Dentaltown December 2017 - 79

No matter how smart, talented, driven or passionate you are, your success in dentistry is not guaranteed unless you can also build and
inspire a team. A successful leader is one who inspires his or her team to work in synergy toward common goals.
All dental practices face the time crunch and as the practice owner, main producer and emotional leader, the art of team building is often
lost. Adding team building back into the mix can increase a practice's productivity, uplift morale and even lower stress.
These four C's are areas to concentrate on that will engage your team, keep focus and ultimately achieve success in the practice.

Clarify
Team members need to understand what their role is, where they are going and how they will get there. Clear, defined expectations
are a valuable commodity in the business world that can save a lot of time in the long term, but establishing them in the beginning will
prove to be one of the more time-consuming parts of setting your practice up for future success. Taking the time to plan and write down
goals will create an environment of clear expectations and unlimited potential for both you and your team.
Do you have clearly defined mission and vision statements? If not, start by creating them. If you do, review them and make sure they
are still relevant.
A vision statement is a long-term perspective that outlines where you want to be. Think of it as your North Star; if you're ever feeling
lost, you can always look to see if you're at least heading in the correct direction.
In five years, what do you want your world to look like? It answers the question "Where do we aim to be?" When creating your vision
statement assume your office will be on the cover of a magazine in five years. What do you hope your cover story is about?
A mission statement talks about why we exist and how we will get to where we want to be. It answers the questions "What do we do?"
and "What makes us different?" A mission statement should be short, memorable and inspiring. When it's complete give it the T-shirt
test: Will it fit on a tee and would you and your team wear it?

Calculate
Know your numbers. Your numbers are a priority, so know
what they look like and what they mean. Do a complete overhead
analysis to make sure your house is healthy and your income and
expenses are inline. Next move to your production and collection and
gather key performance indicators from your practice management
system. Determine what's working and what's not.
After the number analysis is complete and you have all your
key data points, move to planning the next several years. There are
specific questions to ask, like:
* What production/collection goals must you meet to achieve
your goals?
* How will your expenses increase?
* Do you want to be able to work less but make more?
* Will you add equipment?
* Will you add team members?
* Will you add new types of dentistry?
These are just a few of the questions you should be answering
during this process. Bottom line it is imperative to get and keep
your numbers healthy.
In addition to goals, bonus systems for the team should be
considered. Bonus systems should always be based around approaching
or exceeding goals.

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dentaltown.com \\ DECEMBER 2017

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown December 2017