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January 1, 2015

Leadership Matters

Leadership Matters Regardless of our position in life we all lead. The problem for many of us is we don’t necessarily know what it takes to be a great leader or even a good one. This newsletter is dedicated to the leadership skills that can make a difference in the things that matter most in life!

I would like to tell you a story about a woman who was a great leader! Her name is Ione Miller and she just happens to be my mom. Mom was a city girl who at the age of 19 married a country boy (my dad Clem) and moved to a farm in ND! She raised 7 kids, ran the household and was my dad’s best farmhand. She was a very busy lady! Yet regardless of how busy she was…even as kids we knew that when mom thought something mattered, come hell or high water, (one of her favorite sayings) she would make it happen.

Ione Miller - High School

Our little Post office in St. Anthony was one of those things that mattered! Mom heard they were planning on closing the post office and instead of just complaining about it she took action. She called the powers that be to find out what she needed to do make stop it from happening. She was informed she would need a minimum of one hundred signatures on a petition from the St. Anthony and surrounding area residents. St. Anthony has a population of maybe all of 21 including pets which meant the majority of signatures would need to come from the surrounding farms. Mom drafted a petition and drove from farm to farm until she had secured all 100 signatures.   She happily handed over the petition over only to find out that it was no longer good enough. They had changed the rules and in order for the post office to stay open every family that signed needed to come to the post office and sign again in front of state representatives. They chose a day in the middle of harvest season with a tiny window of time from 10am and 2pm. Mom asked for extended hours explaining that farmers worked from sun up to sun down in the field during harvest season. They declined with a response of, “If it is so important they should just make time”. Mom reassured them that it was indeed important and they would be there. Once again she went from farm to farm to rally support. The day arrived and mom waited anxiously with the representatives. Over two hours had passed and not even one person had come to sign. One of the representatives snidely remarked, “We should just wrap it up now! There is no way you’re going to get enough signatures.”   With confidence (I can imagine it was starting to dwindle) mom responded. “We shall see!” and demanded they wait until 2pm. One by one the farmers started to trickle in. Most came right from their tractors in the field still wearing their stained and dirty overalls.   Mom greeted each one with a big smile while handing them the petition to sign. They had enough signatures by 2pm to keep the St. Anthony Post Office open! Way to go mom! In this story my mom exemplifies four core competencies that helped her succeed! They are clarity, confidence, perseverance and passion!

  • Clarity was displayed by having a clear end goal of keeping the post office open.
  • Confidence in herself and her community was demonstrated when she stood up to the state representatives even when things weren’t looking favorable.
  • Perseverance was portrayed by her willingness to do whatever it took to make it happen even when it became discouraging and overwhelming.
  • Passion was what she presented with to her community to incite them enough to leave their work in the middle of the day.

Mom was an awesome leader and I miss her every day! Great Leaders have clarity of who they are, the direction they want to go and the results they want to accomplish. Great Leaders are confident in their decisions and leadership. Self-confident leaders also recognize the value of building self-confidence in others. Great Leaders have perseverance to do what needs to be done regardless of the difficulty. They keep on keeping on. They continue look for ways to succeed when they hit a road block. Leaders with Perseverance ask, what can I do now? Great Leaders have passion for what they do in life and inspire others to follow. Passion is what ignites the heart and soul. No matter how difficult, hectic, or crazy life gets…It’s always up to each one of us to decide how we will lead in our life. We have a choice in every moment of every day regardless of the situation or circumstances. I challenge you to lead your life with clarity, confidence, perseverance and passion so that you can make a difference in the things that matter most to you! Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help your team WORK together better to build a happy, healthy and high performing service culture!

December 1, 2014

Practice Time!

Practice Time!

Imagine an athletic team not scheduling practice time! No time to discuss and practice strategies, obstacles or who’s going to do what. How good would they be? Team meetings are your team’s practice time. This month is dedicated to creating effective practice time!

