Most dentists have only a vague idea of what the office manager does in their practice. They’re trained to be dentists, so they hire the people they believe will do the job well, and then they go do dentistry.
Of course, there are good intentions behind this, but it can lead to friction and dysfunction within the practice.
Is She “The One”?
A dentist must go to school to get his dental degree. A dental hygienist must do the same. But the reality is that there is no formal schooling for the role of “office manager” (unless they are trained by a company like CEO Dentist); that person can walk into the office with enthusiasm and desire and, if you have a willing dentist, they can be trained for the position.
Perhaps they worked in another dental office or even a corporate office where they picked up skills along the way... but there’s no official skillset and training for that position.
Often, when the doctor hires a new manager (experienced or inexperienced), he hopes that she is “The One.” He hopes that she will take over, whip the practice into shape, and keep it running like a tight ship.
They hire the person that looks good, smells good and seems like she could do the job. Then they go back into the office and start doing dentistry, hoping they made a good choice.
Set Expectations on the Front End
When doctors work with us to grow their practice and make it more profitable, we promote setting roles and responsibilities with staff members right away. What expectations do you have of this person you just hired? It’s not enough to say, “Keep the schedules full.” What you think of as full will be different than what she thinks of as full. How do you specifically want your schedule filled?
There’s a protocol to having a relationship with your office manager. It’s based on expectations: when do you meet every week? What topics will you discuss? Which reports do you expect the manager to bring to the meeting? When both parties are clear about what’s expected, everyone knows what a “good job” looks like.
No More Winging It
There are many practices out there that are just winging it from day to day. They’re working very hard to produce a great result, but they haven't invested the time to put formal, written systems in place to keep things running smoothly.
There are people out there who run, and then there are people who are runners. There are people who act, and there are people who are actors. There are people who have a dental practice, and there are people who run a dental business. Which do you want to be?
Do you ever have the feeling that you’re just winging it with your dental practice? Share one aspect of your practice that you think could be systemized in the comments area below.
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