Being a control freak
Us dentists are perfectionists and want everything done right, but when taken too far this desire has adverse consequences.What I see is that in many practices the dentist does lots of tasks that could (and should) be left to the team. The dentist is afraid of mistakes but the adverse effects of this approach are:
- The team feels disempowered
- The dentists gets exhausted
Here's a suggestion. Have a look at your work day and identify the jobs that you currently do that could be done by your team — for example, preparing quotes or filling in lab sheets. Then sit down at a meeting and agree a procedure for how those jobs are done. Then hand them over.Mistakes will occasionally be made but you must resist the urge to instantly take the task back. Instead, have another meeting and go over the procedure again and clarify.If you do this you will find your burdens will be lighter and your team will become more responsible and proactive.