toxic dental employee

Why Gratitude In The Workplace Matters
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Why Gratitude In The Workplace Matters

Hello Friends,

November is Gratitude Month

Why does gratitude in the workplace matter? Gratitude helps to strengthen and motivate your team, encouraging employee loyalty and engagement.

Yes, your employees may show up each day physically, but are they engaged? Are they there mentally and emotionally?

One of the most common issues I hear from dental employees is that they don’t feel appreciated. Feeling a lack of gratitude is often the main reason why they leave their employer or suffer a decline in positivity and productivity.

Hint: Sadly enough, I hear the same thing from the employer – my team doesn’t appreciate me, and/or my team is unthankful. So if you’re an employee reading this you’ll find that these same ideas for showing gratitude may be used for showing appreciation and gratitude to your employer.🙂

Don’t assume they know that you appreciate them just because you give them a paycheck every week. Show them by your words and actions that you value and appreciate their contributions to the success of the practice.

Here are several ways to express and show gratitude for your dental team…

Invest in them – Thoroughly train your employees (new & old) on your practice goals, systems, expectations, software, telephone skills, dental procedures, protocols, etc.  Include regular continuing education – you can do this with in-office training, webinars, lunch and learns, and seminars/classes outside of the office.

Give them your attention – Conduct quarterly commendation and performance evaluations. This also allows them to share with you how things are going for them and their ideas to improve the office.

Don’t Overwork them – If you regularly overwork your employees they will eventually burn out before that happens though, negativity and feelings of being underappreciated will set in. Avoid working into their lunch hour and after their scheduled end time.

Accountability – Hold each employee accountable to uphold the same high standards of performance and attitudes.  It’s been said that “what you allow you encourage.” Once you make the decision to no longer tolerate or allow poor behavior and attitudes in your practice, you’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief and the rest of your employees will know just how much you care and appreciate them.

Greetings – Say hello & goodbye to your employees at the start of the day and the end of the day.

Use your Manners – Say please and thank you. Make it a habit to say please every time you ask for something. Saying thank you improves your office, your health, and boosts morale.

Thank you notes – a thoughtful handwritten thank you note will go a long way in helping someone feel appreciated and valued.

Praise – Commend and praise your employees in front of and to your patients.

Feed them – Bring in breakfast, snacks, or lunch.

Gifts of Appreciation – Surprise your team with thoughtful gifts of appreciation (gift cards, cash, treats, etc.)

Work Anniversaries – Acknowledge work anniversaries. Don’t take their loyalty for granted. Make sure they feel wanted and appreciated.

Encourage Creativity – Host “Brainstorm Sessions” with prizes for creative marketing ideas, solutions to improve office efficiency, welcome more new patients, patient retention, and how to have more fun as a team.

Work Environment – Show your team just how much you care by providing a nice work environment for them to work in. Is your office due or past-due for a good cleaning and organizing? Maybe even some remodeling or redecorating?

Give them your time – Spend time outside the office with your team engaging in fun team-building recreational activities. Do this at least quarterly.

Be Consistent – When gratitude becomes a habit, so do its benefits.

These are simple and inexpensive ways to let your team know how much you care. I encourage you to put them into action. When you do you’ll quickly learn that it is a triple win – a win for your team, a win for your patients, and a win for you (you’ll not only enjoy better health but practice growth too).

“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life“. —Northrup Christiane

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas sent to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up.

Practice Owners, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice…please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Did you enjoy these tips and ideas?   I would love and truly appreciate it if you to please take a second to leave a review/recommendation for me here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK – Thank you!!!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

Dental Office Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas for August 2023
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Dental Office Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas for August 2023

Hello Friends,

There is still time to make 2023 a great year for practice growth. As always, my goal in sharing these ideas each month and while coaching my dental teams is to help you all stress-less and have more fun at work!

If you’re looking for marketing, social media content, and other practice growth tips and ideas for August – Visit here: August 2023 Practice Growth Ideas

Here are your Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas for August. Enjoy!

