, this one's for the boys, too. Look at the dentists you work for (and yes, they're still mostly men) and picture their lives outside the office and before you knew them. They were somebody's darling little boy, then hormonal teen, then young man leaving home to find their way through dental school and into the unknown world of patients and staff. They sat on the couch and drank YooHoo and watched Batman, they popped wheelies on their bike, they rang doorbells and ran, they thought girls were gross and then a few years later they nervously tried to work up the courage to put their arm around one. They fell in love and became husbands and fathers along the way. They learned it all just like you learned what you know... as they go, by trial and error. They've had the same hurts and disappointments. They wait up at night for their kids to come home, fight with their wives and figure out how to get back in her good graces. They pay the bills and worry where the money will come from. They want a vacation and they want a good day at work. Sometimes they just want everyone to leave them alone and do their job. They want appreciation, they need understanding and they want respect. And they want to be ok just the way they are, too. Just like you.
Do you get my point? We're all trying. We all want to be right and to be good, to be loved, admired and accepted. A lot of us dance badly, but we dance anyway. We want our gold stars and we want to hear our praises sung. It's music to our ears. More than anything we just want to be. And we want to be in harmony, life feels best that way. When we feel happy we want to rejoice and share the feeling. Can we ever make that happen? Sure, but someone has to bring the subject up. So, here's one way to do it. Play this video at your next staff meeting. Then start talking. What's the worst that can happen? What's the best that can happen? It's worth the chance, isn't it?

I hope you can see that I was really trying not to be sexist. I know there are women dentists and male staff members. I'm just not cool enough to figure out how to work all that into a post without sounding really politically correct. Just switch it around any way that fits your situation and we'll be ok.

Staff Conversations

    Keeping staff meetings fresh and interesting can be challenging.  Getting someone to talk, other than the person leading the meeting, can be downright impossible.  We used to have that problem.  Either Dr. Price or I would lead the meeting and it would end up being a monologue with a few comments thrown in by whichever one of us wasn't leading.  It's frustrating to put time into something that no one wants to participate in.  So, rather than badger the staff I decided to change things a little.  First we started reading books and discussing them.  It was slow going at first, and I admit I used to find that small prizes were a good incentive to get things going, but now we often use up all our time without even going over everything I had planned.  Without prizes.  I realized at today's meeting that what used to constitute a mini state of the union address has evolved into a conversation.  It's become a meaningful and enjoyable exchange that gives us insight and information about each other and enhances the way we treat each other and work together. 
    People who have more intimate relationships seem to be more committed to each other and see their work as something they are doing together for the greater good, not as an individual pursuit.  That doesn't mean that doing your personal best shouldn't be a goal or something to be proud of.  It just means it's not the only thing that's important. 
    Today's staff meeting centered around a group of questions that I printed out and asked everyone to fill out.  I gave it to them yesterday so they had time to fill it out, but not enough time to worry about perfect answers.  I wanted the real deal, not an ideal.  If you think your staff would find this intrusive you may want to start slowly and let them know they can decline without retribution.  It's also important to make it clear that what is said in the meeting stays there.  It's not cool to throw something, that was said in honesty and trust,  in someone's face when you're feeling upset with them.  For instance if someone admits that they're sensitive, it's not OK to make a sarcastic remark about it if you think they're being touchy a week later.  The questions I gave them today were meant to give them the opportunity to talk about things that might be difficult for them.  I got the idea from Ellen Weber who writes the Brain Based Business blog.  I changed her questions a little to fit our needs.  Here is a summary, but you can make up your own:

1.  Three words that describe me are:
2.  When I'm not at work I like to spend time doing this:
3.  The part of my job I enjoy most is:
4.  The part of my job I enjoy least is:
5.  When I have to suggest treatment that I know a patient will not want,   ex.- x-rays I feel:
6.  When patients seem angry or unfriendly I feel:
7.  When patients are rude to me I:
8.  Three things you don't know about me are:
9.  I think I am really good at:
10.  I wish I could: 

The first two questions give insight into the others and remind us that our co-workers are people with real lives outside of work.  3 & 4 give the leaders an idea of where they can best utilize the staff members talents.  4-7 give everyone a chance to see that they may share common worries and anxieties and give them an opportunity to brainstorm solutions.  8-10 are trust builders.  All together they pack an hour with a lot of potential growth and interesting conversation.