If your practice is like many practices I observe, the scheduled team meeting time (practice time) is often lowest on the scale of importance. Emergency patients, add ons, running behind and even lunches take priority over team meeting time. Many offices start out scheduling an hour but often end up with 30 to 45 minutes by the time everyone is in attendance and ready to participate. There are often many items on the agenda and the pace is very rushed. There never seems to be enough time to go deep enough to clearly understand the what, who, when, where, why, and how. Which means the team ends up talking about the same topics over and over again. Does this sound familiar?

It is necessary to have effective practice time to nurture a successful team culture! However, practice time can also be a source of frustration if you’re the only person facilitating or participating in the effort. There are many ways to encourage team participation and have others lead.

Often times team members stop participating because they fear retaliation or have been criticized or shut down with words or body language. You know the rolling of the eyes or the big sighs! You can create a safe and sharing environment by establishing communication guidelines for your practice time. Ask the entire team to work together to create Communication Guidelines. What is it that they need to feel safe to participate? Some examples of guidelines might be:

  • Listen
  • No judgment or criticism
  • Have a thicker skin
  • Believe in positive intent
  • Give the benefit of the doubt
  • Avoid sarcasm
  • Be respectful
  • Support a no-gossip culture
  • Project positive tone and body language
  • Be open minded
  • Be understanding
  • No retaliation

Once you have completed your guidelines, print them out, frame them and put them on display to refer to as needed. I suggest starting each meeting by reviewing the guidelines as well as whenever you hire someone new or someone’s behavior deems it necessary. Because we are human and old habits die hard we will need reminders! It can be as simple as, “remember we said we weren’t going to ______!

Here are some additional suggestions to inspire effective, efficient and engaging practice time:

  • Schedule practice time when most team members can attend.
  • Allocate appropriate time and space for your practice time.
  • Utilize a large easel pad and bright markers to write down the ideas being shared by the team. Ask team members to rotate writing.
    • Address the fear and worry of spelling…make it a part of your communication guidelines…no judgment or criticism for misspelling.
  • Address issues concerning patients and the practice.
  • Create an agenda and have the team members rotate leading the meeting.
  • Ask multiple choice or essay questions instead of yes and no questions.
  • Ask team members to write down their responses. When everyone has finished, have them share these responses with the group.
  • Break the team into groups of two or three, depending on the size of your team. Have them come up with solutions to share with the team.
  • Allow time for exercises and fun.
  • Practice verbal skills, role playing and the physical walk through before implementing anything new.

The more you empower the entire team to participate in decision-making, the more engaged they will be. When team members feel they’re involved in decisions, they take greater ownership for the outcomes. What we create, we own.

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help your team WORK together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

November 1, 2014

Fear of the Unknown!

Fear of the Unknown!

Fear often paralyzes and sometimes even stops us from living a happier life. Yet fear is really only a negative prediction of the future and not reality. The fear I am going to address today is the fear of the unknown. Many of us choose to stay right where we are at because we feel safer when we know what to expect. Even if it is a negative, toxic or even a dangerous relationship or environment! For example, staying in a work environment that you dread going to everyday or choosing to keep a negative or toxic employee. Or worst case scenario staying in an abusive or dangerous relationship. I have found more often than not that the times where life my life seemed difficult or scary were actually just what I needed to push me to live a happier and juicier life!

This month is dedicated to overcoming the fear of the unknown!

http://youtu.be/-aDc7wCh-yY

 

My Orange Fish Fable!

Every spring my awesome hubby Steve meticulously sets up our pond in our back yard with a fountain! We call it our fountain pond! It takes two full days to complete but it is well worth it. LOL, that is easy for me to say as I am not the one doing the work. The second day includes a trip to Terra Garden Shop to purchase water Lilly’s and other aquatic plants…followed by a visit to the local Pet Smart Store to purchase 25 to 30 assorted colors of goldfish! Of course the majority are bright orange!!! I think they really should be called orange fish as they are not gold they are really orange and orange is a much happier color! So being as it is my article I will refer to them as orange fish!

They live a happy life all summer long swimming, eating and growing in their fountain pond! They have even found the perfect places to hide when they feel threatened by raccoons, birds and the occasional otter! Their pond is a sanctuary of underwater crevices between the rocks! I can imagine them paddling around thinking life is good!

