Where Did the Day Go? Time Management Through Setting Expectations
“Can anyone share a job description for an office manager?”
This was asked on a dental office manager (OM) Facebook page, and the reality is that there isn’t a standard description. Most doctors need to learn what an OM does or can do to run and grow a practice.
An OM can run the front desk or, with experience, the entire office.
The Many Hats Worn By a Dental Office Manager
In most practices, an office manager acts as the ‘fire chief,’ extinguishing ‘fires‘ throughout the day:
- calling the lab
- fixing the computer issue
- cleaning the mess, etc
While they are responsible for the day-to-day running of the practice, delegation and setting expectations of responsibilities for the team are imperative.
The Importance of Setting Expectations
Recently, setting expectations has become the cornerstone of everything I do in my day-to-day schedule and how I work to put myself and my team up for success.
Over the last 27 years, I have gained valuable knowledge in working with fantastic coaching practices. In this series, I will unwrap one phrase learned through ACTDental that has become the cornerstone of everything I do:
When expectations don’t meet reality, it causes conflict [E-R=C].
What a concept and so true. Understanding this sets up your entire environment for success.
Owning and managing a practice requires me to learn to set expectations for myself, so I signed up for a time management course that significantly changed my workflow. I am a fixer, a “D” on the DISC personality profile, and it wouldn’t be out of the question to say I squirrel on a dime; having 30 post-it notes on my desk at a time wasn’t unusual.
What I learned helped to organize my mind and, in the long run, my day.
Here are a few tips and tricks that keep me on track during the workday:
Keep an Accessible Column List, by Category, of ‘To Do’ Items
This gets the information out of your head and organized. For me, this consists of the following:
- Office
- Family/House
- Financial
- Marketing
- Personal
- Follow up
- Take the information from the list and attribute it to a day of the week; what do you do when you are not being the ‘firefighter’? Having it scheduled puts it right in front and makes jumping from project to project easier. For example, an item on the list in Financial being attributed to Monday allows you to focus on a specific item and not on what you are NOT doing. You are getting things accomplished!
- For specific projects, physically schedule them into an hourly calendar. Although challenging, committing to yourself is essential. Sometimes, dealing with a ‘fire’ doesn’t mean you have to do it now. This allows you to prioritize in advance.
- Create a list of daily/monthly/quarterly/yearly items and add them to your schedule.
Set Expectations of Your Work Time and Environment and Share with Your Team
Schedule daily/weekly closed-door time to accomplish essential, timely responsibilities. Ensure that your team understands what that means to you: When you are available, when you are not, and your accessibility in an emergency.
- Don’t eat at your desk. We burn out the same way our team does. We ensure our team is scheduled for breaks, and we need to schedule breaks for ourselves as well. Get out of the office, walk, or go to a quiet space, even if it’s your car.
- One of the best items I have ever purchased is a Times Square. When flipped on the specific side, it’s a block preset for 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes. It’s easy to time individual and team meetings and how long you work on a project.
As we can’t control time, utilizing a few tips and tricks helps us to use it wisely and keep our sanity at the same time.
About the Author
Laurie Spitz, FAADOM
Laurie Spitz, FAADOM, and her husband, Steve, a prosthodontist, founded Smileboston Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry, a three-doctor dental practice outside Boston, MA.
Her business, marketing, and public relations degree has given her the background to successfully work in every office capacity (other than clinical), and anything her degree didn’t teach, life has.
As an AADOM spouse, Laurie has a unique perspective, allowing greater optics in every aspect of the organization.
Over the last 27 years, she built a business from scratch, purchased and sold a second office, and evolved to an OON office while raising three kids, two growing up in a pack-and-play behind her desk.
Laurie has been a member of AADOM since 2017 and earned her Fellowship in 2023. She will earn her Mastership (MAADOM) in September of 2024.