Want To Get A Buzz On?

    How would you like to get your staff high about your practice?  I am reading a book titled Buzzmarketing and I've found some really interesting things there that can be applied to dental practices.  Now, you have to pick and choose, not everything works for every business, but I like the idea of word of mouth marketing.  That's because it's something you can't pay for, you have to earn it.  You create a buzz about your practice by doing something unique and exciting.  You go a little further and give a little more. 
    We started going over this at our staff meeting today.  My boss, Jeff Price, said, "You know I don't like to think of selling dentistry, and that's not what we're trying to do with marketing.  Let's face it, there are dentists all over town that do the same procedures that we do.  What we are selling is ourselves.  We're selling what makes us different than every other practice."  Now, that's a great kick-off for a meeting.  Start asking your staff what makes them special and you'll be sure to get a response.  Everyone loves telling what's good about them.  It's also nice to see the benefit of all the staff development as the team members show confidence in themselves and each other.  We got so involved in coming up with ideas and examples of what we do good and what we want to do more of, that we ran out of time.  I had planned to make this a two meeting project, but we may just have to add another. 
    If this is something you'd be interested in doing with your team, e-mail me at lindaz@mchsi.com and I'll send you the outline.  It's a work progress right now, but I should have the complete outline within the week.  I'll also give you guidelines for how to use it. 
    Create a buzz about your practice and watch what happens.  It could get exciting!

Staff Meetings Don't Have To Be Boring. Really.

    I remember when I first started going to staff meetings.  Most of the time we spent a lot of the hour wondering if our boss would finish early so that we could have a longer lunch.  My poor boss.  He had no idea.  It wasn't easy for him to fill an hour delivering information to 4 or 5 bored, disinterested, hungry women.  Totally Mars and Venus in action.  Or should I make that inaction.  He tried, we didn't help. 
    OK, so now I'm the office manager and I have to come up with something new for staff meeting twice a month.  Not so easy.  I have new respect for the guy.  I have an advantage though.  I've got four Venusians to one Martian.  Martians are easier audiences.  He's a willing cheerleader and participant.  So is one of the Venusians.  The others can be a tough crowd sometimes. 
    I've mentioned this before; we read a lot of books.  Right now we're in the process of tag team reading How To Get Out of Your Own Way at Work.  We have two copies and take turns reading it and discussing it at the next meeting.  The chapters are short and deal with issues that can cause problems for people in the workplace.  Everyone is to pick 3-6 issues that they feel apply to them and talk about them.  Something interesting happens.  First, the person picks things that at first we are surprised they realize relate to them.  Then, as they discuss it, others very constructively give their opinions and offer supportive suggestions.  One fairly big issue between two employees was brought out very comfortably and a solution was agreed upon that works.  Today was my boss's turn.  He was completely open and unguarded.  He was one of us.  It was nice to see him as a person with concerns and worries and realizations about himself.  We tend to put him on a pedestal and it was enlightening to see how clearly he could see and state the areas he could work on.  It felt good to be trusted with that. 
    I think this is the way to build strong teams.  We are open, honest and supportive with each other during these conversations.  What happens in the break room stays in the break room.  We don't banter things around between each other and we don't throw it up to anyone later.  When you trust someone with your doubts and fears you build a bond.  The more you uphold the bond the stronger it gets.  It's something we value as a team and protect.  It's a privilege to be part of this.  And it's never boring.  Really

