Regional Support Manager, Gary Nelson, looks back at 2021 and three things for practices to look at…
And so… we find ourselves at the end of another year.
Another year where life has tossed and turned us all upside down and backwards yet again, but I guess there is no point looking back, just close the door and move onwards. To move forwards in life, we must learn and learn from the lessons of the past.
I am in the fortunate position of working with many successful practices and see and hear many things, what was good and what was not so good. So, what did I learn and observe from the Business of Dentistry in 2021 that could help you move forwards, survive and yes, even thrive!
If you wish to have continued success as a team you may well need to make some changes. I have packaged it up into three areas – the three C’s
Communication:
We all must get back to talking.
I don’t mean Pandemic or Covid, not PPE or SOP’s, not AGP’s or non AGP’s, not SLA’s or the many other myriad of acronyms that seem to have sprung out of the world to shorten our conversations. All too many businesses and practices are experiencing team issues and one major factor is time to just talk to each other.
As a team if you try to save everyone you will simply burn yourselves out.
My observation is this – Get back to Talking… Communicating
- Morning huddles – find a new way perhaps
- Ten / Ten catch up’s – where the leader of the business just enjoys a chat with individual team members. Get the minor ‘irks and niggles’ about life and work ironed out before they get missed.
- Team meetings – find a new way but don’t skip the important.
Make time for yourselves, iron out those irks and niggles, discuss the positives.
Caring:
Many people, no doubt including you and your teams who have given so much during the last 21 months will be struggling with some form of burnout. Burnout often goes unrecognised – ’I’m just tired.’ The primary damage is often emotional leading to detachment, loss of motivation and in some cases hope.
There is a plethora of information out there that can help you understand Burnout better. Please take the time out to explore it, understand it and talk about it with each other, to help support each other. Sometimes just recognising is it a starting point.
Community:
Communication has been difficult as life has just become too busy, people are languishing and the sense of Community and Community Spirit have suffered. Ever heard yourself or others say… ‘getting through the day until’… ‘getting through the week until’?
Make your business a community for you and your team, a place where people feel so valued they simply don’t want to leave as they are aligned with common and positive values. Communities are flexible and often open minded (something that is likely to be the new norm when it comes to retaining and attracting team members).
Why not start thinking of your business as a Community and instil some Community Spirit and Values.
My observations and learning from 2021 are as you can see quite simple…
The Three C’s…
Yes, they do require you to take the TIME out of your hectic appointment books to explore how you can make a real effort to talk more and communicate better.
Please do take the time out to care for yourself and your team, you have all cared for so many people and for that I and many thousands of others are very grateful. You have all given so much this last while, it is vital that as we move forwards into 2022 that we learn from what caused the pinch points in the last year.
There will always be another reason not to look at the above, another new patient on email, the phone at reception, the list goes on.
In the early months of 2022 put you and your team first
- Communicate more often
- Genuinely care for each other
- Build that Community where everyone feels a part
Wishing you all a healthy and happy festive period and hopefully see you all in some guise in the early parts of 2022!