 

Ahhh…but here comes the unknown! Time to cue the scary music….

We live in MN where any ponds that aren’t very deep freeze solid during the winter. Every fall we need to either rescue the orange fish from freezing or it will mean imminent death. We take them to the lake across the street that doesn’t freeze so they can live and flourish! Of course they don’t know this! This is their unknown! All they see is a woman (me) with a big net chasing them around in their pond! LOL, I have one responsibility when it come to our fountain pond…catch the fish in the fall! I am the net lady! These poor little orange fish fear for their lives because they don’t understand that I am really trying to save them and give them a better and longer life. So out of fear of the unknown they hide in their safe sanctuary! What they don’t realize is that what they believe is their salvation will actually lead to their demise!

I thought this was a great analogy for human life! We can’t see what’s over the hill or around the bend or in our future so we are afraid to step forward! We would rather stay where we believe we are safe because we fear the unknown. Yet the fear we feel is only a negative prediction of the future…it’s not reality. Whereas the situation we are currently living in is reality and in some cases a very dangerous reality. But we stay right where we are at and pretend, avoid and hide from things with excuses (excuses are human crevices) to feel safe!

Action Steps:

  • Come from a mindset of positive expectation instead of fear.
  • When things seem difficult see it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
  • Let it go! Seriously, let it go!
  • Decide on your next step.
  • Listen to your gut instead of other people.
  • If feels scary but exciting go for it…if it feels heavy walk away.
  • Take the next step no matter how scary…you will be happy you did!

There really is a bigger pond waiting for all of us! We in essence all live in our own little pond where we feel comfortable and safe because we think we know what we can expect in life…or so we think…that is until the net lady comes our way! The universe is our net lady trying to provide us with ample opportunities to live a happier, healthier and higher performing life!  Don’t let the fear of the unknown stop you from swimming in a bigger pond!!!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help your team WORK together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

October 1, 2014

Assumptions!

ASSUMPTIONS!

HOW CAN WE STOP MAKING ASSUMPTIONS?

WE MAKE ASSUMPTIONS EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY.

SOMETHING HAPPENS AND WE INSTANTLY ASSIGN MEANING TO IT.

THAT IS AN ASSUMPTION.

 

We start imagining what other people are doing, what they’re thinking, what they’re saying about us. We invent an entire story based on assumptions and we believe it. One assumption leads to another assumption; we jump to conclusions and we take it personally. Then we point the finger and blame other people. We usually start gossiping to try to justify our assumptions. Almost all conflicts are based on false assumptions. Assumptions are nothing more than false stories that we are telling ourselves. This creates a big drama for nothing because we don’t know if it is really true.

For example, when we haven’t heard from a close friend in a while we start to wonder if anything is wrong. The more we worry about it the more reasons we find to support our belief that something is wrong. And instead of picking up the phone and calling to ask if everything is okay we justify why we shouldn’t and put the blame on them. We continue to build our story and stress. Then our friend finally calls and we find out they have just been swamped in the busyness of life! All that negative energy and drama for a story we made up from assumptions.

It may be correct or it may be incorrect. We won’t know unless we take the next step. That step is a simple three letter word. ASK! Sounds easy but it’s not. We often fear that if we ask, we may open ourselves up to an emotional reaction. I call that emotional reaction an eggshell. Eggshells spawn many of the assumptions in our lives and in our dental practices today. It’s the fear of these potential eggshells that stop us from asking and allow us to start assuming.

Some of the eggshells I am referring to are:

  • Anger
  • Judgment/Criticism
  • Retaliation
  • Hurt feelings

We can’t let fear stop us from asking if we want to avoid assumptions. We don’t know what someone meant by their actions or words or the way they said something. Sometimes even what they say or the words they use can mean something different than what we believe them to mean. And just because someone felt a certain way in the past doesn’t mean they still feel the same. Stop making assumptions and start asking questions regardless of potential eggshells.

When you get that twinge in your gut and you think “Hmmm – I wonder what they meant by that, or I wonder why they haven’t…?” 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 assumptions are incorrect once you hear their intent.