Come A Little Bit Closer

    Do you want to know an easy way to bring your staff a little bit closer?  A little bit closer to delivering fantastic patient care and a little bit closer as a team?  You do?  Then start having morning huddles.  What better way to start your day than by talking about how to make it a great one?  Some offices have morning huddles already but don't really guide them where they need to go.  Two people may be sitting at one end of the table talking about what happened on Grey's Anatomy last night, someone else might be heating up oatmeal in the microwave, and another might be text messaging on her cell phone.  Not really what I have in mind.
    In our office we have a morning huddle about 15 minutes before we begin patient care.  Everybody grabs a cup of coffee and settles in to discuss the day we'll soon embark on.  Each staff member gives a report specific to what her duties will entail that day.  Both hygienists run through their patients and discuss who is due for x-rays, what treatment has been recommended but not accomplished and any special needs for that patient.  The rest of the team may add some information, too.  Someone might know that the patient has lost a loved one, gotten a promotion, just gotten back from a trip, etc.  Patients like knowing that we are aware of these things and feel like we see them as individuals.  The front desk assistant will discuss payment plans and who is falling behind on payment.  The dentist and assistant run through their patients and talk about any extra equipment or accessories that will be needed.  This eliminates wasted time later in the day while patient care is in progress.  Once we have gone through the schedule, we may talk about anything that worked especially well the day before, ways that we achieved our goals, or problems that came up and how they were handled. 
    We use any time that is left to catch up with each other, tell funny stories and anything else to send everyone off to the patients with a smile on their face.  Morning huddles are a great way to enhance the total patient care experience and a way to connect with each other and recognize good performance.  It's like studying before a quiz.  You go in better prepared and usually perform with more confidence and achieve better results.  Let's face it, who wouldn't be better off with a little huddle?

The Purpose Principle

 Does your team all understand their true purpose in the practice?  Do they believe they are an integral part of a whole that functions better with them than without them?  Or do they see themselves as an individual player with a very specific skill to offer?  Our team is always growing and I am always trying to find new ways to keep them interested in the concept of teamwork.  Things can get old, even for a dedicated group, so I love it when I find a new tool to use at a staff meeting to put a fresh light on a long standing goal.  We centered our last staff meeting around the following story about a traveler in the Middle Ages.  He was passing through a city where many stone cutters were working.  He went up to a group and asked them all the same question:
    "What are you doing?"

    The first stone cutter he asked responded, "I'm cutting stone.  It's boring work, but it pays the bills."

    The second stone cutter replied, "I'm the best stone cutter in the land.  Look at the smoothness of this stone, how perfect the edges are."

    The third stone cutter pointed to a foundation several yards away, and said, "I'm building a cathedral."

    The first lacked purpose altogether.  The second was proud of the work he did.   The third clearly had a sense of purpose.  He could see the greater reason for his work.  He probably never found his work boring or worried about whether he was the best.  He knew what he did was part of a bigger picture and that his work was critical to the success of the project.
    How do you and your staff define what they do on a daily basis?  Does the dentist see himself as most important and that he could do it all alone?  Does the hygienist say, "I clean teeth, that is what I come here to do."?  Does the assistant feel that her routine is boring, but heck it's a paycheck?  Is the front desk looking at herself as someone who answers the phone...period?   If so, they need a sense of purpose.  The dentist needs to realize that while he is important and probably even the cornerstone of the practice, the patients are the foundation.  Without them, nothing will stand.  The staff are the stones that support the cornerstone.  When we build, we always build up.  When we are finished building we must maintain and make improvements.  That is why we can never feel that, now we are done.  If we do, things tend to fall into disrepair due to that neglect.
    So, how can you instill purpose in your staff?   You can make them aware that they will go further and enjoy their jobs more if they have it.  After I read this to our staff I asked them all to put a paper with either an "S" for stone cutter or "C" for cathedral builder into a bowl.  This would indicate what they presently considered themselves.  Out of 6, including my boss, I had 4 cathedral builders and 2 stone cutters.  I then asked them to put another paper into the bowl indicating what they would like to be.  All 6 wanted to be cathedral builders.  How can I, as the manager, help them? 

