Athena Consulting: Dental Practice Solutions

Looking back over years of working in and with many different dental offices in different parts of the country, I can see common threads woven into the office tapestry. Of these threads, rivalry is one of the most common.

I have seen so many offices where the team members were happily going about their day-to-day business until “the new girl” came on board. As soon as a new staff member was hired, life as that office knew it changed completely. Everyone was doing less actual work and spending a lot of office time trying to establish a place in the pecking order. And peck they did; at each other, at the new employee and even at the doctor.

For a lot of years, I accepted this as just normal human nature. But recently, observing this behavior in one of the offices I work with, I began to consider how this behavior is frequently caused by something other than staff nature. I began to think more about the role the doctor can play in this problem.

Ah, is that breeze I’m feeling coming from all you doctors shaking your heads and disavowing any responsibility for these problems? Well, let me give you some scenarios and see if you recognize them.

SCENARIO 1: THE RESCUER

Your office has been short-staffed at the front desk for months as you’ve tried valiantly to find a qualified candidate to fill your open position. Finally, you interview someone who has exactly the qualifications you’ve been searching for. She’s bright, trained on your computer software and comes with impeccable references.

You’re so excited about finding her that you immediately begin gushing to the lady who’s been working alone at your front desk about how great this new employee is. You tell her that, “finally, everything will run so much more smoothly” and you’ll “feel like your patients are finally being adequately cared for.” You walk away feeling like a new man with a large weight lifted.

But that wonderful feeling will soon be gone. Your current receptionist is mumbling under her breath, “What am I, chopped liver?” She’s already wondering how she will one-up the new employee.

In this scenario, as with others I will discuss, a bit more thought and tact would have gone a long way toward heading off a problem. When you are bringing in “The Rescuer” it’s so important to slow down and first emphasize what a great job the current employee has been doing on her own. Then add how happy you are to finally be able to make her life easier by getting her some help. If you don’t make her feel inadequate, she won’t be viewing someone who can help her as the enemy.

SCENARIO 2: THE TRAINER

You and your staff have been going along very nicely for a few years with good production and a nice profit margin. You know your office could support another dental assistant but you’ve been debating whether you need or want to go there.

At a meeting one evening, you find that a doctor you have always respected has decided to retire, and his assistant – whom you always have considered to be a tremendous asset to him – is now available. You bring her in for an interview and, after she expresses interest in joining your team, you tell your current assistants how knowledgeable this person is and how much they will be able to learn from her.

Ouch!

Up until now, these assistants thought they were doing just fine. But now the doubt sets in. They begin to wonder what they are lacking in training and how long the doctor has been concerned about this lack.

This insecurity is very quickly replaced by defensiveness: “She darned well better be good if she thinks she’s going to tell us how to do our jobs!”

The new assistant doesn’t have a prayer of fitting in.

Again, this could have been avoided. If you had approached your current assistants and asked for their help in integrating this new staff member into your office while also mentioning that she might be able to bring some ideas from your respected colleague, this scenario could have played out differently. Your staff could have been throwing up fewer walls and sharing more good ideas.

SCENARIO 3: THE SURPRISE PACKAGE

You have a good practice and a good staff, and have never considered the need to hire an office manager. However, at a dinner given by a good friend, you meet an absolutely amazing woman who has just moved to town from out of state. She was managing an office about the size of yours, and her ideas and enthusiasm really impress you.

You (correctly) have no doubt that it’s the doctor’s prerogative to hire an office manager if he wishes. So you tell the woman to come in to start work the next day. You are aware this will be a shock to your staff, so you inform them at morning huddle that this will be happening, that it’s good for the office and that you do not want to hear any negativity: it’s your decision to make!

In this scenario, you probably will not hear any complaining. However, your new office manager will decide in two or three months to move on with no explanation.

Why?

You left your staff out in the cold. You made them feel like they were not part of the team. They responded by turning a cold shoulder to your new office manager. She might have worked there, but she wasn’t going to be part of their team.

Had you taken some time to explain your decision and let the staffers meet their new office manager before her surprise appearance, this could have worked out a lot better.

There will always be times when even your very best efforts will not be enough to prevent some office rivalry. However, you can make your office a much happier place by not being the spark that starts the fire.

You always have the option as the boss to do things your way, but a little thought and diplomacy can let you exercise that right with a lot fewer headaches from staff rivalry.