Ask with care, concern and respect. Some simple questions to ask are:

  • I am not quite sure what you meant, please tell me more?
  • I am not quite sure what happened. Can we talk about it?
  • Is everything okay?
  • Are you okay?

Continue to respectfully ask questions until you understand the other person’s true intent. If you are still thinking “I think they meant…” you are assuming. It is important to continue to ask more questions to achieve a deeper understanding!

September 1, 2014

Engaging Success! Part III

September 2014

Engaging Success Part III!

This month we will cover the final three strategies to help you get your team engaged and bridge the gap between potential and performance! Just in case you missed the last two newsletters… here are the statistics to support why getting your team engaged is not fluff stuff! It’s how I help teams nationwide create a happy, healthy and high performing culture!

2013 Gallup Polls show 70% of Americans are not engaged at work! Which equals about 2/3rds of the team in an average dental practice. The downfall of not engaging your team:

  •  22% Loss of Profitability
  • 21% Loss of Productivity
  • 45% More Turnover
  • 48% More Team Safety Incidents
  • 37% More Absenteeism
  • 41% More Patient Safety Incidents
  • 41% Less Quality of Care

 

Open to Opinions

We encourage open communication to allow everyone to voice their opinions pertaining to the patients and the practice.   Doctors, managers and team members are often surprised when a co-worker who never participates starts speaking up at our workshop.  I have often found that when a team member doesn’t speak up it’s because they feel they have been shot down in the past.  They believe their opinion didn’t count so they stopped sharing.  When team members feel their opinion is welcomed and valuable they become more engaged.


 

Everyone on the team has the right to express their opinion and be heard without being criticized or made to feel stupid.  Instead share constructive feedback with the team member why you feel it may or may not work.  Being open to opinions means we at least consider the idea.  Considering a team member’s input can often lead to better decision-making.  This is because the team members are often the ones directly doing the task, process or service and understand the limitations as well as the possibilities.  When team members feel they are involved in decisions, they take greater ownership for the outcomes.  Ownership is a sign they are engaged!       

 

Constructive Feedback

We actually schedule feedback time with team members. If we don’t schedule the time chances are it won’t happen. Many offices schedule annual employee performance reviews. Meeting and discussing progress, achievements and goals on an annual basis is not enough to get engagement. How engaged or involved would you be in a relationship where you only had a deeper conversation once a year?

What works well is a quick (5 to 10 minute) monthly or quarterly Checkup with the manager or doctor touching base on their progress, achievements and goals. Questions to ask are:

  • What where your goals for this period?
  • What accomplishments would you like to celebrate?
  • What are your goals or projects for the next period?
  • How can I best support you?

We also establish an open door meeting policy where team members can request to schedule time as needed.  Scheduling time helps avoid constant interruptions and creates a more focused agenda.  Giving timely constructive feedback will help keep your team engaged.

 

http://youtu.be/GvoLvQtF0c8

Opportunity for Personal and Professional Growth

We create opportunities for every team member to continue to challenge themselves to learn and grow both in their personal and professional life.  We ask them to create a list of topics they would like to learn more about in the next year at their annual review.  The doctor/manager also add topics to the list based on what they feel will benefit the team member most.  Together the team member and doctor/manager prioritize the list and agree on completion dates.  The progress is reviewed at their monthly or quarterly Checkup meeting.     


 

We also start a monthly book club in the practice focused on personal growth.  Everyone on the team is asked to participate in suggesting books.  Great books for team meeting discussions are the Simple Truths books at www.simpletruths.comOr my book Rise & Shine and soon my next book Ta-Dah, www.practicesolutionsinc.net/book.html!  The book is discussed at the team meeting.  Lengthier books can be discussed in chapters.  There is open dialogue on the benefits and how it can be applied in the practice as well as their personal life.  Creating the opportunity to learn and grow will help to keep your team excited and engaged.


 

Engage your team by being open to opinions, giving timely constructive feedback and creating an opportunity to learn and grow!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you get your team ENGAGED and WORKING together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

August 1, 2014

Engaging Success, Part II

August 2014

Engaging Success Part II!

