The start of a new year brings an opportunity to make your dental practice and team even stronger. As you consider what you would like to accomplish this year, remember you need more than just goals. As Antoine De Saint-Exupery once said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
Start with your goals and be sure to involve the whole team. What would you like to fine tune with the patient experience, how you schedule, and overall teamwork? How can you make your leadership more effective? What is something that would make the patient experience even better?
After you have articulated your goals, it’s time to determine your plan of action. If, for example, you want to become a stronger leader, consider what that would look like. It may involve scheduling quarterly meetings with each team member to offer feedback and coaching. Consider what you would like to cover in those meetings. Now you are on your way to developing a plan for stronger leadership.
Maybe your goal involves tackling a touch challenge such as wanting to minimize the times when you run behind. Your plan would help break down the challenge. Maybe you need to start with a team meeting where you review schedules that did not work well and schedules where you consistently ran on time. Your next step may be to track your on-time percentage with certain procedures, and then you can dig into why you needed more time. Plans break bigger challenges into digestible pieces.
As you consider what you would like to do to make your practice even stronger, make sure you come up with more than just wishes. Turn those wishes into implementable steps by having a plan.