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April 1, 2022

Toxic Performers!

Filed under: Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,Change,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Constructive Conversation,Culture,Culture Camp,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Energy,Fear,Gossip,Inspiration,Leadership,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Performance,Positive Psychology,Positive Thought,Practice Solutions Inc,Respect,sarcasm,Stress,Team Building,Team Relationships,thought leader,Toxic Performer,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, Dental Coaching, dental management, Dental Practice, Dental Team Performance, drama, energy, focus, gossip, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, performance, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, R.I.S.E., show your shine, team building, Toxic Performer, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 6:33 am

The current staffing shortage has created greater opportunities for toxic performers. Maybe you even have a few! The toxic performer is the team member who is extremely skilled at their job. They excel in front of the doctor(s), patients, and anyone else they feel is necessary to keep their status. They are super performers when they want to be. That’s the performer part. However, the toxic side is their other side. This is the side they save for their unfortunate co-workers or anyone they deem irrelevant.

Some signs of toxic behaviors are:

Air of superiority
Cynical
Closed to feedback
Unwilling to train
Gossip
Excuses
Deflection
Sarcasm
Blame
Drama

Evaluate your current team. Are there any team members that fit the description of a toxic performer? Here comes the difficult part. This person is often the right hand of the doctor or manager. They are highly skilled and high performers. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to even consider letting them go. Especially with the fear of finding skilled new team members. Instead, the toxic behavior is allowed to continue in exchange for the performer side.

I receive the following response when I ask doctors and or managers this question.

“Why do you allow the toxic performer team member to continue to be a part of the team and practice when they are unwilling to support the practice values and our toxic to their co-workers?”

“Judy Kay, you don’t understand. They are really, really good at what they do. I don’t have anyone else that can perform at their level. And it is difficult to find skilled new team members. But I would let them go if they EVER behaved that way towards the patient.”

Regardless of how good of a performer they are, keeping a toxic performer is disastrous and will sabotage your practice culture.

It only takes one toxic performer to create a culture of chaos and negativity. Toxic performers make it feel unsafe and stressful for their co-workers. The rest of the team is on alert waiting for the toxic performers next sarcastic remark, outburst, or retaliation. Toxic performers harm the productivity and morale of everyone around them.

They purposely hoard information and don’t train others to their level, in fear if they did it might sacrifice their stability.
They play the team against each other to divide and conquer.
Their unsupportive actions undermine the practice values.
The team loses trust and respect for their doctor, manager, and co-workers.
The culture has become filled with favoritism and double standards.

A double standard is a rule or principle which is unfairly applied in different ways to different people. Double standards never work. The team is just as important as the patients. Treat your team as well as you treat your patients. Take care of your team and they will take care of the patients.

Three powerful assessment questions regarding behaviors:

Does this behavior support the practice culture values?
Would I accept this behavior from another team member?
Would I allow this behavior towards a patient?

If you answered no to all three questions…it is time to address the toxic performer’s behavior towards their co-workers. Ask the toxic performer if they are willing to step up and be supportive of the team and culture values. Don’t be surprised if the toxic performer makes excuses for their behavior and take it as a personal attack against them. They will often hold grudges, blame, and complain how they are the victim. They need to verbally agree, and their behavior change needs to immediate and consistent. If they don’t agree or if the toxic behavior happens again, invite them to step out and no longer be a part of the team.

Never sacrifice the entire practice culture for one toxic performer regardless of their talent and productivity. Nor allow a team member to continue to treat their co-workers poorly. A benchmark I suggest is would you allow that same behavior towards a patient. You will lose good team members and destroy the practice culture if you allow the toxic performer to continue their toxic behavior. It may feel very daunting. However, other dental offices have been in this situation and not only survived but thrived. They found that once they let the toxic performer go other team members were able to step up. They were no longer held back by the toxic performer. Create a culture where the team (including doctors) treats each other as well as they treat their patients and become tremendous performers!

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March 1, 2022

TeamWORK! Takes work!

Filed under: Accountability,Attitude,Behavior,celebration,collaboration,Communication,Conflict Resolution,Culture,Culture Camp,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Energy,Focus,Goals,Gossip,gratitude,Habit,Happy,Implementation,Inspiration,Judy Kay Mausolf,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Philosophy,Positive Psychology,Positive Thought,Practice Solutions Inc,Relationships,Respect,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, Dental Practice, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, success, team, team building, teamwork, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 6:04 am

TeamWORK! Takes work!

