Elevate From Office Manager to Executive: 4 Keys of Leadership
My dental story began in 1993 when I graduated from Dental Hygiene school. I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. I never dreamed at that point of being an Office Manager. I will say I always felt a drive to learn, grow, and challenge myself. I worked in three dental offices before my current office where I have been for over 17 years. I started in my office as a full-time Dental Hygienist and as our office obtained an associate and started to grow, I was asked to take on the Office Manager role. It was part-time at first but quickly grew into a full-time role. I would say in the beginning I learned a lot; however, the learning has never really stopped. I believe as an Office Manager there are unique situations that are always challenging. The last few years of my experience have been different than the beginning and I’ve transitioned from a role of office manager to executive. There are several key things I have identified that have allowed me to obtain this level of leadership.
Office Manager to Executive – Collaboration is Key
Being involved in every department allows you to have a pulse on several things. It’s important to understand the flow or culture of the practice so you can drive the culture you want as much as possible. Checking in with team leads weekly is so valuable. Give them the time to share their challenges and wins. Encourage leaders to connect with their team members at a minimum every week for 1-2 minutes. This will help them identify and celebrate wins and determine growth areas for individuals. Not all leaders have titles, and we want to encourage natural leaders to excel at all levels. I am a dental hygienist and have kept my license so finding ways to help on the clinical side for example is easier for me, but takes time to be a part of the team and pitch in. This may not sound like executive-level work, but on the show, Undercover Boss, they have lightbulb-type discoveries being a part of the team. Get out from behind your desk and be a part of the team.
Resource Management
I do believe I have some qualities that have helped me succeed as a leader. However, I do not pretend to know all of the answers. Thankfully, my office has invested in several resources, and I’ve found several myself to tap into. Working with a dental-specific HR company is a must. I’ve had the most unexpected situations arise and having an HR specialist to guide me through the challenges has been key. We have used consultants over the years to provide fresh eyes and guidance on practice growth. They can bring trends and share success stories from other offices. Networking with other Office Managers and sharing ideas is important. Being the Office Manager is often a lonely position because you have to be willing to separate yourself from being friends with everyone on the team and be a boss. I enjoy just meeting for lunch with an Office Manager who has a similar size practice and sharing. We have chosen to outsource as many things as possible so the focus of the team can be the patients and my focus can be managing the practice and growing the team. This means utilizing an accountant for accounts payable and payroll. Outsourcing insurance submission, posting of payments and insurance aging allows our team to focus their time and energy on taking care of patients and the phone is always answered.
Drive the Organization’s Success
Auditing the systems in the practice continuously prevents surprises and helps identify trends. This is where the CEO’s responsibilities lie. As an Office Manager, I have a list of systems to audit, and I report my findings to the doctors. I do not wait for them to tell me to take action if I find a concern. I truly want my audit to include, I identified an issue, I took action and I expect a change. I will continue to monitor this area closely. Hopefully, most audit items are successful but, in every office, systems fall out of place and the team does not always understand why systems need to be followed. Audits allow me to educate the team on the importance of the systems and praise them for a job well done when they are working well. Transparency is key. They know audits happen and this helps to keep systems healthy as well. The systems are set up to help keep the office successful and monitoring the systems is vital to the practice’s success. Similarly, to auditing systems, I also pull monthly reports and evaluate the P&L for changes, trends, growth, and concerns.
Align with Owners
Quality time with the owner doctors is vital to sharing ideas, addressing concerns, and celebrating wins. It also helps you understand who they are, the culture they believe in, their philosophies, and their leadership style. This one area has helped me operate at an executive level the most. In most situations, I have spent enough time with them that I know how to answer questions from the team or address concerns. I’m able to answer the team confidently and know I’m aligned with the doctors in my answer. Time is money and it’s hard I imagine getting this quality time from doctors. However, we have set aside time each month for executive meeting time, leader meeting time, and team meeting time. The time we choose is after lunch when we know we can successfully meet without being interrupted or having scheduling issues. We also set aside longer meeting times for the doctors and myself to review mid-year and end-of-year planning. We utilize Google Docs and spreadsheets to form an agenda ahead of time and commit to reviewing the agenda ahead of time on our own. This helps make the meeting time efficient and valuable.
Being a CEO or business partner with your doctor gives you a better understanding of the practice, your owner, your colleagues, and operating the business in general. If you have a desire to lead and drive your practice to be successful at another level, take some time to consider implementing these strategies. Embracing collaboration, leveraging resources, driving organizational success through system audits, and aligning closely with the practice owners have been instrumental in elevating my role to that of an executive. By fostering a culture of teamwork, transparency, and alignment with the practice’s vision, I’ve been able to lead our team towards greater success and contribute to the overall growth of our practice. If you aspire to take your role as an office manager to the next level and truly become an executive in your practice, adopt these strategies and see the transformative impact they can have.
About the Author
Michelle Broughton’s dental career began in 1993 as a dental hygienist. She has been at her current practice since 2006. She started in the practice, Eastgate Dental Excellence, as a dental hygienist, and as the practice grew, she accepted the office manager role. Her practice in Cincinnati, Ohio has grown tremendously in many aspects over the years. Michelle has been a member of AADOM since 2016 and earned her Fellowship in 2023. Personally, Michelle has been married to her husband, Geoff, since 1998 and they have 3 children that they enjoy and love.