I felt it was important to do a quick review just in case you missed last month’s newsletter.  I help dental teams nationwide bridge the gap between potential and performance to create a happy, healthy and high performing culture…which all depends on getting them engaged!

2013 Gallup Polls show 70% of Americans are not engaged at work! Which equals about 2/3rds of the team in an average dental practice. The downfall of not engaging your team:

 

  • 22% Loss of Profitability
  • 21% Loss of Productivity
  • 45% More Turnover
  • 48% More Team Safety Incidents
  • 37% More Absenteeism
  • 41% More Patient Safety Incidents
  • 41% Less Quality of Care

 

Just a few awesome reasons to invest time and focus on engaging your team!

This month we will cover three additional employee engagement strategies to help you raise job satisfaction, patient service and the bottom line. It really is a win for the practice owner, the patients and the team!

Purpose

I help teams clearly define their purpose. The purpose is their why behind what they do in their practice. It is important for the team to believe in the purpose of the practice. It would be next to impossible to get the team engaged if the doctor/manager’s only purpose was the bottom line or retiring. Team members also need to understand their individual purpose. Great leaders, (doctors/managers) help their team members see how their individual work connects and supports the purpose and the outcome. People are willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard together for the greater good when they feel they belong. They decide whether they belong based on how aligned they are with the purpose of the practice. Purpose helps them feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Reminding the team of the purpose of what they do each day helps nurture a sense of belonging and fulfillment.

Appreciation

We create a culture of appreciation and celebration in their practice. Team members get engaged when they know they are being seen and feel appreciated on daily basis. They began to feel recognized, important and cared about. It is natural for us to want to work with people who care enough to take the time to show us appreciation. The old saying, “They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care” is true. Lack of appreciation is the number one reason Americans quit their job.

Establish an appreciation strategy that recognizes how each person prefers to be shown appreciation. I highly recommend reading the book on appreciation titled, “The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace”. It covers the 5 different ways to show appreciation and would be an awesome book to discuss at your team meeting. Practice showing appreciation daily that is timely, specific and authentic. Never give a fake compliment or you will instantly lose trust and respect. Look for fun and creative ways such as an appreciation board, employee of the month, even Ta-dahs!   Showing appreciation is not just from doctor to manager to team member. It also includes team member to team member and team member to manager or doctor. Please email me at Judykay@PracticeSolutionsInc.net if you would like to receive my white pages on appreciation.

Encouragement

We lead, manage and train by utilizing encouragement instead of judgment or criticism. Encouragement goes hand in hand with appreciation and is key in helping to nurture employee engagement. When team members know their co-workers, manager and doctor(s) believe in them, they feel empowered to face their fears, look forward to challenges and continue to strive to raise the bar! I think back to when I started my business. I knew I had my husband Steve rooting for me and believing in me even during the times I doubted myself. His consistent encouragement allowed me to take more chances and not cave to the fear of failing. Encouragement instead of judgment and criticism will help the entire team feel confident to think outside the box and challenge themselves to continue to learn and grow.

Tune in again next month to Part III of Engaging Success and more employee engagement strategies!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you get your team ENGAGED and WORKING together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

July 1, 2014

Engaging Success! July 2014

July 2014

Engaging Success!

I coach dental teams nationwide on attitude, communication, relationships and performance to improve the patient experience and the bottom line.  Which all starts by getting the team engaged to bridge the gap between potential and performance!

2013 Gallup Polls show 70% of Americans are not engaged at work! Which equals about 2/3rds of the team in an average dental practice. You may think, how big of a deal is it really? You can count on then to show up most days and get their tasks done. You decide! The difference in not engaging your team:

  • 22% Loss of Profitability
  • 21% Loss of Productivity
  • 45% More Turnover
  • 48% More Team Safety Incidents
  • 37% More Absenteeism
  • 41% More Patient Safety Incidents
  • 41% Less Quality of Care

An engaged employee out produces and is more profitable than their non-engaged colleague by 22%…in essence you could have 4 engaged employees instead of 5 not engaged and cut your overhead by an entire salary! A $20 per hour employee working 32 hours per week would save you $32,000 per year.   That number does not include taxes and benefits. Realistically you would save more like $40,000 per year.