Teamwork! A phrase so often used loosely with so many different assumptions of its meaning!

According to BusinessDictionary.com, teamwork is “The process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal. … Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.”

The team part happens pretty easy. Once we belong to a group or organization we automatically become a part of the team. The WORK part of team work is not so easy! It takes work to build happy, healthy and high performing team relationships.

This article is dedicated to the WORK part of teamwork. BTW…this message works for your personal relationships as well.

I have spent years helping teams create a happier, healthier, and higher performing relationships. Successful team relationships don’t just happen by accident. They take work just like every relationship. Yet the assumption is that we should all just naturally get along.

Communication is the first core fundamental in teamwork. It would be very difficult to work together as a team for a common purpose without it! The right hand would never know what the left hand was doing nor what was needed or expected. The team’s success would be limited to only what each person could accomplish individually.

It is important for the team to create standards on how the team would like to communicate with each other and patients to build successful relationships. The work part is the ongoing focus and commitment to support the standards even when we may not feel like it.

Successful team communication includes:

Communicate Clearly – Clarify expectations by defining who, what, when, where, why and how.
Communicate Positively – Smile at each other and speak in a warm and friendly tone.
Avoid negative sarcasm and gossip. Go directly to the source.
Communicate Respectfully – Always consider how your words may impact the other person. Ask yourself; how can I say what I need to say and be respectful of how they may feel
Communicate Professionally – Use words such as yes, no, please and thank you.
Be mindful of your energy and filter your response.
Communication is 7% words, 55% body language and 38% tone of voice. Never approach another team member with anger or frustration on you will shut down communication.
Communicate and resolve conflict within 24 hours if possible to lessen frustration and assumptions from building.

Collaboration is the second core fundamental needed to enable the team to successfully work together. It is important to remember that there is more than one way (our way) to do things. It is our responsibility as a team member to work well with our coworkers. We can make it easy for others to work with us. Collaboration means:

Sharing thoughts and ideas about what works and what does not.
Being open (think outside the box creativity) and willing to listen to new and different ideas from others.
Agreeing on a solution that serves the best interests of the patients, practice, and team instead of any individual.
Continue to be flexible and to adjust until you succeed
Don’t take things personal.
Support your team members. Ask and offer help.

Celebration is the third core fundamental to successful teamwork. It is important to celebrate daily. Even the little things. If our focus is always on the next patient or task we will miss the good in the present moment and eventually we will lose our joy for our work.

Celebrate by:

Looking for and becoming aware of what is positive in the present moment. Right here right now what is good?
Being grateful for what is instead of complaining about what isn’t.
Showing appreciation to your coworkers and your patients.

Celebrating in the moment with a physical gesture for example a big smile, thumbs up, high five or even a Ta-Dah!

Implementing these three core fundamentals will empower your team to WORK together to build happy, healthy and high performing team relationships.

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June 1, 2021

My Way or The Highway!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,celebration,Change,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Constructive Conversation,constructive criticism,Criticism,Culture,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Fly-bys,Focus,Goals,Gossip,gratitude,Habit,Happy,Implementation,Inspiration,Judy Kay Mausolf,Leadership,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Psychology,Positive Thought,Practice Solutions Inc,Relationships,Respect,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, drama, energy, experience, gossip, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Patient experience, performance, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, R.I.S.E., service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 6:43 am

Our success in life depends greatly on our relationships in life! Our relationships are the result of how well we communicate and collaborate in our personal and our professional lives. When we communicate openly, positively, and effectively we inspire connections and build sincere, strong, sustaining relationships. Our ceiling of success then becomes like the old expression, “Sky’s the limit”.

What often gets in the way and sabotages successful relationships is our personal beliefs of right and wrong.

Most of our beliefs can be traced back to our early years. I’m the youngest of seven and am blessed with a great family. I grew up on a farm in North Dakota. My past experiences will differ greatly from those who were not raised in the same environment. Our expectations of right and wrong will vary and may even conflict based on our past experiences.

When we interact with others, we are always coming from a place filled with our own experiences. Our expectations differ because of our unique and individual beliefs, opinions, and assumptions based on our experiences. These expectations become our personal truths upon which we base judgments of right and wrong. To help you remember the concept, see the first letters of each word; it spells out the word B.O.A.T. Beliefs, Opinions, Assumptions, therefore, are Truths based on our experiences.

