Let's look at staff

Let's look at the second key item in the series on working efficiently.

If you want to practice efficiently and effectively you must have the right staff around you. But, having the right staff is not common, in fact it's the exception. Here are the three biggest mistakes I see with respect to staff.

Mistake #1 – not enough staff

Imagine if you had a factory that made widgets and it contained only one widget making machine. You'd want that machine producing widgets as much as possible. You wouldn't want that machine sitting idle or, worse yet, running flat out but not producing widgets.

In the dental office you only get paid when the dentist (or hygienist) produces billable services for a patient. Therefore you want the dentist to focus 100% on billable services and do nothing else.

But, in so many offices the dentist does dozens of tasks that could be delegated to staff members if they were there. It is foolishness to save on staff costs if it means that the dentist spends 50% of their day on non-billable tasks or sitting idle.

Mistake #2 – poor training

Do you have a means of inducting new staff into your office?

Every office needs a way of bringing new staff members up to speed as quickly as possible. Teaching them "how we do things around here". To do that you need two things – an office manual and a training system.

I've been in offices where they had neither and the result is chaos. Staff go around doing whatever they feel like. In such a workplace the quality is inconsistent and the working environment is stressful.

Mistake #3 – poor communication

Believe it or not, staff members are not mind readers.

Yet, I see so many dentists frustrated because their staff won't do what they want. I ask them: "Have you told the staff what you want?" They reply: "No, but they should know what I want?" Wrong!

If you want something done in a certain way tell the staff in a calm, quiet, polite manner when you are not under stress.

Bottom line

Staff costs are cheap. Your time is expensive.

Invest in sufficient staff, train them well and communicate.