Even better…focus on engaging your team and get all 5 employees engaged to produce 21% more. Let’s say for simple math you produce $100,000 per month…you would now produce $121,000 per month ($21,000 more per month) equaling an annual increase of $252,000! Imagine what you could do with an additional $252,000! Not fluff stuff!

My newsletters over the next few months will focus on developing an employee engagement strategy to help you raise job satisfaction, patient service and the bottom line. It’s a win for the practice owner, the patients and the team!

Ta-Dah!

It is important to understand and be able to identify the different levels of engagement. There are three levels of engagement; Engaged, Not Engaged and Actively Disengaged.

Engaged Employees – are passionate about their work and feel very connected and loyal to the practice. They are always looking for ways to improve performance and patient care. They are focused on the big picture of helping the practice succeed. They base their success on the practice’s success!

Not Engaged Employees – are essentially checked out. They can be difficult to spot. They are just coasting through their day by putting in time without energy or passion. They are thinking about lunch, who just called on their cell phone, or what they are going to do when they get off work.

Actively Disengaged Employees – are unhappy at work and demonstrate it in their words and actions. They monopolize the doctor/manager’s time (always having to issues that need addressing), have more on-the-job accidents, create more quality concerns, are sicker and miss more days. They undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish and sabotage the practice.

In this blog I will focus on three strategies I use to help get teams engaged!

Clear Expectations

We start with an open and candid conversation clarifying expectations and the results desired. Go deep enough to explain what, who, when, where, why and how. So often time’s things are left unsaid and assumptions are made resulting in frustration for the doctor, the manager and the employee! If the employee is not clear on expectations they can’t possibly deliver.   If you are thinking, they should just know that, or I already told them once…so I don’t need to tell them again…you are setting the employee up to disengage!

“If you don’t ask for what you want don’t be angry when you don’t get it.”

 

Appropriate Equipment and Supplies

Next is making sure the team has the appropriate equipment and supplies to maximize efficiency and get better results.  It also demonstrates to the employee that their work is valued because you were willing to give them the support they need to do their job. For example, a specific instrument to aid your hygienist in safely cleaning around dental implants. It is important to ask employees if they have what they need to be able to do their job efficiently and effectively. The initial cost is outweighed by the ROI of increased performance, service and productivity.

I have found men are usually much better at getting the right equipment and supplies whereas women will try to make do. This summer my husband Steve and I went a little crazy with filling our deck with pots of flowers, succulents and evergreens! Needless to say it became huge watering chore for me because we did not have a hose up on the deck. I have been traveling a lot more for business…which means Steve has become the water boy! Surprise! I came home to find a faucet and short hose up on the deck. Watering is now so easy it is actually fun! What used to take me 1/2 hour or more now takes under 10 minutes! We have just tripled my productivity and increased job satisfaction by having the appropriate equipment and supplies!

 

Strength Focused

We focus on identifying and building on each team member’s strengths. This one step alone can change productivity by as much as 12.5%. The best opportunity for people to grow and develop is to help them discover their innate talents. It just naturally creates a feeling of wellbeing when we can do something well. We enjoy our work more. Focusing on a team member’s strengths is a far more effective and positive approach than constantly focusing on their weaknesses.   When employees know and use their strengths, they are more engaged, have higher performance, and are less likely to leave the practice.

Research shows that the management style of focusing on the positive strengths reduces active disengagement to 1%. Whereas a negative focus management style produces 22% disengagement. Surprisingly, being ignored causes the most damage at 40% disengagement! The old saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!” is not a successful management style. It delivers to the most negative outcome of all.

Which response would your employees say best reflects the management style in your practice? It’s time to ask!

  • My manager/doctor focuses on my strengths or positive characteristics.
  • My manager/doctor focuses on my weaknesses or negative characteristics.
  • My manager/doctor doesn’t say anything at all and I feel ignored and invisible.