We all have unique and individual experiences, yet we expect each other to think, act, and respond the same. These are some false expectations that can get us into trouble.

Others must behave in the same manner as we do, or their behavior is wrong.
Another person’s behavior must mean the same as ours if we did that same behavior.
We get in a disagreement because others disagree with our opinion (after all we are right and want it our way)!

These are examples of expectations based on personal truths. Once we understand that our personal truths (how we judge the world by what is right and wrong) are based on the unique and individual experiences we have, we can no longer believe that our answer is the only right answer.

Our personal truths dictate our right! We may be right based on the current extent of our experiences. However, there is a whole big universe out there filled with experiences we have yet to meet. Right and wrong are really arbitrary. The more knowledge and understanding we have the more we will realize how ambiguous right and wrong become. In our current state of affairs, it is very difficult to really know what is true or a manipulation of the truth. When we continue to explore, we will find there is always more than one right way.

I used to love listening to Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story. The Rest of the Story was a Monday-through-Friday radio program originally hosted by Paul Harvey. The Rest of the Story consisted of stories presented as little-known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects with some key element of the story (usually the name of some well-known person) held back until the end. The broadcasts always concluded with a variation on the tag line “And now you know the rest of the story.”

Be open to the more of the story instead of stubbornly attaching to your beliefs. Avoid making assumptions and filling in the gap based on your B.O.A.T.! Ask questions until you uncover and understand the root of the belief, the why behind the story. Here are some good questions to ask when you are in disagreement.

Where did you learn this belief?
Tell me why you believe this to be right?
Tell me why you feel so strongly about this?

More importantly, do a little soul searching first to understand your beliefs before you question other’s beliefs. Here are triggering questions to ask yourself to uncover your why.

Where did I learn this belief?
Is this belief based on truth or illusion?
How important is this belief?
How this belief affecting me?
Do I still need this belief (how relevant is it now)?

Let go of thinking I have to, you must, they should, and it has to be! These are the words we use to judge others. When we think we know more or better than someone else we are setting ourselves up for a clash of beliefs. We become too attached to our own point of view and that others must share it. Once we become too attached to an idea we lose respect both for ourselves and others. Sometimes a belief can even become more important than the other people. It is the root of extremism and fanatics.

The world is filled with different beliefs and different ways. Who says we all have to always agree. More importantly we need to respect each other and work together for the better of all mankind. I love what my big sis Lorraine taught me years ago. It is okay to agree to disagree. We can stick to our right or we can be open to infinite possibilities!

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November 1, 2020

How to Thrive as The New Kid on The Block! Part 2

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,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Fly-bys,Focus,Goals,Gossip,gratitude,Habit,Happy,Implementation,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,Respect,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 6:43 am

How to Thrive as The New Kid on The Block! Part 2

Last month we focused on the first three steps to thrive as the new kid on the block. They were building confident trust relationships, learning systems and processes, and balancing your role as the associate.

The fourth step in fitting in is by avoiding gossip. Gossip is sharing anything that is negative or private about another person. Listening is gossiping if you are not in a position that allows you to resolve the issue. The listener plays a 50/50 role. Because it stops if the person complaining has no one to tell. I have found it works best to refer the person back to the source of concern to work it out instead of listening. Instead of listening ask them if they have tried to talk to the other person. If they say no, ask them to do so and stop the conversation.

People who engage in workplace gossip often have a strong need to “fit in” and feel that gossip will help them achieve this. Gossipers often suffer from low self-esteem and think that talking negatively about others will make them look better. If we truly grasped the devastating fallout from gossip, we would no longer accept it as the norm for any culture!

Gossip affects:

* Patient care and experience

* Team communication, performance, and relationships

* Practice performance

* Morale

* Trust

* Respect

The fifth step to fitting is to be approachable. Do daily or weekly check ins with your team and owner doctor. A simple question to ask, “Do you have any questions or suggestions for me?” Avoid becoming defensive even if you disagree or feel hurt. People will avoid defensive people. You have a role as an approachee (the receiver of information).

The Approachee’s role is to start out by thanking the approacher (the person approaching) for respecting you enough to come to you. It is important to recognize that the approacher’s intent is good and to realize that it is not easy to approach someone.

Listen intently to hear. Make eye contact with the other person. Don’t take offense. Instead of defending, deflecting, or blaming someone else consider how your actions or lack of actions affected the outcome. Be honest with your response.