• I can help them see their significance to the team and the patients.
• I can help them see that what they give will help them achieve their personal goals.
• I can help them see the honor in what they do every day.  The grace that is in the little things, that has nothing to do with cleaning teeth or answering the phone or operating the handpiece.  The small kindnesses and considerations that make our cathedral stand out from the others.
• I can help them keep learning, growing and expanding themselves by finding stories like this, and by continuing to grow, learn and expand myself.

        By doing all this you can help them feel pride in what they do and how they do it.  Hopefully that will fuel a passion that will increase not only their productivity but the quality of what they do.  You can start doing this right away.  It costs nothing, needs no preparation and can make a big difference.  You are merely giving people a new way to think about what they do.  It is up to you to lead them in this new direction.

   

Simply Wonderful

    I have to tell you about our staff meeting yesterday.  I have written before that our staff often reads a book as a group and then discuss it during staff meetings.  In the past 6 months we read The Success Principles by Jack Canfield.  Jack has a leader's manual that you can download and print out on his website.  There are 6 lessons that the leader takes the group through as they read the book.  At first, I worried that some of the activities may be intrusive and I told the staff that if something felt that way to them they didn't have to participate.  There is a lot of sharing and goal-setting and talking about areas in our lives that need improvement.  Then at subsequent meetings, participants report on the results of the actions they have taken toward their goals.  Everyone participated in every activity and really enjoyed it all.
    Yesterday was our final lesson.  At the end of the meeting we were to do something called an appreciation bombardment.  Everyone had a turn being the focus of the group.  One by one, everyone had to look the focus person in the eye and tell them all the good things they felt and thought about them.  The person receiving appreciation could not say anything, they just had to listen.  The reason for that is that most people tend to deflect praise.  I was astonished at the depth of the thoughts and feelings the staff expressed toward each other.  I knew we liked each other but the feelings expressed went deeper than that.  There was respect and admiration and true appreciation from everyone for everyone. 
    I wonder why, in the course of daily life, it is so much easier to give people a negative piece of our mind than an appreciative piece of our mind.  It felt so great, not only to receive appreciation, but to watch people I care about be appreciated.  It was fantastic to see the looks on the faces of the recipients and to see the intensity of the sincerity as the people expressing themselves tried to get their feelings across.  We all became so zoned in on it that 40 minutes passed like 10.  It was a powerful exercise and I am very proud of our team for putting their hearts on display.  It reinforces for me, how lucky and privileged I am to work with a team like this.  It is a reminder to always do my best to be fair, understanding and patient.  These are strong people who are full of honesty, faith, dedication, perseverance and love.  They are simply wonderful.

Talk Amongst Yourselves

    Getting staff to say what's on their mind at staff meetings can be like pulling teeth, can't it?  Sorry, I know that was pitiful, I couldn't resist.  But it really can be tough to get people to speak up.  Why is that?  Are they afraid?  Insecure?  Don't want to say the wrong thing?  Worried they'll get the boss mad?  Who knows, maybe a little bit of all of the above.
    Think about the atmosphere created in a staff meeting, especially in a small group like most dental practices.  Usually, you're all sitting around the table in the break room or consult room.  The BOSS is there and he can hear everything you say!  Who knows what he's thinking?  Take a chance of saying the thing he doesn't want to hear and getting fired, why would you?  Share your feelings so that everyone knows the real you, no way!  Let somebody else start.  Let the office manager worry about the long silences.  Maybe they'll give up and we'll get a long lunch.
    That may be what's happening during your meetings.  Or they could be full of accusations and complaints.  Either way it's not productive.  I just read a great post by Susan Bird.  Check it out here .  She suggests banning the word meeting and having a conversation instead.  I know, it's sounds funny to say "It's time for our staff conversation", but so what?  I like funny.  It's more interesting and inviting.  Picture changing the layout of an area in the office and having some comfortable chairs and a sofa.  Now wouldn't that help get the conversational ball rolling. 
    Do something silly once in a while.  Have a guessing game and give prizes.  Our staff loves my prizes.  They don't have to cost a lot, just keep your eyes open for fun things.  Scratch off lottery tickets are a favorite. 
    Whatever you do, lighten it up a little.  It doesn't have to be grim.  You'll accomplish a lot more if you add a little levity.  Sometimes, boss, leave the room and let them talk amongst themselves, then come back in and ask for the lowdown.  You can find the thing that floats your staff's boat and then all you have to do is steer. 

