How to Always Get the Best Work From Your Team
You can deliver the best dental care in the world, have the latest technology, and serve the most gourmet coffee to your patients, but you can’t run a WOW practice without an amazing team.
One of the best ways to make your team do great work is to make them feel a part of the process. When they feel like they’re a part of a practice family and are contributing to achieving your practice story, they’ll be more motivated and happier to wake up in the morning and come to work. They’ll feel their role is meaningful.
So how do you achieve that? One of the best ways to do that is to create a culture in which both you and your team are open to receiving feedback from one another. This creates a safe environment for growth and support and ensures you and your team are constantly improving. With many leaders, this can be a struggle because many of us feel like we need to have all the answers. But when we hire the best team members, their talents and experiences will complement ours and make their feedback extremely valuable to elevating our practices to a whole different level.
Here are three keys to creating a culture in which giving and receiving feedback leads to consistent growth and high performance.
Always ask for feedback.
Many times, team members are uncomfortable giving feedback to the doctors. It’s a natural concern for people to be concerned giving feedback to their leaders—especially when it’s constructive criticism.
To make your team members more comfortable with giving you feedback, ask for it. Also, ask for it in a very specific area, and request suggestions for improvement. The more focused and specific you are, the easier it will be for someone to respond. For example, you could ask, “Do you have any suggestions for how we can adjust how we schedule to improve production?”
Also, try to get a more rounded perspective when asking for feedback. Ask a number of team members for input when it makes sense to do so. Get everyone involved.
Be grateful for feedback even if you don’t like it.
Receiving feedback helps build vulnerability-based trust and a safe environment where people help each other improve. You don’t have to agree or disagree with what they have to say. Just thank them for having the confidence to try to help you improve. By encouraging it, you also won’t seem hypocritical when you give someone feedback.
For example, it’s hard to not get upset when someone says you were tone-deaf with a patient. But if you want to get the best work from yourself, you have to take a step back and be objective about their feedback.
Everyone has room for improvement. If everyone is able to look at constructive criticism pragmatically, you can start to create a culture of consistent improvement.
Encourage everyone to seek feedback from patients.
Make sure everyone on your team looks for feedback from patients. In your office or online, what do they say? What can you read into how they act when they are in your chair? And what is their body language like when they are in your chair?
Team members aren’t the only ones who can give you feedback, but they can be a very helpful resource for gathering patient feedback. Make sure they pay attention to all forms of feedback from them, and not just from the online reviews.
When you receive feedback from patients, react the same way you would with a team member delivering feedback. Be grateful for it, and look for the practical takeaways you and your team can use to improve.
Are you getting amazing work from your team consistently?
Nobody is perfect, and nobody is going to do everything right all the time. We all have development areas. The best way to improve everyone's performance is to ask for feedback, be grateful when we receive it, and encourage everyone to seek feedback from patients. Then, you will create a culture of constant growth and improvement with a free flow of feedback in all directions. It will set the standard that all team members are expected to do their best work and constantly improve—leaders included.
If you want to learn more about building a practice culture in which everyone thrives, join our Delivering WOW Platinum Coaching program, and start learning from the best experts in the dental industry today!
