I have been watching a British show called Doc Martin about a London doctor now working in a small fishing village in Cornwall. The first few episodes showed the doctor setting up his medical practice and how he especially struggled with his new receptionist.
Doc Martin inherits a receptionist who decides she will just do what she wants when she wants and how she wants.
After a few weeks working together he says to her, “Now we need to lay some ground rules about your attitude to detail, the use of the phone and that sort of thing.”
Sadly, this was is far as he gets with the ground rules.
He is correct.
Everyone who works for you in your business needs to know the “ground rules.” Having specific guidelines for the team to follow is essential for order, efficiency and production in your business but if the rules are not documented, implemented and monitored regularly then they mean nothing.
With no guidelines and specific rules for your team to follow there will always be chaos and a lack of direction and eventually your team and your patients will start to leave the practice!
Everyone at work needs and wants a clear definition of their role and the procedures they need to follow to be effective and productive in your business.
Once the team have clarity in their roles they can perform and get results.
As well as having a clear understanding of their roles in the practice, team members also need to be accountable to someone in the practice.
A great start is to document each person’s job description and the procedures they need to follow.
I have always had the team members involved in the development of these documents so that at the end of the process they really own their jobs and are more committed.
The job description document is now a working document that can evolve over time to suit the changes in the practice.
The transition of new people starting at the practice is much smoother when there is a clearly defined job description.
Having the people in your team clear about their job and knowing the duties they are responsible for also means that every part of your business is covered and functions properly.
Most employees want to know what is expected of them and know what the ground rules are.
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If your new patient numbers are down, or if you’ve “sensed” for a while that something’s just not working as well as it should be, as it relates to the phones… then Click here for a copy of my Free Report, right now:
Download your copy of my Free Report
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On Friday August 19 and Saturday August 20 I will be co-presenting Dental Phone Excellence in London England at Dr. David Moffet’s Ultimate Patient Experience Workshop.
Click here for details and Early Bird Registration.
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At present I have availability for four new private clients. For more information on how I can improve your Dental Office’s Phone Numbers contact me, Jayne Bandy at jayne@theDPE.com
