"I don't feel well"

What do you when a staff member says they don’t feel well? My short answer is send them home with pay.

You have to have trust in your staff. If you do trust your staff, then if they say they don’t feel well – then they don’t feel well. Simple as that – you trust your staff.

If you doubt the sincerity of your staff when they tell you they are sick then you need to really consider your feelings about that member all together. Why do you doubt them? Have they given you other reasons to doubt their honesty and commitment to the dental team?

If you trust your staff then send them home when they say they don’t feel well. If you don’t trust your staff, then you need to really evaluate that person as a long-term member of your office staff.

Dr. Corey Gold

President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems

www.aces4ce.com

Leading by Deligating

One of the biggest mistakes made by dental CEOs is that they tend to micromanage their office staffs. They believe to be in control of their practice that they must be part of every aspect of their practice at all times. They want to make all of the decisions on every aspect of their practice. Not only is this management style counterproductive but it is also exhausting.

The best management style on every level is to hire talented people, share with them what you want them to do and then let them do it!

In no way am I saying that you are not going to be coaching your staff as they need guidance or corrections but you must empower your staff to make decisions within the scope of their job description. Talented and mature staff want to know what you expect of them and then to be trusted to do their job.

Avoid the common management mistake of only correcting your staff when they make errors – while this is important – you must also look to praise your staff for doing what you entrusted them to do. Praise goes further than criticism.

The most effective management style is to create an office of talented and responsible staff members who manage their areas of responsibility. Great staffs are full of members that respect each other and encourage each other to do their very best.

You are free to concentrate on your patient’s dental care when you know that your staff is professionally handling the other aspects of the office’s needs. Also, as the CEO of your practice, you are free to pick aspects that you want to control as your assigned areas. I liked to keep marketing, internet presence and continuing education as my areas of responsibility (aside from being in charge of the dental care).

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Matching Uniforms or No Team Uniforms

I admit that this was never a big deal for me. I always let my staff decide whether they wanted to wear matching uniforms or not. It did affect me in that I had to wear the chosen scrubs but that was never a concern for me. My objective was to have a happy staff and almost nothing led to more disharmony than argumentation over uniforms.

Over the many years, I have had the staff choose all options. We wore the color of the day but different outfits, color of the day and matching outfit, no uniformity and everything in between. The funny thing was that no matter what the staff chose, it always wanted to change again soon.

Ultimately, we spent the majority of time wearing the color of the day and in matching uniforms. I think this was the cleanest and most professional look. I never got a vote – just the honor of paying – LOL.

Dr. Corey gold
President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Take CPR and Emergency Response Courses as a Team

One of the best ways to build a friendly, professional and competent team is to build trust within the group. Trust and respect within the group is a key element of building a dental team that will work well together over a long stretch of time.

A key to building team spirit and a tight bond is doing things outside the office a group. Learning proper CPR technique and how to handle medical emergencies as a team is an important safety component for your practice as well as a requirement for licensure in most states. Use this opportunity to grow your team unity.

CPR and hands-on medical emergency response courses give an opportunity for each team member to learn the same materials and to each assume an important role within the team unit in the case of a crisis.

I believe that these type courses should be attended as a team in a classroom setting (not via correspondence course) and the team should practice as a unit. It is fun to go through the materials together, to laugh at each other and to master the material together. Taking the material separately or online does not provide for this important interaction.

On a safety note, it is important that one team member be responsible for checking the emergency response equipment on a regular schedule and report back to the team the condition of the materials and remind everyone where the equipment is stored. All materials should be up-to-date.

One last thought – Some offices pay for their team’s continuing education and others do not, regardless of your office policy on paying for dental continuing education, I would suggest that the office pay for the CPR and emergency response course fees.

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
The largest provider of Live, Dental Continuing Education Webcasts in the world
www.aces4ce.com

Praise in Public

If you want to develop a loyal, respectful  and compitent staff, make sure that you take time to praise their accomplishments publically. Just as important, make sure that when you need to speak to a staff member about correcting behaviors or mistakes – that you do this discretely and privately.

