How to build an Exceptional Care Team

Build your relationships first….then your dentistry. ~ Bob Barkley

How to build an Exceptional Care Team

Posted on

The “self-managed team” is essentially a philosophy based on shared values, trust, and unity of purpose, relationships, and a commitment to personal and professional growth. It begins, first and foremost, by hiring the right people and teaching the aptitude.

Self-management offers freedom and responsibility. It gives each person credibility and respect, and it satisfies the need for self-fulfillment. The prime responsibility of the doctor is to help team members discover, develop, and utilize their potential. In order for team members to grow requires the dentist must be willing to grow with them.

  • It requires team members who want to grow beyond skilled worker to ‘knowledge worker’ who knows what to do, when to do, how to do, and why to do the task.
  • It thrives on trust and self-accountability which requires honesty with one’s self. It requires a high tolerance for disagreement and ‘the right to be wrong.’
  • It thrives on a high tolerance for mistakes which permits calculated risk taking. It requires that all members of the team strive to live by the tenet, ‘Integrity is not only important; it is everything.’
  • It requires continuous growth of all persons involved.
  • It requires the discipline to set aside a half day
    each week of non-patient work time for planning, learning, training, ‘how are we doing’ discussions and catch-up work.
  • It requires trust, openness, and willingness to risk asking the questions; “How am I doing?” “Do you have any suggestions for me?”

 Essential Traits

  • Emotional Maturity
  • Courage of convictions – be responsible.
  • Admit mistakes –be accountable, honest, have integrity and keep promises.
  • Willing to adjust to new ideas, concepts, and approaches in the daily routine.
  • Ability to make decisions with confidence.
  • Reliable judgment.
  • Enjoy life and work. Respect the rights of others.
  • Self-directed – goal setter and self-starter.
  • Positive self-image – sets the boundaries of individual accomplishment.
  • Tolerant of disagreement – everyone has the right to be wrong.
  • Tolerance for ambiguity – they are flexible and not upset by unforeseen mishaps.

It is important that the attitudes, actions and activities of everyone in the office are congruent with the values, purpose and motivating spirit of the organization. Ultimately each dental team must develop its own unique style. The dentist and team must deal with their values, standards of excellence and the personal relationships required to exceed the patient’s expectations. We must continually work to align structure, systems, and processes with our shared values, vision and purpose. Shared values determine how people perceive problems, seek alternative solutions, and make decisions.

SHARED OWNERSHIP

  • No dream is beyond reach when you have a shared vision and
    purpose with the right team.
  • Leaders must be willing to delegate power and control after clear goals, standards of excellence and expectations have been
    established. Conflicting or ambiguous expectations are the cause of almost all relationship difficulties.
  • Everyone’s job, including the leader’s, must be open to examination and change.
  • All team members must be encouraged to make suggestions and be given real authority to act, to try things on the spot in the belief that failures are learning experiences.
  • Everyone must have easy access to all the information relevant to their work.
  • Everyone’s job security depends on their ability to provide solutions that exceed the patient’s expectation.
  • Teamwork must become a way of life. People working interdependently do not need job descriptions. Self-managed people with a
    feeling of ownership work best knowing everyone’s area of responsibility. There are no departmental boundaries.
  • Everyone must make a commitment to personal and professional growth. Continuing education is not optional.