Acknowledge you heard and understand them. Never assume. If you are unsure ask questions until you clearly understand. If you are thinking I think they mean this…ask more questions.

Don’t take it personal. If the concern pertains to the patients, the practice, or the team it is necessary to address. It can be difficult to hear when we are not meeting the standards or expectations. However, it is necessary to address in order to create and sustain a happier, healthier and higher performing culture.

Take it seriously. It may not seem important or be a priority to you, but it is for the other person.

Control your emotions. If you are upset don’t just walk off in anger or frustration. Instead, let them know that you need a little time to process the information they shared, and you will respond later and give them a specific time. Try respond within 24 hours.

I like love to utilize the L.E.A.R.N. acronym when being approached.

Listen intently to hear what they have to say
Empathize by acknowledging their emotions
Apologize for the situation
React by sharing what you will do
Notify those that need to be aware of the discussion and decision

Here is an example how you can use L.E.A.R.N. Your assistant is frustrated because she just started working with you and doesn’t understand what instruments you want and when. It makes her uncomfortable because she has been an assistant for years and this makes her feels inadequate. The conversation might sound like this.

“Thank you for respecting me enough to come to me with your concerns. I can understand how uncomfortable this must be to work with a new doctor. I am sorry that this is frustrating for you. We will take some time to discuss what instruments I need with the different treatments we offer. During the procedure I will ask for what I need. We need to learn how to work together and that takes time. So, let’s agree to have patience and support each other. I will make sure I speak with the other assistants about tray setups as well to keep us all on the same page. This will ensure that we all have a great day!”

Instead of constructive criticism (which is an oxymoron) use positive verbiage and have a constructive conversation.

Following these five steps will help you thrive as the new kid on the block!

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October 1, 2020

How to Thrive as The New Kid on The Block! Part 1

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,gratitude,Habit,Happy,Implementation,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,Respect,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, 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, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 9:40 am

How to Thrive as The New Kid on The Block! Part 1

Congratulations your the new kid on the block! You are a recent dental graduate who just got hired as the new associate to work with Dr Wonderful and her team! It’s your first glorious day! You are ready to take on the world and deliver exceptional service and care. Oh, but wait a minute. There are these people you now must rely on…called your team! There was no mention of team relationships. No one told you in school that you were going to be dependent a team. You were just planning on focusing on dentistry. Surprise! That’s not how it works. The success of a practice is largely based on how well you work together as a team. So how do you build happy, healthy, and high performing relationship with an existing team. Some of who you may have not hired in the first place.

It is important to remember that you are the outsider coming into their world. It’s like being the new kid on the block. You must figure out how to fit in with the existing team culture. Fitting in takes time and patience. The team is going to check you out because they don’t know you or trust you. They will be watching your every move to see if you will fit in.

The first step to fitting in is to focus on building confident trust relationships with each team member. The dictionary defines trust as instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon something. The 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

* Am I doing what I said I would do when I said I would do it

Some examples of behaviors that build confident trust are:

* Be transparent by keeping the team 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

The second step to fitting in is to learn the current systems and processes. Spend time talking with the doctor and each team member to learn why they do what they do. For at least the first 90 days immerse yourself in learning their ways instead of making suggestions. It will give you time to build trust while you learn. The team is often suspicious of the new doctor. They are afraid the new doctor is going to want to change everything. After all you’re the new kid on the block…you should have to fit into their practice. Many team members may be older than you. Show them you respect their experience and expertise by being open to their guidance.

Once you start making suggestions remember that the team may like to do things their way. Even if it may not be the most effective or efficient. It’s their routine and they can do it on auto pilot. Which is why your suggestions may be resisted even if it is an improvement. New changes slow them down and take more focus and effort. Don’t firehose the team with suggestions or requests. Start with a simple change that will be easy to do and benefit them greatly. They will see it as a positive and be more open to the next change.

The third step to fitting in is balancing your role as an associate. You may feel like you are in the middle, torn between the owner doctor(s) and the team. You are doctor and a leader. Yet you don’t make the decisions. Some decisions you may be more aligned with the team than you are the owner doctor. The team may treat you like one of them and even tell you negative things about the owner doctor. The owner doctor may complain to you about their team. It is imperative that you not allow yourself to get stuck in the middle. Always reinforce what is positive about the other person. You may not always agree on every decision. However, it is imperative that you support the owner doctor decisions in attitude and actions, or you will undermine them. It is easy to judge when you have never walked in someone’s shoes. It always looks easier when you are observing. Leading a team and making the right decisions can be very difficult at times. There are often many paths that can be chosen.

