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April 1, 2018

How to Build a Culture of Trust

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,celebration,Change,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Constructive Conversation,constructive criticism,Criticism,Culture,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fly-bys,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Happy,Inspiration,Judy Kay Mausolf,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Philosophy,Positive Psychology,Positive Thought,Practice Solutions Inc,Practice Time,R.I.S.E. Philosophy,Relationships,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, R.I.S.E., Respect, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team building, Thoughts, Trust, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 7:03 am

How to Build a Culture of Trust

Imagine a culture where:

* Leadership was by example

* Everyone worked together for the greater good

* Co-worker’s didn’t question each other’s intent

* Open respectful communication was the standard

* Gossip ceased to exist

* Accountability was self-maintained

* Honesty was the only policy

It may sound like a fantasy, but TRUST me… its real!” These are the results of a culture built on trust.

The dictionary defines trust as instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon something. The culture of trust I am suggesting is not one of blind faith but instead one of confidence! Confident trust is based on consistency! Consistency of good reasons to trust based on significant past evidence and experiences.

Think of the people in your life that you confidently trust. Take a moment to reflect why you feel confident in trusting them. Confident trust does not just happen overnight. It takes time to nurture and grow. However, breaking one’s trust can happen in a heartbeat. The great news is that trust can be rebuilt. It takes a sincere daily commitment to be transparent, consistent and realistic. An actionable and measurable process is to assess your every action, attitude and conversation by checking off the following list.

* Am I being transparent

* Am I being consistent

* Am I being realistic

Breaking trust is seldom intentional. Many people break trust because they are people pleaser yes people. Their intent is good. Their results are not. They have OCD…Over Committers Disorder! They commit and commit and commit because they are nice people. They want others to like them so they don’t say no. OCD’s believe that by saying no they are letting a person down. Perhaps you know someone like this…could it be you? Yet the reality is by over committing we are letting everyone down including ourselves. I suggest utilizing a caring response to say no to over committing. For example: “Our relationship is so important to me. I would never want to let you or any of my previous commitments down. So I am going to say no because I can’t commit 100% to yes.” It is not necessary to explain why to the other person. Some people will continue to push hard even after they have been told no. A simple no thank you I am going to pass and end the conversation.

A team meeting is a great format to discuss trust in the practice. Discuss the benefits of having a culture of trust pertaining to patients and team. It is important for the entire team to understand how a low trust level affects the patient experience, practice culture and the bottom line. As a team assess the current level of trust in the practice. Define what builds and what breaks trust in the practice. Use a large easel pad and write down all the answers being shared by the team. I like the self-stick pads with individual pages that can stick to the wall.

Some examples of a low trust culture are:

* Not keeping in the loop with details that pertain to them and the practice

* Adding rules or steps for everyone to compensate for the inadequacies of a few

* Extra staff to cover for lack of a accountability with a specific team member

* Redundant systems and processes

A predominant sign of low trust with the leadership team is difficulty getting the team on board and willing to follow their lead. Imagine how much more productive a practice would be if the team confidently trusted leadership and each other?

Gossip is another sign of low trust that results from lack of transparency. If the leadership team does not keep the team in the loop they will talk to each other. Gossip that is made up from assumptions will run rampant.

Your team will no longer feel trusted and become frustrated when you make rules that affect the entire team to compensate for the inadequacies of few specific team members. You may even end up losing your good team members.

The next step at the meeting is to ask the team to share what they feel they need from each other (including leadership) to build trust. Some examples might be:

* Be transparent by keeping in the loop

* Be consistent with daily tasks

* If you have a concern talk to the person

* Help when you see help is needed

* Ask for help when help is needed

* Ask don’t assume

* Take ownership – do what you say you will do when you say you will

* Focus on the greater good instead of WIIFM (What’s in it for me)

* Don’t gossip

* Tell the truth and be compassionate

* Don’t be late or absent for trivial reasons

Together as a team create your list of Trust Standards. Next print it, frame it and put on display for future reference. It will be important to review whenever you hire someone new or…because old habits die hard; whenever someone’s behavior deems it necessary!

TA-DAH…you have just established Trust Standards to build the level of trust in your practice! The awesome part is that when people create it they own it!

The bottom line is that trust is not just a social virtue it greatly affects patient experience, practice culture and the bottom line!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you cultivate a culture of trust!

