DTUS0610

It’s likely you realized early on that as the owner of your practice, there are many hats you must wear. You are, after all, “the boss.” You are the one your team looks to for direc- tion, guidance, mediation, fairness, etc. And for many dentists, it’s those “other duties as assigned” that create the biggest headaches in running a practice. Employees are a needy bunch. You have to tell them what to do. They often require additional training. They can be mercurial. And one par- ticularly frustrating characteristic of most employees — they want regular feedback from you, their boss. If only signing the paychecks was all that was required to effectively manage a team. Now you need a solid set of skills, a strong sense of integrity and professionalism and a willing- ness to encourage excellent perfor- mance through motivation, account- ability and, yes, plenty of constructive feedback. Most dentists pat themselves on the back if they give employees feed- back once or twice a year. “Feed- back” as many view it would be that perfunctory exchange that is com- monly attached to the annual salary review. If there are no problems, most like- ly the dentist tells the employees they are doing a fine job, slaps a couple extra percentage points on the pay- check and quickly strikes this routine matter off the to-do list. “There, that’s done. Now on to real work!” Or perhaps you are one of those who reasons that if the employee gets a paycheck and isn’t shown to the door that is feedback enough in your book. “If I wasn’t happy they’d know it. Why would I need to give any more feedback than that?” If that’s your story, you’re probably filling vacan- cies in your office rather regularly. Maybe your idea of feedback is dropping a subtle hint here or there. The dirty instruments pile up in the sink and you stick a post-it-note above it with a frowning face. Or let’s say, you’re looking at a record shortfall in income this year and you casually mention in a staff meeting that money is a little tight. This isn’t feedback because: • It doesn’t help the collections coordinator understand that she needs to increase over-the-counter collections immediately. • It doesn’t tell the scheduling coordinator that the scheduling to meet production goals is established for a reason. • The staff members leave the meeting assuming everything is fine where they are concerned. After all, if money were a serious problem surely you’d do more than mention that things are a little tight. • Meanwhile, you are sure the team is going to take some real steps to improve their performance. (Yet, this is, in fact, not true.) Vague generalities don’t work and they don’t constitute feedback. So how does the dental practice actually incorporate effective feedback into its systems? First, drop the notion that feed- back is part of the performance/sal- ary review. They are separate issues. Performance rewards must be based on performance measurements, but that is another article. Daily dose Constructive feedback should be given and received daily to help employees continuously fine tune and improve the manner in which they carry out their responsibilities. Feedback given and received con- structively is professional pixie dust for the employees. It’s that unseen magical ingredient that helps them to improve and to grow. It’s also the dentist’s most vital tool in shaping and guiding average employees into effective, high-per- forming team members. But expecting anything construc- tive or positive to come out of occa- sional doses of feedback is like having a patient who brushes his teeth occa- sionally yet expects to have excellent oral health. It simply doesn’t happen. Verbal feedback can be given at any time, but it is most effective at the moment the employee is engag- ing in the behavior that you either want to praise or correct. If Sue at the front desk negotiated payment from the ever difficult Mrs. Jones with the deft and political acumen of a highly trained peace keeper/financial genius, tell her! Similarly, if her handling of a situ- ation is not consistent with the prac- DENTAL TRIBUNE | March 2010 Practice Matters 5A AD Visit us at Hinman booth no. 913 for your FREE gift! By Sally McKenzie, CEO Give feedback or face backlash g DT page 7A

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