Engaging success starts by asking questions!

Tune in again next month for more employee engagement strategies!

 

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you get your team ENGAGED and WORKING together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

June 1, 2014

Team WORK!

 “Team WORK – It is the fuel that allows common people to obtain uncommon results

Team work!  A phrase so often used with so many different assumptions of its meaning!  The dictionary defines team work as cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause.

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 month’s newsletter is dedicated to the WORK part of team work.  BTW…this message works for your marriage as well.

I have spent years coaching dental teams on how to create happy, healthy and high performing relationships.  Successful team relationships don’t just happen by accident.  They take work just like any relationship.  Yet the assumption is that we should all just naturally get along.  If that were true I wouldn’t be so busy.

Communication is the first core fundamental in team work. 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.
  • 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.

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. 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 and the practice instead do any individual.
  • Trying again and again and continue to be flexible and to adjust until it does work.

Celebration is the third core fundamental to successful team work. 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 for 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.

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help your team WORK together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

February 1, 2014

Dysfuntional to Dynamic!

 

My newsletters are often a reflection of what I observe when working with dental teams.  The phrase “we are just like one big family” is used by many dental teams to describe their office environment.  One would assume it be a positive statement.  However, I have found in many cases the opposite is true.  They were indeed like one big family…one big dysfunctional family! This month’s newsletter is dedicated to changing your team’s relationships from dysfunctional to dynamic!  

 

The dictionary defines dysfunction as a behavior pattern that undermines team stability.  Some examples of dysfunctional behaviors are being tardy, unreliable, dishonest, unsupportive, disrespectful or unkind. When I was in grade school we received progress reports or as we called them report cards.  There was an entire section on conduct.  Conduct was broken down into 5 areas. 

  • Observes regulations
  • Works and plays well with others
  • Respect for property
  • Respect for authority
  • Is courteous in speech and manner 

You either received and S for satisfactory or a U for unsatisfactory to rate your behavior.  Thankfully I received all S’s!  I know I am really dating myself here. Many of us seem to have forgotten or maybe have never been taught that we are responsible for our conduct at work. It is not the doctor(s) and manager’s responsibility to make us play well with others!  It is OURS!   Here are three behaviors to shift dysfunctional patterns into dynamic patterns and start playing well together.

Filtering – For some reason we feel once we say we are a family we don’t need to filter what we say to each other.  We justify it by saying we are just being honest or we have to be authentic to our feelings.  After all we can’t help how we feel!  (Oh really…read my December 2013 newsletter) We lose our politeness and kindness towards each other.  Our words are often direct and hurtful.  We believe because we are like family it is okay to behave in this manner.  That our co-workers should just be able to handle whatever we say.  The reality is words cut deep and can destroy even real families.  Don’t we all know someone who no longer speaks to certain family members…maybe even you?  It is important to think before you speak to avoid jeopardizing the relationship.  Be respectful of how the other person might feel.  Treat each other with the same kindness and politeness that you would if you were on your best behavior with a stranger.  After all why share the best of you only with strangers…why not give your best to those you work with and care about most.  

Apologizing – If you make a mistake, be sincere and apologize as soon as possible. Don’t try to hide it, ignore it or pretend it doesn’t matter.  When we don’t apologize for our mistakes or wrongdoings as they happen we leave unresolved issues.  It is human nature to store unresolved issues.  Some of us our so good at storing our issues that we have an entire storage unit full.  Until finally one day a blow up happens…and the storage unit gates fly open and every unresolved issue comes hurling out.  Try to apologize the same day if at all possible to resolve issues and keep them from being stored.

Forgiving – In order to move forward and work together in a functional relationship we need to forgive each other.  I can’t tell you how many times I observe two team members who don’t work well together anymore because of something that happened years ago.  I would like you to consider forgiveness in this light.  Imagine the worst thing you have ever done in your life.  What if it was written on your forehead in permanent marker for all the world to see?   That was your reputation and what you were held accountable to forever.  In essence that is what we are doing when we are unwilling to forgive others.  We are holding others accountable for the worst behavior they ever did to us.  The best way to forgive is to stop trying to agree on who was at fault in the past.  Instead focus on the future and what you can change or do differently to make the relationship work.  

