How Your Dentist Helps You Be the Best Dental Office Manager
The #1 thing your doctor can do is give you 100% of their support, allowing you to do your job without interference.
If your doctor truly wants a dental office manager, they step back and let you take charge. In doing so, your dentist can concentrate on dentistry; it’s what they do best!
My question to you is:
“Is your doctor allowing you to be the best manager you can be?”
Ask yourself these questions:
- Does your doctor allow you to make decisions without checking with them first?
- Do they support your decisions?
- Can they step back and let you take charge?
- Do they allow you to do your job without interfering?
- Do you share the same goals and vision for the office?
- Does your doctor avoid micromanaging you?
If you answered yes to all of the above, you have a great dentist that allows you to be the best office manager you can be. Make sure you let them know you appreciate them allowing you to do your job!
However, if you answered no to any of these questions, it’s important to sit down with your doctor and address your concerns.
The office manager’s role is to run the business in a way that allows the doctor to focus on patient care. An effective office manager can relieve stress on the doctor and make the practice more efficient.
One of my biggest pet peeves is the micromanager doctor
A micromanager creates mistrust with the office manager, making them feel like they don’t know how to do their job.
This also creates confusion within the team, “Who do I go to when I have a question or concern?”
The office manager must be allowed to take ownership of managing the practice! The manager who owns this piece is an outstanding office manager.
The goals and vision for the practice must be clear
Success will be difficult if everyone from the doctor on down doesn’t have the same goals and understands the practice’s clear vision.
If this isn’t clear in your practice, it’s time to have an honest discussion with the doctor. Use a team meeting to clarify and/or set clear goals and vision for the practice.
Being a leader in the practice is challenging
What has helped me over the past 30 years at Quad City Orthodontics… This text opens a new tab to the practice’s website… is working every position in the practice. Gaining the knowledge of each position helped me understand why things are done the way they are.
I challenge you to walk in everyone’s shoes (as much as you can). It makes you a better leader but also allows you to connect with your team members.
In doing so, you have not only the support and trust of your doctor but also your team.
Last but not least…
It’s important for your doctor to support continuing education, not just for the clinical team but for you, the office manager
AADOM is the best organization (as you all know) in providing resources, education, and a network for you as you face daily challenges.
Thank you to AADOM and my doctor for allowing me to be the best office manager I can be.
I challenge you to talk to your doctor and let them know how they can support you, and be sure to thank them for the support they do provide.
Enjoy your journey along the way! All your experiences make you who you are today!
When you have AADOM and your doctor by your side….. The sky is the limit!!
Meet the Author
Denise attended dental assisting school at Blackhawk College in 1989 and has a combined 30 years of experience in dentistry, ranging from lab tech to office manager. She was inducted as an AADOM Fellow in 2019.
Denise is a farmer’s wife. She and her husband recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. She’s the proud mother of her two grown children, Kelsey and Dayton, and her two fur babies (both German Shepherds), Izzy and Bryzzo.
