Prepared by Ryan Hill

One of my favorite activities at the end of my work day is to cook a decent meal for dinner. I am by no means a great cook, but it is one of the few creative outlets that I have in my life. I often “nerd out” on flavors and spices and how they all fit together to provide something worthy of putting in my body. As much as I enjoy the creative process of cooking, I rarely begin that process without a baseline plan or a recipe. The creativity comes in adding in my own preferences or tweaking the recipe to fit me and my style. Building a team in your dental practice can be very similar.

As I work with dental business owners, time and again I see opportunities for adjustment in the way they think about building their team. Too often available or inexpensive are the key ingredients to their plan. 

Building a great team starts long before an interview begins. It starts with establishing exactly what you value in your practice and the value that you desire to bring to your patients. Establishing these core values are critical, not only for your practice as a whole, but for determining who you allow to be a part of what you want to deliver to your patients. Adhering to these core values establishes the culture you want in your dental practice. Hiring someone that doesn’t share those values can have catastrophic consequences to the culture you want or have built. 

Establishing a vision for your practice is another area where many dental business owners can tip the scales in building their team. This exercise will help you to see what “ingredients” you’ll need to accomplish what you are envisioning. It also gives you the opportunity to share with a prospective employee where you would like to go with your practice. When you can do that, it brings a seriousness to the expectations that you will have for that individual. In addition to that, when you have a clear vision you can be very specific as to how you believe a person can play a significant role in accomplishing that vision along with you and the rest of the team. 

As we get involved in coaching in dental offices, one of the first things we do is put together a performance plan. This allows our clients to see how we are going to work with them and builds some accountability into the relationship. When you work together with the members on your team, it is important to have a plan against which you can measure progress. Bringing clarity to employees in their performance and in their growth over time will improve engagement and productivity as well as reduce the ambiguity that may exist around job performance. Setting up regular times to review and adjust their plan shows quality leadership. 

Like a great meal, it begins with having a plan and making that plan fit your leadership style. Planning in this way gives you the best chance to make the impact you want to make and to serve your patients in the best possible way. In summary, build a great team by:

1. Establish your core values for the practice.
2. Envision the culture you want for your practice.
3. Interview potential candidates around those core values and with that culture in mind.
4. Spend time clarifying a vision for your practice.
5. Share that vision with your current and potential team members and show them how they fit into that vision.
6. Rhythmically review performance with your team members.
7. Celebrate how they are contributing and set clear goals for their improvements.  

Here are additional blog posts you may be interested in: 

• How to Hire Great Employees for Your Dental Practice
• The Importance of Consistency in Dental Marketing and Practice Management