Implementing these three positive behaviors will help you change your dental family from dysfunctional to a dynamic!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you change dysfunctional team relationships into dynamic team relationships!

January 1, 2014

Performance Standards

I thought writing about performance standards was a great way to get started in 2014!  Performance standards are really to provide the team with specific performance expectations. They are the observable behaviors and actions which explain how the job is to be done and the results that are expected.  The main purpose of performance standards is to communicate clear expectations.

 The higher the standard the higher the performance!

It is just that simple…right?  Wrong!  Just because you set high standards does not mean you will get better performance.  Doctors and managers often struggle with getting the team to support the practice standards.  Yet they continue to set new and higher standards in hope that they can raise the level of performance in their practice.  Raising the level of performance is really dependent on the following principles.   Here are four principles that will help you nurture a culture of top performers!

The first principle is Leadership. 

Model the waddle you want to see.  In other words walk the walk! If leaders don’t “lead by example,” it is next to impossible to raise the level of performance. How can anyone trust a leader who says one thing, but does another?  We don’t support people we don’t trust.  People will do as you do not as you say.  Everything really does come from the top down. Set standards, don’t allow double standards; live and maintain those standards. If you want your team’s focus to be what’s in the best interests of the patients and the practice, yours must be as well. Actions always speak louder than words. If you say one thing and do another they will start to doubt and be suspicious of everything you tell them. They may lose trust that you’re doing the right thing, or that you even know what you’re doing. They will stop following your lead.  The vision you’re trying to make happen will falter when your team doesn’t trust or respect you anymore resulting in plummeting performance.

The second principle is Precise and Consistent Expectations.

A team meeting setting works best to get everyone on board. Don’t generalize be specific.  Define clearly what you want.  Go deep enough for everyone to understand the who, what, when, where, why and how behind each standard.  What does it mean in words, attitude, actions, body language, and tone of voice?  Discuss any potential obstacles and a plan of action to overcome.  Allow input from the entire team to create immediate ownership.  Once the team has agreed on a standard, title it and print it out as your Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).  A simple 3 ring binder with clear sheet protectors works awesome as an SOP Manual.

The third principle is Accountability Monitoring and Feedback.

Monitor results on a daily basis.  Your daily huddles are what I refer to as accountability meetings.  They allow the team to discuss and get feedback on what is not working or not being done in a real time basis. Utilize a white board to list any reminders that need to be addressed instead of waiting for the team meeting.  The team is responsible to review the white board prior to the huddle.  A white board will help you to communicate effectively even if you have different shifts.  If it is specific to only one or two team members list their name and who to check in with to discuss further.  Otherwise, just list it on the board for everyone.  Monthly team meetings are great to review benchmarks in terms of quality, quantity, or timeliness and give feedback of how the team and practice is doing.

The fourth principle is Commitment.

It is necessary for every team member to commit to supporting the practice standards in attitude, words and actions.  Whenever you are implementing something new or changing an existing standard, system or protocol ask each team member to verbally commit their support in front of the entire team.  (A team meeting setting works great for this as well.)  Sometimes even when you utilize the first three principles; you can’t get that one team member on board.  The reality is they have their own agenda and therefore are unwilling to commit to supporting yours.  Performance standards are based on best practices for the greater good of the patients and the practice and not any individual. If they are only willing to do what they choose and are only concerned about WIIFT it is time to have a line in the sand conversation.  If they want to be a part of the team it is necessary to support the team standards.  Otherwise, wish them well and let them join another team that may be a better fit for their standards.  Yes I know, they may be extremely good at what they do when they want to be.  In most cases they are and will use it as leverage to hold the doctor hostage.  However, if you allow one team member to not support the practice standards you sacrifice the entire teams performance!  The bottom line is that if they are not supporting they are sabotaging the practice.

Embracing these 4 principles will help you raise the level of performance in your practice!

 Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you raise the level of performance in your practice!

 

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