M. William Lockard, Jr. DDS

    Practice

Health

  • Principles
    of Team Membership             
  •  
  1. Always be willing to do more than your
    share.
     A person with a high commitment to the success
    of the team and practice will look for ways to contribute to the success of the
    group to achieve the shared vision and purpose of the practice.
  2. Never say uncomplimentary things about
    another team member behind their back
    .    Engage in positive confrontation of the
    problem.
  3. Confront your conflicts. Resolved conflicts strengthen
    relationships. Unresolved conflicts do not go away, they accumulate and get
    worse.
  4. Accept reality – all team members are
    not paid the same salary
    .
    All do not have the same education, experience, duties, responsibilities,
    abilities, attitudes and dependability.
  5. Never be late or absent for trivial
    reasons.
      One person absent can affect the quality of
    care, the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire office.
  6. Participate in team activities even
    when inconvenient
    .
    Electing not to participate may be seen as rejection by teammates. The more you
    know about someone, the greater likelihood that you will care for them.
  7. Be involved, concerned and active
    regarding your personal growth. 
    As a group of individuals who work
    together become cohesive, caring and synergistic they are experiencing personal
    growth.
  • Be
    unselfish with your time and helping others.
  • Be
    empathetic with patients and team members.
  • Confront
    conflict with a positive attitude – see other point of view.
  • Accept
    yourself and others – strengths and weakness – it’s OK to not be perfect.
  • Listen
    to others more than you talk.
  • Be a
    continual learner.
  • Accept
    responsibility and be accountable for your actions.
  1.  Contribute
    to personal growth of teammates when appropriate
    . Help is not help until it
    is perceived and accepted as help by the recipient. The ideal relationship is
    to have a friend who can act as a consultant where the level of trust,
    understanding and caring is high enough so we can tell it like it is.
  • M. William
    Lockard, Jr.  DDS          www.billlockarddds.com
  •                                                                                                                                                            
  •                                                                                                
  •  

    Practice

Health

  • SELF ASSESSMENT                    
  • Complete
    all the questions and discuss in round robin fashion with other team members.
  1. List two valuable
    abilities or qualities that you possess but are currently not using.
  1. What is your
    ideal picture of your job and your role in this team? How would your unused
    abilities fit into this ideal picture?
  1. What positive
    contributions could you make to this team and practice by actualizing some
    aspects of your ideal picture of your job?
  1. What aspects of
    your ideal picture of your job can you turn into reality? What specific steps
    can you take? What are the obstacles to take these steps?
  1. How can your team
    members help you use your strengths and actualize your ideal
  • picture?
  • After
    each team member answers all the questions the team works to take advantage of
    each person’s strengths. This begins the process of working interdependently
    and sharing responsibilities.
  •  
  • M William Lockard, JR DDS
  •        

The Five
Functions of Great Teams
                                            Patrick
Lencioni

Practice

Health

  •                                                                                                                                                        
  •  
  • Teams with
    trusting relationships
    :
  • Admit mistakes, weaknesses, and ask
    for help
  • Accept questions and input about
    their areas of responsibility
  • Give one another the benefit of the
    doubt before a negative conclusion
  • Take risks in offering feedback and
    assistance
  • Focus time and energy on important
    issues, not politics
  • Offer and accept apologies without
    hesitation

    • Look forward to meetings and other
      opportunities to work as a group
  • Teams that engage in conflict:
  • Have lively, productive meetings
    debating important issues
  • Ideas and opinions of all team
    members are encouraged and considered
  • Discuss and resolve real problems
    quickly
  • Minimize politics
  • Put critical topics on the table for
    discussion
  • Teams that make commitments:
  • Create clarity around direction and
    priorities
  • Align the entire team around common
    objectives
  • Develop an ability to learn from
    mistakes
  • Unite behind decisions and commit to
    a clear course of action even when
  • complete agreement is impossible
  • Move forward and change direction
    with confidence without hesitation
  • Teams that hold one another
    accountable
    :
  • Ensure that poor performers feel
    pressure to improve
  • Identify potential problems quickly
    by questioning one another’s approaches
  • without hesitation
  • Clarify exactly what the team needs
    to achieve, who needs to deliver what, and how
  • everyone must behave to succeed
  • Avoid excessive bureaucracy around
    performance management and corrective action
  • Shift rewards from individual
    performance to team achievement, there-by creating
  • a culture of accountability
  • Teams that focus on collective
    results
    :
  • Retain achievement-oriented employees
  • Down play individual achievement in
    favor of team performance
  • Enjoy success and suffer failure
    acutely
  • Benefit from individuals who
    subjugate their own goals/interests for the good of the team
  • Focus
    on specific objectives, clearly defined outcomes and deadlines

