When it comes to improving managerial aptitude, there isn’t a business owner or entrepreneur out there who doesn’t want to become a better communicator. It’s practically unimaginable that, in this information age, successful people don’t inherently understand the value of effective communication.
As a private dental practitioner, you have a clear message you want to broadcast to everyone with whom you do business, both patients and employees. Through your words and actions, you want them to know that they can count on you.
I believe everyone in your office has the same three questions for you—why what you have to say is important to them; how it’s going to help them; and if they can, in fact, trust you. That last one is the clincher. You need to earn their trust if you aim to keep them, and you can’t earn their trust unless you’re transparent regarding your intentions.
If there’s anything I’m guilty of, it’s overcommunicating. I don’t hide my intentions, especially not from my staff. If you think that business is like a poker game and you must keep your hand to yourself, you’re going to lose a lot of people. You’ll come across as inauthentic or aloof, if not downright deceitful.
How to institute a new policy
When instituting a new policy, understand that you have every right as a business owner to change the way you conduct your office. But also expect that your people will want to know at least a general reason why they’re being asked to suddenly shift gears. Resist any temptation to throw your weight around. Don’t use “I’m the boss” as your justification. You want your team to embrace change, and they’ll be infinitely more cooperative if they understand your vision. Otherwise, they’ll pay you lip service and revert to doing things the old way behind your back.
Most dentists I coach don’t have a problem with outlining their reasons behind business decisions once they get the hang of it. They understand the logic of bringing everyone up to speed and making sure they’re on the same page. Where it gets tricky is when mistakes happen, particularly when the dentist is the one who drops the ball. I promise that the sooner you confess, the better. There’s no shame in making mistakes as long as you own up to them as soon as possible.
If you choose the opposite route and try to cover up your tracks, your people will not only find out about your mishap, but they’ll invariably make up a worse scenario in their heads about what you did and why you did it. Don’t let it get to that. It’s nearly impossible to earn back trust and respect once you’ve lost it.
Own your mistakes
Not surprisingly, owning up to your mistakes improves your overall trustworthiness while simultaneously showing your team the importance of being accountable for their mishaps. Oversights and misjudgments are part and parcel of doing business. Nobody is immune to making them. Thankfully, the vast majority of mistakes aren’t a big deal when they’re addressed in a timely manner. You catch it early, and you carry on with a newfound sense of clarity about how to do better.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case when you’ve unwittingly created a culture of sweeping things under the rug. That’s when problems fester and become terrible thorns in your side. Remember that when you’re the boss, people follow your lead. So, make it clear that blunders are inevitable, particularly by acknowledging your own, and then demonstrate your willingness to learn as you go and let everyone else do the same. In time, such hiccups will become fewer and less consequential as you all find your groove and hone your skills.
Avoid too much of a good thing
While my intentions are to espouse the virtue of overcommunicating, I would be remiss if I didn’t emphasize that too much broccoli can kill you. In other words, you can have too much of a good thing and communication is no exception. Not everything that happens in the confines of your practice needs to be announced to your entire team.
For instance, if a key employee needs time off because of something such as chemotherapy, keep the specifics private. Not only does federal law prohibit you from disclosing medical information about one employee to another, but doing so would instantaneously erode your trustworthiness. When you need to inform your team of an employee’s time away, simply state that they must tend to something urgent and leave it at that. Your staff will be sympathetic and cooperative even if they don’t know the details.
There’s a fine line when it comes to open communication and transparency. Knowing what to say and when to say it is an art, and it’s not difficult to master. I’ve learned to read the room. I take a moment to gauge my surroundings, and then I calibrate my words to the person standing in front of me. Some of the people I coach appreciate when I’m “New York direct” with them. They not only can handle it, but they benefit from my refusal to mince words.
However, I can’t be like that with everybody. For the most part, I’ve learned to approach people from underneath rather than come straight at them. Before I offer my critique, I make certain they know that I care about them and their success. On those occasions when I have a lot to get off my chest, I remind myself that a firehouse is hardly an effective way to water a houseplant. Sometimes when it comes to constructive and transparent communication, fewer words get the job done beautifully.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the September 2024 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