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March 2, 2018

Five Steps to Stop Gossip!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,celebration,Change,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Constructive Conversation,constructive criticism,Criticism,Culture,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Fly-bys,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Happy,Inspiration,Judy Kay Mausolf,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Philosophy,Positive Psychology,Positive Thought,Practice Solutions Inc,Practice Time,R.I.S.E. Philosophy,Relationships,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, Decision making, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, R.I.S.E., service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 6:06 am

Five Steps to Stop Gossip!

This message is dedicated to learning how to stop gossip resulting in a happier, healthier and higher performing culture. Gossip is often perceived as just a normal part of life! I often hear the following statements regarding gossip: It’s a woman thing, women just have to gossip, it’s really not a big deal because everybody does it, and you can’t stop it even if you try. Gossip is either accepted, allowed or not addressed in most dental practice cultures. If we truly comprehended the negative impact gossip has on the practice culture, patient experience and bottom line it would no longer be tolerated.

It’s time to clear up a few myths regarding gossip. Gossip is not just a woman thing…men do it too they just call it venting. Gossip is toxic and is a big deal! You can stop it if you are serious about having a no gossip office culture.

I refer to gossip as The Poison Triangle of Mistrust because it often involves two people talking negatively about a third person behind their back. Once the person overhears or learns about the gossip a triangle of mistrust is formed. They no longer trust the gossiper (the giver) or gossip-ee (the receiver) of the gossip.

Gossip affects:

* Trust

* Communication

* Team Performance

* Morale

* Patient Experience

* Bottom Line

That’s just to name a few. Gossip is not fluff stuff. It is really big stuff! We can create a happier, healthier and higher performing culture when we choose to no longer accept or allow gossip.

I teach a five step process to stop gossip.

Step One – Start with a team meeting with the entire team including the doctors. Share with the team the impact gossip has on the team and the practice and that in the future it will no longer be tolerated. Ask everyone individually to verbally agree to support a No-Gossip Culture in the practice. For example, I agree to support a No-Gossip Culture. Once they verbally agree they can no longer say I didn’t agree. I just didn’t say anything.

Step Two – Define what gossip means in your practice. I define gossip as anything that is negative or private about another person that they do not want others to know. As a team agree on a word or phrase to use if someone starts to gossip about another team member to them. It could be something as simple as peace (as in keep the peace), please take it to the source, please stop, or remember we said we weren’t going to gossip anymore. It doesn’t really matter what word(s) you use. What is important is that everyone knows what it is and agrees to use that specific word or phrase.

Step Three – Establish consequences for gossip. I suggest the same consequences as any other behavior that sabotages instead of supports the standards of the practice. Establish consequences that you know you will be willing to carry out. It is very important that the entire team understand what the consequences will be for gossip. If you would like to receive a complimentary copy of my white pages on consequences please email me at Judykay@PracticeSolutionsInc.net.

Step Four – It’s time to actually stop the gossip. This will take practicing many times before it becomes more comfortable. Stop talking to other people about others and instead go to the person you were going to gossip about and talk to them to resolve the concern. If you are on the receiving end of gossip you are just as responsible as the initiator. You play 50-50 role because if they have no one to tell the gossip stops. If a team member starts to gossip to you or you over hear two people gossiping about another team member say the word or phrase. Please be mindful of your tone of voice and attitude. Always speak from a place of care and concern not judgment and criticism. If they continue to gossip remind them once more by saying remember we agreed as a team we would not gossip about each other. Old habits die hard and we want to be supportive and help each other to stop the gossip. If they are gossiping to you and they refuse to stop physically remove yourself from the conversation. If they continue to gossip to another team member inform them that if they do not stop you will inform the doctor or manager (whoever handles conflict resolution in the practice).

Step Five – The doctor or manager holds the team member accountable by following through with the consequences. It is important the entire team understands the consequences for participating in gossiping. Yes you can terminate a team member for participating in gossiping. It is important to make it very clear what the consequences are for gossip and include as a part of your written communication standards. Following through with consequences is where the line is drawn in the sand. It will determine whether you succeed or fail at creating a No-Gossip Culture. Gossip is really big stuff! It affects trust, communication, team performance, morale, patient experience and your bottom line. Isn’t it time to stop gossip and end The Poison Triangle of Mistrust?