Tune in next month for the 4th and 5th step to thrive as the new kid or for that matter any team member in the practice!

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June 1, 2020

The Human Side of Dentistry

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,gratitude,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,Respect,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dentistry, drama, Empathy, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, 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, success, sustain, team, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 5:00 am

I am blessed to have the privilege of working in the dental industry since the early 1980’s! Working in the dental industry for many can become just a job! We must never, even for a moment, disregard that we are human beings caring for the health of other human beings. It is not just about fixing teeth. There are humans attached to those teeth! It is important that we focus on the human side of dentistry and become advocates for our patients’ health.

I would love to see every medical and dental team instilled with an advocate mindset. However, many of us have experienced a caregiver objectifying a patient by treating them like an object than a human being. For example, they make decisions for the patient instead of educating and asking questions to understand what matters to them. They have conversations about them in front of them and act as if they aren’t present.

I had a not so human experience during a recent visit to a radiology department. It started out great with the x-ray techs introducing themselves as they ushered me into the room and explaining the process. However, all manners and niceties stopped when the doctor who was going to be taking the x-rays entered the room. He did not slow down enough to take a moment to introduce himself or ask me if I had any questions before he started. He proceeded to rapid fire commands at me and then walked out of the room without further discussion. There was no compassion or connection. I felt objectified. As if I were just a task that he was in a hurry to complete. I understand that this may be a daily routine for him, but it was not for me.

It is vital that we remember when we are caring for our dental patients that they are more than just a task to complete to get on to the next one so we can finish our day. We are dealing with their health. What may be routine for us may seem scary or concerning to them. It is essential that we recognize the human side of what we do. It is our responsibility to take time to develop meaningful relationships with our patients, which allow will allow us to provide better and more comprehensive care. When we do this, we become an advocate for our patients’ dental health.

Here are five essentials to help you become your patients’ advocate.

Be happy to serve. Do you seem happy to the people you serve, both team and patients? Think about it for a moment. Would your patients and team describe you as happy? Do you greet others warmly with a smile? Are you happy to come to work and grateful for what you get to do? Do you focus on the positive and celebrate daily?

Get to know the human attached to the teeth. Ask questions to get to know more about what’s important to your patient. What has been their past experience? What are their goals and desires for their dental health? What are their concerns about treatment and what matters to them?

Educate your patient by having a conversation not giving a presentation. That means asking and answering questions as you go along to avoid assumptions. Stop the data dumping and present information in bite size pieces. Avoid industry slang and communicate on their level. Verify time, sequence, cost and compliance (what they need to do to support).

Focus on the WIIFTP (What’s in it for the patient). Show up 100% by being present in the moment. Always contemplate what would make your patient feel more welcome, more comfortable in the moment and help build a stronger relationship? Keep your patients in the loop by informing them what you are doing and why. It’s what we say or don’t say that creates the patient’s perception. We lose value when we don’t let our patients know what we are doing. If we don’t say it to the patient it doesn’t exist. For example, when you do an oral cancer exam explain to your patient what you are doing and the reasons why. Even for those patients you have seen for many years. Inform them every time. The why must always be a value statement highlighting the benefit for the patient not the practice or the team.

Address complications as soon as possible. Come from a real place of care, concern and curiosity versus judgment and criticism. Always consider what it might feel like if it happened to you. How would you treat them if they were a family member? Let me clarify, a family member you like! LOL! Start out by asking, “How may I help you?” Then be present, listen and hear what they are saying. Share with them how you can help them by saying, “I can help you and this is how.”

When we focus on being advocates for our patients, we will develop more meaningful relationships that will enable us to provide better and more comprehensive care to our patients. A win for the patient, practice and team!

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March 1, 2020

False Assumptions!

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,gratitude,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,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, R.I.S.E., service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 8:09 am

False assumptions run rampant and are often negative. Mary leaves at the end of the day without saying goodbye! I know what that meant! She must be upset! How do I know? Because I would never leave without saying goodbye – unless I was upset!

What happened here? I judged her behavior and assigned meaning based on what it would mean if I exhibited that same behavior. Maybe, just maybe, Mary had an important appointment she was in a hurry to get to…or maybe she had a hot date!