Practice Management Reminders and Ideas…

Schedules – If your office schedules typically slow down in August/September, what plans have you made to fill holes in the schedule, increase same-day services, and keep the working day productive?  Don’t leave it to chance. Make a list of productive tasks that may be done during any slower times.

How many visits are scheduled compared to capacity? Too many holes? Do you have time reserved for new patients? How are you planning to stay in touch with unscheduled patients? Consider offering some type of gif basket/prize that your patients can enter to win during the months of August & September when they come in for their appointment.

Emergency Medical Plan – Is your office and team prepared and equipped to handle a medical emergency? Is your emergency medical kit up to date?

The components of a sound medical emergency plan for the dental office should include:

  • Medical emergency prevention
  • Development of an action plan
  • Recognizing a patient’s distress and management of medical emergencies
  • Emergency drugs and equipment

Source: https://www.ada.org/en/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/oral-health-topics/medical-emergencies-in-the-dental-office

Leadership Tips…

If you want to see a positive change in your practice, you must consistently lead by example… be the change. It starts at the top. You set the tone for the day, and make certain that it’s a happy & productive one. This includes any employee in a management position – if you have employees complaining about your office manager, take it seriously. A toxic (toxic negativity and/or toxic positivity) office manager will destroy your practice over time, at the very least, cause a staff turnover nightmare.  In fact, any employee that is toxic to your vision, to your team, and/or your patients…needs to go. It’s not easy to make the decision to terminate someone’s employment, yet absolutely necessary if you want to improve your practice.  It’s been said that “what you allow you encourage.” Once you make the decision to no longer tolerate or allow poor behavior and attitudes in your practice, you’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Practice Owners, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about… please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less-than-perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful.”

 –Mark Victor Hansen

Hope you enjoy these ideas and can use some of them to help make the month of August a productive and happy one for you, your team, your patients, and the community.

If you appreciate and enjoy the complimentary ideas and content that I share each month – I would LOVE for you to PLEASE leave me a review/recommendation on Google or Facebook. Simply click the following links…  GOOGLE   and/or  FACEBOOK– I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much!!  

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

Dental Office Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas for February 2023
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Dental Office Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas for February 2023

Hello Friends,

Today, I am sharing some office management and leadership tips and ideas to help you enjoy a fantastic February.

Are you looking for ideas to celebrate Children’s Dental Health Month? Check these out: February’s Children’s Dental Health Month 

Looking for other dental marketing and practice growth ideas for this month? You might like these:

Dental Marketing Ideas for February

February 2023 Management and Leadership Tips and Ideas

Leadership and Team Building Ideas…

Team Building – You’ll notice a little trend with the team building ideas for February as they just so happen to revolve around food & drink. 😉

National Pizza Day: 9th – Bring in a pizza lunch for the team today.

National Drink Wine Day: 18th  

National Margarita Day: 22nd

National Chili Day 23rd – Have an in-office chili cook-off lunch. Everyone brings in a crockpot of chili. Have prizes for the best tasting, most unique, etc.

Random Acts of Kindness Week: 12-18th – Do something special for your employees this week. Bring in an unexpected sweet treat or small gift to let them know just how much you appreciate them. (By the way, if you’re an employee reading this, your doctor would also appreciate an unexpected act of kindness this week!)

February is International Boost Self-Esteem Month. Negative people are the greatest destroyers of self-confidence and self-esteem. Avoid office negativity, it’s toxic and will infect your team – Rather, focus on and share positive experiences. See more team-building ideas here: Dental Office Team Building

Practice Owners – I would love the opportunity to work along with you and your team to help you set and exceed your practice goals. If you would like to schedule a no-obligation, complimentary consultation to learn how our coaching program works, please email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Practice Management Reminders and Ideas

Reappointments and Reactivation – Now is a great time to reach out to your unscheduled patients both active and inactive patients. Do you know how many of your active patients are unscheduled? (If your practice management software is Dentrix, Eaglesoft, or Open Dental I can help you quickly get those numbers. Just send me an email to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and let me know that you’d like to get the FREE data analysis.)

Take advantage of all the different communication methods to reach your patients – telephone, text, email, letters/cards, and your social media pages.  You’re planting little reminder seeds that you’re thinking about them. Hopefully, it will be the gentle nudge they need to schedule an appointment.

