Posted on January 1, 2013

Dynamic Job Design and Performance Appraisal

    Clarification of expectations for each team member’s responsibility, and performance.

 

 

Each team member writes:

• Detailed list of job functions and responsibilities.
• Standard of excellence expected in detail.
• Self-evaluation of performance.

 

Doctor completes 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.

• Understand how each team member’s actions may affect other team members.
• Praise how each team member contributes to achieving the purpose and goals of the practice.

 

 

M. William Lockard, Jr. DDS    www.billlockarddds.com

 

 

 

Practice Health

                      Self Assessment /Professional Growth

1. When do you feel best about yourself in the office?

 

1. Why do you work in a dental practice? What do you want most from your work?

 

1. What do you see as your next growth step?

 

1. How do you see yourself three years, two years, or one year from now?

 

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 of the 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?

 

 

 

10.  How can your doctor help you achieve your objective?

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 those ways, and do those things more

of the time?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

1. If you had three wishes for your organization, what would they be?_______________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Practice Health

                                                TEAM DEVELOPMENT

            The self-managed team is essentially a philosophy based on shared values, trust, unity of purpose, relationships, and a commitment to personal and professional growth.

Character and Competence of each person on the team are the essential ingredients of trustworthiness and win/win agreements. Character because you can’t separate who you are from what you do; and Competence because you need to be committed to continuous improvement in technical, conceptual, and interdependency skills. If people cannot add value, they will have to select themselves out of the organization because there will be no place for them to function appropriately.

            It is very 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 process 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.

1. Leaders must be willing to delegate power and control after clear goals, standards of excellence and expectations have been established. Conflicting or ambiguous expectations is the cause of almost all relationship difficulties.
2. Everyone’s job, including the leader must be open to examination and change.
3. 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.
4. Everyone must have easy access to all the information relevant to their work.
5. Everyone’s job security depends on their ability to provide solutions that exceed the patient’s expectation.
6. 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 each others areas of responsibility. There are no departmental boundaries.
7. Everyone must make a commitment to personal and professional growth. Continuing education is not optional.

 

Practice Health

 

The Five Functions of Great Teams –  A leadership fable by Patrick Lencioni

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 when 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 and avoid distractions
• Adhere to clearly defined outcomes and deadlines

 

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

Team Motivation                         

The ingredients of genuine motivation are Autonomy – Mastery – Purpose

The intrinsic motivation, the drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging and absorbing is essential for a high level of creativity. The team’s compensation must be adequate and fair – then the following statements apply.

According to the London school of Economics, “financial incentives can result in negative impact on overall performance.” Such as Contingent Rewards – “If you do this, then you’ll get that” had negative impact on intrinsic motivation.

Goal Setting – goals that people set for themselves devoted to attain mastery are usually healthy. Goals imposed by others (sales targets, quarterly returns, test scores can have dangerous side effects. These goals can cause unethical behavior such as; focusing on short-term gains and to lose sight of the potential devastating long-term effects on the organization.

Many people work only to the point that triggers the reward and no farther. If a child gets a reward for reading 3 books, many will not read the 4^th book.

In contrast – “as long as the task is routine, repetitive task, bonuses worked well – the higher the pay, the better the performance (more widgets produced).”

Questions;

• How much autonomy do you have over your main responsibilities at work?
• How much autonomy over how you perform your main responsibility?
• How much autonomy over your time at work – arrive and leave?
• Are you involved in goal-setting about your responsibilities?
• What is the Practice Purpose?
• What are your learning goals?
• What are you performance goals?