Elsevier

Dental Abstracts

Volume 62, Issue 2, March–April 2017, Pages 69-70
Dental Abstracts

The Front Office
Investing in the team

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.denabs.2016.09.014Get rights and content

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Background

A dentist’s current team may not yet qualify to be considered the “Dream Team” of dental staff members, but they have the potential to be superstars. As their leader, the dentist has complete control over how good his or her team becomes. Several steps are needed to help them reach their full potential and the course isn’t always smooth, but each dentist has the opportunity to create a Dream Team.

Steps

First, the dentist must set the goal of having a great team and keep it as the guiding principle for the work ahead. Second, the dentist must take up the challenge and do what’s needed to realize this goal.

Results

When the personal incentive structure is set up, team members will either change their behaviors because they want growth or the reward or they will be unwilling to change or develop any of their capabilities. The dentist will quickly see the difference between power players and “weak players.”

For individuals who don’t want to participate or change, the dentist must recognize that there may be no way to fix that attitude. These weak players may even resist or react negatively to training,

Discussion

When the team works together toward a common goal and is rewarded for their performance, the result is generally excellent patient care and professional growth. The difficult aspects of instituting such a change are worthwhile because of the value that is realized in creating a dental office Dream Team.

Clinical Significance

Building, training, and developing an outstanding team is a never-ending process and will continue throughout the life of the practice. The dentist must take the lead and

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Geier J: Creating the (sigh) dream team. Dentaltown, July 2016, pp 68, 70-73

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