Consider these other familiar interactions:

A co-worker with whom you normally have lunch doesn’t make room for you to sit with them. Do you assume something must be wrong? In their reality, they likely assume that you would have asked them to make room or would have made room for yourself if you wanted to join them.

A co-worker asks you to do something in a different way. You’ve tried it that way before and it didn’t work. Do you refuse?

You have an encounter with a brother, sister, parent, child or spouse where there is a disagreement because of a difference of opinion. Of course, you believe you are right, and they are wrong!

We have surely all experienced scenarios like these! They are all examples of false assumptions based on our personal truths.

False assumptions based on our personal truths are the number one breakdown in communication. When we interact with others, we are always coming from a place that is dominated with our own experiences. Our expectations differ because of our unique and individual beliefs, opinions, and assumptions based on our experiences. These expectations become our personal truths upon which we base judgments of right and wrong. (Think B.O.A.T. – Beliefs, Opinions, Assumptions become our truths.

We all have unique and individual experiences, yet we expect each other to think, act and respond in the same way that we would. These false assumptions get us into trouble when we think others must behave in the same manner as we do, or their behavior is wrong. We think others must believe what we believe, or they are wrong. Once we understand that our personal truths, how we judge the world and what we believe to be right and wrong, are based on the unique and individual experiences we have, we can no longer believe that our answer is the only right answer.

It is important to understand and respect other personal truths to communicate effectively. Here is a three-letter word that will resolve 90% of your communication problems. ASK! When you get that twinge in your gut and you think… “Hmmm…I wonder what they meant by that?” or you find yourself saying “I think they meant this” – you don’t know! Stop yourself immediately from wondering and speculating and ASK! You will be surprised how many of your initial beliefs, opinions and assumptions are incorrect once you hear their intent.

Once you ask, listen to them with an open mind. Let them share why they feel the way they do or did something a certain way. We must stop judging with a mindset of right or wrong. Some things may seem 100% right to me and to you they may seem 100% wrong. Who’s right? The reality is that in many cases there is no right or wrong. Our judgment is based on our past experiences. If something I experienced in my past was positive, I will believe it will be positive again. Another person may have had the same experience, but it was negative. They will assume it will be negative again. Therefore, if we both described the same situation, it would differ greatly.

Let me give another example. I went on a hot air balloon ride in Napa Valley when I turned 50. It was a gorgeous day and I did not want it to end. I look forward to going again someday. Another friend of mine went on a hot air balloon ride, the weather was terrible, and the flying was scary. She has no desire to ever go on another hot air balloon ride again. I think balloon rides are awesome, she thinks they are awful. Who is right and who is wrong? See what I mean?

In your office, one team member may have had good experience doing something a certain way while another did not. It is important for them to come to an agreement to create a consistent process, system or protocol. They can start by sharing their personal truths about the experience. They must listen openly to each other and agree on an answer or solution that works for both. To come to an agreement, we need to understand it will never be perfect for anyone but can be good or effective for everyone. If we want our version of perfection, we will have to work alone!

It is important that we as individuals make a personal commitment to be open, respectful and understanding of each other’s personal truths. This is what enables us to communicate and interact effectively with others. Our success depends greatly on how well we communicate in our personal and professional lives. When we communicate openly, positively, and effectively we inspire connections and build sincere, strong, sustaining relationships. Our ceiling for success is instantly raised and the sky’s the Limit.

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January 1, 2020

New Year! New Attitude! New Life!

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,gratitude,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,Respect,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, 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, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 9:30 am

I love January and the start of a fresh new year! A year of positive possibilities and opportunities! You might want to check your attitude if you aren’t happy with your current status. Your lifestyle reflects your attitude. What is your attitude about life? Do you just get up, go to work, come home and go to bed? Or are you looking for something more out of life? Change your attitude change your life! Just as you can’t plant squash and expect to harvest carrots, you can’t have a negative attitude and expect a positive outcome.

One of the best ways to change your lifestyle is to change your attitude in how you start your day. How do you think and feel when you first wake up in the morning? Your thoughts set the tone for the day. If your first thoughts in the morning are: “Oh, I’m so tired. It’s too early to get up. My eyes won’t even open. I’ll just hit snooze and lay here . . . just fifteen minutes . . . just fifteen more minutes,” you’re off to a slow… negative start.

