Blog

When to Hire and How to Pay an Office Manager If we truly look at this title as a starting point, I would first ask, “Do you really need an office manager”?  Again, even though office managers are “common place” in the dental industry, I find this to not be “common sense”.  Many of the things we accept as foundational originated ...

How Much Should I Pay an Employee? I would like to revisit and go into detail on how you should pay your employees and do this in a way that allows us to look at an office manager, assistants, front desk, hygienists, and associates.  I was having a conversation with my business partner about some materials that needed to be ordered for a ...

Embracing the Change “Cargo Cults” is an interesting term.   During World War II, on the islands of the South Pacific, both the American and Japanese struggled to clear landing fields for their respective troops and supplies where only jungle existed.  Shortly thereafter planes would begin to land bringing all the necessary goods to ...

The Art of the One Minute and Leadership from Both Sides Tried and true.  Ken Blanchard’s book The One Minute Manager summarizes the essence of management in two easy lessons. The One Minute Praising: Help people fulfill their potential by catching them doing something right.  Let people know you are going to tell them how they are doing ...

THE A,B,Cs, OF STAFF COMMUNICATION The 180 Degree Journey tends to push doctors to ask the difficult questions.  The phone keeps ringing, and for the last 6 months, every question posed by the caller has centered on the fact that it is hard to keep or find good staff members.  It started from the day we reopened from COVID in mid-2020 and the ...

BACK to the FUTURE I remember a time when successful doctors shared their knowledge without any expectation of payment or fear of competition.  I still remember the mentors that gladly spent the time to help a “nobody” from a small town in Texas to scrape out a living and grow as a clinician and businessman.  I am tired of being sold to for ...

THE RESULTS OF GREAT LEADERSHIP We have seen leadership from both the perspective of staff and the actual leader.  I want to take us a little further down the road and study the desired outcomes of leadership in your office.  Sort of a word picture or beginning with the end in mind look at what your office and culture can become and why you ...

LEADERSHIP and MANAGEMENT I will continue to paint a word picture of active leadership in your practice.  It is not enough to just read each aspect of the 180 Degree Dental Journey; you must apply what you read.  There is no learning without application.  If you made it this far, or started out of sequence or this is the first time you are ...

ACCOUNTABILITY and LEADERSHIP Surely you have gotten your free copy of the Super General Dental Practice:  www.superdentalpractice.com.  Go to Chapter 18, The Purpose Driven, Doctor Led, Staff Owned Dental Practice and be sure to read it before reading this piece on leadership.  The great thing about leadership is that there really are no ...