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Be a Leader, Not a Manager

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Practice leaders set the standard and pace of your work. Managers hover and maintain status quo. Which definition sounds like you? Changing the way your practice is structured or operates can be a vast undertaking. Use these tips to get started on a path for developing an innovative practice that you lead, not manage.

Leaders Innovate

Leaders develop ideas that further practices. Managers use the framework that is already in place. Don’t hover over your hygienists or office staff. Let their work speak for itself and step in where necessary. Demonstrate to your team the qualities you want through your own actions.

Do What You Do Best

The majority of your time should be spent with patients, that is the best use of your abilities. This means you must delegate tasks to other team members. Leaders delegate tasks. Let your office staff handle the clerical side of the practice. Utilize a hands-off strategy where appropriate to free your time for patients.

Track Team Tasks

Rather than micromanaging your team, have them write or email their daily tasks to you. This will allow you to track the team’s progress and use of time. It will also save you from constantly asking, “What did you do today?” Hold your team accountable for their tasks. Request that your team define their tasks in quantitative terms. Spot-check as you feel necessary.

Know When to Hire and Train

When your practice feels swamped, hire and train. Leaders can recognize if their team is unable to handle the current workload. Pushing your team beyond their limits is not going to produce the results you are striving to achieve. Your team will work best when they have the necessary time and resources to do their tasks.

Leaders don’t have the time to micromanage. Leaders know when to back off and let the practice run on its own. This doesn’t mean you should let your entire operation always run on auto-pilot, but focus on letting each team member contribute their abilities in the best capacity. The only way to break through the status-quo is to allow for new ideas and strategies to take hold. This cannot be achieved if you are spending your time hovering over your team. Transform the way you manage your practice and your practice will transform itself.

To learn more, contact our office.

Organization = Efficiency

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Organization is a vital part of what keeps your practice growing and thriving! Every aspect of the patient’s visit, from the moment they step foot in the office until the moment they leave, must run smoothly in order to insure the patient’s satisfaction and encourage a return visit. It all starts with the organization your office.

Tips for Optimizing Office Organization:

1. Clear the Clutter. Keep the receptionist area near the entrance and free of clutter. Patients need to be able to complete and return paperwork as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to for the office to run smoothly. Having a clutter-free lobby and front desk helps ensure the patient a comfortable experience. Be in the habit of cleaning these areas regularly to boost productivity and reduce stress.

2. Don’t overcrowd. Make sure your patients are comfortable in your waiting area, and don’t overschedule patients. You don’t want to have an unexpected surge of aggravated patients sitting in a cramped lobby. Each patient should feel like they are being treated like an individual, not made to feel like they are lost in a crowd. Also keep extra room available to accommodate a sudden patient overflow.

3. Smooth and seamless. Organize your office to ‘flow’ in one direction. From the time a patient enters the office throughout the entirety of their visit, they should remain moving forward in the same direction, never doubling back where they’ve already been at any point. Ensure exam rooms are easily accessible from the waiting area, patients should move seamlessly from one station to another.

4. Clear Digital Clutter. Make sure you have a system in place to help organize and filter your emails and digital files, in addition to a system for paper documents. Learn to prioritize different types of emails so you can easily and distinctly separate what’s important and needs an immediate response, from what’s less important or junk.

These are a few ways that organizing your office can insure a more enjoyable experience for your team as well as your valued patients, leaving them eager for a return visit.

If you’re ready for a practice consultation or other helpful tips, contact us for more

Schedule Blocking: Finding More Time in Your Schedule

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Schedule Blocking: Finding More Time in Your Schedule

 

Time is a limited resource.  Schedule blocking is a way to plan your day visually by designating blocks of time for specific tasks.  This strategy is particularly helpful for arranging your schedule to fit a variety of tasks–both inside and outside the office. 

Redirect Your Focus

As an office manager or business owner, finding more time in your schedule will allow you to focus on the business.  You’ll be able to have a better handle on the health of the business, including growth goals, finances, your team’s efficacy, and patient experience, to name a few.  Being successful takes deliberate actions, it doesn’t happen passively.

 

Time Budgeting

Utilizing schedule blocking allows you to delegate your time and energy for specific tasks.  By setting aside a set block of time for different tasks you’ll optimize productivity and can your team a good idea of when you’ll be available.

 

Stay Organized

Organization is easy! It’s easiest to practice schedule blocking using an online calendar.  Time block schedules minimize the need of keeping track of important notes and tasks on paper or needing to commit them to memory.

 

Many find using a color coding system to differentiate tasks helps them stay organized and keeps their schedule easy to read at a glance.

 

Sounds Great! How do I start?

Take a few minutes now to jot down your goals for the next few days.  As you prepare to put them in your calendar, review some of these tips to help you get started with blocking your schedule:

 

  1. Set Goals and Due Dates

With your list of goals for the next few days, take some time and set deadlines for each task.  When you have a written set of goals with due dates, you hold yourself accountable to getting them done.  It’s a lot harder to push something off that you have a written, visual deadline for than something you’re only mentally keeping track of.

 

  1. Make Every Minute Count

Schedule your whole day and include everything–from morning emails to closing procedures. When you schedule your entire day it helps you get more done and leaves you with more free time.  By accounting for all the tasks–big and small–you’ll find you have less stress throughout the day knowing you haven’t forgotten anything. 

 

  1. Prioritize

When reviewing your schedule for the day, prioritize the most important tasks to be done.  Schedule blocking helps you prioritize tasks based on what’s most important. And by color coding, it’s easy to stay organized and arrange your schedule based on levels of importance.

 

  1. Maximize Your Schedule

Set realistic time goals for your daily tasks. If you know a task usually takes one hour, you can allocate an hour by blocking your schedule without worrying about where you’ll find the time for the task. Time blocking prevent overbooking yourself and affords you the appropriate amount of time to finish your tasks each day. Time blocking also reduces the amount of time you spend planning for a task and offers you more time to execute the task.

 

We hope these tips help you take control of your day instead of allowing your day to take control of you!

 

If you need help with schedule optimization in your practice or other practice consultation services, please contact us to learn more and to get started today!