Instead, change your story. When the alarm goes off immediately jump out of bed. Tell yourself and anyone listening, I am going to make it an awesome day. I am ready for whatever comes my way today. Your brain believes what it hears. Look for things to celebrate in the moment. Focus on what is good or positive.

It’s time to step across the threshold into your office. Be mindful of your attitude as you enter. Stop at the door and give yourself a pep talk if necessary. Whatever attitude you bring to work affects the culture and the entire team. Smile and warmly greet your coworkers. These are the people who have your back! Treat them with kindness and respect. Just because you can get by with unfiltered behavior doesn’t mean it’s okay. The better you treat others the better you will feel!

Happily, help others throughout the day. It doesn’t matter how well you do your job if you don’t support your team when needed. Everyone loses if a patient leaves the practice because of a bad experience. It’s not for us judge whether a coworker is worthy of receiving our assistance. For example, being unwilling to help because we think the other person doesn’t work as hard or as fast as we do. Our job is to do whatever it takes as long as it is legal, ethical and within our licensure…from the moment we check in to the moment we check out. Even if it means helping others that we may not necessarily like. We are to treat people based on who we want to be as a team instead of judging whether they are deserving.

We must never forget that it is a privilege and an honor to be able to work in the dental industry. Don’t get lost in the muck of the mundane of daily tasks. Instead focus on the opportunity to change peoples’ lives. We help create beautiful smiles. A smile is the number one connector in any language! Our patients become more confident when they have a beautiful smile. We help people chew food which enables them to maintain better health.

Check in with each other at the end of the workday. Does anyone need help before you leave? A fond farewell is just as important as warm greeting in the morning. A warm greeting and appreciative farewell are great bookends to help make it an awesome day!

When we mindfully choose a positive attitude, we create a positive path of thinking. Our positive thoughts today create a positive reality tomorrow. We do create our own lifestyle!

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October 1, 2019

Your Team Is Your Greatest Asset… When You Invest in Them! Part 2

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,gratitude,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,Respect,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, communication, conflict resolution, Culture, cusotmer service, Decision making, Dental Coaching, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, 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, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 6:30 am

In Part 1 we covered how YOU can get your team aligned and engaged to become your greatest asset. In Part 2 we will cover how to empower them so THEY can become your greatest asset!

Have team meetings and discuss with your team the core values of the practice. Together define what it means in words in actions. Make agreements as a team that support the core values on how you will communicate, work together to serve each other and the patients. Establish as your number one standard that the team treat each other as well or better than how they treat their patients. It is vital that you do not set double standards for how the team treats each other versus how they treat the patients. Print the standards and store them in a binder accessible to the team. Keep them alive by reviewing them at huddles, team meetings or when hire someone new or when someone’s behavior deems it necessary. Everyone helps everyone support the standards by holding each other accountable once the agreements are in place.

Some examples of standards:

Greet and smile at each other in the morning
Ask for help
Ask don’t assume
Offer help
Say please and thank you
Don’t gossip
Be kind

Empower

Empowerment happens with clear training and implementation processes. We need to let go of perfection and instead strive for excellence. Proficiency comes after mistakes and leads to excellence. “Unless we try to do something beyond what we have already mastered, we will never become what we might have become!”

Set high standards not impossible standards
Learn from mistakes and move on
Share what will be done differently

Have a clear and consistent training process. Which means the team does tasks the same way. So often times I see team members choosing how they will complete a task based on what they think is right. Or because it’s how it has always been done. Or it’s just someone’s opinion…usually the most vocal team member. Often times there hasn’t been a formal team meeting discussion defining and agreeing on how the system or process will be done. Utilize the R.I.S.E. Process to successfully implement new ideas and create clear and consistent systems and processes.

Set realistic weekly training goals for you and your new employees to measure their progress. Base training expectations on the average time it took for an employee to learn instead of the quickest time. It will help lessen new employees feeling overwhelmed and allow them and the team to measure their progress. Have a constructive conversation weekly with the new team member discussing goals, expectations and accomplishments instead of criticizing what they are doing wrong. Catch them doing things right and highlight them at a minimum of 3 positives to every 1 growth opportunity. Exceptional relationships are built on a 5 to 1 ratio.

Our life, the people in our life and our circumstances continue to change. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to invest in learning and training to continue to grow. Where are you in your growth process? What is working what has changed? What investment would make the biggest impact in your team being your greatest asset? Your team will be your greatest asset when you invest in them.