The Staff That Reads Together

    OK, I already told you that our staff reads.  Then we talk about what we read at our staff meetings and decide how we are going to incorporate the things that work for us into our practice.  We started with  "If Aristotle Ran General Motors" by Tom Morris .  We eased into it. We read two chapters and then I led a discussion at staff meeting.  Problem was....I was the only one talking.  Oh, the dentist was a good sport, he tried to help but we really needed to know what the staff thought.
    Then I got creative.  I assigned each team member certain pages that she would lead the discussion on at the next staff meeting.  You would have thought I said they had to eat worms.  They expressed the thought that I must have lost my mind.  Maybe, but they were still going to do it.  The lucky thing for me was, nobody realized that if they resisted I couldn't have really forced them to do it.  So at the next staff meeting they blushed and stammered their way through in a monotone. 
    As time went by, they relaxed and forgot they were nervous.  They got excited and really enjoyed sharing their opinions.   Until..one of the fellows from Tom's Institute For Human Values agreed to sit in on our final discussion.  Oh no, that was going too far, they weren't going to do it.  That's fine he'll just come for lunch after the discussion.  Then they wanted to know if I was disappointed.  I was.  Not because Ed wouldn't get to witness them in all their glory but because they didn't believe that they could do what I knew they could.  I told them that and I told them that if they pictured themselves calmly talking about the book in front of Ed they would be fine.  If they kept feeding the panic demon then they would never know if they could do it. 
    The day before staff meeting they came to me and said they'd try.  I was very proud of them.  This was hard, they were scared.  They didn't want to embarrass themselves.  And they didn't.  They were magnificent.  Now, they're not volunteering to speak at the Rotary Club or anything, but they did grow in confidence and through reading Tom's book and by implementing the lessons therein we've all expanded our integrity and positively impacted our character.  And we're not done.  We're in a good habit now and we're going to keep on with it because we like the results.  We treat each other with respect and consideration and our patients enjoy the same.  The same people who started out reluctantly now are enthusiastic and they look forward to each new book.

Not Another Staff Meeting!

    Maybe I should say not just another staff meeting!  Let's face it, staff meetings can be really boring.  Admit it, you know what is going on behind those glazed over eyes.  They are obsessively thinking "Hurry up, Hurry Up, HURRY UP!!!  If he finishes early we can have a long lunch.  What!!!???  Is that butt-kisser gonna ask another question?!  We'll fix her!".  Maybe I'm being a little dramatic....no, not really, I've heard those very words spoken (not by me, of course) in the past.
    I don't hear them anymore because we run great staff meetings.  While it's important to keep the staff informed about the state of the practice by sharing numbers and developing goals, it's also vital to develop the soul of the practice and you do that by nurturing the character of the staff. 
    Some of our most enjoyable staff meetings center around books.  We kicked off our reading with        "If Aristotle Ran General Motors"  by Tom Morris.  I'd like to say the staff was gung-ho, but I'd also like to keep it real.  They were not too thrilled.  It doesn't sound like a girl book, does it?  It sounds like a book about cars.  We started with the introduction (grudgingly).  It was ok enough to get them to agree to the next two chapters.  Pretty soon, they were hooked.  By the end, they wanted to know what we were going to read next.  And on it goes.  We're reading fools.  With tons of character and soul.  How did we do it?
    Just reading the books doesn't do it.  A good idea is a seed.  We planted Tom's seeds in the heads and hearts of our staff.  And then we nurtured those seeds.  I'll be back soon to tell you what we did.