As dentists and CEOs of our businesses, we are all very busy. We often just expect our staff to do things right. We don’t stop to think about praising them for correctly “doing their job”. We only notice our staffs when they make mistakes or act out of step with our practice philosophy.

Try to catch your staff doing things right and publicly praising them for doing their job as you expect. Your staff will feel very positive about being praised in front of patients and other staff members. It might feel foreign to praise people for simply doing things as expected but it will start to feel good to do. Your staff will love you for noticing them and for telling others that they are good at what they do.

On the other hand, try with all your might not to criticize your staff in front of patients and other staff members. Keep your cool when things go wrong and make note to talk to the staff member privately later about the mistake or issue that needs to be corrected. Never talk down to your staff, never make your staff feel incompetent – rather reinforce that you like them as a person and just want to work on one area of their performance to help bring it up to the expected level.

After advising a staff member on how to correct an area of problem, look for reason to praise them in their performance in the next few days. Especially look to see if they are working to improve the area you spoke to them about. Make sure you mention you notice the improvement and appreciate the effort.

Staff members are people with feelings. We all want to feel we are doing a good job and appreciated. We all want to avoid being publically embarrassed. As dentist/CEO it is up to you to set the tone for your practice. Look for things your staff are doing right and let them know you notice and appreciate their competence and professionalism.

Dr. Corey Gold
President  - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Don't Worry be Happy

It is very easy to get lost in minute by minute activity in our offices to lose the enjoyment of our chosen profession. We often focus on the late patient, the grumpy patient, the accounts receivable, the lab work that needs to be redone, the staff members who are squabbling and all the other daily noise of our offices and miss the big picture that we enjoy the work we do and the people we work with.

I hear from so many colleagues that they used to love going to their office but now dread it. It is easy to get worn down by daily challenges and miss the good things that happen each day.

My advice to all my burned out friends – try to remember why you became a dental professional and the fun you had when you first started treating patients. Try to take a moment each morning before you start your first patient to set a goal to smile more, do exceptional work and find satisfaction in your daily accomplishments.

Don’t worry – be happy!

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Educaiton Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Integrating New Staff Members Into Established Offices

One of the often overlooked elements of hiring new staff members is integrating them into the social aspects of the dental office. This issue is even more challenging in more established offices where many of the team members have been working together for years.

We are aware of the need to show the new staff member how the office operates and specifically how to successfully fulfil their new duties in the office. Emphasis is placed on the technical aspects of their job and we can quickly bring qualified staff members up to speed – so they can successfully work with patients and contribute to the office’s mission.

While we might think that once a new team member is trained and able to perform their assigned duties in the office well that our job is completed in the integration of the new team member – this would be not be true. We often forget that the dental office is also a cluster of people working in close quarters and that when staff members feel out of the social mix they often are unhappy in their work – and this will eventually show in their work.

It is important that we take active steps to integrate the new staff member in the social flow of the office. I suggest setting up lunches with the new staff member and the existing team members. Let the team get to know the new hire as a person. Also make sure that you speak to the entire team about the importance of making the new hire feel welcome.

While friendships and community usually develop organically between team members, it is important to be aware that this process is occurring as it should. In older offices where staff have been together for sometimes decades, new hires often find it difficult to break into the social flow. In cases of more established offices, go out of your way to make sure to go out of your way to encourage the staff to invite the new hires into their ‘club’.

For an office to truly be healthy, it takes a cohesive and respectful community of professionals working together. Part of this community is that each member feels fully included.

Dr. Corey Gold

President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems

www.aces4ce.com

Make Changes Today

I like to think that January is more than just the first month of the year but rather a reset button.

