Anna-Lisa Palmer, August 2011 - Dentists often grumble about the difficulties of finding and retaining quality team members. They believe all their problems will disappear and their new team will turn the practice around into the ideal practice if only they could find the right team. But imagine this… what if you already have the makings of the perfect team? What if the quality you are looking for is already there within your grasp, but it just needs to be refined and developed? What if you have a diamond in the rough that just needs to be polished? What if you could create your ideal team with the team you already have? 

What makes an ideal team?
The answer to this is different for every practice and depends on the identity or personality of the practice. However, there are some themes that would universally be accepted as being 'ideal'. For example an ideal team would have:
- solid respect for the rest of the team and the dentist,
- a good clear understanding of their role and job description and those of the rest of the team,
- a good understanding of the procedures of the practice,
- good communication skills and
- opportunities for growth and development in each role.

Ideal for who?
The dentist isn’t the only one who wants an ideal team. In our experience, achieving ‘ideal team’ status is in everyone’s interest.
For the team members it usually means less stress, more recognition of efforts and their contributions to the success of the practice . It usually means better communication between each other and a better understanding of who should be doing what, when and how. Above all it should mean that the team have more pride in their work and the practice has less staff attrition - after all - who would want to leave an ideal team scenario.
For the patients of the practice it means being handled by a well oiled machine. Everything just falls into place from the start of their experience with the practice to the end. Phone calls get answered quickly, appointments are easy to make and run on time, the dentist, hygienist and DAs seem to be reading each others mind the way they interact.
For the dentist this means less time taken up dealing with the dynamics of the practice and less time reinforcing procedures and processes. This means more time is available to do what the dentists does best.

So how do you get the ideal team?
Assuming that you have all the good systems and procedures in place for your human resources management, there could be two things holding back your current team members from being a vital part of your ideal team:

1) Team Training: Did you know that there are tried and tested systems and procedures that allow your team to run your practice in a systematic and predictable way? And having these systems and procedures firmly in place means that should anyone ever leave your practice (which they won’t because they will feel so empowered and motivated in their roles), someone could replace them with a smooth transition.
Did you also know that many communication skills can be learned? Many dentists don’t realize that it doesn’t necessarily come naturally for an untrained DA/ front office person to know how to communicate certain things to your average nice patients (let alone your stressed and nervous patients).

2) Owner/ Dentist Training: “Your practice looks the way that it does, because you are the way that you are”. This is a mantra we say to new clients. According to most leadership gurus, all the good things that are there in your practice are there because you put them there and similarly all the bad things that are in your practice are there due to your influence. Following from that, your team behave in a certain way because you have guided them to do so, or at the very least not prevented them. The practice owner’s leadership skills are crucial to the team’s success. Retaining your ideal team comes down primarily to your leadership skills, which includes your provision of a path of growth and development for your team members. Having an interest in educating your team members in itself can indicate to team members that you are willing to invest in them and as a result, they will invest in you.

The money spent on training a team member will come back hundredfold when they come back rejuvenated and excited to implement new things. They will learn new skills that ultimately benefit you, they will feel that what they do is actually valuable, and they would’ve had some changes which can help in team bonding. All you need to do then is to support and empower them. Team members, who feel valued, appreciated and invested in, will want to work for the good of the dentist and the practice.
Many dentists feel that it is not worth investing in their staff. They make the comment: “what if you train them and they leave?” But a more important question should be: “what if you don’t train them and they stay?”