Insurance – Have you carefully reviewed the 2023 CDT changes, additions, and deletions? This is important not just for filing insurance claims but because CDT codes are procedure codes, and every clinician is responsible for using them properly.

Speaking of Insurance, what does your insurance aging report look like? How often are you checking on outstanding insurance claims? Who is monitoring and working on your aging reports, daily?

February is National Time Management Month –  “ Either you run the day or the day runs you. “

Start with the office schedules/patients’ appointments – Are they chaotic, unpredictable, and stressful? If they’re running you and your team crazy, it’s time to evaluate what’s not working and make changes. Design and run the schedules for success.  Remember, you are (or should be) in control of how, when, and where patients are scheduled. Keep them full, healthy, and productive.

Would you please do something for me? If you enjoy the ideas that I share or if they’ve been of help to you and your practice –  I would love and truly appreciate it if you would please take a second and leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you!!!

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

As always, wishing you a happy, healthy, and productive month!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest

Dental Office Employee Team Building Activities, Ideas, and Incentives
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Dental Office Employee Team Building Activities, Ideas, and Incentives

Hello Friends,

“There is no way that the quality of patient care and experiences will exceed the quality of the people who provide it.”

It’s true if you want your patients to consistently have great experiences, accept your treatment recommendations, and refer their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to you – it takes a quality, happy, and productive team. Of course, though, it starts with you!

Set the Example – Treat your employees how you would like them to treat your best patient! 

If you want to see a positive change in your practice, you must consistently lead by example… be the change. It starts at the top. You set the tone for the day, make certain that it’s a happy & productive one. This includes any employee in a management position – if you have employees complaining about your office manager, take it seriously. A toxic office manager will destroy your practice over time, at the very least, cause a staff turnover nightmare.  In fact, any employee that is toxic to your vision, to your team, and/or your patients…needs to go. It’s not easy to make the decision to terminate someone’s employment, yet absolutely necessary if you want to improve your practice.  It’s been said that “what you allow you encourage.” Once you make the decision to no longer tolerate or allow the poor behavior and attitudes in your practice, you’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Doctors, if you would like to grow and improve your dental practice and have wondered what it might be like to work with me and what coaching is all about… please feel free to reach out to me to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation coaching call at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Communication – “The art of communication is the language of leadership.”

  • Job Expectations & Job Responsibilities – What are the performance expectations for your team? Does each employee clearly understand their role in the practice?
  • Quarterly Employee Check-ins (AKA Performance Evaluations)
  • Hello, Good Morning! – Make it a point to greet your fellow team members every morning. Let people know that you see them and acknowledge them with a hello.
  • Thank you – Express your appreciation.  Saying thank you improves your office, your health, and the patient’s experience.
  • Commendation – Commend your employees when you catch them doing something “right”. Commendation boosts morale. Applaud & reward the behavior and actions that you want to see more of. Simply thanking your team at the end of the day goes a long way in making them feel appreciated.

Creativity – Host “Brainstorm Sessions” with prizes for creative marketing ideas, solutions to improve office efficiency, welcome more new patients, patient retention, and how to have more fun as a team.

Accountability – “Great teammates hold each other accountable to the high standards and excellence their culture expects and demands.” – Jon Gordon

Work Space / Office Appearance – “Clutter in your physical surroundings will clutter your mind and spirit.”

Clutter represents indecision. Decide to get rid of the office clutter!

Staff Lounge / Lunchroom – What does your breakroom/lounge look like? Is it a space that you can relax in and enjoy? Consider cleaning it up, organizing, re-decorating, and stocking with healthy snacks and beverages for the team.

Work Hard, Have Fun, Create Beautiful Smiles.

Have FUN! – You spend far too much time together at work to not have some fun too! Create a fun and stress-free environment with Team Building Activities and Events!

Here are some ideas to get you started…

In Office Fun: Potluck lunch, Send an Ice Cream or Coffee Truck to the office, Carry out lunch (team choice), Crafts, Games, & Puzzles. Turn the music up and dance. Make little appreciation gifts that you can give out to your patients at their appointments.