A lot of times veteran offices seem to run on autopilot. Some months are stronger, some are slower but it is all pretty much running on its own. The staff does their thing, we do our thing and it just continues to run along in the same rut as yesterday. We can change our offices and personal patterns at any time but typically we do not – but at New Year’s many of us are open to making changes and to re-examining our patterns.

If you feel you are in a rut or that what you are doing is not making you fulfilled – then now is the time to make changes. Change your office, change your diet, change your weight, volunteer, become more spiritual – do things differently – be brave and make personal changes.

It is your life – reclaim it – change patterns that are not working for you and find ones that make you happy. Do it today!

Dr. Corey Gold
President - ACES
www.aces4ce.com

Take CPR and Emergency Response Courses as a Team

One of the best ways to build a friendly, professional and competent team is to build trust within the group. Trust and respect within the group is a key element of building a dental team that will work well together over a long stretch of time.

A key to building team spirit and a tight bond is doing things outside the office a group. Learning proper CPR technique and how to handle medical emergencies as a team is an important safety component for your practice as well as a requirement for licensure in most states. Use this opportunity to grow your team unity.

CPR and hands-on medical emergency response courses give an opportunity for each team member to learn the same materials and to each assume an important role within the team unit in the case of a crisis.

I believe that these type courses should be attended as a team in a classroom setting (not via correspondence course) and the team should practice as a unit. It is fun to go through the materials together, to laugh at each other and to master the material together. Taking the material separately or online does not provide for this important interaction.

On a safety note, it is important that one team member be responsible for checking the emergency response equipment on a regular schedule and report back to the team the condition of the materials and remind everyone where the equipment is stored. All materials should be up-to-date.

One last thought – Some offices pay for their team’s continuing education and others do not, regardless of your office policy on paying for dental continuing education, I would suggest that the office pay for the CPR and emergency response course fees.

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
The largest provider of Live, Dental Continuing Education Webcasts in the world
www.aces4ce.com

Matching Uniforms or No Team Uniforms

I admit that this was never a big deal for me. I always let my staff decide whether they wanted to wear matching uniforms or not. It did affect me in that I had to wear the chosen scrubs but that was never a concern for me. My objective was to have a happy staff and almost nothing led to more disharmony than argumentation over uniforms.

Over the many years, I have had the staff choose all options. We wore the color of the day but different outfits, color of the day and matching outfit, no uniformity and everything in between. The funny thing was that no matter what the staff chose, it always wanted to change again soon.

Ultimately, we spent the majority of time wearing the color of the day and in matching uniforms. I think this was the cleanest and most professional look. I never got a vote – just the honor of paying – LOL.

Dr. Corey gold
President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Morning Meetings

I am a big fan of having a short morning meeting before the day begins and the front door opens for patients. There are two major reasons I like these meetings.

1                  It is very valuable for the entire team to review the patients and the cases that are going to be walking through the door that day (I know many offices that have a morning meeting and a second meeting after lunch to go over cases). It is especially valuable to review difficult cases, unique medical challenges or other situations that might require special attention.

It is also a great time to make sure that all lab materials are in the office or any special equipment that might be required to complete a patient’s procedure (face bow, implants, CT scans, panorex, lab work, etc…).

It is also an opportunity to discuss any patients who might present a personality challenge.

2                     A second valuable reason for holding these short meetings is the team building aspects. It gives the team a chance to have a coffee or juice, to say hello and catch up. The day is about to get busy and everyone will be buzzing around – it is very nice to get everyone in one room for few moments and be a team.

Dr. Corey gold

President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems

www.aces4ce.com

Don’t Worry – Be Happy

It is very easy to get lost in minute by minute activity in our offices to lose the enjoyment of our chosen profession. We often focus on the late patient, the grumpy patient, the accounts receivable, the lab work that needs to be redone, the staff members who are squabbling and all the other daily noise of our offices and miss the big picture that we enjoy the work we do and the people we work with.

I hear from so many colleagues that they used to love going to their office but now dread it. It is easy to get worn down by daily challenges and miss the good things that happen each day.

My advice to all my burned out friends – try to remember why you became a dental professional and the fun you had when you first started treating patients. Try to take a moment each morning before you start your first patient to set a goal to smile more, do exceptional work and find satisfaction in your daily accomplishments.

Don’t worry – be happy!

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Educaiton Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Take CPR and Emergency Response Courses as a Team

One of the best ways to build a friendly, professional and competent team is to build trust within the group. Trust and respect within the group is a key element of building a dental team that will work well together over a long stretch of time.

A key to building team spirit and a tight bond is doing things outside the office a group. Learning proper CPR technique and how to handle medical emergencies as a team is an important safety component for your practice as well as a requirement for licensure in most states. Use this opportunity to grow your team unity.

CPR and hands-on medical emergency response courses give an opportunity for each team member to learn the same materials and to each assume an important role within the team unit in the case of a crisis.

I believe that these type courses should be attended as a team in a classroom setting (not via correspondence course) and the team should practice as a unit. It is fun to go through the materials together, to laugh at each other and to master the material together. Taking the material separately or online does not provide for this important interaction.

On a safety note, it is important that one team member be responsible for checking the emergency response equipment on a regular schedule and report back to the team the condition of the materials and remind everyone where the equipment is stored. All materials should be up-to-date.

One last thought – Some offices pay for their team’s continuing education and others do not, regardless of your office policy on paying for dental continuing education, I would suggest that the office pay for the CPR and emergency response course fees.

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
The largest provider of Live, Dental Continuing Education Webcasts in the world
www.aces4ce.com

Praise in Public

If you want to develop a loyal, respectful  and compitent staff, make sure that you take time to praise their accomplishments publically. Just as important, make sure that when you need to speak to a staff member about correcting behaviors or mistakes – that you do this discretely and privately.

As dentists and CEOs of our businesses, we are all very busy. We often just expect our staff to do things right. We don’t stop to think about praising them for correctly “doing their job”. We only notice our staffs when they make mistakes or act out of step with our practice philosophy.

Try to catch your staff doing things right and publicly praising them for doing their job as you expect. Your staff will feel very positive about being praised in front of patients and other staff members. It might feel foreign to praise people for simply doing things as expected but it will start to feel good to do. Your staff will love you for noticing them and for telling others that they are good at what they do.

On the other hand, try with all your might not to criticize your staff in front of patients and other staff members. Keep your cool when things go wrong and make note to talk to the staff member privately later about the mistake or issue that needs to be corrected. Never talk down to your staff, never make your staff feel incompetent – rather reinforce that you like them as a person and just want to work on one area of their performance to help bring it up to the expected level.

After advising a staff member on how to correct an area of problem, look for reason to praise them in their performance in the next few days. Especially look to see if they are working to improve the area you spoke to them about. Make sure you mention you notice the improvement and appreciate the effort.

Staff members are people with feelings. We all want to feel we are doing a good job and appreciated. We all want to avoid being publically embarrassed. As dentist/CEO it is up to you to set the tone for your practice. Look for things your staff are doing right and let them know you notice and appreciate their competence and professionalism.

Dr. Corey Gold
President  - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

"I don't feel well"

What do you when a staff member says they don’t feel well? My short answer is send them home with pay.

You have to have trust in your staff. If you do trust your staff, then if they say they don’t feel well – then they don’t feel well. Simple as that – you trust your staff.

If you doubt the sincerity of your staff when they tell you they are sick then you need to really consider your feelings about that member all together. Why do you doubt them? Have they given you other reasons to doubt their honesty and commitment to the dental team?

If you trust your staff then send them home when they say they don’t feel well. If you don’t trust your staff, then you need to really evaluate that person as a long-term member of your office staff.

Dr. Corey Gold

President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems

www.aces4ce.com

Matching Uniforms or No Team Uniforms

I admit that this was never a big deal for me. I always let my staff decide whether they wanted to wear matching uniforms or not. It did affect me in that I had to wear the chosen scrubs but that was never a concern for me. My objective was to have a happy staff and almost nothing led to more disharmony than argumentation over uniforms.

Over the many years, I have had the staff choose all options. We wore the color of the day but different outfits, color of the day and matching outfit, no uniformity and everything in between. The funny thing was that no matter what the staff chose, it always wanted to change again soon.

Ultimately, we spent the majority of time wearing the color of the day and in matching uniforms. I think this was the cleanest and most professional look. I never got a vote – just the honor of paying – LOL.

Dr. Corey gold
President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Morning Meetings

I am a big fan of having a short morning meeting before the day begins and the front door opens for patients. There are two major reasons I like these meetings.

1                  It is very valuable for the entire team to review the patients and the cases that are going to be walking through the door that day (I know many offices that have a morning meeting and a second meeting after lunch to go over cases). It is especially valuable to review difficult cases, unique medical challenges or other situations that might require special attention.

It is also a great time to make sure that all lab materials are in the office or any special equipment that might be required to complete a patient’s procedure (face bow, implants, CT scans, panorex, lab work, etc…).

It is also an opportunity to discuss any patients who might present a personality challenge.

2                     A second valuable reason for holding these short meetings is the team building aspects. It gives the team a chance to have a coffee or juice, to say hello and catch up. The day is about to get busy and everyone will be buzzing around – it is very nice to get everyone in one room for few moments and be a team.

Dr. Corey gold

President – Advanced Continuing Education Systems

www.aces4ce.com

Don’t Worry – Be Happy

It is very easy to get lost in minute by minute activity in our offices to lose the enjoyment of our chosen profession. We often focus on the late patient, the grumpy patient, the accounts receivable, the lab work that needs to be redone, the staff members who are squabbling and all the other daily noise of our offices and miss the big picture that we enjoy the work we do and the people we work with.

I hear from so many colleagues that they used to love going to their office but now dread it. It is easy to get worn down by daily challenges and miss the good things that happen each day.

My advice to all my burned out friends – try to remember why you became a dental professional and the fun you had when you first started treating patients. Try to take a moment each morning before you start your first patient to set a goal to smile more, do exceptional work and find satisfaction in your daily accomplishments.

Don’t worry – be happy!

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Educaiton Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Firing Patients

I used to have a rule in my office that each full-time staff member had the ability to 'fire' one patient a year. While that option was rarely ever used by any staff member, it did occur on a few occasions.

Every blue moon a patient will enter your office that is high offensive or will make overt passes at your staff members. Some patients will sexually bother your staff or make them very uncomfortable.

My staff like that they could call a staff meeting and ask to fire a patient. They would tell the staff why they wanted to fire the patient and that was that - there was no vote. They could ask for their one prt year firing.

To be fair to the patient we would finish the active work on that patient and then simply ask them to seek future treatment elsewhere. We only had this 'firing' occur a few times over a dozen or so years, so it was not a big deal.

What this 'firing' option did was allow my staff to feel comfortable that if someone was bothering them that they could deal with the problem. It was a vote of confidence for my staff and gave them some power. It said that I trusted them and looked out for them.

Allow your staff to have the option to fire one patient a year.

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advanced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com

Do You Treat Your Team Member’s Evenly?

Dentists are only people. It is hard for us not to have staff members that we enjoy more or who we favor.  Sometimes we will be more forgiving of certain staff member’s errors than others or get angrier at the transgressions of another.

Very few things can bring more disharmony to a dental team than for the dentist to treat the members with varying degrees of accountability, discipline or attention. No matter how difficult, the dentist CEO must be viewed by the staff as being even handed and fair to every staff member.

Favoring one team member only makes life more difficult for that individual as the other team members resent them. Uneven compliments or attention makes team members not want to give their best as it will not be fairly recognized. No one wins when the playing field is uneven.

Dr. Corey Gold
President - Advenced Continuing Education Systems
www.aces4ce.com