Practice

Health


  • Dynamic Job Design and Performance
    Appraisal  
  • Clarification of expectations for each team member’s function,
    responsibility, and performance.
  • Each team member writes:
  • Detailed
    list of their job functions and responsibilities.
  • Standard
    of excellence expected in detail.
  • Self-evaluation
    of performance.
  • Doctor
    writes list for each team member:
  • Job
    functions and responsibilities.
  • Standard
    of excellence expected.
  • Evaluation
    of job performance.
  • Doctor meets with each team member to review and
    compare:
  • Functions,
    responsibilities, standard of excellence and performance.
  • Doctor
    explains in detail any changes or improvement required.
  • A
    composite evaluation and action plan with time table is agreed upon.
  • Recognize
    that some departments in the practice may be at different stages of growth.
  • Team
    members must understand how their actions may affect other team members and
    their performance.
  • Praise
    how each team member contributes to achieving the purpose and goals of the
    practice.
  • M. William Lockard, Jr. DDS     www.billlockarddds.com
  • When tensions are high and we seem to have lost our
    positive attitude, I will sit with all the team members and ask these
    questions. It is a positive way to get back on track. And they feel in charge
    of the “Happy days are here again.”

Practice

Health

  • Appreciative Inquiry                                                      Change at the
    speed of Imagination
  •                           
  1. Who are
    you when you’re at your best?
  • ___________________________________________________________________________
  1. Think about a time when you were really engaged in
    and excited about your work.
  • Tell me a story about that time. What was
    happening? What were you feeling?
  • What made it a great moment?
  • What were others doing that contributed to this
    being a great moment for you?
  • What did you contribute in creating this moment?
  • What would need to happen for you to have moments
    like that more of the time?
  • ________________________________________________________________________
  1. When are we as a team at our very best?
  • What are we doing at those times?
  • How are we communicating?
  • How are we treating each other and others outside
    of our circle at those times?
  • How can we be that way, and do those things more of
    the time? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  1. If you had three wishes for our organization, what
    would they be?
    ________________________________________________________________________
  • ____________________________________________________________________________      _____________________________________________________________________
  •                  
  •                           
  •  

  • Philosophy   ‘HOW’   Statement
  • Patients
  • We will help people feel
    important, cared for, accepted and affirmed by all the team.
  • We will do only what is right
    and put the patient’s interest first – sharing our values, beliefs and joy in
    doing our WHY.
  • We will treat people
    appropriate to their need, their understanding of the optimum treatment and
    their ability to pay a fair fee.
  • We will accept people as they
    are without passing judgment.
  • We will help people make
    decisions based on their values and priorities. People will not be pressured to
    accept treatment; they must choose treatment.
  • We will not provide treatment
    that is inconsistent with our ethical standard.
  • We will inform people about
    fees prior to beginning treatment.
  • We wish to receive a fair fee,
    paid with gratitude and appreciation.
  • When people experience economic
    hardship we will understand and be cooperative.
  • We wish to attract patients who
    are fun and have values congruent with ours.
  • Exceptional
    Team Members:
  • Develop integrated goals and
    know that if the practice does well financially, they will do well financially.
  • Commit to the process of
    personal mastery.
  • Grow in the process of
    self-management, work interdependently, accept responsibility and be accountable
    for their actions.
  • Are encouraged to voice their
    opinion and then commit to team decisions.
  • Develop trusting relationships
    and focus on collective results.
  • Establish clear expectations of
    each other and the doctor.
  • Hold trust, honesty, integrity,
    openness and respect as core values of this practice.
  • Let’s
    make this office an incredible place where we have fun helping people improve
    the quality of their life.
  • M.
    William Lockard, Jr. DDS

 

Practice

Health

 

Home Testimonial

“Thanks so much for your continuing efforts to promote and advance the concept of the relationship based practice.” – Jim Otten

Great Forum

What a great forum for sharing the wisdom we have been privileged to gain from those who came before us. Hearing that wisdom expressed in the language of today is so important. ~ Mary Osborne

Get Involved with the
Bob Barkley Study Club Now!

1213 Corporate Circle SW, Roanoke, VA 24018
(540) 774-1577 |

Contact Us