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you end The Poison Triangle of Mistrust in your practice!

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February 1, 2018

Say Bye Bye to Fly-Bys!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,celebration,Change,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Constructive Conversation,constructive criticism,Criticism,Culture,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Happy,Inspiration,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Philosophy,Positive Psychology,Positive Thought,Practice Time,R.I.S.E. Philosophy,Relationships,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, Culture, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental office, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, R.I.S.E., service, show your shine, Strategy, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 9:12 am

Say Bye Bye to Fly-Bys!

This message is focused on developing a We Team decision strategy to avoid fly-bys! Let’s by start by illustrating a fly-by.

Foundation of a Fly-by!

It’s another busy day! Doctor you just stepped out of treatment op 1 and are hurrying to hygiene ops 3 and 4 to do checks that have been waiting for at least 10 minutes. The hygienists have buzzed, messaged and are now tapping their feet with impatience. You avoid eye contact with the three team members (office administrator, assistant and hygienist) lining the hallway as you know they are all waiting for you. A blur of questions assault you as you pass by them. “Doctor can I…, Doctor what do…, Doctor how would…!” All you want to do is get to the hygiene rooms before the hygienists get more upset. So without lifting your head you mutter responses on the fly…yes…no…do this starting now. You’re not even sure what you said or to who. All you know is that you cleared a path to get to the next room. You have just successfully completed another fly-by.

Fly-bys may seem like an effective and efficient resolution but can be very toxic to the team and practice culture. There is no time to process benefits and consequences, get team feedback and input or discuss with the entire We Team (leadership team). A new standard or process is put into place with a few sound bites of discussion with the one lucky or unlucky team member who happened to ask the question. Everyone else on the team including the other members of the We Team are unaware of the decision and new process. In a short time, the We Team will no longer be cohesive and the team will start to doubt what the standard is for the day. The team will no longer fill confident or empowered to take even the smallest action without asking questions. This will result in consistently fueling an even longer line in the hallway. If you hear your team say ask each other; “do you know if we are doing it this way today,” you know fly-bys are happening. Fly-bys fuel incompetence, uncertainty and divide the team. Doctors, fly-bys are neither effective nor efficient.

I would like to introduce my W.O.W. Decision Making Strategy.

W.O.W. is an acronym for weed out weeds. A weed is anything that does not benefit the patients, practice or the team. W.O.W. Decision Making gives the We Team a positive, practical and proven decision making strategy. The results are decisions that are consistent, fair and support the team, the patients and the practice.

The W.O.W. Decision Making Strategy is based on the following concept questions:

Patients, Practice & Team
- What’s in the best interests of Patients, Practice and Team – not any individual (including doctor)
Practical
- Does it make common sense
- Is it realistic with resources available regarding Time, Money, People, Or are you willing to invest
Precedent
- What precedent is being set? If it is done once for one team member, it becomes the expectation for entire team. If it is not across the board, it will feel like favoritism or inconsistency and, therefore, it will be unfair. Only say “yes” to what you want to set as a precedent.
Passionate
- Is the We Team passionate enough about the decision to defend it – even to the point of possibly losing a patient or a team member? I suggest not implementing anything that the We Team thinks it is just a “nice to do”! “Nice to do” won’t be worth defending if the practice could lose a patient or team member. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being high does it rate 8 or above. Don’t implement anything that does not rate at least an 8 or you will not be willing to sustain the change.

Team Behavior Decisions

When we don’t see the results we desire from a team member we get frustrated and tend believe it is a behavior issue that warrants consequences. However, before we take any action we need to identify whether their lack of performance was truly a behavior issue. Maybe it was an issue with training, expectations, or communication that caused the problem. It is critical to not just react to what you think it is because you really don’t know. This is why it is so essential to meet with the team member and ask questions. The reality is that we could clear the majority of our team problems if we just asked questions. Schedule a time to meet with the team member and ask them questions to verify if:

They have been trained to do the task
They were clear on what was expected
They were clear on what was communicated

In many cases you will find it is either a lack of training, expectations or communication and not behavior that causes the performance problem. If that is the case the ownership lies on the person delegating and not the receiver of the task.

Utilizing W.O.W. Decision Making Strategy will help you say good bye to fly-bys and cultivate a happier, healthier and more cohesive We Team, Team and Practice Culture!

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