Healthier Teams – How about team exercise/yoga classes? Or Monday morning breakfast smoothies? Or walks outside during breaks.

Fun with Social Media – Utilize your social media pages and your Google My Business page to show your patients and potential patients what a fun office you have.

Videos – post fun team videos on your office social media pages.

Employee Work Anniversaries – Celebrate employee work anniversaries and post pictures to your social media pages.

Pictures – take fun/silly pictures with the team and your patients to share on social media, your website, and in newsletters.

Fun Dress Up/Theme Days –

What: Decorate the office, team dresses up, small prize giveaways and snacks.

Theme Ideas: Luau, Decades, Superhero, Disney, Western, Carnival, Sports teams, Pajama Day, Silly hats/hair/socks, Etc.

Book Club – Purchase team building/self-improvement books for your team. During your monthly team meetings or at your daily huddle discuss portions of the book. Consider purchasing electronic devices such as a Kindle Fire for each employee and download books that can be discussed during a “book club team meeting”.

Check out Dental Office Leadership, Management, Marketing, and Team Building Book Recommendations here from Betty’s Bookshelf

If you have some favorites that you think I should add to my list, feel free to shoot me a message at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com – Thank you.

Incentives/Rewards – Sometimes unexpected rewards work better than expected monthly bonuses for reaching goals. Every office is different, so if you have something that is working well for you and your team continue doing it. However, if you would like some reward/incentive ideas for reaching daily/weekly/monthly production, collection, new patient, service/product, social media, and other goals but want to keep the rewards unexpected or more spontaneous, here you go…

In addition to simple, yet appreciated, thank you cards; Spa Gift Card, Good Ol’ Cash, Lunch/Breakfast, Purse/Tote bag, Gift Baskets, Plants/Flowers, Jewelry, Movie/Theater Gift Cards, Tickets to Sporting Event/Concert, Amusement Park tickets, Restaurant gift card, Gas cards and Car Wash Gift Cards.

If you would like even more ideas, be sure to follow this Pinterest Board: Employee Appreciation Gifts & Meeting Activities / Team Building Activities

Outside the office Fun: (depending on your location and current pandemic restrictions/cautions) Bowling, Painting Party, Shopping, Dinner, Cooking Class, Wally Ball, Sporting Event, Spa, Escape Room, Field Day (Team up with other offices), Concert, Skating, Batting Cages, Mini Golf, Pottery Class, Theater,  Pool party, Skiing, Nature hike/walk, Etc.

Continuing Education – Continuing education, not just for the providers but for the entire team is a wonderful way to ensure practice growth. Not to mention, it’s a great team-building experience, one that will give you a happier and motivated team. You can do this with in-office training, webinars, lunch and learns, and seminars/classes outside of the office.

Consider incorporating a dental continuing education class with a fun event, for example, CPR Course and Pool Party.

Regular Team Training – Don’t hold back in this area! Invest in your team. Thoroughly train any new employees on your practice goals, systems, software, telephone skills, dental procedures, protocols, etc.  However, training isn’t just for your new employees, everyone in the office needs regular training.

Is there a chance you might have some new dental equipment or training manuals just sitting on the shelf, collecting dust?  It’s most likely because your team didn’t understand or appreciate the why and the how. Knowing why and how this new idea, technique, equipment, or procedure works, benefits the patient, the team, and the office is critical to enthused implementation.

Community Involvement – Visit the local farmers market, art/street fairs, Races/Run/Walk for-a-cause, Fundraisers, Parades, Etc. Be active in your community. Pass out freebies imprinted with your office information to the people attending these community events. Be sure to take pictures of you and your team out and about in the community and share to your social media pages and website.

“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” ~ Dale Carnegie

It is my wish that these ideas and tips will help you and your team experience greater happiness at work. If you have any other ideas or things that have worked well in your office, I would love to hear about them. If you have any questions or concerns about what you’ve read today, please contact me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Did you enjoy these tips and ideas?   I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK – Thank you!!!

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. Or send me your email address and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest