Note: Whether you own a small business or a dental practice, motivating your employees is great practice management. Inspire your staff to reach high goals, and not only will they be more productive, but your customers or new dental patients or will be welcomed into a wonderful environment.
First of all, let me make clear that most staff meetings I have witnessed in practices over the last 18 years are NOT staff meetings but are nit-picking sessions of destructive, un-motivational, and unproductive nature.
Talking about what went wrong and pointing fingers at who is at fault does not do the job, no matter how much you want to say that you put an encouraging and positive spin on it.
There is no such thing as ‘constructive criticism’.
I do not say that one has to or can go through life without ever criticizing and without ever talking to your staff about what went wrong and how to fix it. I am only saying that we must have staff meetings on a regular schedule — very regularly and very frequently. And that those staff meetings must have as the main and only purpose to build the future of your practice by also building the future of your staff members.
In fact, your practice’s future is directly proportional on how you can enhance the future of every single staff member of yours.
This means that the main topic on staff meetings should be focused on goals which the practice is after.
We must dream and plan for what we can produce that is of value and benefit to another. For a typist that might be ‘letters typed’; for a doctor, people cured or kept healthy. For a fireman, it is ‘fires put out or prevented’. For some boy in school that might be a future goal of preventing pollution by building a pollution-free engine. For another person that might be the creation of a great song or a fashion design which makes their listeners or customers feel a certain way.
The famous Zig Ziglar says in one of his books: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
Oh yes – how true!
What “you want” is the wrong goal. What you can provide for others is what you need to write down.
I do not know Bill Gates personally, but I do not believe that Bill Gates’ goal has ever been to be the richest man in the world. I believe that his goals were to make life and business simpler, better, faster, and more profitable, as well as being able to do things we could not do before.
With such a sky-high goal which is so hugely helpful to so many people, one can not avoid then becoming stinky rich. It will happen and it is well deserved – but don’t make it your primary goal. Make your primary goal helping someone else to get what they want, and success is at your doorstep.
Anyhow, if one of you ever meets Bill Gates, ask him about his goals, and please let me know. I’d love to find out that I am right.
Make it exciting and fantastic. After all if it is not, you might simply have to make your targets better and larger.
Show your staff that it is possible to reach the goals of the practice and make sure that the staff members can see some benefits for them in the whole thing.
Now you probably are thinking that they will be thinking: money – you are right! They do and they deserve it, but they also need the satisfaction of having overcome some problems. They, the better ones, anyhow, will want to have something to show on their resume and for their own competence and certainty.
So, if you and your business excel, they will have something to show – they will be able to say, “I was part of it.“
There are plenty, absolutely plenty of those people who want to be part of growth out there. Keep in mind they are doing it for their own good – they want to learn, have a resume to show, make money and god only knows how many different objectives of their own they have in their mind. It’s Ok, it’s even what you need, because they will help you get where you want in order to reach their own goals. But you, my friend, must align them. They need your encouragement, your guidance, and your company as a jumping board for their future. Give it to them.
Announce all your business goals, be specific. Tell them how to do it, announce all small and large accomplishments of the group as well as those of individual staff members.
With a good statistical program which monitors the actual performance of each individual employee you will be able to sort the winners from the losers much, much better.
What do you do with the losers? That is a different story for a different subject, and I will train you on handling that subject. Actually most of the losers will leave all by themselves, nice and quiet – rarely any firing will be needed.
When talking about the goals of the practice you must however be precise.
Let’s grow, or let’s do one million, or let’s service the best in town, is NOT good enough.
You must attach very real numbers and target times and basic simple steps on how to achieve the goals.
There is a book by Jack Welsh, the Ex CEO of General Electric, who wrote an incredible book called “Winning”. The first 35 pages of this book are some of the most important words you can read on this subject and, subsequently, a cornerstone to continuous success. Or perhaps for starting success which then will continue. Buy it and read it! Now!
By the way, this exercise, which should be done minimally once a week, will not only motivate your staff but you as well.
After all there is an awful lot of truth in the saying that the pack runs only as fast as the leader.
The truth also is that the real guy who needs the most help to see that there is a future, which is worth living for, is you, the boss.
Showing your crew that good things can happen will inevitably also show it to you too.
Remember: It doesn’t matter whether you are engaged in full management of your dental or medical practice, or just wish to become a busier doctor with lots of good new dental or medical patients – as the boss, you can inspire and motivate your troops to reach goals higher than ever believed possible. Try it! It’s great practice management and will be as valuable as any new patient marketing that you will do.
Category: Healthcare Marketing.
