Where is the Fire Extinguisher? Tackling Dental Team Problems Before They Spread
Problems in the dental office can be equated to a fire; if we ignore the fire and don’t try to respond immediately, the fire will spread quickly, causing widespread damage. Putting out these fires can be tricky and trying, and you are never sure what problem or situation you will face next.
In many dental practices, the office manager is considered the ‘firefighter,’ the person in charge of putting out the fires and responsible for regrowth once the fire is out.
Cohesion of all team members is a priority for our leadership teams. If we all can work together and anticipate the upcoming needs, we will flow better, which will be reflected in our patient care.
Don’t Let Things Fester
Countless issues can occur on a day-to-day or even on a minute-to-minute basis in a dental office.
The office manager is responsible for ensuring that the general flow of the office is on track. One of the most effective ways to do this is to face the fires and solve them promptly while they are still small enough to be controlled.
To be an efficient and effective office manager, it is essential to have fair and unbiased situational awareness with the ability to make quick and fair decisions. Examples include patient and parent conflicts, insurance problems, employee personal affairs, workplace strife, equipment failures, and scheduling conflicts.
There can be the tendency in offices to go for the short-term and easy solution: ignore the fire and pretend it doesn’t exist, hoping it gets better without any intervention. Quite the opposite will happen as the situation becomes more of a potential danger the longer it is ignored and left to fester.
Often, when one employee does not do what is expected and has no recourse, other employees follow that example. We try not to call attention to the employee but must address the situation.
Not all “fires” require an employee to be written up or a verbal warning to be issued. Most of the time, we can sit and have a conversation and get to a resolution, allowing the employee to know the expectations without taking further action.
Some team members may not view the resolution the same as the office manager or team leaders; it may require more clarification and one-on-one time to help clear up any conflicts.
Sharing the Work
The office manager is the glue that holds the office together, uniting the various dental departments and employees to the employer. It is easy to get overwhelmed and feel overworked and underappreciated.
One of the ways our office has helped to put out fires is by splitting the load. We delegated two office managers to put out fires in various departments. We have a business manager and a clinical manager. We are cross-trained in each other’s departments to work together and help each other as needed. Because of this, our team is stronger.
Together with our doctors, we developed a vision of what we strive to achieve daily and yearly. We have worked hard to bring all our team members on board with this vision. This unified front has proven to be one of the most effective methods of putting out the fires.
By having the two office managers serve as the fire chiefs and the other team members serve as the firefighters, we can immediately put out any fire.
About the Author
Chasity McCord, RDA, MAADOM
Chasity McCord, RDA, MAADOM, has been in dentistry for 10 years. She started her career as a Dental Assistant. Chasity transitioned out of the clinical team 3 years ago to become the Office Manager for a pediatric dental office in Gadsden, Alabama.
Chasity was inducted into the AADOM Fellowship program in 2022 and received her Mastership during the AADOM 2024 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
