The ultimate goal of your dental office is to serve your patients with as much care and compassion as possible while earning a profit so that the business can grow. To do this, you need the right people on your side. However, your staff can only be their very best when you set standards and keep them accountable for meeting or exceeding those standards. There are many way ways to go about doing this. Discover a few ways that you can work with the standards in place at your office.
Setting Standards
Step one is deciding how to set standards for those in your office in the first place. The key is to look at where you are right now and see where you want to be. Then, find out what it will take to get there. In many cases, digital or computer-based solutions may be the easiest way to determine this. What percent of your patients are booking for future visits when they leave from a cleaning? How many of your patients feel like they are truly part of your “patient family”. Use digital solutions to determine these things and set standards for your staff to help improve future actions. A full-featured software program, like Weave, for instance, will help you track all of these elements in one place.
Holding Staff Accountable
Setting the standards is the easy part of the process. Holding your staff accountable for the standards you set is not only the BIG job, but it is also the harder part too. We have probably all heard the old saying, “when performance is measured performance improves, and when performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement increases”. Accountability means that you, or someone else in charge, will need to follow what happens in the office on a day-to-day basis. Keeping your staff accountable means that you may need to discuss the how’s and why’s with these employees and even be willing to change your standards, once you’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. Accountability is all about finding solutions that work for everyone, and that help your practice become something amazing. For proper accountability, communication is key. Weave’s Team Chat feature makes communicating in the office a breeze.
Learn more about Team Chat here.
What if We Don’t Accomplish Our Goals?
One of the reasons many office owners or managers may balk at the idea of setting standards is that they wonder “what if”. It can be a little nerve-wracking to wonder what you will do if you find your staff cannot meet the standards you set. It could be that your team just needs better tools; productivity and service are both easier to achieve when office staff have the right tools available.
A software like Weave will make it nearly impossible to not keep standards. Weave’s patient database makes it easy for each office member to become familiar and friendly with the patient. Automated appointment reminders and follow-up’s keep office members on task and constantly building relationships with patients.
While you may be nervous about taking the plunge, setting and maintaining standards will help improve the overall feeling of positivity in your dental office. In whatever way you choose to do it, make it happen today. The changes you make will improve patient care today and make it easier for you to grow your practice tomorrow, and that is what you want from every action taken within the office.
