Walking the Line: Setting Healthy Boundaries for Your Team
As a dental office manager, you play a crucial role as a team leader. Working closely with your staff every day, it is natural to build strong relationships, but it is also essential to make it clear that you are there to lead and support the doctor.
While strong connections are healthy and important, if your role is unclear and lines are blurred, guidance and discipline become more difficult. You cannot be everyone’s best friend. Maintaining professionalism and communicating expectations up front are key to being an effective leader for your team.
Why Professional Boundaries Matter
Let’s talk about boundaries and why they are the cornerstone of success for managers in a dental office setting. Without clear boundaries in place, it is easy to lose track of the office manager’s duties.
Office managers are responsible for:
- Ensuring patient safety and compliance
- Overseeing that all policies and procedures are met
- Managing accountability
- Maintaining a positive workplace culture
The Risks of Blurred Leadership Roles
When employees work together daily, it is natural to become close and develop friendships. However, as a leader, it is imperative not to become a ‘best friend’ to any co-workers. Having a ‘best friend’ in the office can lead to miscommunication or give that team member the impression they have special privileges because of the friendship.
Furthermore, when a leader is blinded by friendship, leadership can be pushed to the back burner. Important decisions for the office may be delayed or avoided.
This can lead to:
- Favoritism
- Team resentment and gossip
- Manager burnout
- Unclear authority
Failure to present and enforce boundaries with team members can ultimately sabotage a practice.
In contrast, establishing and clearly communicating your boundaries will be rewarding for the office. All team members will understand from the beginning what is expected of them and recognize the professional relationship between manager and team member.
Being clear builds strong boundaries. It is important to build these boundaries with each team member. This will lead to success and great communication.
How to Build Healthy Boundaries Without Losing Trust
Adhering to fair guidelines for your team does not mean you have to be a cold or unfriendly person. You do not want to be known as an unapproachable manager.
I personally let each team member know that I am always here to talk, and my door is always open for communication. I encourage questions to be asked so there is no confusion about what is expected from each team member.
Instead, it should look like:
- Having an open-door policy
- Being fair to all employees
- Being clear instead of vague
- Enforcing support of the doctor and practice goals
As an office manager, you should be your office’s head cheerleader. Someone who encourages and supports each team member. It is important to remain empathetic and maintain expectations. Teams work best and unite more effectively when they know their concerns will be heard and not ignored.
Another key boundary is being a strong support system that helps reach the doctors’ and the practice’s goals. As the office manager, I share the doctor’s goals for the team. It is better when the doctor and office manager are aligned with the same office goals.
Office managers are responsible for helping doctors achieve these goals and serving as a strong support system for both the doctor and the team.
Strong Leadership Starts with Clear Boundaries
As an office manager, always put your best foot forward and be the most effective leader you can be for your office. Remember, you are there to set an example for your team. You lead, and they follow.
We are here to support our office, doctor, and team so we can provide great dental care. When an office manager is clear, teams can relax, perform better, and stay focused on what truly matters: excellent patient care.
About the Author
Linda Martinez, FAADOM
Linda has been in the dental field for 25 years. Her passion for dentistry started when her aunt started her dental career as a dental assistant. Following in her footsteps, she graduated as a dental assistant in 2000.
She started her dental career as an assistant and was cross-trained for the front office. Working in the front office, she knew she had found her passion for working in dental customer service. Linda loves diving into the business part of the dental office and enjoys managing and leading her team.
Linda has been an AADOM member since 2021 and received her FAADOM fellowship in 2023.
Linda has been married to her husband John for the past 24 years, and they have two sons, Anthony and Adrian. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and being a dog mom to her Frenchie named Lucy!!