Email Judy Kay at JudyKay@PracticeSolutionsInc.net to learn more!

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September 13, 2019

Your Team Is Your Greatest Asset… When You Invest in Them! Part 1

Filed under: cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Constructive Conversation,constructive criticism,Culture,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Fly-bys,Focus,Goals,Gossip,gratitude,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,Respect,Rise & Shine,sarcasm,Smile & Shine,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,TA-DAH,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Trust,Trust,Uncategorized,We Team,We Team,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, dental management, 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, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 5:00 am

Your team is your greatest asset…when you invest in them! I find it interesting that little time and money is spent on investing in growing the team in comparison to doctors learning new clinical skills! When in truth the team can be the greatest asset and advantage in determining the level of success in the dental practice.

Alignment

Let’s start by aligning the team! The more aligned the team is the more consistent the care and service. The owner doctor(s) start by creating clear core values for their practice. Take time to come up with your why…what four core words in order of priority would you choose? This will help create clarity and unite the leadership team (doctors/managers/team leads). Utilize a consistent decision-making strategy to avoid fly by’s which includes considering the following:

What’s in the best interests of the patients, practice and team, not any one individual (including doctor)?
What is practical and realistic based on current resources of people, time and money?
What is the precedent being set?
What is the value of implementing? Necessary to have a value of 8 or above on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being high.
Will it support the 4 core values?

It is necessary that the leadership team’s message is consistent from all leadership team members. Otherwise it creates confusion and divides the team.

Engagement

The engagement part happens when you include your team in the discussions and decision making. When your team feels like their ideas are heard and considered they feel valued and respected. They become a creator versus a victim of their circumstances. Creators focus on what is positive, identify and change what isn’t and own their results. Whereas victims complain, criticize, blame, gossip and compare.

If you want the team to embrace a change ask for their suggestions and feedback on how to implement the change. If you want the team to have ownership give them authorship as well. A well-structured plan is well thought out and clearly defined. I teach teams the R.I.S.E. Implementation Process to help them work together to create a well-structured plan. R.I.S.E. is an acronym for Review, Implement, Sustain and Evaluate.

Review – WIIFTP&P&T (What’s In It For The Patient, Practice & Team)

What is it we are currently doing
Does it support the doctor(s) Core Standards
Is it a WOW?
- What’s working
- What’s not
WIIFTP&P&T – What’s in it for the patients, practice and team if we make the change
It is important for the value/benefits to rate an 8 or above on scale of 1 to 10 or it is difficult to sustain

Implement – SOP – Standard Operating Procedures

What are we going to change
- What area(s) do you want to grow? Prioritize if you have several areas. Start with the area that will make the biggest impact.
Who is going to do it
Who are we going to do it for
When are we going to do it – including time, sequence and flow
- It is important to actually schedule time to fit it in to your day, week, month, and year or it won’t happen.
Where are we going do it – very specific location
Why are we going to do it
- This is the most important part to successfully sustain growth. What is it that will motivate you to continue to do the new behavior when you don’t feel like it or you are pressed for time.
- It has to be a big enough why (8 to 10) – WIIFTP&P&T if we make the change – there must always be something in it for the team to sustain the change
How are we going do it
- Practice verbal skills
- Practice role playing – yes I know it’s weird but it’s effective
- Practice the entire physical walk through – never test it out for the first time on a patient
- Clearly spell out the attitude, mindset and action steps will you need to take to be able to succeed.
Define process
- Create standard operating procedures and put in a SOP Manual
- Schedule the roll out date

Sustain – Form Habits

In order to sustain a new change it is important for the new change to become a habit
Be precise and consistent and realistic to make the change become a habit much sooner
- Same sequence and steps for every team member every time
  - 5 out of 5 times
It takes a range of anywhere between 18-254 days to form a habit depending on the difficulty with the average being 66 days
- Until it becomes a habit it will feel awkward and uncomfortable
- Give any new change at least 60 days to get comfortable before considering any changes
Support the change positively in words, actions and attitude

Evaluate – Reflect/Diagnose

What are the results
- Were we able to implement
- If not, why not
- Is the process still working effectively
- If not, what is the value and benefits in a change
- What part is still working what needs to change

Investing time and energy in getting your team aligned and engaged are the first steps in making your team your greatest asset! Tune in next month to learn how to empower them to be your greatest asset!

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